Anthony Ryan first stunned readers with his fantasy debut Blood Song in 2012. With Ryan's smooth prose, interesting characters, well developed magic and diverse worlds, the debut was a major win for the fantasy genre. After two years, the much awaited sequel was finally released in June. 
 The second book, in comparison, was tonally, structurally and narratively so different that it is almost like reading a different series. To date, none of the fantasy series I have read have ever exhibited such an abrupt change between volumes that appears almost schizophrenic. 
 Narratively, the story transformed from a single character's coming of age tale a la The Kingkiller Chronicles, into a multiple POV character story, a style akin to a Song of Ice and Fire. There are alternating chapters between Frentis, the street urchin turned brother in the first book, Reva, a random woman Vaelin met on an assassination attempt who became crucial to the story later on, Lyrna, the ruthless princess we know from the first book and lastly, Vaelin. 
 The multiple POV structure allows the author the opportunity to develop a wider fantasy world and delve into events covering widespread geographies over a short period of time. This is structurally very different from linear timeline of the first book - which revolved around Vaelin's experiences training in the 6th order and later his adventures in the King's services. 
 In Tower Lord, Lyrna's travels offer insight into Lonak culture, Frentis's journey allows us a closer inspection of the Volarian and Alphiran Empires, and Reva's chapters offer perspectives from native Cumbraelins and their social conflict with the overlord Asrael (think Scotland and UK). By contrast, Vaelin spends much of the book travelling to become the Tower Lord, meeting old acquaintances and administrating his estate. In other words, this is a distinctive misuse of a character readers had fallen in love with from the first book. 
 While the geographically diverse POVs were interesting in developing the broader fantasy world, it took a good half of the book to go over the background of the new characters, often in side plots that seemed to meander endlessly. By far the character I disliked most was Reva. I am not able to buy into her beliefs and internal conflicts, and had no desire to, in part due to the limited time Ryan had to flesh out this new character introduced so late into the series. It also seemed miraculous given how much progress Reva had shown with the sword and bow, after training with Vaelin for just around a month, whereas it took Vaelin and his brothers a decade to gain a level of acceptable mastery in the 6th order. 
 Although Tower Lord picks up right after Blood Song ended, the series essentially skipped a full 5 years of events which occurred during the time of Vaelin's imprisonment. These interim events have had deep repercussions on the characters of Caenis, Lyrna, Vaelin and Frentis. However, readers hoping to find out what had happened exactly would have to content themselves with infrequent flashbacks and minimal hints. I was also puzzled by the author's choice to name the series is titled "Raven's Shadow", when legends of the Blood Song revealed thus far have shown little connection to the bird. 
 The world we see in Tower Lord is rich in culture, history and diversity. However, the magical system created by the book is not as well developed as some fantasy fans would have liked. Magical individuals in the world have unique gifts of their own, including abilities that enable weather control and invisibility. Using their abilities brought about physical consequences such as nose bleeds, fatigue and eventually death if taxed to a certain limit. Between Blood Song and Tower Lord, readers were cheated of how Vaelin mastered his song, mainly during the years he spent in the jail. At times, Vaelin's abilities seem to be more of an overdeveloped instinct, bordering on prophetic. While Vaelin relies on the instinct to guide him in life, the limited chapters on Vaelin in Tower Lord lack sufficient opportunities for readers to understand the full extent of how his abilities and life have integrated. By the time the final conflict rolls around, the blood song has became a deus ex machina, and Vaelin's loss failed to resonate with the reader. 
 To name this book "Tower Lord" when only 25% of the book involves the 'Tower Lord' in question is terribly deceitful and a gross overstatement. Tower Lord can generally be considered a failure as a sequel, and would probably be more appropriately classified as a 'spin off'.