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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
Could not get past the blatant rip off of Name of the Wind—and I was looking forward to reading a book that was similar! This isn’t similar. This copies things down to the language used. So disappointed. Maybe sometime in the future I’ll give it another chance, but I’m not sure it deserves it.
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is what epic fantasy is all about. I love the storytelling mechanism that allows us to see what let Ari to who he is today, while also continuing to develop his character and show what is plaguing the world at the present. There is not a dull moment as Ari likes to get into shenanigans all of the time. The story really picks up quite a bit when Air makes it to the Asharam and begins to learn about he bindings, but even prior to that there is a lot of action and development packed into the first half of the book that shows why Ari is who he is in the present time.
The First Binding by R.R. Virdi was our official March buddy read. Most if not all of us had some high hopes coming into this one. I know at least one of the group had a chance to read this already last year and even he was excited to give it another go but with the audiobook version this time. I opted for a visual read myself. I may have even bent and encouraged others to bend the rules of not starting until 3/1 on this. In my defense I wanted to make sure I could finish this relatively thick book by the 14th. And as I stated in our buddy read discord it was 3/1 already somewhere in the world when I started!
I'll start this review off just saying I thoroughly enjoyed this read. It was a thick book but it never felt overwhelming to me even knowing I had a deadline to finish it. I loved the story inception of this book. We basically have a Storyteller, telling us stories which in essence are flashbacks as they are being told. We do have a bit of time hopping to keep up with but I didn't have any issue with this while visually reading. I'd be interested to see how the narrator does with this in the audiobook version. I also feel that having these time hops helped me not get annoyed with the young characters in the book which if you follow along with my reads, I do struggle with at times. The fact we start with the Storyteller then go back and forth from there worked great for me!
The character development worked well for me in The First Binding. I think the only wrinkle some may have is the previously mentioned time jumping. We find the Storyteller as an adult and he eventually begins to tell his story from a child. As long as you can keep up and enjoy the time hops I think the development works well. We also have a lot of supporting characters enter this story throughout simply because we are learning someone's past working closer to present day.
The pacing also was done well. There are certainly plenty of ebb and flow moments in a book over 800 pages long. But I never felt any kind of slog through parts. I thought we had some solid buildup to moments that were delivered on point.
The world building I felt is where this book truly shined for me. The world that R.R. Virdi is putting together is just wonderful! From the introductions to gods and monsters to the magic of the bindings, we have a vast world unfolding before us. We have stories taking place on the streets of a larger city, adventures across the realm and some time spent at a Temple or School. All of these experiences are drastically different from each other but still connected in ways to our characters and story.
I loved all the different twists and turns so far in this story. We are definitely left with our mouths watering with some unanswered questions still. I'd recommend The First Binding to anyone with the time to spend reading a fantastic book a bit on the longer side. It's well worth the time spent on it. With that being said, I know the second book is due out later in 2023 (October the last I heard) so get book one underway so you're ready for book two!
I'll start this review off just saying I thoroughly enjoyed this read. It was a thick book but it never felt overwhelming to me even knowing I had a deadline to finish it. I loved the story inception of this book. We basically have a Storyteller, telling us stories which in essence are flashbacks as they are being told. We do have a bit of time hopping to keep up with but I didn't have any issue with this while visually reading. I'd be interested to see how the narrator does with this in the audiobook version. I also feel that having these time hops helped me not get annoyed with the young characters in the book which if you follow along with my reads, I do struggle with at times. The fact we start with the Storyteller then go back and forth from there worked great for me!
The character development worked well for me in The First Binding. I think the only wrinkle some may have is the previously mentioned time jumping. We find the Storyteller as an adult and he eventually begins to tell his story from a child. As long as you can keep up and enjoy the time hops I think the development works well. We also have a lot of supporting characters enter this story throughout simply because we are learning someone's past working closer to present day.
The pacing also was done well. There are certainly plenty of ebb and flow moments in a book over 800 pages long. But I never felt any kind of slog through parts. I thought we had some solid buildup to moments that were delivered on point.
The world building I felt is where this book truly shined for me. The world that R.R. Virdi is putting together is just wonderful! From the introductions to gods and monsters to the magic of the bindings, we have a vast world unfolding before us. We have stories taking place on the streets of a larger city, adventures across the realm and some time spent at a Temple or School. All of these experiences are drastically different from each other but still connected in ways to our characters and story.
I loved all the different twists and turns so far in this story. We are definitely left with our mouths watering with some unanswered questions still. I'd recommend The First Binding to anyone with the time to spend reading a fantastic book a bit on the longer side. It's well worth the time spent on it. With that being said, I know the second book is due out later in 2023 (October the last I heard) so get book one underway so you're ready for book two!
This may only be a temporary DNF but I’m not sure just yet. I wanted to love this book so much - I own it both physically and as an audiobook - especially after hearing it compared to something like The Name of the Wind. But honestly, this just feels like a less lyrical, shallower version of TNotW. There is another review on here which compared the two point for point and it’s both alarming and disappointing how similar they are in essence, whilst being so dissimilar in execution.
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Was excited to read this, given the synopsis and setting, but was genuinely disappointed by how slow it was. Could have done with being edited down to 400 pages. There are too many passages where nothing interesting happens.