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jokapy's review against another edition
4.0
Minä en oikein pidä kirjoista, jotka ovat kovin surullisia. Siksi tämäkään kirja ei suosikkeihini lukeudu, koska sen tunnelma on koko ajan niin surullinen. Hathien perheen äiti Ira Hath on johtamassa kansaansa uuteen kotimaahan, mutta koko ajan jaksetaan muistuttaa, että hän tulee kuolemaan ennen sinne pääsyä. Eikä siinä kaikki vaan toinen kaksosista Bowman Hath tietää, että hänkin joutuu jättämään perheensä ja kansansa lopullisesti pian. Siispä tämä kirja oli aivan liian surullinen minun makuuni.
Toki joukkoon mahtui muutama hyvin nautittava hetki, kuten kohtaaminen morsiamia ryöstelevän heimon kanssa. Se ei kuitenkaan muuta sitä tosiasiaa, että kirjan tunnelma karkotti minut usein pois sen parista. Siksi edellisen osan [b:Ylivaltiaan orjat|18479362|Ylivaltiaan orjat (Wind on Fire, #2)|William Nicholson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1378828647s/18479362.jpg|26152261] jälkeen tämä oli vähän pettymys.
Toki joukkoon mahtui muutama hyvin nautittava hetki, kuten kohtaaminen morsiamia ryöstelevän heimon kanssa. Se ei kuitenkaan muuta sitä tosiasiaa, että kirjan tunnelma karkotti minut usein pois sen parista. Siksi edellisen osan [b:Ylivaltiaan orjat|18479362|Ylivaltiaan orjat (Wind on Fire, #2)|William Nicholson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1378828647s/18479362.jpg|26152261] jälkeen tämä oli vähän pettymys.
edb14's review against another edition
2.0
Well, this series has finally limped to a confusing and unsatisfying conclusion. I initially liked this final installment better than the second, and I still think overall it is slightly better, simply because it has a more consistent tone. The first was quirky and charming with hints of seriousness, the second was a bizarre blend of dark despair and quirky humor, and the third is just plain dark, though still illogical.
The novel chronicles the journey of our heroes towards the “homeland” and their wish to carry on the Manth people in this mystical place that they are searching for with the help of Ira Hath, doomed prophetess. The homeland is by far the most irksome part of this plot, as there is virtually no reason to assume that this place will be any better than where they currently are. What, are there no people in it? Why is it better than the cultivated lands of the Mastery, which they just freed from slavery? What about the jungle where no one lives and that is warm year-round and has plenty of free food? There is no reason to fight through all of the hardships they are going through, and the promise of happiness is so vague and so unrelated to anything that is going on around them that I have a hard time believing in it.
As a matter of fact, the entire book is vague. Random unconnected events happen to them constantly. They wander through a desert area at first with few plants, no trees, and little food. Then, they wander into increasing cold and snow until they are nearly buried in it and almost freeze. Then, they wander into a valley, all of the snow melts, and they walk into a tropical jungle. Where are they? What the what? Later, they wander into huge mountain ranges, they sail on extensive rivers, and they make their way to the ocean. What does this map look like?
The “wind on fire” that they are fleeing from is also incredibly vague. They are all afraid of being “swept away” by it, and it is a little confusing if this is supposed to be metaphorical or not. About two-thirds of the way through the novel they suddenly start talking about a war that is happening “everywhere” with roving bands killing innocents and thousands of people fleeing. What? What war is this? Between whom? No countries, ideologies, or affiliations mentioned. Where are these people fleeing? There is a bizarre scene in which we are treated to a panorama of roving bands of murderers killing innocent people everywhere, when there has been zero hint of this on the journey at all. They have been wandering through unpopulated wastes up until the point that Nicholson arbitrarily decides to populate them again. This war is talked of as the building wind right up until the end What?
The two main characters are now lost in a miasma of despair, prophecy and doomed certainty of their fate. Every new experience they look on as more proof of their doom. Every good thing they experience makes them sad because they know that soon they will be separated from each other and die. Both of them look sadly on potential love interests and shake their heads because they know they will die soon. They look on trouble and sigh because they know that it won’t matter soon, when they are dead. They accept their weird premonitions of fate and make no effort to change anything. This is the absolute worst way to handle prophecy in novels. The mystics that kidnap and make use of the kids are poorly developed and have impenetrable motivations that are made even more annoying as everyone just accepts them as patently obvious and sensible.
Overall, this book was a terrible mess. I think Nicholson might have been going for some deep themes, but nothing is consistent or clear, so it is hard to follow what point he is trying to make. Some of the sequences are so weird and symbolic that it feels like he is going for an allegory a la Pilgrim’s Progress, but I can’t figure out what anything is supposed to symbolize. I cannot think of a single theme that this novel could potentially be about. Hope is good? Love is… there? Family is worth sacrificing for? You have a fate and then the end? Maybe if the characters stopped reacting like resigned couch potatoes watching a movie that they were only mildly emotionally invested in and talked like real people I could have gotten into it more. As it is, this is worth very little and I would hesitate to recommend it to anyone. Read the first one, and then leave it at that.
The novel chronicles the journey of our heroes towards the “homeland” and their wish to carry on the Manth people in this mystical place that they are searching for with the help of Ira Hath, doomed prophetess. The homeland is by far the most irksome part of this plot, as there is virtually no reason to assume that this place will be any better than where they currently are. What, are there no people in it? Why is it better than the cultivated lands of the Mastery, which they just freed from slavery? What about the jungle where no one lives and that is warm year-round and has plenty of free food? There is no reason to fight through all of the hardships they are going through, and the promise of happiness is so vague and so unrelated to anything that is going on around them that I have a hard time believing in it.
As a matter of fact, the entire book is vague. Random unconnected events happen to them constantly. They wander through a desert area at first with few plants, no trees, and little food. Then, they wander into increasing cold and snow until they are nearly buried in it and almost freeze. Then, they wander into a valley, all of the snow melts, and they walk into a tropical jungle. Where are they? What the what? Later, they wander into huge mountain ranges, they sail on extensive rivers, and they make their way to the ocean. What does this map look like?
The “wind on fire” that they are fleeing from is also incredibly vague. They are all afraid of being “swept away” by it, and it is a little confusing if this is supposed to be metaphorical or not. About two-thirds of the way through the novel they suddenly start talking about a war that is happening “everywhere” with roving bands killing innocents and thousands of people fleeing. What? What war is this? Between whom? No countries, ideologies, or affiliations mentioned. Where are these people fleeing? There is a bizarre scene in which we are treated to a panorama of roving bands of murderers killing innocent people everywhere, when there has been zero hint of this on the journey at all. They have been wandering through unpopulated wastes up until the point that Nicholson arbitrarily decides to populate them again. This war is talked of as the building wind right up until the end
Spoiler
when it is revealed that the wind on fire is just an actual wind on fire that burns everyone alive. Only not everyone, because there are people left.The two main characters are now lost in a miasma of despair, prophecy and doomed certainty of their fate. Every new experience they look on as more proof of their doom. Every good thing they experience makes them sad because they know that soon they will be separated from each other and die. Both of them look sadly on potential love interests and shake their heads because they know they will die soon. They look on trouble and sigh because they know that it won’t matter soon, when they are dead. They accept their weird premonitions of fate and make no effort to change anything. This is the absolute worst way to handle prophecy in novels. The mystics that kidnap and make use of the kids are poorly developed and have impenetrable motivations that are made even more annoying as everyone just accepts them as patently obvious and sensible.
Overall, this book was a terrible mess. I think Nicholson might have been going for some deep themes, but nothing is consistent or clear, so it is hard to follow what point he is trying to make. Some of the sequences are so weird and symbolic that it feels like he is going for an allegory a la Pilgrim’s Progress, but I can’t figure out what anything is supposed to symbolize. I cannot think of a single theme that this novel could potentially be about. Hope is good? Love is… there? Family is worth sacrificing for? You have a fate and then the end? Maybe if the characters stopped reacting like resigned couch potatoes watching a movie that they were only mildly emotionally invested in and talked like real people I could have gotten into it more. As it is, this is worth very little and I would hesitate to recommend it to anyone. Read the first one, and then leave it at that.
jammerkins's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
thebookheap12's review against another edition
3.0
not as good as the first two books, but not a bad ending to the trilogy either...
andreastopit's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
lizzy_sedai's review against another edition
4.0
After two decades, I finally know how this story ends. It makes me sad and happy at the same time. I am sad that there is no more mystery, and happy that it was a worthy ending. I am not entirely sure if this book was actually good though. I feel like I am clouded by nostalgia, but I accept this wholeheartedly. 'The Slaves of the Mastery' will forever be one of my favorite books, and this book is simply there to offer some closure.
abiofpellinor's review against another edition
3.0
This is a sweet ending to the trilogy, and I was touched by a lot of moments as the book wrapped up. There were too many little issues that I had though (sexism, fatphobia and the like) that at the least pulled me out of the story and ruined those sections of the book. This was published by a man and in 2002, but I still hoped for better.
At its core though, this is a great ya fantasy that I wish I had read when I was younger.
At its core though, this is a great ya fantasy that I wish I had read when I was younger.
lucy12345's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
cathman's review against another edition
2.0
A big meh. Mostly traveling, and did everyone really have to get married and have babies? The cat is good, though.