Right off the bat, I have to say that as someone who has been obsessed with Jenn Lyons’ A Chorus of Dragons series ever since I read the first book in the series, The Ruin of Kings last year, The Memory of Souls is definitely my favorite book in the series so far. That being said, here are my thoughts on this book.
While I admittedly thought that Lyons stumbled a little bit with The Name of All Things, The Memory of Souls was definitely a return to form that got back to the things that had immediately made me fall in love with the A Chorus of Dragons series when I read The Ruin of Kings. For starters, it was great to see the focus of the series be back on Kihrin in this book after being sidelined by Janel and Qown in The Name of All Things. That being said, a variety of great new characters were introduced in The Memory of Souls, and I ultimately thought that Lyons did a much better job of introducing the new P.O.V. characters and featuring them in this book and incorporating them into the storylines that have been taking place throughout the course of the series so far than she did with introducing Janel and Qown in The Name of All Things.
When it comes to my thoughts on the characters that were either introduced for the first time in this book, or were featured as a P.O.V. character for the first time in this book after having been previously introduced earlier in the series; I would say that Teraeth is definitely my favorite out of all the new P.O.V. characters in this book. I thought that Lyons definitely did a fantastic job of using Teraeth’s chapters as an opportunity to further develop him as a character, and his relationship with Kihrin in this book. Plus, I felt like the interactions between Teraeth and Kihrin really enhanced the overall emotional tone of The Memory of Souls.
While I admittedly thought that Lyons stumbled a little bit with The Name of All Things, The Memory of Souls was definitely a return to form that got back to the things that had immediately made me fall in love with the A Chorus of Dragons series when I read The Ruin of Kings. For starters, it was great to see the focus of the series be back on Kihrin in this book after being sidelined by Janel and Qown in The Name of All Things. That being said, a variety of great new characters were introduced in The Memory of Souls, and I ultimately thought that Lyons did a much better job of introducing the new P.O.V. characters and featuring them in this book and incorporating them into the storylines that have been taking place throughout the course of the series so far than she did with introducing Janel and Qown in The Name of All Things.
When it comes to my thoughts on the characters that were either introduced for the first time in this book, or were featured as a P.O.V. character for the first time in this book after having been previously introduced earlier in the series; I would say that Teraeth is definitely my favorite out of all the new P.O.V. characters in this book. I thought that Lyons definitely did a fantastic job of using Teraeth’s chapters as an opportunity to further develop him as a character, and his relationship with Kihrin in this book. Plus, I felt like the interactions between Teraeth and Kihrin really enhanced the overall emotional tone of The Memory of Souls.
I was beyond thrilled to see Talon return in The Memory of Souls after being absent from The Name of All Things. Every part of the book that she was featured in was the perfect combination of intriguing and amusing. I thought that it was rather interesting that Lyons established in this book that Talon apparently has a tail. While I think that all of the characters in the A Chorus of Dragons series are excellently written, Talon definitely stands out as being one of the best written characters in the series, as far as I’m concerned. That being said, one of the only complaints that I have about this book is that I really wish that Talon had been featured in the book more than she was. That being said, considering the fact that the book ended with Talon killing Kihrin so she could take his form as a part of a plan to stop his enemies from freeing Vol Karoth, I’m guessing that she’ll be featured in The House of Always quite a bit.
One of the main things that can really hinder my enjoyment of a fantasy book is definitely when the plot of the book suffers from slow pacing. Thankfully, The Memory of Souls is a fantastic example of a fantasy book that was able to avoid falling prey to slow or bad pacing. Honestly, I was constantly surprised by how much action and plot progression Lyons was able to pack into a fairly small portion of the book. Usually, when I find myself thinking a lot about the pacing of the plot of a fantasy novel that’s very long, it’s because I feel like the plot is really dragging on and on without a lot happening throughout the course of the book. That being said, I feel like I should mention that I was also very impressed by how Lyons handled the overall pacing of The Ruin of Kings and The Name of All Things as well.
The closest thing that I have to complaints about The Memory of Souls would be that I really wish that Tyentso had been featured in the book a little bit more than she was; and I also wish that Qown had been featured in the book at least briefly. As far as I’m concerned, Qown betraying Kihrin and the other characters in The Name of All Things is definitely something that needed to be given some truly good follow-up that I think could have only been accomplished by featuring Qown in at least a chapter or two of this book. One of the biggest hopes that I have for the next book in the series, The House of Always, is that Qown will be featured in the book, at least briefly.
All things considered, there truly is a lot to love about The Memory of Souls, and this is without a doubt my favorite book in the A Chorus of Dragons series so far. Jenn Lyons truly delivered in so many ways with her writing for this book. The Memory of Souls definitely left me feeling even more grateful than I already was that I had discovered this series than I was to begin with.
That being said, my final score for The Memory of Souls is 10 out of 10.
One of the main things that can really hinder my enjoyment of a fantasy book is definitely when the plot of the book suffers from slow pacing. Thankfully, The Memory of Souls is a fantastic example of a fantasy book that was able to avoid falling prey to slow or bad pacing. Honestly, I was constantly surprised by how much action and plot progression Lyons was able to pack into a fairly small portion of the book. Usually, when I find myself thinking a lot about the pacing of the plot of a fantasy novel that’s very long, it’s because I feel like the plot is really dragging on and on without a lot happening throughout the course of the book. That being said, I feel like I should mention that I was also very impressed by how Lyons handled the overall pacing of The Ruin of Kings and The Name of All Things as well.
The closest thing that I have to complaints about The Memory of Souls would be that I really wish that Tyentso had been featured in the book a little bit more than she was; and I also wish that Qown had been featured in the book at least briefly. As far as I’m concerned, Qown betraying Kihrin and the other characters in The Name of All Things is definitely something that needed to be given some truly good follow-up that I think could have only been accomplished by featuring Qown in at least a chapter or two of this book. One of the biggest hopes that I have for the next book in the series, The House of Always, is that Qown will be featured in the book, at least briefly.
All things considered, there truly is a lot to love about The Memory of Souls, and this is without a doubt my favorite book in the A Chorus of Dragons series so far. Jenn Lyons truly delivered in so many ways with her writing for this book. The Memory of Souls definitely left me feeling even more grateful than I already was that I had discovered this series than I was to begin with.
That being said, my final score for The Memory of Souls is 10 out of 10.
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