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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
4,5
Mais qu'est ce que j'ai adoré l'univers et le personnage de Ari
Mais qu'est ce que j'ai adoré l'univers et le personnage de Ari
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Self harm
Minor: Animal cruelty, Religious bigotry, Classism
I wasn't vibing at the time. I will retry though
While I usually do not do thorough reviews on here, I feel the need to for this book.
This book was described to me by multiple reviewers as "reminiscent of 'The Name of the Wind.'" However, to be entirely honest, it is more akin to a rip-off of NotW. Since this is an undeniably well-written book, and since NotW is my favorite book of all time, I really enjoyed this, but I have seen several reviewers say that the two books are not THAT similar, and this is objectively false. Here is a list of the absurd amount of similarities between the two (spoiler warning).
- Main character is an orphan
- Loses his "family" at the hands of evil beings that many believe to only be myth
- Vows to learn more about them and destroy them
- Learns arcane arts from a wise older mentor who later dies
- Has to live on the streets
- Taken in by someone who helps out orphaned kids
- Later, goes to magic school
- Makes an enemy of a rich spoiled asshole
- Ends up studying with a very eccentric man who teaches the very thing he most wants to learn
- This man pushes him off a building at one point
- Main character has to do a penance for messing with his rival at school
- Uses a drug to make it appear as though the penance doesn't actually harm him
- Later learns that the people who killed his found family are nearby-ish, drops everything to investigate
- Runs into a friend there seemingly at random
- Has to fight a giant monster that he ends up successfully killing
- Accidentally uses the magic he's been trying to learn for the first time when provoked by his rival at school
- Is promoted to a higher rank as a result and will now study directly underneath the teacher who teaches what he most wants to learn
These things are not necessarily in order, but every single one of them happens in both this book and NotW. TO BE CLEAR, like I said, I enjoyed this book quite a lot. However, when there are THIS many "similarities" between one book and another, it is not fair to brush over them and say "oh, it's reminiscent of this other book." It's clearly more than that.
I'm not trying to attack R.R. Virdi here! I just found it worth mentioning all of this in detail, since I've seen many reviews on here of this book, none of which explain in depth how unreasonably similar it is to NotW. If anyone agrees/disagrees with me here, I'm happy to discuss. Thanks for reading!
-- Dan
This book was described to me by multiple reviewers as "reminiscent of 'The Name of the Wind.'" However, to be entirely honest, it is more akin to a rip-off of NotW. Since this is an undeniably well-written book, and since NotW is my favorite book of all time, I really enjoyed this, but I have seen several reviewers say that the two books are not THAT similar, and this is objectively false. Here is a list of the absurd amount of similarities between the two (spoiler warning).
- Main character is an orphan
- Loses his "family" at the hands of evil beings that many believe to only be myth
- Vows to learn more about them and destroy them
- Learns arcane arts from a wise older mentor who later dies
- Has to live on the streets
- Taken in by someone who helps out orphaned kids
- Later, goes to magic school
- Makes an enemy of a rich spoiled asshole
- Ends up studying with a very eccentric man who teaches the very thing he most wants to learn
- This man pushes him off a building at one point
- Main character has to do a penance for messing with his rival at school
- Uses a drug to make it appear as though the penance doesn't actually harm him
- Later learns that the people who killed his found family are nearby-ish, drops everything to investigate
- Runs into a friend there seemingly at random
- Has to fight a giant monster that he ends up successfully killing
- Accidentally uses the magic he's been trying to learn for the first time when provoked by his rival at school
- Is promoted to a higher rank as a result and will now study directly underneath the teacher who teaches what he most wants to learn
These things are not necessarily in order, but every single one of them happens in both this book and NotW. TO BE CLEAR, like I said, I enjoyed this book quite a lot. However, when there are THIS many "similarities" between one book and another, it is not fair to brush over them and say "oh, it's reminiscent of this other book." It's clearly more than that.
I'm not trying to attack R.R. Virdi here! I just found it worth mentioning all of this in detail, since I've seen many reviews on here of this book, none of which explain in depth how unreasonably similar it is to NotW. If anyone agrees/disagrees with me here, I'm happy to discuss. Thanks for reading!
-- Dan
The lyricism of this book is like sitting next to a warm fire in the winter. It's cozy and inviting, all the gentle things you rarely get from an epic fantasy, and especially from one of this size. Ari is a character that has so many flaws and short-comings and yet is so easy to empathize with. Almost everything that happens in this story is the fault of a child that's suffered and it's heartbreaking to see the (quite literal) road it brings him down. So much so that you can feel Virdi's own pain in the words.
Is it long? Yes. Does it, at times, appear to meander? Yes. But there's so much underneath every word. If you really look, there are things in all those meanderings that point to a greater road ahead. You can see the meta-analysis of storytelling and the shifts stories can have. It's easily to lose yourself in the fables that get told, but if you really think about them, they tell you so much more about what's happening in the frame story--and that's another thing. The frame story is EXCELLENT. Say what you want about the inner story and its similarities to NotW, but no one can convince me that the frame story in TFB isn't much, much more exciting. It feels more like The Wheel of Time there than it does NotW, and that makes it all the better.
I've heard Virdi intends for the Tales of Tremaine to go on well beyond 3 books. It's easy to see, after already getting through 800+ pages, how that will be the case. There's so much here. So much to uncover. So much to love.
Is it long? Yes. Does it, at times, appear to meander? Yes. But there's so much underneath every word. If you really look, there are things in all those meanderings that point to a greater road ahead. You can see the meta-analysis of storytelling and the shifts stories can have. It's easily to lose yourself in the fables that get told, but if you really think about them, they tell you so much more about what's happening in the frame story--and that's another thing. The frame story is EXCELLENT. Say what you want about the inner story and its similarities to NotW, but no one can convince me that the frame story in TFB isn't much, much more exciting. It feels more like The Wheel of Time there than it does NotW, and that makes it all the better.
I've heard Virdi intends for the Tales of Tremaine to go on well beyond 3 books. It's easy to see, after already getting through 800+ pages, how that will be the case. There's so much here. So much to uncover. So much to love.
If you want a reminder of the plot of the Name of the Wind without actually having to re-read it... then this is great
10/10 would recommend for all lovers of fantasy.
This book....*chef's kiss* absolutely beautiful. The prose is lyrical, poetic, and sweeps you along for a journey with Ari, the Storyteller, as he recounts his life.
The framing structure is well done, and R. R. Virdi's world building is woven intricately throughout and is saturated with passion. At times I felt as if the things Ari stated were things I'd known already, even though I was learning as Ari was telling his story. I think it takes great skill by an author to lace details about lore, and the world into a story so it feels familiar very quickly, and Virdi does this wonderfully.
The more we learn with Ari, the more we wonder with an eagerness that propells the story forward. Albeit a slow burn in the beginning, the pacing kicks up once we get to the story within the story and before you know it, you're at the end wanting more.
I can't wait to read what comes next in this series, and I look forward to more from R. R. Virdi.
This book....*chef's kiss* absolutely beautiful. The prose is lyrical, poetic, and sweeps you along for a journey with Ari, the Storyteller, as he recounts his life.
The framing structure is well done, and R. R. Virdi's world building is woven intricately throughout and is saturated with passion. At times I felt as if the things Ari stated were things I'd known already, even though I was learning as Ari was telling his story. I think it takes great skill by an author to lace details about lore, and the world into a story so it feels familiar very quickly, and Virdi does this wonderfully.
The more we learn with Ari, the more we wonder with an eagerness that propells the story forward. Albeit a slow burn in the beginning, the pacing kicks up once we get to the story within the story and before you know it, you're at the end wanting more.
I can't wait to read what comes next in this series, and I look forward to more from R. R. Virdi.
Exhausting in a bad way. Derivative, trope-heavy, repetitive in both writing and theme.
I lost count of how many times the protagonist was described as “too clever”. He reads at all times, and all ages, as an authorial self-insert who is entirely too pleased with his own dialog. He never learns but the framing device allows him to ominously regret - over and over, directly to the reader - how his flaws will one day have consequences… (UGH!!!!!)
Nearly every secondary character falls into one of two categories:
1. Adult Male Plot Advancer (Teachers, Antagonists, or Caravan Drivers) who rues - out loud, repeatedly - how annoyingly clever the protagonist is
2. Stunningly Beautiful Female Peer who takes a sudden liking to the protagonist (despite rueing how annoyingly clever he is!!!)
The protagonist operates in one of two modes at all times: Anointed Genius Savior or Angry Dense Idiot, with no in-between.
The worldbuilding has some merit but also reads as a shallow kitbash of influences from popular fantasy. Not to mention the very direct adaptation of The Name of the Wind’s entire structure and plot.
1.5/5 at best. If the author could get out of his own way, he set up some interesting plot lines and a world with potential.
I lost count of how many times the protagonist was described as “too clever”. He reads at all times, and all ages, as an authorial self-insert who is entirely too pleased with his own dialog. He never learns but the framing device allows him to ominously regret - over and over, directly to the reader - how his flaws will one day have consequences… (UGH!!!!!)
Nearly every secondary character falls into one of two categories:
1. Adult Male Plot Advancer (Teachers, Antagonists, or Caravan Drivers) who rues - out loud, repeatedly - how annoyingly clever the protagonist is
2. Stunningly Beautiful Female Peer who takes a sudden liking to the protagonist (despite rueing how annoyingly clever he is!!!)
The protagonist operates in one of two modes at all times: Anointed Genius Savior or Angry Dense Idiot, with no in-between.
The worldbuilding has some merit but also reads as a shallow kitbash of influences from popular fantasy. Not to mention the very direct adaptation of The Name of the Wind’s entire structure and plot.
1.5/5 at best. If the author could get out of his own way, he set up some interesting plot lines and a world with potential.
3.5/5 very entertaining yet sometimes a little too poetic. I could appreciate the writing style after a while as it fits with the storyteller theme of the various layered stories. Curious for the next book of the series.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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