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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
If being immersed in a dense fictional political intrigue is your idea of a good time, you will enjoy this book!
I wasn't sure how to rate this book. It's a nice book, and I really liked Maia's character, but, courtly intrigue is not my cup of tea.
The book follows Maia, a despised half-elf, half-goblin, fourth son of the Emporer of the Elflands. Maia was raised far from court, and had received no training or education of court life at all.
Due to a tragic accident that caused the deaths of Maia's father and older brothers, he, at age 18, finds himself emporer.
Maia is a very likeable character, and I truly felt sorry for his loneliness as he tries to make his way as emporer.
The book follows Maia, a despised half-elf, half-goblin, fourth son of the Emporer of the Elflands. Maia was raised far from court, and had received no training or education of court life at all.
Due to a tragic accident that caused the deaths of Maia's father and older brothers, he, at age 18, finds himself emporer.
Maia is a very likeable character, and I truly felt sorry for his loneliness as he tries to make his way as emporer.
Nice fantasy, politic-y and intrigue book, with good characters and a well built world. Really enjoyed it despite it taking me ages to finish just in one of those reading slumps lol
hopeful
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
Maia, a half goblin/half elf, unexpectedly becomes the emperor of the elves, and this upsets everyone - including Maia.The story is what I'd solidly classify a political fantasy, but with really great character growth. Maia struggles with feeling like an outsider, in more ways than one. He also struggles with his own ignorance, fear, and self-confidence. I loved watching him grow from the beginning of the book, to the end.
The plot was very evenly paced, and nothing was really left hanging unanswered by the end. My only issue was my own stupidity - even at 90% into the book, I was still having to look up who characters were and flip back through the book to remind myself what they meant to Maia. The author developed a sort of convoluted and confusing naming system for characters and places, I assume so we felt as Maia felt in an alien court - but that may just be me.
The plot was very evenly paced, and nothing was really left hanging unanswered by the end. My only issue was my own stupidity - even at 90% into the book, I was still having to look up who characters were and flip back through the book to remind myself what they meant to Maia. The author developed a sort of convoluted and confusing naming system for characters and places, I assume so we felt as Maia felt in an alien court - but that may just be me.
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The first half of this book was just not it. Im not the biggest fan of high fantasy, but I have read my fair share of it, but the names and places and titles in this book were just too much. I read Chinese fantasy stories where everyone has 2 to 3 names and it was far less confusing than this. I spent most of the book just trying to remember who was who (and the guide didn't help much as most descriptions of places or people had another term or name I had to look up, which made me spend like 1p minutes just trying to tie everything together enough to remember who was who)
And the story was just slow. It did build up at the end and get better in the last 5 chapters or so, but most of the book was just meetings and letters and walking around. Even when things did happen, it all felt so anticlimactic.
And the story was just slow. It did build up at the end and get better in the last 5 chapters or so, but most of the book was just meetings and letters and walking around. Even when things did happen, it all felt so anticlimactic.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I love political intrigue and the "intrigue" in this book is just as intolerably shallow as its protagonist. The politics can be summed up as the Good Boi™ trying to be good while nasty people scheme. It's unbelievably superficial and inane. And the characters are all forgettable except for the protagonist (because I'm stuck with him, not because he's interesting) who is the absolute blandest character with some insecurity plopped onto him so he could undergo the most marginal character development by growing more comfortable with his position. But he is just as boring by the end as he is at the start. There is a shocking absence of moral complexity in this book. The only thing I found in any way interesting was Addison's use of "we" as a formal "I" in the English language. That's literally the only thing.
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
mysterious
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
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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
I really liked this book! I love Maia as a character and a lot of the other characters (Csevet, Cala, Csethiro...) as well. This is a very slow book, nothing much happens but I loved all the court politics.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-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