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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
My God, what a slog. The prose is wonderful but ... nothing of interest happens. I got tired of reading page after page of people's thoughts on psychology, philosophy, and politics. And because there are far too many characters, I didn't care about any one of them. I was constantly confused about who was who. Most characters don't get more than a few dozen pages in the book. DNF at page 450.
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I'm a sucker for all these Erickson/Malazan books. This one filled in nice "origin" gaps for the earlier (but continuity-based later) 10 malazan books. Some brutal scenes, but over all, to much fluff in this one. Only read it IF you've read (& loved) ALL the malazan books.
Not a bad read. Got through it in a couple of days. I have nothing specifically bad or negative to say about it, but also nothing great or positive. But I gave it to my lab partner who is more into this type of fantasy and I think he will enjoy it!
I haven't read anything by Erikson before and didn't realize this was the prequel series. The world-building here is impressive, and I really felt immersed in Erikson's universe. Unfortunately, that universe was nasty, brutish, and... not at all short, to paraphrase Hobbes. He introduces so many characters across so many settings, which can be great except very few of them have distinct personalities. Everyone philosophizes on the same themes of violence and war and death and the meaninglessness of life while graphic descriptions of said violence and death and meaninglessness abound. It was bleak, and felt gratuitously so. While the plot did pull me along and I do want to know how certain storylines resolve, I don't think I'll pick up another Erikson book for a while. Melancholy bleakness punctuated by brutal flashes of gore for over 600 pages was enough for me.
adventurous
dark
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Disappointing. Some typically great characters but this time the payoff wasn't worth all the philosophizing.