[QuickTidal]

So since the last time I checked in on these threads, Tiste had finished the Sun Sword and was glad to be done and it swore him off the rest of the books, and Abyss had bailed out around book 4 I think for similar reasons (west’s verbosity, her Japanese penchant for repeating notions over and over to hammer them home, lack of action, dragging narrative etc.).

I have since finished Sun Sword and I found it as lacking as the rest of you. Mostly because when I first encountered The Dominion in the first 3 House War books, I found them insufferable and the culture there annoying. I cared SO much more for what happened in the North and the Empire VS the demons…but the fist two books in Sun Sword gave me people to root for and some interesting events…but what it devolves into is a whole ass book about the Voyani (yawn), a whole ass book about the lead up to the war from the Dominion/Voyani perspective, and then a whole ass book that continues to lead up to the war within out from Northern characters…if I’m honest, it’s 6 books with barely 3 books of progression…and the best stuff is the initial betrayal of Tor Leone (book 1), and the contest where the Heir (Valadan) survives (book 2), and after that its just a lead up to a war where the demons split their forces anyways, some internal strife and then the war where things don’t really happen as you expect…it was a deeply unsatisfying ending to that story…but again I was never as invested in Sun Sword as I was in House War 1-3….i don’t care about the south, the Annagarians in Averalaan are treated as backwards anti-woman weirdos and I’m glad they are as that’s the culture they offer and I don’t like it.

I want to read about the North, the empire, breodalan, jewel and her Den (all of whom I watched her slowly assemble with their individual personalities), the other Seers, the mages, flying cats (yes)…the last 3 SunSword books felt like slog worthy WOT books…and after all that I feel like I never should have stopped House War to read them….theres some pertinent overall info, but for the most part I feel like the summaries West released to catch ppl up to House War 4 (SKIRMISH) do a fine job.


In that vein, I leapt back into House War years after I left it, and I’m about 200pgs into SKIRMISH, and man what a joy to be back in the series that sold me on West…it’s worth remembering that Sun Sword began in the 90’s and finished in the early 2000’s…House War wasn’t written till 2007, Wests writing, while still verbose is not nearly as scatterbrained as it was in Sun Sword, the cast is tighter, there is a lot less nonsense with 47 similar titles and cultural actions for every character like in the south. Much more straightforward quasi medieval fantasy…flying cats…I dunno…Jewels Den feels earned in a way that the Sun sword books aren’t. I know some of those southern characters will appear going forward, but if I’m really honest I’m glad to be done with the Sun sword as a side trip from the world House War introduced me to.

Anyways, I’ll update this thread as I go. Not sure if anyone else will ever read the House War books who read and tired of the Sun Sword series…but if you don’t want to catch those up, West posted a 4 part summary of the events in Sun sword one her website for people who didn’t want to read it and only wanted House War.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 07 December 2025 - 07:05 PM

[amphibian]

I bailed on the Sun Sword because the execution of scenes, especially the mask thing and the Riven Shield stuff, was under baked. The Jewel Den books were much more interesting, but I didn't feel like looping back.

I will check out the summary and see what it puts up on the board for me.

[QuickTidal]

amphibian, on 07 December 2025 - 07:27 PM, said:

I bailed on the Sun Sword because the execution of scenes, especially the mask thing and the Riven Shield stuff, was under baked. The Jewel Den books were much more interesting, but I didn't feel like looping back.

I will check out the summary and see what it puts up on the board for me.

I can’t recall, did you finish all the Den books?

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

I've read all of the books and loved them (despite all of the obvious aforementioned flaws and idiosyncrasies). However, I have not been able to make any headway in her most recent one that focuse on the north. I can't recall the title.

Eventually it will click and I'll be able to make progress.

[amphibian]

QuickTidal, on 07 December 2025 - 09:14 PM, said:

amphibian, on 07 December 2025 - 07:27 PM, said:

I bailed on the Sun Sword because the execution of scenes, especially the mask thing and the Riven Shield stuff, was under baked. The Jewel Den books were much more interesting, but I didn't feel like looping back.

I will check out the summary and see what it puts up on the board for me.

I can’t recall, did you finish all the Den books?

I read Hidden City, City of Night, House Name, then started into the Sun Sword series reaching some portion of the Shield book before stopping in full. Most of the books have reviews from me in the bigger thread.

[QuickTidal]

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 08 December 2025 - 12:47 AM, said:

I've read all of the books and loved them (despite all of the obvious aforementioned flaws and idiosyncrasies). However, I have not been able to make any headway in her most recent one that focuse on the north. I can't recall the title.

Eventually it will click and I'll be able to make progress.

THE WILD ROAD is book 2 of Burning Crown, came out in July I think?

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 08 December 2025 - 12:19 PM

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 07 December 2025 - 07:02 PM, said:

...Sun Sword ...Abyss had bailed out around book 4 I think for similar reasons (west's verbosity, her Japanese penchant for repeating notions over and over to hammer them home, lack of action, dragging narrative etc.)....

More or less. If i try to nail it down it amounts to unecessary repetition when a point has been made, blunt/simple plots, and utterly unengaging villains who are predictable to the point of stupidity. There were things to like, but anything i liked (ie Jewel's fierce dedication to her Den) she beat me with to the point of apathy (her Den are interchangeable blanks every one of whom she had to spend like a chapter saying more or less the same goodbye to).

The rest of SUN SWORD and all of HOUSE WAR sit in my Audible library, picked up during the massive boxing week sale they do every year, and i skim by them and i'm almost tempted to at least try House War based on buzz here and elsewhere. I can manage a slower book or two but of the four i read i got maybe 2 books worth of enjoyment (per your note QT) out of Sun Sword and at a certain point we enter 'life's too short' territory.

Quote

…flying cats….

k ignore everything i just posted i'm back in.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 08 December 2025 - 02:57 PM, said:

(ie Jewel's fierce dedication to her Den) she beat me with to the point of apathy (her Den are interchangeable blanks every one of whom she had to spend like a chapter saying more or less the same goodbye to).

See this is why Pat's VEHEMENT exultation that you don't NEED the House War 1-3 books before SUN SWORD is so bathsit to me....those books literally show how she gains every character from her Den, all of whom have full, varying childhood arcs that carve them into the people they are as the adults you see briefly in Sun Sword...so someone only reading Sun Sword saying goodbye to her Den would have none of that backstory so none of it would land....this was also by design originally, Jewel and her Den were NEVER meant to be main characters of anything. West explained in later years that what they represented as they are in Sun Sword was just "What the lesser and more impoverished lower tiers of society would experience if demons began to filter into this plane of existence again"...she felt that only showing the top of society was unfair and lacked world building, so Jewel was invented to be a POV into that lower class strata of Averalaan...she was never meant to be the breakout character that she became...that fact crept up on West the further she got into the Sun Sword series, so she eventually decided that if Jewel was going to be her main character, she needed a full backstory...which are House War 1-3.

So yeah, that no landing emotionally would ABSOLUTELY make it annoying and they would come across as "interchangeable blanks" as at the time, they were...

Also, not reading House War 1-3 means you never met Rath. And Rath is the fucking dogs diggity bollocks and arguably still my fave character to this day, barring Snarky Gandalf (Meralonne) or Kallandras.

Abyss, on 08 December 2025 - 02:57 PM, said:

The rest of SUN SWORD and all of HOUSE WAR sit in my Audible library, picked up during the massive boxing week sale they do every year, and i skim by them and i'm almost tempted to at least try House War based on buzz here and elsewhere. I can manage a slower book

What's interesting in House War 1 is kinda slow, but it's Jewels intro and Rath makes it work, but Book 2 and 3 are (IIRC; and Amph and Whispers could chime in here) all gas from what I remember.

Abyss, on 08 December 2025 - 02:57 PM, said:

…flying cats….

k ignore everything i just posted i'm back in.

No cap.

 skir.jpg (128.63K)
Number of downloads: 0

For what it's worth, I'll keep this thread updated with my progress on this one and let you know how much "gas" is here.

[QuickTidal]

Interestingly two of West's three Summaries to catch people up from House War 3 to House War 4 if they don't want to read Sun Sword, are done as elongated versions of passages from SKIRMISH, and they feel extra verbose there because they are intended as summaries that cover more info....so reading the actual passages in SKIRMISH which are much shorter, still feel like they hit the major beats in more succinct ways and the narrative doesn't get bogged under them. It's just an interesting view of what be the editing process for West and her Editor from draft to final...because I don't think she lost too much that can't be explained later in those edits, but it makes the flow of the actual novel much more streamlined.

[pat5150]

Damn, your post made me realized that I never updated you guys once I was done with Hunter's Death and then Hunter's Redoubt.

Really enjoyed the Sacred Hunt duology, but wasn't blown away by the first volume of the Burning Crown series. It's a sequel to the Sacred Hunt, so you really need to read those two books to understand what's going on.

Will read The Wild Road this winter at some point.

Warts and all, I'm happy to see these books being discussed again.

[QuickTidal]

SKIRMISH update...

I think the funniest thing about this book so far is Jewel (and therefore West's) repeated comments to her Den and those around them about the fact that she feels bad for having left and will not leave again and how she feels that led to the thing that happened to kick off this book (or rather just prior to this book). It feels very much like West saying "Sorry to the people who had to leave House War to go read 6 thick ass books about war in the backwards ass South, as well as different sorry to the people who finished Sun Sword in 2004 and had to wait till 2012 to see what happens after that ending"...LOL...it's like the beginning of the book is her going "Yeah, I fucked up how this series was written momentum-wise and audience wise" I'm so amused that Jewel has taken on that burden from her author. It's subtle though, don't get me wrong, but everyone around her so far has commented "Well, you weren't here"...

Also, a fantastic and simple moment occurred I forget what chapter...

Spoiler

Jewel kind of sends people to do things, but knows that Lord Celleriant as he she puts it "stands out like a gold coin tossed into the commons", so she says "Celleriant...I dunno, go hunt the grounds for Kialli if you want"....Snort. Like hey all you people do this businesslike stuff....hey Elf-standin guy, go hunt demons while we talk."

I can already tell this is a Weekend At Bernies type book...not like a propping up a dead guy book, but takes place over one event over a few days and all the politicking around that, sprinkle in demons, elves and flying cats.

Anyways, every time I think the occasional chapter might be too much politicking and a little sloggy, Jewel will drop a bombshell that stops everyone in their tracks like:

Spoiler

Jarven ATerafin killed Amarais though the help of the demons...

And I'm like, wait WHAT?! along with everyone else. When you stop someone like Devon in his tracks, you know you've got crazy info.

Quote

Really enjoyed the Sacred Hunt duology, but wasn't blown away by the first volume of the Burning Crown series. It's a sequel to the Sacred Hunt, so you really need to read those two books to understand what's going on.

Had advice years ago to read that after everything else as it ran alongside House War 3 anyways, so I own it and always planned to read it after...so that is good. I have copies of both HUNTERS REDOUBT and THE WILD HUNT, so I'll be ready when the time comes...thanks for the heads up though.

And no offence Pat but every time you aren't blown away by a book, I'm reminded of your review of THE WITCHWOOD CROWN, which you didn't like, and I ADORED....so I think our tastes are misaligned in some spots...in this case you seem to love the South (Sun Sword), and I love the North (House War)...

either way, between us we have the whole series covered.

[QuickTidal]

They just spent about 2.5 chapters fighting a big tree. LOL. Which I know sounds weird, but It worked?

Spoiler

Like Celleriant was in the gardens just like strolling and reminiscing and was like "Huh, this tree is kind of giving off fucked up vibes....I'll investigate..." Tree becomes the Womping willow on acid infused with some old god and everyone has to ante up to fight it.

If you'd have told me before I read this one that they would fight a tree and it would be interesting, I'd have called you a liar. LOL