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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
"By Alma, we are born."
"By Lyra, we are guided."
"By Anwyn, we are returned."
"Beloved sisters, take them home."
Holy War Priests was this ever a fun book to read. It's been a while where I have read something that has magic so front and center, and, I have to say, it entertained the hell out of me this go-around.
I had a real hard time pinning down the whole vibe of this book...part grimdark...part cosmic horror...one hundred percent fantasy. It all clicked together so well and told a story that had me racing through the pages at a breakneck pace. Even with all the grittiness and blood, gore, and horror - there was still this underlying feeling of hope, joy, and humor that took the edge off of everything, perfectly balancing the story.
It was just so damn dark - and yet it had me chuckling to myself as I read through the pages, which is mostly due to the great chemistry of the characters and how they interacted with one another. Soulkeeper has multiple points of view, and every single one of them was a delight to spend time with, and not once did I ever feel like it was time to 'move along.'
Big shout out to Puffy! A 'firekin' creature of flame that very much resembles Calcifer from Howl's Moving Castle. I will kill for Puffy. Do not fuck with Puffy. And Puffy is just one of so, so, many interesting creatures (and/or) monsters that inhabit this book. There is so much whacky shit going on and it just entertains the hell outta ya.
Can you tell I'm excited? well, I am. So I'ma end this here and go jump into book two right now.
"By Lyra, we are guided."
"By Anwyn, we are returned."
"Beloved sisters, take them home."
Holy War Priests was this ever a fun book to read. It's been a while where I have read something that has magic so front and center, and, I have to say, it entertained the hell out of me this go-around.
I had a real hard time pinning down the whole vibe of this book...part grimdark...part cosmic horror...one hundred percent fantasy. It all clicked together so well and told a story that had me racing through the pages at a breakneck pace. Even with all the grittiness and blood, gore, and horror - there was still this underlying feeling of hope, joy, and humor that took the edge off of everything, perfectly balancing the story.
It was just so damn dark - and yet it had me chuckling to myself as I read through the pages, which is mostly due to the great chemistry of the characters and how they interacted with one another. Soulkeeper has multiple points of view, and every single one of them was a delight to spend time with, and not once did I ever feel like it was time to 'move along.'
Big shout out to Puffy! A 'firekin' creature of flame that very much resembles Calcifer from Howl's Moving Castle. I will kill for Puffy. Do not fuck with Puffy. And Puffy is just one of so, so, many interesting creatures (and/or) monsters that inhabit this book. There is so much whacky shit going on and it just entertains the hell outta ya.
Can you tell I'm excited? well, I am. So I'ma end this here and go jump into book two right now.
I really enjoyed this! Fantastic worldbuilding and characters. Excellent!
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The world is amazing! I love the magic system. It made sense and there was a logic to it that made it made sense. I like the brutality of the world and it doesn't hold back when people die.
I struggled with the pacing. The beginning was facinating and learning more about what was now possible now that magic is slowly returing was great. The middle was slow and it was hard to see where the plot was going. There was not a lot of progess being made. The last 100 pages picked up again and pulled me back into the story, ready for book 2.
Another thing I struggled with was some of the fight scenes with Devin. It seemed like he won/survived fights that he should have lost, especially with Janus.
I struggled with the pacing. The beginning was facinating and learning more about what was now possible now that magic is slowly returing was great. The middle was slow and it was hard to see where the plot was going. There was not a lot of progess being made. The last 100 pages picked up again and pulled me back into the story, ready for book 2.
Another thing I struggled with was some of the fight scenes with Devin. It seemed like he won/survived fights that he should have lost, especially with Janus.
First off, amazing worldbuilding and easily digestible writing makes this a good and easy read. Considering i read about 550 pages in one sitting, its either that or I have a problem. Anyhoo.
The Characters
I like Devin, the main character, but his story has been told before. Admittedly, he is a much nicer person than every other 'honor bound 30 something male with a dead wife tragic backstory'. Who is also the greatest swordsman in the land.
Jacaranda's story is not satisfying. At all. It doesn't help that i keep being told she's a badass but never shown she's a badass. Except for that one time she sat on top of a guy to cut his throat I guess? :/ She's implied to be a lethal assassin but never does anything more impressive than every other character in the sfory. She doesn't shine on her own. Devin is better at her than what she's supposedly good at. Tye is better than at at what she is supposedly good at. The magic the other character's have makes her skills irrelevant. Almost nothing she does actually effects the plot. At all. All of twice she was a voice of reason. It very much feels like her only role in the story was to say "soulless exist and now they're getting their souls back" and then to give Devin a romantic interest. A romantic interest who was trafficked and sexually assaulted and exploited and a slave for literal years. She's also not emotionally mature. She can't be, she didn't have emotions a month ago. She also literally falls in love with the first guy she saw after getting emotions. To be fair to Devin he is very nice but that doesn't mean i like it.
Adria and Tommy featured almost equally until the end. Neither impressed me very much. I like Tommy but he has a drinking problem and (almost) none of the stuff he had going on ever happened "on screen". I didn't particularly like Adria. She seemed selfish and cowardly tbh. Letting the world cow her and letting others decide what to do with power she was given. Which made the ending very unsatisfactory for me.
Puffy and Tesmarie were adorable sidekicks. Both were very good at showing how Dragon-sired weren't evil, they were just people. Tes even had some very pure interactions with humans that showed humans aren't evil either, but fear makes you complacent and unwilling to step forward.
The Ending
The ending for me came out of left field. It also didn't answer all my questions, but I suppose thats what books 2 and 3 are for.
I didn't like Adria in the first place so her becoming a Goddess at the end, and the fact that her magic wasn't even related to her chosen field in life was weird. I didn't like it.
Jacaranda getting shot felt ingenuous. It showed Adria's new power and satisfied Tye's story, but felt like 3 steps back for Devin. His story just repeated and he was already a very tropy character to begin with.
Villains
Janis seems like a really cool villain, except he's just a sadist with daddy issues. Whoopie. What an original villain. Truly groundbreaking.
Tye the White was also a sadist... Who just killed for pleasure, same as Janis. Whoopie.
Viciss was only sort of a villain. He's a cosmic force, i can't really fault him for being "above it all". Dude needs to commit to whether or not he's gonna kill Janus though. Don't have magic children if you're gonna act like shit to them and then blame them for having problems.
The Characters
I like Devin, the main character, but his story has been told before. Admittedly, he is a much nicer person than every other 'honor bound 30 something male with a dead wife tragic backstory'. Who is also the greatest swordsman in the land.
Jacaranda's story is not satisfying. At all. It doesn't help that i keep being told she's a badass but never shown she's a badass. Except for that one time she sat on top of a guy to cut his throat I guess? :/ She's implied to be a lethal assassin but never does anything more impressive than every other character in the sfory. She doesn't shine on her own. Devin is better at her than what she's supposedly good at. Tye is better than at at what she is supposedly good at. The magic the other character's have makes her skills irrelevant. Almost nothing she does actually effects the plot. At all. All of twice she was a voice of reason. It very much feels like her only role in the story was to say "soulless exist and now they're getting their souls back" and then to give Devin a romantic interest. A romantic interest who was trafficked and sexually assaulted and exploited and a slave for literal years. She's also not emotionally mature. She can't be, she didn't have emotions a month ago. She also literally falls in love with the first guy she saw after getting emotions. To be fair to Devin he is very nice but that doesn't mean i like it.
Adria and Tommy featured almost equally until the end. Neither impressed me very much. I like Tommy but he has a drinking problem and (almost) none of the stuff he had going on ever happened "on screen". I didn't particularly like Adria. She seemed selfish and cowardly tbh. Letting the world cow her and letting others decide what to do with power she was given. Which made the ending very unsatisfactory for me.
Puffy and Tesmarie were adorable sidekicks. Both were very good at showing how Dragon-sired weren't evil, they were just people. Tes even had some very pure interactions with humans that showed humans aren't evil either, but fear makes you complacent and unwilling to step forward.
The Ending
The ending for me came out of left field. It also didn't answer all my questions, but I suppose thats what books 2 and 3 are for.
I didn't like Adria in the first place so her becoming a Goddess at the end, and the fact that her magic wasn't even related to her chosen field in life was weird. I didn't like it.
Jacaranda getting shot felt ingenuous. It showed Adria's new power and satisfied Tye's story, but felt like 3 steps back for Devin. His story just repeated and he was already a very tropy character to begin with.
Villains
Janis seems like a really cool villain, except he's just a sadist with daddy issues. Whoopie. What an original villain. Truly groundbreaking.
Tye the White was also a sadist... Who just killed for pleasure, same as Janis. Whoopie.
Viciss was only sort of a villain. He's a cosmic force, i can't really fault him for being "above it all". Dude needs to commit to whether or not he's gonna kill Janus though. Don't have magic children if you're gonna act like shit to them and then blame them for having problems.
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDD
What the SHIT why did no one tell me sooner this book was so good!!! I am DYING ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmyGOD
Okay this review is going to be pretty incoherent because I literally JUST finished and am still in shock from everything that happened. I might rewrite it later on but oh my GOD it was so good! Ahhhh I wish I had the rest of the series already so I could read it right away!
The characters were amazing and relatable and real, the worldbuilding was intense and unique, the emotions were raw and powerful, the story was well-paced and amazingly written, the jokes were hilarious and natural and just oh my god we need more books like this!!! The ending was amazing too!! Oh my god!!!!
What the SHIT why did no one tell me sooner this book was so good!!! I am DYING ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmyGOD
Okay this review is going to be pretty incoherent because I literally JUST finished and am still in shock from everything that happened. I might rewrite it later on but oh my GOD it was so good! Ahhhh I wish I had the rest of the series already so I could read it right away!
The characters were amazing and relatable and real, the worldbuilding was intense and unique, the emotions were raw and powerful, the story was well-paced and amazingly written, the jokes were hilarious and natural and just oh my god we need more books like this!!! The ending was amazing too!! Oh my god!!!!
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Sexual assault, Slavery, Blood, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Murder
2020 reread
Just as good as the first time. An amazing dark and grim world and the most precious beans for characters. I'm a happy trash of emotions.
2019 read
BEST. BOOK. OF. THE. YEAR. Y'ALL
This is not my first meeting with David Dalglish. I enjoyed his Shadowdance series though I never actually finished it, and absolutely adored his Seraphim trilogy. Suffice to say is that I had high expectations on this one, and was also a bit scared my expectations was not met.
Spoilers: It met my expectations and went beyond!
I love the world. How dark and brutal it turned with magic (and gods and monsters) returned. I also liked the magic system alot.
And the characters. The characters. So precious I love them all. (Not you Gerag you can go die a slow painful death in a pit for all I care.) But Devin, Jacaranda, Adria and Tommy. And Tesmarie and Puffy. I love you with all my heart. I loved the relationships between them and their humor was such a nice contrast to everything else going on around them.
Just as good as the first time. An amazing dark and grim world and the most precious beans for characters. I'm a happy trash of emotions.
2019 read
BEST. BOOK. OF. THE. YEAR. Y'ALL
This is not my first meeting with David Dalglish. I enjoyed his Shadowdance series though I never actually finished it, and absolutely adored his Seraphim trilogy. Suffice to say is that I had high expectations on this one, and was also a bit scared my expectations was not met.
Spoilers: It met my expectations and went beyond!
I love the world. How dark and brutal it turned with magic (and gods and monsters) returned. I also liked the magic system alot.
And the characters. The characters. So precious I love them all. (Not you Gerag you can go die a slow painful death in a pit for all I care.) But Devin, Jacaranda, Adria and Tommy. And Tesmarie and Puffy. I love you with all my heart. I loved the relationships between them and their humor was such a nice contrast to everything else going on around them.
Spoiler
I'm still not sure how I feel about Adria being able to heal Jacaranda at the end of the book since she was technically dead and I'm not fond of the bring back from the dead thing. I'm happy she's alive because Devin needs her to be alive and it showcase just how vast powers Adria got from Janus. But I had also already prepared my heart to suffer alongside a broken Devin.
Here's one that caught my eye at the store but then sat on the "to read" pile for a bit. When I finally started it the first few chapters were interesting, but also easy to put down (for what it's worth, I felt the same about The Eye of the World, and that's in my top 3, easy). Also much like TEOTW, after the setup, Soulkeeper turns into a page turner that's hard to put down. And fortunately for me, the sequel's already out (and in my to read pile) . Recommended!
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
amazing characters, main male character is the perfect mix of kindness and maturity and helps keep the slightly odd plot interesting and understandable
Enjoyable fantasy book, I had been looking for a new series for a while and it was definitely good enough to draw me in and will be getting book #2 soon. Best description I could give is it’s a “popcorn flick” in book form, not the greatest work of literature ever, doesn’t break new ground in the genre, but definitely entertaining enough to keep you reading and gets you to want to read more, so almost the perfect first book of a series.