Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
A coming of age tale of two boys which, as they lose themselves to events beyond them, they lose me too.
Adored this book, and the full saga. You find yourself getting attached to all the characters unreasonably quick, the story flows effortlessly and never loses its pacing.
This is my favourite epic fantasy book, by a long way. I read this a long time ago, recommended by parents, and it blew me away. I love Pug and Tomas and all of the intricate families. This story has stayed with me for a long time and I often recommend it to others.
Pug did goooood. Really enjoyable read, great characters and fab world building. H’up Arutha.
Long book is long- and extremely slow. It was very difficult for me to really get into this book. Normally I find with books like this there are often parts that I get sucked into, and it eats up several chapters before I know it. However, with this book, these points were few and far between, and often lasted maybe half a chapter.
A big problem I found was the pacing. It was difficult to judge time in these books. I would turn a page, and we'd have skipped to four years in the future. Another couple of pages, and two years have gone by. By the end, I thought we were some twenty years ahead since the beginning of the book, but nope, only nine years had gone by. A second problem I had was that there were so many characters doing different things that were somewhat connected that it was difficult to keep all the plots going and remember what characters were involved where.
Given the difficulty I had with going through this book, it's really set me far back in my reading goal for the year. But hell, knowing me, I might go and read the second book (third?) in the series- it's apparently a lot shorter. Also, given the first edition of this book is some two hundred pages shorter, it's a good indication on how much of this book could have been cut out without effecting the storyline.
A big problem I found was the pacing. It was difficult to judge time in these books. I would turn a page, and we'd have skipped to four years in the future. Another couple of pages, and two years have gone by. By the end, I thought we were some twenty years ahead since the beginning of the book, but nope, only nine years had gone by. A second problem I had was that there were so many characters doing different things that were somewhat connected that it was difficult to keep all the plots going and remember what characters were involved where.
Given the difficulty I had with going through this book, it's really set me far back in my reading goal for the year. But hell, knowing me, I might go and read the second book (third?) in the series- it's apparently a lot shorter. Also, given the first edition of this book is some two hundred pages shorter, it's a good indication on how much of this book could have been cut out without effecting the storyline.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I liked the book, but it didn't exactly grip me. The timescales are vast and the characters change circumstances so often, usually moved about by magic they cannot control. I like my protagonists a little more active in their own stories. But the worldbuilding of Midkemia and Kelewan was absolutely fascinating!
Good book. Raymond’s ability to create such a detailed and expanse world within his books is just bonkers. Loved how the story went between worlds and characters, truly made it impossible to put down as there was rarely a time when the story dulled down enough to bookmark the page.
My gripe with this book is that at times the plot was quite predictable. Raymond also often set up these romantic plots only to almost ruin them with a sort of boy like awkwardness that just felt off and disappointing.
The same boy like censored writing can be said for the battle scenes. Would of liked Raymond to be more descriptive in these as it was honestly a bit boring and vanilla. I often found that I would just skim over them and not miss anything.
I enjoyed how Raymond ties future books into this initial one with introductions of characters and brief insight into the history of the kingdom etc (don’t want to spoil).
My gripe with this book is that at times the plot was quite predictable. Raymond also often set up these romantic plots only to almost ruin them with a sort of boy like awkwardness that just felt off and disappointing.
The same boy like censored writing can be said for the battle scenes. Would of liked Raymond to be more descriptive in these as it was honestly a bit boring and vanilla. I often found that I would just skim over them and not miss anything.
I enjoyed how Raymond ties future books into this initial one with introductions of characters and brief insight into the history of the kingdom etc (don’t want to spoil).