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Rating: 
Summary: Solid fantasy adventure
Review: After overthrowing the corrupt Minotaur King Chot, usurper King Hotak forges an alliance with the ogres and sets off on a war of conquest against the elves. With the help of his evil wife, a priestess of a death-cult, Hotak has eliminated much of the opposition but a few bands of rebels remain. While his daughter serves in the war against the elves, Hotak trusts his younger son and heir to the task of wiping out resistance. His older son, Ardnor, serves his mother and secretly hates both his father and his brother for failing to make him heir.
As part of his alliance with the ogres, Hotak handed over minotaur prisoners to work in the ogre mines. Faros, an escapee from one of those mines, decides to strike back. Despite himself, he begins to gather a group of followers, other minotaurs and others, who share his hatred for the ogre overlords. Meanwhile, the rebellion is slowly being crushed, and the elf forests, long protected by a magic shield, suddenly becomes vulnerable.
TIDES OF BLOOD is largely the story of Faros. Made cynical by captivity first by his fellow minotaurs and then by the ogres, Faros doesn't want to trust anyone and certainly doesn't want responsibility. Yet responsibility is thrust on his shoulders as he becomes the one being who can stand against the ogres and their oppression. Author Richard A. Knaak makes Faros's attitude sympathetic, if frustrating.
In NIGHT OF BLOOD (see our review), the earlier novel in the series, Hotak made a powerful and sympathetic figure. By now, Hotak retreats to a more minor and less emotionally compelling role. Similarly, the rebels who played an important part in NIGHT are now largely on the run.
Knaak's writing is strong enough to sustain reader interest but I found TIDES less compelling than the excellent NIGHT. As the middle book in a series, TIDES suffers from having to pick up--and end--the story in the middle. Although weaker than NIGHT, the book grabbed my interest and hooked me. The ending serves as an exciting hook for the final novel in the trilogy--I can hardly wait.
Rating: 
Summary: AWesome, I've always likes Minotaurs
Review: Awesome book, Knaak is a very great author, one of my favorites. WoS and the MW come together in this novel, explaining that take over of Silvanesti. Besides that, the rebellion against Hotak grows, with some unexpected deaths, new characters, treachery (sp), and new alliances. I loved this book and cant wait for Empire of Blood to come out. Props on this series Knaak
Rating:
Summary: AWesome, I've always likes Minotaurs
Review: Awesome book, Knaak is a very great author, one of my favorites. WoS and the MW come together in this novel, explaining that take over of Silvanesti. Besides that, the rebellion against Hotak grows, with some unexpected deaths, new characters, treachery (sp), and new alliances. I loved this book and cant wait for Empire of Blood to come out. Props on this series Knaak
Rating:
Summary: Starts Interweaving the Series
Review: This books is the second in the Minotaur Wars series and to me was a way to finally start bringing this trilogy into the Dragonlance setting. If you haven't read the War of Souls Trilogy, then you need to to understand some of what is going on in the rest of Ansalon especially with regards to how Mina's war is interweaved with the war that the Minotaurs are undertaking with the Ogres. In addition, this book continues on with the stories of the rebellion against Hotak. Though it tries to build up the rebellion, I often felt at a lost where the story was going, maybe because this is the 2nd book in the trilogy. Also, we get more in tune with what the Forerunners actually are and where their power comes from, which is very interesting when you think to the War of Souls Trilogy (though the ending of this novel is really kind of a good setup for the end of the trilogy from several standpoints as now we are getting to a point that everyone, especially followers of the series, is going into unknown waters). All in all, this is a great book for fans of the series and Dragonlance as a whole. If you are a casual reader, then you might get bored at points as the story seems to drag or not be as interesting as it could have been. If you like hardcovers, go for it (I do and did!), but if you don't, wait for the paperback (trust me, nothing so crucial happens that you need to buy it this second).
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