Reviews

The Sword Defiant by Gareth Hanrahan

soryualan's review

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

At first glance it seems like the typical high fantasy story with elves and the wizards and the knights and the dwarfs and the dragons and the monsters and all of the other tropes you find in this kind of stories. However what made this book interesting to me was that the story is not about how the great heroes of this world went from being regular people to become legends. The story is about what happens when the heroes fulfill their mission, after peace is restored and they are free to continue with their lives. The result is a very heart warming story filled with longing and nostalgia that also has all the action, the magic and the adventure one would expect from a book of this genre. 

It took me a little while to get into the rhythm of the story. It has a lot of internal monologue of the main characters reflecting on their lives, which makes the story flow really slowly. However, I thought it was interesting to see the characters struggling to find a new purpose for their lives after achieving greatness. It's an interesting approach to the genre.

hydeinseek's review

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

4.5

jmac1378's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

losgoosebumps's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

being_b's review

2.0

The first third was interesting, then it started to feel like a dramatisation of someone’s DnD session. Or to put it another way, it felt like the author got bored after establishing the premise.

r_or's review

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Enjoyable but unfocused

geo__'s review

A little too traditional for my taste. Good book overall, just not that interesting to me

jessann's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

xsea's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

tabitha_miscellania's review

4.0

I have such mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I loved it. On the other hand, it frustrated me so much. I'm not sure if some of it is just me not understanding it, or getting confused, or if it's the book. I can't really explain it without spoilers, but I will say the first half is amazing and the second half has some plot issues that were hard to get through. However, I'm definitely going to read the next one when it comes out, because now I have to know what happens. (I don't even think the issues are with the author; I think the editor was not great. There were typos and inconsistencies that I don't personally think can be put on the author.)