You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
Six or seven stars for worldbuilding, one for plotting, two for characters.
I wanted to like this book way more than I ended up liking it. I've heard from many people I trust when it comes to fantasy that this is one of the gold standards of fantasy storytelling and I just don't see it. The world building is great. I would love to play a story set in this world, or watch something set in this world, but the book seemed to be trying to do too much of that building and not enough of the telling of the story. It reminds me of reading Greek mythology--the stories each give a piece of the world, but they are all separate from each other and give a sense of the world as a whole rather than a cohesive story that I could enjoy from beginning to end.
I don't know...I usually look past that kind of thing when reading a good world. I guess I just wasn't in the mood to spend that much energy parsing the place without the story. I know I will return to Kharkanas someday, but that day will not be today. Or tomorrow. I need lighter fare for now. Like Neal Stephenson or something like that. Come here, Termination Shock!
I wanted to like this book way more than I ended up liking it. I've heard from many people I trust when it comes to fantasy that this is one of the gold standards of fantasy storytelling and I just don't see it. The world building is great. I would love to play a story set in this world, or watch something set in this world, but the book seemed to be trying to do too much of that building and not enough of the telling of the story. It reminds me of reading Greek mythology--the stories each give a piece of the world, but they are all separate from each other and give a sense of the world as a whole rather than a cohesive story that I could enjoy from beginning to end.
I don't know...I usually look past that kind of thing when reading a good world. I guess I just wasn't in the mood to spend that much energy parsing the place without the story. I know I will return to Kharkanas someday, but that day will not be today. Or tomorrow. I need lighter fare for now. Like Neal Stephenson or something like that. Come here, Termination Shock!
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
This one is hard for me to rate. I love the world building here. I love the different races and the political and cultural backgrounds. Some of the characters are pretty good too...but there are 84 Dramatis Personae. Which brings me to the things I didn't like about the book.
This tale hops all over the place. In one chapter it can switch perspectives a half a dozen times or more and they aren't connected beyond being characters that exist in the world that Mr. Erickson has created. I don't mind multiple threads and having to figure out roles and plots on my own as the reader, but this almost came across as a parody of parallel narratives.
And as some people mentioned there are a lot of rambling philosophical points. Some of these worked for me and others didn't. The worst though were the rambling internal monologues, that were thankfully designated by italics, which I then used as my cue to skip to the end of said rambling monologue. Sanderson's Light of Archive books are long, but I don't skim/skip sections, so it says something that I wasn't willing to spend the time on these.
Why 4 stars then? I believed in this story and the events unfolding. I mean this was a well crafted tale inside a well crafted world. If you could get over the ADD manner of presentation, this was top notch. I feel like a heavy handed editor would have been useful in this case: "Look Steve, I need you to make 3 parallel threads instead of 84 and cut out the rambling monologues". At any rate, it is a well wrought alternate world, a la Frank Herbert, and while it might be closer to 3.5 stars I do want to give this tale its due.
Will I continue on with the next 30 books though...probably not.
This tale hops all over the place. In one chapter it can switch perspectives a half a dozen times or more and they aren't connected beyond being characters that exist in the world that Mr. Erickson has created. I don't mind multiple threads and having to figure out roles and plots on my own as the reader, but this almost came across as a parody of parallel narratives.
And as some people mentioned there are a lot of rambling philosophical points. Some of these worked for me and others didn't. The worst though were the rambling internal monologues, that were thankfully designated by italics, which I then used as my cue to skip to the end of said rambling monologue. Sanderson's Light of Archive books are long, but I don't skim/skip sections, so it says something that I wasn't willing to spend the time on these.
Why 4 stars then? I believed in this story and the events unfolding. I mean this was a well crafted tale inside a well crafted world. If you could get over the ADD manner of presentation, this was top notch. I feel like a heavy handed editor would have been useful in this case: "Look Steve, I need you to make 3 parallel threads instead of 84 and cut out the rambling monologues". At any rate, it is a well wrought alternate world, a la Frank Herbert, and while it might be closer to 3.5 stars I do want to give this tale its due.
Will I continue on with the next 30 books though...probably not.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
sad
slow-paced
This book may cut extra-deep for people who work in law and justice, public service, or child protection. The prose and the story formulation are excellent, just maybe a little too excellent. Read with caution.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
this shit felt shakespearean man i can't explain it. thank you steven erikson