Valor (The Faithful and the Fallen, #2)

by John Gwynne

"Corban flees his homeland searching for peace, but he soon discovers that there is no haven in the west as the agents of Rhin and roaming bands of giants hound his every step. Veradis leaves the battleground and rushes to his King's side. But he has witnessed both combat and betrayal and his duty weighs heavily upon him. Maquin seeks only revenge, but pirate slavers and the brutal world of pit-fighting stand in his way. Nathair becomes embroiled in the wars of the west as Queen Rhin marches against King Owain. The need to find the cauldron of the giants drives him on. Sides are chosen and oaths will be fulfilled or broken in a land where hell has broken loose."--Amazon.com.

• ISBN10: 0316399744
• ISBN13: 9780316399746
• Publish Date: 22 July 2014 (first published 27 March 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Orbit
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 688
• Language: English

Reviews

[ross91]

This was seriously one of the best books I've read this year!
I thought Malice was good; too tropey at times, but still very entertaining. Valour is even better!
I couldn't put it down from start to finish: a lot happens in this book, many people die (WHY ALWAYS MY FAVORITE???) and we encounter great new characters.
I wasn't Corban's fan while reading Malice, but this time I liked his chapters the most: every POV is vital to see and comprehend the bigger picture, but Corban is the core of everything and it's always very interesting to see his journey and his acceptance of who he really is and what he needs to do in order to keep whom he loves safe.
Another thing I greatly enjoyed were the female characters: Coralen is my new favorite person ever and I want her to be queen of everything (if she ends up dying I will throw a tantrum), Cywen is always so cool, Fidele is everything a royal should be.
So yeah, this book is awesome.
Now I'm looking forward to seeing how Nathair's story will progress in Ruin... I don't think he is a bad guy, he's just really gullible and has a shitty taste in friends.
Veradis is still one of my fave but he really needs to make up his mind (and I still ship him and Nathair together, they would be a perfect power couple).
Maquin... his story was kinda predictable but I enjoyed it anyway.
And sooner or later some bad guy will die too. I feel it.
And I want to be a Jehar. They're soo cool!!

[bestmessever]

I love this series so much and I just can't even believe all the things that have happened. I really hope my ship sails in the next book.

[wyvernfriend]

Nope, didn't care. Will not be continuing, it gets a 3* because it was readable but it just didn't do it for me.

And the Giants old language, that was Irish. Oh heck. You can't translate one language into another directly, it doesn't work right. Let me explain with an example, the Irish proverb: "Aithníonn ciaróg ciaróg eile" transliterated it's "Knows beetle beetle other" properly translated it's "It takes one to know one" or "Birds of a feather flock together". However Gwynne took what he wanted to say in Irish and translated it directly from the English. This is cultural appropriation at it's laziest. It's not like there aren't folks who would do the translations for a mention.

Thankfully this was rare in this book. However the action was divided among several different characters, many of whom had similar names, all racing to let the chosen one do what he had to do. Many people died, but I didn't feel that I knew them well enough to care.

Don't think I'll be continuing with this series.