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soarinsora's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
timinbc's review against another edition
4.0
Three and a half rounded up.
Ho hum, another archer who never misses. Another swordsman who can beat anyone. Another talker who can speak his way out of anything. And mustache-twirling nyah-hah-hah Bad Guys. And weak women to be protected. But if we accept that this is a Three Musketeers kind of story, it's OK. Take traditional pieces and show me what kind of game you can make them play. And yes, there are other women who are strong.
The wordplay is good, and the swordplay is clearly being described by an expert (which De Castell is).
The Greatcoats concept is excellent, and King Paelis was a good idea.
As we get closer to the end, the tension ramps up, and the Bad Guys are closing in. Oops, that good guy isn't a good guy. No, no, I must stay and do this For Honour.
First crisis, hero has to escape. First part of escape (from Ugh) is excellent. Then we meet. Well, isn't THAT convenient. But we did have to get our hero out of an impossible situation, so OK.
So here we are, at the BIG crisis time. The key players are mostly on stage. The double-crosses are explained, and we see how much has been withheld. We see that this book has more bad guys and gals than average, which is refreshing.
We meet a certain person in a certain place, which is wildly unlikely, so that person has to explain that, heh heh, it's not a coincidence at all. Wa-ait a minute, says the Reader Management Unit in my brain, that person AGAIN? This is starting to look like Narrativium, the amazing element that solves all plot problems.
De Castell follows through on the hints that there might be someone who can beat Kest. That doesn't work out ideally, because
But our author's still painted into a corner. And here's Narrativium to the rescue. That Person again, producing what is VERY close to a deus ex machina to save the day. Followed by a few "you see, what you have failed to grasp is ..." "you mean?" "Yes!" "(sob!)"
It is a tidy enough solution, and all the loose ends are neatly tied off, but at the end I was left with the feeling that the author wrote the plot first and then wrote the book around it. No probem with that, but the best authors - and I am praising De Castell by suggesting he's not far from being among them - can put you into the characters early on and make you believe that everything that happens HAD to happen, given who they are. This book does that a bit, but for me there are just a few too many "Enter Powerful New Character" moments.
I'm all over the next volume, though. This one passed the "I really should finish this tomorrow --- nah, let's go for it" test.
Ho hum, another archer who never misses. Another swordsman who can beat anyone. Another talker who can speak his way out of anything. And mustache-twirling nyah-hah-hah Bad Guys. And weak women to be protected. But if we accept that this is a Three Musketeers kind of story, it's OK. Take traditional pieces and show me what kind of game you can make them play. And yes, there are other women who are strong.
The wordplay is good, and the swordplay is clearly being described by an expert (which De Castell is).
The Greatcoats concept is excellent, and King Paelis was a good idea.
As we get closer to the end, the tension ramps up, and the Bad Guys are closing in. Oops, that good guy isn't a good guy. No, no, I must stay and do this For Honour.
First crisis, hero has to escape. First part of escape (from Ugh) is excellent. Then we meet
Spoiler
the giant magic horse.So here we are, at the BIG crisis time. The key players are mostly on stage. The double-crosses are explained, and we see how much has been withheld. We see that this book has more bad guys and gals than average, which is refreshing.
We meet a certain person in a certain place, which is wildly unlikely, so that person has to explain that, heh heh, it's not a coincidence at all. Wa-ait a minute, says the Reader Management Unit in my brain, that person AGAIN? This is starting to look like Narrativium, the amazing element that solves all plot problems.
De Castell follows through on the hints that there might be someone who can beat Kest. That doesn't work out ideally, because
Spoiler
Kest uses a trick Falcio used to beat him, but we are never told what it was (unless I missed it).But our author's still painted into a corner. And here's Narrativium to the rescue. That Person again, producing what is VERY close to a deus ex machina to save the day. Followed by a few "you see, what you have failed to grasp is ..." "you mean?" "Yes!" "(sob!)"
It is a tidy enough solution, and all the loose ends are neatly tied off, but at the end I was left with the feeling that the author wrote the plot first and then wrote the book around it. No probem with that, but the best authors - and I am praising De Castell by suggesting he's not far from being among them - can put you into the characters early on and make you believe that everything that happens HAD to happen, given who they are. This book does that a bit, but for me there are just a few too many "Enter Powerful New Character" moments.
I'm all over the next volume, though. This one passed the "I really should finish this tomorrow --- nah, let's go for it" test.
greebooki's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
jugglemisterer's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
illusie's review against another edition
3.0
This book was a bit too grim and there was too much fighting for me.
ngallion's review against another edition
4.0
Very enjoyable read, but with a few issues that keep this from being among my five star reads. First, this book can’t quite decide if it wants to be an adult book or YA. It reads mostly like YA except for some jarring language, occasional shocking violence, and references to sexual situations. The sense of humor this employs, though, is very teenage boy, for better or worse. This also reads more like individual episodes of a fun TV show than a single overarching story, and about half of the episodes break up the core group when it feels like we should be getting to know them. The villain is a bit too over-the-top evil just for the sake of being evil, and there’s something about this book’s attitude towards sex that didn’t sit well with me, though I have a hard time putting my finger on exactly what that general attitude is.
Despite all of that, though, the story is fun, the banter is enjoyable, and the political intrigue is engaging enough that I had no problem staying engaged in this book.
Despite all of that, though, the story is fun, the banter is enjoyable, and the political intrigue is engaging enough that I had no problem staying engaged in this book.
snacksandstacks's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars
The adventure was fun, the writing was easy to listen to and I loved the outlandish characters. At times they felt a little goofy and some parts were cringey but overall I really liked the author's writing voice, the theme of friendship, and the overall storyline.
The adventure was fun, the writing was easy to listen to and I loved the outlandish characters. At times they felt a little goofy and some parts were cringey but overall I really liked the author's writing voice, the theme of friendship, and the overall storyline.
qwelling4's review
Boring as shit. Nowhere as good as the original Three Musketeers.