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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Truly excellent world building and some unique ideas, though the plot was a tad predictable in places and the insistence on shrouding Asmander's exact problems in mystery was frustrating in places. Could probably have been a shorter volume with less repetition -- as Maniye herself hangs a lampshade on it, she spends a lot of time running! -- though I didn't mind the length.
Not going to be dashing out for sequel, but glad I read this all the same: wolves, tigers and DINOSAURS all in the same book was always going to be worth checking out.
Reminded me a little of the realm of Death in Garth Nix's Old Kingdom books when Maniye visits the Godsland, had touches of Tamora Pierce elsewhere (always a good thing!) and some similarities with that stone age wolf-boy book whose title I can't remember.
Refreshing lack of shoe-horned-in romance subplot too.
Not going to be dashing out for sequel, but glad I read this all the same: wolves, tigers and DINOSAURS all in the same book was always going to be worth checking out.
Reminded me a little of the realm of Death in Garth Nix's Old Kingdom books when Maniye visits the Godsland, had touches of Tamora Pierce elsewhere (always a good thing!) and some similarities with that stone age wolf-boy book whose title I can't remember.
Refreshing lack of shoe-horned-in romance subplot too.
adventurous
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-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
Again, the first half was intriguing. I wasn't sure where the story would go. But after the half way point it started to lag and I was wishing it to end already. Interesting concepts but the execution is not something I liked, which happens a lot to me :'(
I enjoyed it a lot, at first for the well-done classic quest beginning and then I really enjoyed the twists and the characters.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a very competent story--good magic system, good character arcs, and sufficiently rich foreshadowing world building and history that there is definitely room for a nice long series. But the main character, Maniye, had a very frustrating character arc. Almost everyone else (Shyri's contribution to the plot is really unclear; why is she even there?) clearly has a goal in mind: Asmander to find the Iron Wolves and bring them back to the political machinations of his homeland; Venater to be free; Broken Axe to do the right thing; Hesprec to complete whatever unclear spiritual mission on behalf of the Serpent that brought him into the north.
But Maniye doesn't want anything in particular, except to get away from her father. A book whose main character spends all her time running away rather than running towards a goal lacks direction. And, indeed, there were only two ways the plot could develop: either she's captured and gets free, or else she's free and gets captured. And so the plot events she participates in flip-flop between those two types of events in a repetitive way. Only when she starts looking for a solution to the two-fighting-souls problem did her story pick up, and that doesn't happen until much too close to the end.
But Maniye doesn't want anything in particular, except to get away from her father. A book whose main character spends all her time running away rather than running towards a goal lacks direction. And, indeed, there were only two ways the plot could develop: either she's captured and gets free, or else she's free and gets captured. And so the plot events she participates in flip-flop between those two types of events in a repetitive way. Only when she starts looking for a solution to the two-fighting-souls problem did her story pick up, and that doesn't happen until much too close to the end.
2.5 stars.
I don't think I was the right audience for this book. If you enjoy countless extended battle scenes described blow by blow, you'll enjoy this. I tend to prefer combat that is linked to character development rather than for the sake of combat.
This is a slow burn book. The first half is a 300 page set up for the last half and is almost entirely characters moving from place to place, sometimes not really getting anywhere, and it had very little direction. From page 300 onward the narrative had a little more structure and vamped up to two different climaxes. The book would be more solid if it were cut to 400-450 pages, take out most of the endless combat (sometimes 5-7 pages of prose) and half the slow first 300 pages, and this could have been a fast paced exciting character driven narrative. As it is, it feels bloated and bogged down with too many events but not much happening.
This book just was not for me, but I can see how someone else could have really enjoyed it. It reads as a relatively satisfying stand alone, I don't feel an urge to read on, but leaves enough open to continue with a new narrative arc.
I don't think I was the right audience for this book. If you enjoy countless extended battle scenes described blow by blow, you'll enjoy this. I tend to prefer combat that is linked to character development rather than for the sake of combat.
This is a slow burn book. The first half is a 300 page set up for the last half and is almost entirely characters moving from place to place, sometimes not really getting anywhere, and it had very little direction. From page 300 onward the narrative had a little more structure and vamped up to two different climaxes. The book would be more solid if it were cut to 400-450 pages, take out most of the endless combat (sometimes 5-7 pages of prose) and half the slow first 300 pages, and this could have been a fast paced exciting character driven narrative. As it is, it feels bloated and bogged down with too many events but not much happening.
This book just was not for me, but I can see how someone else could have really enjoyed it. It reads as a relatively satisfying stand alone, I don't feel an urge to read on, but leaves enough open to continue with a new narrative arc.