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skiwi's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
chelseaj91's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
While this book was intriguing, it was too long and too slow. Things didn't really pickup about part 3 and at that point (at least for me), the book was mostly over. As a whole, the world building was intriguing, I just felt that there was maybe a little bit too much oversharing? Not sure if that's the right word but the book just felt like it got bogged down a bit with some of the world building.
Overall, Theo was a lot more whiny and mopey than he needed to be. I totally get some of it at the beginning, all things considered. But it went on for too long where he just kept going on about how he was useless and blah, blah, blah. There were a couple points where it seemed like he was trying to give himself a pep talk/kick in the pants but then something would happen and I'd be back to wanting to throttle him. He was also surprisingly dense. Like the number of times he suggested staying at Applecore's place and just...like the man acknowledged a couple of times that she's basically Tinker Bell (and he had trouble picturing how things would work regarding relationships), yet he can't do the math to realize that her place probably wasn't going to be human sized?
Applecore was hilarious. I did roll my eyes a little bit because there were a couple times where she bordered on too much, but as a whole, she was great. I liked that she tried to save Theo a few times and admitted he was her friend. When they first got to Faerie, it was a little frustrating that she kept telling Theo to do things but then didn't seem to understand why he didn't understand the way the world worked. I would be curious to know what she said/did to get him bargained to the nymphs. I might have missed it because I'll admit I skimmed a little but still.
Overall, Theo was a lot more whiny and mopey than he needed to be. I totally get some of it at the beginning, all things considered. But it went on for too long where he just kept going on about how he was useless and blah, blah, blah. There were a couple points where it seemed like he was trying to give himself a pep talk/kick in the pants but then something would happen and I'd be back to wanting to throttle him. He was also surprisingly dense. Like the number of times he suggested staying at Applecore's place and just...like the man acknowledged a couple of times that she's basically Tinker Bell (and he had trouble picturing how things would work regarding relationships), yet he can't do the math to realize that her place probably wasn't going to be human sized?
Applecore was hilarious. I did roll my eyes a little bit because there were a couple times where she bordered on too much, but as a whole, she was great. I liked that she tried to save Theo a few times and admitted he was her friend. When they first got to Faerie, it was a little frustrating that she kept telling Theo to do things but then didn't seem to understand why he didn't understand the way the world worked. I would be curious to know what she said/did to get him bargained to the nymphs. I might have missed it because I'll admit I skimmed a little but still.
The whole thing on Dowd was kind of surprising but honestly pissed me off. Especially because once he revealed what he did to Theo to get back and all the things and he's just like "well they clearly bewitched her and then I f*cked up so I just kept this stone mask!" because that makes everything better. Then at the end when he showed up and was like "yeah, you could think about stopping me but you can't do sh*t about it so ta ta!" and just felt like a letdown. I'm sure that the author was trying to go for some kind of bittersweet "winning isn't always what you think it is" but considering Dowd was the cause of 99% of the issues for Theo, I feel like letting him go was a shitty thing to do.
helenlouise0304's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
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
5.0
theshleester's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
The hat-trick of excellent plot, characters, and wordsmithery.
It's long enough that you get to really explore this world, but it never drags, it stays interesting.
I wasn't sure a satisfying ending was on the cards but you know what, I'm happy.
Off now to read everything else by Tad Williams.
It's long enough that you get to really explore this world, but it never drags, it stays interesting.
I wasn't sure a satisfying ending was on the cards but you know what, I'm happy.
Off now to read everything else by Tad Williams.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Miscarriage, and Cannibalism
qjbrown96's review against another edition
2.0
The only reason I’m giving this book 2 stars instead of 1 is because of how strong the first 200 pages were and the fact that it made me laugh a couple times. Applecore might be one of my favorite female characters of any book but she just couldn’t save this story. It’s about 300 pages too long.
sandygx260's review against another edition
5.0
Yes another book I enjoying reading over and over since new magic creeps free.
spikeanderson1's review against another edition
5.0
His best book, by far. I've read this book several times
tani's review against another edition
3.0
A weaker effort by Tad Williams, though I still enjoyed it enough to read all 800 some pages. The flaws were twofold.
First, pacing. Williams is known for slow pacing, and it was very evident here, to this book's detriment.
Second, characters. Theo is just a pain in the butt. There are some pretty dramatic events that happen in the beginning, and I was actually really into it, interested to see how Theo would grow and learn. And while he does grow, it takes forever, and it's really not quite enough to make the book satisfying. By the end, he's still a bit of a wanker, to be honest. I sincerely had hoped for more.
First, pacing. Williams is known for slow pacing, and it was very evident here, to this book's detriment.
Second, characters. Theo is just a pain in the butt. There are some pretty dramatic events that happen in the beginning, and I was actually really into it, interested to see how Theo would grow and learn. And while he does grow, it takes forever, and it's really not quite enough to make the book satisfying. By the end, he's still a bit of a wanker, to be honest. I sincerely had hoped for more.
elzabetg's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this book. I gave it 4 stars but it really should be 3.5.