The Tower of Bones by Frank P. Ryan Review

I received a copy from the author. Thank you!

"Fate has brought together four young people from our world into the enchanted world of Tír. Together Kate, Alan, Mark and Mo present a formidable new force for good in this war-ravaged world: they are Hope for the millions of oppressed peoples that live here.

The four have been split up, with one of their number kidnapped, one lost and one changing almost beyond recognition, and it falls to Alan to unite them once again and restore their strength.

But the Great Witch Olc, scheming in her Tower of Bones, is planning to lure Alan into a trap. And she has resurrected the demigod Fangorath, a dreadful force for malice, for her own evil ends."

The Tower of Bones is a really, really, really thick book. It took me the entire weekend to finish it. It about six hundred pages (and I thought seven hundred before I even checked the page number of the last page). It is partially the reason I was behind on my post. Thank goodness, I'm not too behind. Time to catch up!

The Tower of Bones, the second book that comes right after The Snowmelt River, is a bit difficult to read. Okay, it is difficult. There are so many little details and main details you have to remember to understand The Tower of Bones. I definitely needed a recap, and my previous review of The Snowmelt River certainly helped, but it wouldn't hurt for me to reread The Snowmelt River to fully understand it (I did reread some parts though). 

There are four main characters. Kate, Alan, Mark, and Mo. Each one has changed from their journey in the beginning of the series. They... evolved even more by the end of The Tower of Bones. I'm going to point out some honorable mentions of character developments in the next few paragraphs.

Mo always reminds me of the smallest and youngest child of them all. Maybe she is. I never seem to remember age correctly. Anyway, Mo is the farthest from her character in the beginning, and she keeps on changing. Every time I see her, she seems more confident in her own body. She is most definitely unique. The most unique of the four. Even though she appeared the least out of the four. But you know what they say. Quality over quantity. 

I think I'm going to mention Mark, too. He seems more ancient and powerful ever since the end of The Snowmelt River. Wiser, too. Then again, he literally merged with a lot of knowledge, practically a whole library of facts.

The book is well-written. However, it seemed to go terribly slow for me. I, a quick reader, usually can pull information out of pages within seconds, but I sometimes have to slow down and reread it. There is something about the pace that annoys me a bit. A little speed would totally help. Full speed ahead, Captain! 

The ending saddens me greatly. Without going into spoilers (heavy and detailed spoilers, I mean), I'm going to say that the ending sets the main characters to be better than there were but also fighting a greater threat of pure evil. 

I can't say much, can I? Or have I given too much of it away?

Rating: Three out of Five