This book…this book. Upon finishing the book my first and only thought was, WOW. I was completely blown away and I honestly do not think readers could have asked for a better sequel to KD Edwards’s debut novel The Last Sun. All the things that made readers fall in love with The Last Sun are present in this follow up, but kicked up to another level. After reading it’s predecessor back in August, The Hanged Man was by far one of my most anticipated reads for 2019 and it certainly did not disappoint.
The established characters continue to bring depth and complexity and readers will get to see a different side to many of these characters as they grow throughout the novel. As for the new characters, KD does such wonderful introducing them and getting them to fit in with the colorful cast readers know and love. Anna and Corinne and Lady Death in particular added some strong females to the cast that The Last Sun was admittedly missing. Aside from the new villain, the other notable character added to the series is Corbie. Maybe it’s because I’ve worked in an elementary school for three years, but Corbie immediately stole my heart. He reminds me so much of the kindergarteners I work with and he just puts a smile on my face.
In terms of a villain, I didn’t think it could get any worse than the Rurik/Ashton combo from The Last Sun, but oh how wrong I was. The Hanged Man is a truly despicable character who turns my stomach in a way that few characters have.
The plot of The Hanged Man also makes it stand out as a fantastic novel. The plot of this novel revolves around Rune trying to protect his teenage ward, Max, from a marriage claim by The Hanged Man. The plot of the novel is fast paced and filled with highs and lows that leave readers on an emotional roller coaster that they’ll enjoy every minute of. The stakes are higher and readers will find themselves unable to put this book down until the very last page is turned.
KD’s writing is so fantastic and I truly appreciate how he doesn’t shy away from discussing of the more difficult subjects the characters are forced to deal with in this book. I also love how he’s able to make readers feel so many emotions with just a few words or a description. His writing does so much to allow readers to relate to and feel for these amazing characters. It’s clear from both of his books so far that KD has put a lot of time and effort into crafting this amazing story and I’m so excited to read more!
The Hanged Man
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars | 1,424 ratings
Price: 21.83
Last update: 06-11-2024
Top reviews from the United States
Rebekah R.5.0 out of 5 stars
A fantastic sequel to KD’s debut novel!
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2019Amazon Customer5.0 out of 5 stars
An amazing world and well-written escape
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2024
This sequel is a heart-pounding follow-up to an already incredible introduction into New Atlantis. These are some of the most well-written characters I have ever come upon. With a bone-chilling villain and a rag-tag team of of individuals with deep, emotional bonds, this book left me salivating for more.
Topaz Dragon5.0 out of 5 stars
Really Fantastic Sequel
Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2021
I love this series so very much. Seriously everything about it is just done so well.
I love books with a found family aspect, this one does it well - the family even expands here in the second novel.
The witty banter between Rune and Brand is amazing, I laughed out loud during multiple scenes. I absolutely love the relationship between the two of them - it’s reminiscent of Darrow and Sevro, Royce and Hadrian, Wax and Wayne. Those relationships that are closer than brothers, but not romantic in nature. They’re one of my favorite things to read about.. and this series just became one of my absolute favorites on that count. I adore the side characters as well. Max and Quinn are just amazing and so lovable.
The plot of this one was even more jam packed with action than the first. We got some more worldbuildling as well, which was nice. It’s such an utterly fascinating and unique world that the author has come up with. I could spend dozens of books here and still want more.
This is one of those novels that I’m genuinely sad to read it’s ending. I legitimately miss these characters the moment I’m done with the last page.
I absolutely loved this one and was not ready to say goodbye to these characters. I almost wish that I would’ve come to this series when all the books are out so that I could just continue to live in this world, with these characters for a long, long time. Alas, I’ll have to wait until number three comes out. Soon? Please, soon. I hope.
I love books with a found family aspect, this one does it well - the family even expands here in the second novel.
The witty banter between Rune and Brand is amazing, I laughed out loud during multiple scenes. I absolutely love the relationship between the two of them - it’s reminiscent of Darrow and Sevro, Royce and Hadrian, Wax and Wayne. Those relationships that are closer than brothers, but not romantic in nature. They’re one of my favorite things to read about.. and this series just became one of my absolute favorites on that count. I adore the side characters as well. Max and Quinn are just amazing and so lovable.
The plot of this one was even more jam packed with action than the first. We got some more worldbuildling as well, which was nice. It’s such an utterly fascinating and unique world that the author has come up with. I could spend dozens of books here and still want more.
This is one of those novels that I’m genuinely sad to read it’s ending. I legitimately miss these characters the moment I’m done with the last page.
I absolutely loved this one and was not ready to say goodbye to these characters. I almost wish that I would’ve come to this series when all the books are out so that I could just continue to live in this world, with these characters for a long, long time. Alas, I’ll have to wait until number three comes out. Soon? Please, soon. I hope.
M. Gregs4.0 out of 5 stars
Love, Thy Name is The Tarot Sequence
Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2021
I can count on one hand the number of series I've read where the second book is just as good as the first book.
I can count on one finger the number of series I've read where the second book is better than the first book.
(Spoiler alert: It's this; this is the series.)
I didn't write a proper review for The Last Sun for various reasons, but I think it's important I begin this review by noting that a) I loved The Last Sun, but b) it was certainly not without its flaws. The really frickin' amazing thing about The Hanged Man is that it took everything good and special about The Last Sun and magnified it by fixing the initial book's issues. So what we get, for once, is a second book that is really, really satisfying.
What follows is a brief compendium of all of the things I love about this book:
--Fully-developed characters. I tend to dislike FPPOV because a lot of authors don't seem to do a good job of fleshing out characters if we're not in their heads. Not the case here. Rune is a richly-drawn character (and, tbh, it's fun to be in his head), but so is Brand. So is Addam. So is Quinn. So is The Tower. And Max. And on and on and on. We don't lose anything by being in Rune's head all the time. He makes observations and assumptions about the other characters that sometimes turn out to be true and sometimes turn out to be false. We learn about the other characters along with him, and instead of being limiting, it actually makes us feel like we're meeting real people. Every character is unique, but every character is also real. And damn, I do love me a good character-driven story.
--Relationships ???? that ???? make ???? sense ????????????. Brand and Rune's relationship is obviously front and center, and the thing I love most about these two is that they don't hold anything back from each other. They love each other, they have each other's backs, and they support each other in everything. (And the banter!) Would that we all had relationships like that in our lives. But listen: I will straight cut anyone who tries to convince me that Addam and Rune don't belong together. I get that Rune strongly believes them not to be tallas, and that's fine. Even Addam accepts that by the end of this book. But Addam is so good and so pure and... oh god as I'm writing this I realize that we may actually be getting set up for some horrible scenario in which Addam is actually a villain because how can anyone really be this good??? Ignoring this possibility for now, it's sufficient to say that all of the relationships in this book have depth, nuance, and value. Characters' actions make sense when contextualized within their relationships with one another. Sure, there's magic and shit, but everything that happens feels plausible. (I can't describe all the relationships here or it would take me... an entire two-book series, apparently... but also points for Rune/Tower, Max/Quinn, Ciaran/Quinn, Anna/Corrine, Rune/Brand/Quinn/Max, Addam/Quinn... f*ck, just everyone who interacts at any point, okay?)
--Tarot. I love tarot. I'm not good at it, but I love it. And the few times that I pulled back from the plot to try and look for meaning in the arcana allusions were really satisfying. Having at least a surface-level understanding of Tarot also raises questions about some character motivations (Lord Tower... looking at you), and it'll be interesting to see where those go. Also curious about poor Lord Star.
--The plot. Essential, right? But now we're getting into things that I think improved from book 1 to book 2. I enjoyed the plot of The Last Sun but the pacing didn't always feel right. If I had to summarize my issues with book 1's narrative structure, I would say that there was too much action and not enough reflection. It felt like we were being pulled from battle to battle without time to breathe. There was a lot of breathing room in The Hanged Man, and it is in those quiet spaces that the plot coalesces. To be clear, the book is not without action; however, this action has more meaning because characters have time to reflect on real and potential losses as well as the consequences of their decisions. The hunt for the Hanged Man is a good premise to drive the action, but it also serves as a good backdrop for the more important work of character-, relationship-, and world-building.
--Expanded cast of characters. The characters introduced in The Last Sun were all great, which, of course, why else would I be here? But they were also all white dudes. Mostly. It didn't really bug me that much as I was reading, but in a world that's so liberal in its approach to love, relationships, and gender identity, it did, on reflection, feel really strange to not have any characters of color, or any female-identifying leads. Both of these issues are rectified in The Hanged Man, and the book is stronger and more plausible for it. I'm looking forward to seeing these newer characters develop more as the series expands.
--World-buildling. The world established in The Last Sun is certainly unique, but similar to my earlier point, I felt like I was just beginning to sort out the political structure, magical structure, and history of New Atlantis when the book ended. There was so much going on that it was difficult to keep the rules of sigil magic and aspects and companions and tallas and everything else straight. In The Hanged Man information is portioned out more carefully and deliberately, and Rune often provides helpful asides as he digests information himself. I have a much better understanding of the Tarot Sequence world, now, and I'm confident the world will continue to layer and deepen as more books are released.
As I sit here and reflect, it occurs to me that this book is really a 4.5-star read. I loved so much about it, and am so, so looking forward to book 3. I think the only thing holding me back from giving this book a 5-star rating is the one issue that wasn't completely resolved from book 1 to book 2: the editing. I'm such a nitpicking ass, I know, and, to be fair, the editing did improve. But there were still some glaring places where information or explanations were repeated for no reason (off the top of my head, I think the role of Principalities was explained twice, for instance), words were misused or misspelled, and scenes could/should have been edited for clarity. And I do get that this is a totally badass self-pub and absolutely respect that. But sometimes the editing issues pulled me out of the story rather jarringly. Probably not everyone will even notice or care. But, as I said--*points at self*--nitpicking ass. (Also, I fully expect this review to fall victim to Muphry's Law, so please know that I am cringe-laughing along with you as you catch my own grammatical errors.)
Anyway, this is my new "rec to anyone with eyes or ears" series. A dream of mine is that this series gets all the attention and popularity it rightly deserves, and someday soon we get foiled-cover, stenciled-edged, hardback collectors editions of these babies. Until then, I'm off to buy the paperback versions to do my part to boost the signal.
I can count on one finger the number of series I've read where the second book is better than the first book.
(Spoiler alert: It's this; this is the series.)
I didn't write a proper review for The Last Sun for various reasons, but I think it's important I begin this review by noting that a) I loved The Last Sun, but b) it was certainly not without its flaws. The really frickin' amazing thing about The Hanged Man is that it took everything good and special about The Last Sun and magnified it by fixing the initial book's issues. So what we get, for once, is a second book that is really, really satisfying.
What follows is a brief compendium of all of the things I love about this book:
--Fully-developed characters. I tend to dislike FPPOV because a lot of authors don't seem to do a good job of fleshing out characters if we're not in their heads. Not the case here. Rune is a richly-drawn character (and, tbh, it's fun to be in his head), but so is Brand. So is Addam. So is Quinn. So is The Tower. And Max. And on and on and on. We don't lose anything by being in Rune's head all the time. He makes observations and assumptions about the other characters that sometimes turn out to be true and sometimes turn out to be false. We learn about the other characters along with him, and instead of being limiting, it actually makes us feel like we're meeting real people. Every character is unique, but every character is also real. And damn, I do love me a good character-driven story.
--Relationships ???? that ???? make ???? sense ????????????. Brand and Rune's relationship is obviously front and center, and the thing I love most about these two is that they don't hold anything back from each other. They love each other, they have each other's backs, and they support each other in everything. (And the banter!) Would that we all had relationships like that in our lives. But listen: I will straight cut anyone who tries to convince me that Addam and Rune don't belong together. I get that Rune strongly believes them not to be tallas, and that's fine. Even Addam accepts that by the end of this book. But Addam is so good and so pure and... oh god as I'm writing this I realize that we may actually be getting set up for some horrible scenario in which Addam is actually a villain because how can anyone really be this good??? Ignoring this possibility for now, it's sufficient to say that all of the relationships in this book have depth, nuance, and value. Characters' actions make sense when contextualized within their relationships with one another. Sure, there's magic and shit, but everything that happens feels plausible. (I can't describe all the relationships here or it would take me... an entire two-book series, apparently... but also points for Rune/Tower, Max/Quinn, Ciaran/Quinn, Anna/Corrine, Rune/Brand/Quinn/Max, Addam/Quinn... f*ck, just everyone who interacts at any point, okay?)
--Tarot. I love tarot. I'm not good at it, but I love it. And the few times that I pulled back from the plot to try and look for meaning in the arcana allusions were really satisfying. Having at least a surface-level understanding of Tarot also raises questions about some character motivations (Lord Tower... looking at you), and it'll be interesting to see where those go. Also curious about poor Lord Star.
--The plot. Essential, right? But now we're getting into things that I think improved from book 1 to book 2. I enjoyed the plot of The Last Sun but the pacing didn't always feel right. If I had to summarize my issues with book 1's narrative structure, I would say that there was too much action and not enough reflection. It felt like we were being pulled from battle to battle without time to breathe. There was a lot of breathing room in The Hanged Man, and it is in those quiet spaces that the plot coalesces. To be clear, the book is not without action; however, this action has more meaning because characters have time to reflect on real and potential losses as well as the consequences of their decisions. The hunt for the Hanged Man is a good premise to drive the action, but it also serves as a good backdrop for the more important work of character-, relationship-, and world-building.
--Expanded cast of characters. The characters introduced in The Last Sun were all great, which, of course, why else would I be here? But they were also all white dudes. Mostly. It didn't really bug me that much as I was reading, but in a world that's so liberal in its approach to love, relationships, and gender identity, it did, on reflection, feel really strange to not have any characters of color, or any female-identifying leads. Both of these issues are rectified in The Hanged Man, and the book is stronger and more plausible for it. I'm looking forward to seeing these newer characters develop more as the series expands.
--World-buildling. The world established in The Last Sun is certainly unique, but similar to my earlier point, I felt like I was just beginning to sort out the political structure, magical structure, and history of New Atlantis when the book ended. There was so much going on that it was difficult to keep the rules of sigil magic and aspects and companions and tallas and everything else straight. In The Hanged Man information is portioned out more carefully and deliberately, and Rune often provides helpful asides as he digests information himself. I have a much better understanding of the Tarot Sequence world, now, and I'm confident the world will continue to layer and deepen as more books are released.
As I sit here and reflect, it occurs to me that this book is really a 4.5-star read. I loved so much about it, and am so, so looking forward to book 3. I think the only thing holding me back from giving this book a 5-star rating is the one issue that wasn't completely resolved from book 1 to book 2: the editing. I'm such a nitpicking ass, I know, and, to be fair, the editing did improve. But there were still some glaring places where information or explanations were repeated for no reason (off the top of my head, I think the role of Principalities was explained twice, for instance), words were misused or misspelled, and scenes could/should have been edited for clarity. And I do get that this is a totally badass self-pub and absolutely respect that. But sometimes the editing issues pulled me out of the story rather jarringly. Probably not everyone will even notice or care. But, as I said--*points at self*--nitpicking ass. (Also, I fully expect this review to fall victim to Muphry's Law, so please know that I am cringe-laughing along with you as you catch my own grammatical errors.)
Anyway, this is my new "rec to anyone with eyes or ears" series. A dream of mine is that this series gets all the attention and popularity it rightly deserves, and someday soon we get foiled-cover, stenciled-edged, hardback collectors editions of these babies. Until then, I'm off to buy the paperback versions to do my part to boost the signal.