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abkeuser's review against another edition
4.0
I think it’s safe to say at this point that I love the series enough that it would take A LOT to disappoint me. Luckily, this one kept with the vein of the others and so, I fell right back in love with the characters/world.
I was sad about Merrick and Sorcha being separated, and while Merrick’s plot line was terribly fascinating, Sorcha is still the character in these books that keeps me coming back for more. That being said, I loved the expansion of Merrick and the development of the Duchess. That tickled me.
As with the previous two books, I was just happy to be swept away by the tantalizing plot into this wonderfully unique world of magic and betrayal.
I was sad about Merrick and Sorcha being separated, and while Merrick’s plot line was terribly fascinating, Sorcha is still the character in these books that keeps me coming back for more. That being said, I loved the expansion of Merrick and the development of the Duchess. That tickled me.
As with the previous two books, I was just happy to be swept away by the tantalizing plot into this wonderfully unique world of magic and betrayal.
hawkeyegonzalez's review
3.0
This was an odd book for me. I really liked the character development with most of the cast, especially Sorcha and the Rossin. I love the fact that the geistlord is starting to behave more than just a hungry beast and is actually scheming on his own. I'm very interested in reading the last book to find out what develops on that front.
The part that I didn't like as much is the story itself. While it wasn't bad at all, it just didn't feel like a lot of ground was covered. It was basically finding out a little more about Sorcha's origin, defeat the big bad, and that's it.
Overall, I thought the book was good, but it had the potential to be more.
The part that I didn't like as much is the story itself. While it wasn't bad at all, it just didn't feel like a lot of ground was covered. It was basically finding out a little more about Sorcha's origin, defeat the big bad, and that's it.
Overall, I thought the book was good, but it had the potential to be more.
sarah42783's review
2.0
This book is so abysmally crappy that it killed Little One's Kindle as we were buddy reading it. I kid you not. Now that is some very hazardous reading material right there. That being said, it seems losing her beloved Kindle wasn't too traumatizing for the dear girl since she still managed to write the bestest review ever for this PoC™. You might want to go and check it out, by the way. It's much more informative and to-the-point and articulate than any of my crappy non reviews will ever be. But hey, if you're energetically masochistic and have nothing better to do with your life, please do stick around for some High Quality and Beautifully Never Ending Sub-Par Rambling Nonsense (HQaBNESPRN™).
Soooooo, Wrayth. What a most delightful, delectable masterpiece. It's not everyday you read such wonderfully written, satisfying, thrilling, consistent, clever piece ofbullshit literature. No it's not. Thank fish for that.
Let's see, where to begin? There are so many stupendously wondrous things to talk about here! The possibilities are quite endless indeed!
Sorry for the interruption, I have no idea where the fish this thing came from. The Evil Russians™ must have hacked my account again.
Okay, where were we? Oh, yes, endless possibilities and stuff. Let's start with the stunningly wonderful writing, shall we? Wait, we need to light some candles to set the romantic atmosphere first.
Love is now officially
Soooooo, Wrayth. What a most delightful, delectable masterpiece. It's not everyday you read such wonderfully written, satisfying, thrilling, consistent, clever piece of
Let's see, where to begin? There are so many stupendously wondrous things to talk about here! The possibilities are quite endless indeed!
Sorry for the interruption, I have no idea where the fish this thing came from. The Evil Russians™ must have hacked my account again.
Okay, where were we? Oh, yes, endless possibilities and stuff. Let's start with the stunningly wonderful writing, shall we? Wait, we need to light some candles to set the romantic atmosphere first.
Love is now officially
tashachowdory's review
5.0
Brilliant. Any book that can make me keep turning the pages past midnight (having started at 730pm) is definitely an excellent book in my opinion. The best part was learning more about Sorcha and her past and probably what is likely to happen in the next book. The world of Delmaire and Vermillion do become more clear in this book, as the world becomes more richly drawn. One of things I like, is that Merrick never falls in love with Sorcha but loves her the way he might a sister. And the way the relationship between Raed and Sorcha is fun to read because they aren't perfect and it makes it (slightly) realistic. I think I would like to see a clearer hierarchy of geistlords and rei and the like, just to make it clearer (yeah I want a companion piece for the series!). Definitely worth the wait, and now I'm wondering where I'm going to find a strong heroine that doesn't become annoying until Harbinger comes out!! :D
shutupnread's review
3.0
Link: https://holedupinabook.blogspot.com/2016/10/book-of-order-series-by-philippa.html
I’m not sure why this series is labeled as steampunk on Goodreads because it isn’t really…I would consider this more of high fantasy as opposed to regular fantasy especially with all the geistlords and creatures running amok in this series. Also, I have mixed feelings about this book/series. This was my first high fantasy novel, I think, at least in a while, and it’s not a genre that I’m supremely familiar with or fond of so it was a little slow going for me to get into the characters and the plot.
First things first, there were way too many characters, names, creatures and whatnot going on. I felt like I was constantly confused or simply two steps behind when someone appears. Other than the core crew: Sorcha, Merrick, Raed and later, Zofiya, I was thrown around when someone else appeared. I just felt like there were too many different terminologies and names that it just felt really disorganized. For example, there’s the geist world out there but apparently each geistlord has their own name and that’s in addition to the lesser geists out there and their names. Then there are also the normal people and the Deacons who go by either Deacon [last name] or just simply the first name. And, none of the names are common names so it was even harder for me to connect the dots.
As for the plot itself, the first two books essentially had very different plot lines with different characters (other than the core ones) with a few underlying similarities whereas book 3 and 4 were definitely more correlated and seemed to immediately start up where the other left off. I mean, generally, the books connected in the core elements but I definitely felt as if the first two novels were more of building up the actual plot so you can either look at it positively as if the author is spending a lot of time plot and world building or you can look at it negatively by stating it was very slow especially from the beginning. So if that’s something up your alley, you would enjoy this series.
The three main characters: Sorcha, Merrick and Raed as a whole were well-rounded. I found that some characteristics that one might be lacking would be found in another character. For example, Sorcha was very quick tempered and not at all political whereas Merrick and even Raed knew how to say things in a manner that would cool the flames. Also, I was so sure that there was supposed to be some sort of romantic relationship between Sorcha and Merrick but there wasn’t so I was a little disappointed at that but then again, I guess that would be too cliché maybe.
The one thing that confused me was the relationship between Raed and the Rossin (which apparently isn’t even his real name since Rossin is technically Raed’s last name but the author always went by this name to portray the geistlord which is also another confusing element). I’m not sure what the dynamic was and it seemed that in the beginning that the Rossin controlled Raed during the change but as the books went by, the dynamic changed but it wasn’t exactly equal. I just wish this was something that was portrayed a bit more.
Overall, it was an okay series on my end but then again, I’m not really into high fantasy novels so if that’s something you really like this take a go at this one.
I’m not sure why this series is labeled as steampunk on Goodreads because it isn’t really…I would consider this more of high fantasy as opposed to regular fantasy especially with all the geistlords and creatures running amok in this series. Also, I have mixed feelings about this book/series. This was my first high fantasy novel, I think, at least in a while, and it’s not a genre that I’m supremely familiar with or fond of so it was a little slow going for me to get into the characters and the plot.
First things first, there were way too many characters, names, creatures and whatnot going on. I felt like I was constantly confused or simply two steps behind when someone appears. Other than the core crew: Sorcha, Merrick, Raed and later, Zofiya, I was thrown around when someone else appeared. I just felt like there were too many different terminologies and names that it just felt really disorganized. For example, there’s the geist world out there but apparently each geistlord has their own name and that’s in addition to the lesser geists out there and their names. Then there are also the normal people and the Deacons who go by either Deacon [last name] or just simply the first name. And, none of the names are common names so it was even harder for me to connect the dots.
As for the plot itself, the first two books essentially had very different plot lines with different characters (other than the core ones) with a few underlying similarities whereas book 3 and 4 were definitely more correlated and seemed to immediately start up where the other left off. I mean, generally, the books connected in the core elements but I definitely felt as if the first two novels were more of building up the actual plot so you can either look at it positively as if the author is spending a lot of time plot and world building or you can look at it negatively by stating it was very slow especially from the beginning. So if that’s something up your alley, you would enjoy this series.
The three main characters: Sorcha, Merrick and Raed as a whole were well-rounded. I found that some characteristics that one might be lacking would be found in another character. For example, Sorcha was very quick tempered and not at all political whereas Merrick and even Raed knew how to say things in a manner that would cool the flames. Also, I was so sure that there was supposed to be some sort of romantic relationship between Sorcha and Merrick but there wasn’t so I was a little disappointed at that but then again, I guess that would be too cliché maybe.
The one thing that confused me was the relationship between Raed and the Rossin (which apparently isn’t even his real name since Rossin is technically Raed’s last name but the author always went by this name to portray the geistlord which is also another confusing element). I’m not sure what the dynamic was and it seemed that in the beginning that the Rossin controlled Raed during the change but as the books went by, the dynamic changed but it wasn’t exactly equal. I just wish this was something that was portrayed a bit more.
Overall, it was an okay series on my end but then again, I’m not really into high fantasy novels so if that’s something you really like this take a go at this one.
myconid's review
2.0
Spent more than half the novel wishing that the main characters would stop fussing over their lovers.
Nothing answered. Find out who the big bad really is, but I'm guessing the entire book is all just a set-up for the next novel. I will not be reading it.
And cool, break their Pattern, all the runes on the gauntlets and strops crack and explode. Sounds like an awesome idea to make another Pattern and then have that rune shit tattooed to your body. Obviously some confused royal or evil dude won't get their hands on the pattern and break it this time!
Nothing answered. Find out who the big bad really is, but I'm guessing the entire book is all just a set-up for the next novel. I will not be reading it.
And cool, break their Pattern, all the runes on the gauntlets and strops crack and explode. Sounds like an awesome idea to make another Pattern and then have that rune shit tattooed to your body. Obviously some confused royal or evil dude won't get their hands on the pattern and break it this time!
behindthepages's review
5.0
Every book in this series so far has left me wowed! The ideas are intriguing and fresh! It was great to finally see Sorcha's past and discover how she has the amount of power that she wields, and watching Merrick grow up so quickly. I am interested to see how the Rossin is in future books, given the amount of information that was revealed about the geistlord yet so many questions remain. As the story ends it leaves me craving the next novel!
mashara's review
4.0
This entire saga hits the floor runing and it makes sense, because it feels like Phillipa Ballantine had too much world build and too much action happening to stop and explain it to us. And these books are better for it.
I still don't have answers to many of the questions I had about what was going on, and I feel I finished with more questions, but there is a lot of development in the story and status quo change. I like it when there's status quo change. That was my problem with the second book, it felt formulaic. Nothing of the kind can be said about this one.
And the characters are so multidinamic. They have so many facets, and they get a chance to show them. To us and to each other. By far the most complex and intriguing is Sorcha. She can be an hard ass, a pain in the ass and also find a way to be charming and vulnerable. Raed and Merrick seem to be constantly trying to catch up with her, but they get her and trust her to do her thing. In a genre plagued by the asshole-macho-hero type this two know they're in the pressence of strong capable women, they respect them and it makes them far better characters whitout losing any of their virility.
Highly recomendable.
I still don't have answers to many of the questions I had about what was going on, and I feel I finished with more questions, but there is a lot of development in the story and status quo change. I like it when there's status quo change. That was my problem with the second book, it felt formulaic. Nothing of the kind can be said about this one.
And the characters are so multidinamic. They have so many facets, and they get a chance to show them. To us and to each other. By far the most complex and intriguing is Sorcha. She can be an hard ass, a pain in the ass and also find a way to be charming and vulnerable. Raed and Merrick seem to be constantly trying to catch up with her, but they get her and trust her to do her thing. In a genre plagued by the asshole-macho-hero type this two know they're in the pressence of strong capable women, they respect them and it makes them far better characters whitout losing any of their virility.
Highly recomendable.
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