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deepakchecks's review against another edition
3.0
A bit long-winded and meandering for my taste, but still an epic story with interesting world building and mythical characters.
The world is a place where humans can transform to animals, and tribes are formed on the basis of the animals that one can Step to. There are hybrids as well, humans who have the ability to Step to more than one animal forms. The plot follows Maniye, the daughter of wolf-chief and tiger-queen, living under the shadows of the wolf-tribe, how she becomes an outcast in her quest to find her presumed-deceased mother's tribe and how she forms friendship and acquaintances with other creatures of the world.
There weren't many surprises in store for me. The lone wolf Broken Axe as a symbol of resistance, the dragon-Champion Asamander initially deceiving Manye but ultimately helping her out, the villain Akrit - all felt familiar, and there were no real cliffhangers to sustain tension. Despite this, the book succeeds with its sprawling tale and interesting characters.
* And nobody would spend two nights in one place.
Also no bad thing. Roots are for trees
The world is a place where humans can transform to animals, and tribes are formed on the basis of the animals that one can Step to. There are hybrids as well, humans who have the ability to Step to more than one animal forms. The plot follows Maniye, the daughter of wolf-chief and tiger-queen, living under the shadows of the wolf-tribe, how she becomes an outcast in her quest to find her presumed-deceased mother's tribe and how she forms friendship and acquaintances with other creatures of the world.
There weren't many surprises in store for me. The lone wolf Broken Axe as a symbol of resistance, the dragon-Champion Asamander initially deceiving Manye but ultimately helping her out, the villain Akrit - all felt familiar, and there were no real cliffhangers to sustain tension. Despite this, the book succeeds with its sprawling tale and interesting characters.
* And nobody would spend two nights in one place.
Also no bad thing. Roots are for trees
dominish_books's review against another edition
4.0
I quite enjoyed this one, as is my general stance with an Adrian Tchaikovsky title. It was a good book overall, and although it was maybe a little slow-going in places, I did like the overall idea of it.
We essentially have a world of shapeshifters here and different clans have different “totem” animals. The main character is from the clan of the wolf and all her clansfolk can transform into wolves. Her mother was from the clan of the tiger however, and so she has a dual bloodline that leads to a lot of conflict, a lot of politicking, as people try to use her to take control of the clans and control of the land as a whole.
This is all very well done, and the writing is excellent, as I’ve come to expect from Tchaikovsky, but it didn’t quite reach the heights I wanted it to, even if the starting blocks are definitely there.
We essentially have a world of shapeshifters here and different clans have different “totem” animals. The main character is from the clan of the wolf and all her clansfolk can transform into wolves. Her mother was from the clan of the tiger however, and so she has a dual bloodline that leads to a lot of conflict, a lot of politicking, as people try to use her to take control of the clans and control of the land as a whole.
This is all very well done, and the writing is excellent, as I’ve come to expect from Tchaikovsky, but it didn’t quite reach the heights I wanted it to, even if the starting blocks are definitely there.
imanreads's review against another edition
2.0
The pace didnt really pick up until the last 150 pages. It was an okay story, but I had figured out the 3 twists before they were revealed so when they happened, I was left a little disappointed. I might read the sequels down the line, but not right now.
claire_michelle18's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this but I didn't love it. I'm not quite sure why - the concept of a kind of iron/bronze age tribal world of conflicting clans of shape-shifters is a great one and Maniye's fight for independence is interesting. But it just didn't pull me in somehow
iono's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Torture, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Infertility, and Cannibalism
Minor: Slavery, War, Sexism, and Bullying
lib_britannia's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
readingfoxling's review against another edition
4.0
While I felt the story was slow to start, the premise interested me enough to keep going, and I'm glad I did. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, but it's an enjoyable book with lots of animals (which is always good as far as I'm concerned) and two characters that really stand out to me: Hesprec and Broken Axe. I'm definitely tempted to move on to volume two :)
snabigail's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
jenniferduann's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
travelgirlut's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars. This book was slow going at the beginning. And cold. Everything about this book was cold. It takes place in the winter and all everyone does is run around in the snow. Brr. And there's lots of running, chasing, fleeing, etc. The second half of the book goes much quicker than the first. The action definitely picks up. Much more standing and fighting rather than running. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.