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kodermike's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
masong63's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
jyb's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I feel... mixed about this book. I think it'd be best to this in a pros and cons fashion, as it will make things easier.
First, the pros:
The religion and the associated worldbuilding in this story is INCREDIBLY fascinating. I love the clashing of all the religious sects that are under one main religion. The fact that they are all disagreeing about the interpretation of one religion rather than being multiple different ones is especially juicy and tense for the characters and plot. (And one reveal at the end makes things REALLY interesting for the founding of the religion, so I got really hooked by that.) As for the plot, I thought it was definitely intriguing. I'm always a fan of prophesied plots/characters and chosen ones in stories (though I know many aren't a fan of them), so seeing them here got me excited. I also love seeing prophecies get twisted because of wrong/different interpretations, so that was fun to read about. When exciting, action filled moments in this book happened, they did not let me down. Every scene that was meant to be tension-filled and thrilling genuinely had those characteristics, especially as a grimdark book. So when I got to those points, I was very excited to read them. However... that's pretty much most of the good I can say about the book.
Now, for the cons:
There's a lot to say here, but my biggest issues with this book were the bloat and the pacing. First of all, there is SO much info-dumping via dialogue or characters' thoughts that is often just way too much. There are many times where it's just paragraph upon paragraph of telling the reader what they should know instead of like... showing it by letting it play out through the scene? Moreover, there is so much bloat with information that is often just unnecessary and takes up time in the book. Hell, I think they could've cut like 100-200 pages from this book and it would've been pretty similar. Nothing interesting actually happens until, like, 25% of the way in. I was often just so bored reading through some of the POVs and waiting for characters to actually get on with the plot that I was solidly skimming heavily through some chapters. I didn't care! I honestly barely liked any of the POVs, and I often only started liking them because they were involved in an interesting plot – not because of the characters themselves.
Neither Jondralyn or Tala interested me as characters. Jondralyn seemed to get progressively more childish, which annoyed me to no end, while Tala actually seemed to mature – which did get interesting, but only in around the latter quarter of her POV. Nail was only interesting because he had an interesting plot surrounding him. I liked how he was different from his friends, but his initial whining and childishness got on my nerves. However, I think his POV will get more interesting in the series, especially because of something in the ending. As for Gault... his inner conflict and window to the other side was kind of interesting, but after being bored by his POV already then reading how he is lusting over a girl his daughter's age... I lost all interest. Moreover, that bit basically becomes his entire POV: thinking about his daughter and then being obsessed with a different girl of his daughter's age. Utterly uncompelling.
Adding onto characters, I think I've definitely been spoiled by other series, because holy shit, so many villains seem almost completely black and white! I'd say out of all the antagonists in this series, there are maybe one or two that are actually kind of morally grey. And even still, they lean more towards being completely bad than somewhere in the middle.Jondralyn and Tala's brother is found to be under someone's thumb because of his gay relationship with another character, which is sad, but every single other action he takes is quite awful and erratic, so I'm not sure that's much of a morally grey character and moreso feeling pity for that situation. (I was actually surprised there was any mention of non-straight relationships, considering how straight the book initially felt when I was reading. Though I'm not sure how well the concept is treated in-series...) The 'good guys' are more morally grey, but when we only get that from the 'good' side and then basically nightmarish people on the 'evil' side it's just not that strong.
I also have another small nitpick, but honestly, when it's a grimdark series, I think you should do better. There's a scene whereNail is fleeing from his entire town being (BRUTALLY) slaughtered and yet... he runs past this massacre for a solid five to ten minutes as if in a video game, not being touched at all until he's knocked out. Hello? We've gotten graphic descriptions of mutilation, decapitation, slitting throats and all the like and we get no injures on what we've basically designated our main character . Talk about plot armor (especially in a grimdark book!). You could argue that he has training, but when reading it it felt like dumb luck, and no training was ever mentioned to save him. That scene kind of threw me off when I was reading it.
Overall, this book – after finishing it – had an interesting plot and world bogged down by bloat, slow pacing, and meh characters. Cut 150 or so pages and you'd have a better book. I honestly felt like I was slogging through the book while reading it, and I really wasn't sure if I was actually going to continue with the series (I actually thought about DNFing because I was so bored). But after that ending and some consequences for some characters... I do really want to know what happens. I'm unsure whether or not to continue. I might just look for spoilers in others' reviews. After everything, I give this 3 stars.
Edit: Okay, apparently all the prophecies and chosen one thing is amisdirect and Nail's not even important? What the hell is the point of me getting invested in this then? Sure, subverted tropes can be good, but not when they're what hooked me in in the first place... Something similar was done in The Faithful and the Fallen but that series didn't have prophecies and chosen ones holding up the entire plot, so I wasn't as annoyed. I'm not continuing with this series.
First, the pros:
The religion and the associated worldbuilding in this story is INCREDIBLY fascinating. I love the clashing of all the religious sects that are under one main religion. The fact that they are all disagreeing about the interpretation of one religion rather than being multiple different ones is especially juicy and tense for the characters and plot. (And one reveal at the end makes things REALLY interesting for the founding of the religion, so I got really hooked by that.) As for the plot, I thought it was definitely intriguing. I'm always a fan of prophesied plots/characters and chosen ones in stories (though I know many aren't a fan of them), so seeing them here got me excited. I also love seeing prophecies get twisted because of wrong/different interpretations, so that was fun to read about. When exciting, action filled moments in this book happened, they did not let me down. Every scene that was meant to be tension-filled and thrilling genuinely had those characteristics, especially as a grimdark book. So when I got to those points, I was very excited to read them. However... that's pretty much most of the good I can say about the book.
Now, for the cons:
There's a lot to say here, but my biggest issues with this book were the bloat and the pacing. First of all, there is SO much info-dumping via dialogue or characters' thoughts that is often just way too much. There are many times where it's just paragraph upon paragraph of telling the reader what they should know instead of like... showing it by letting it play out through the scene? Moreover, there is so much bloat with information that is often just unnecessary and takes up time in the book. Hell, I think they could've cut like 100-200 pages from this book and it would've been pretty similar. Nothing interesting actually happens until, like, 25% of the way in. I was often just so bored reading through some of the POVs and waiting for characters to actually get on with the plot that I was solidly skimming heavily through some chapters. I didn't care! I honestly barely liked any of the POVs, and I often only started liking them because they were involved in an interesting plot – not because of the characters themselves.
Neither Jondralyn or Tala interested me as characters. Jondralyn seemed to get progressively more childish, which annoyed me to no end, while Tala actually seemed to mature – which did get interesting, but only in around the latter quarter of her POV. Nail was only interesting because he had an interesting plot surrounding him. I liked how he was different from his friends, but his initial whining and childishness got on my nerves. However, I think his POV will get more interesting in the series, especially because of something in the ending. As for Gault... his inner conflict and window to the other side was kind of interesting, but after being bored by his POV already then reading how he is lusting over a girl his daughter's age... I lost all interest. Moreover, that bit basically becomes his entire POV: thinking about his daughter and then being obsessed with a different girl of his daughter's age. Utterly uncompelling.
Adding onto characters, I think I've definitely been spoiled by other series, because holy shit, so many villains seem almost completely black and white! I'd say out of all the antagonists in this series, there are maybe one or two that are actually kind of morally grey. And even still, they lean more towards being completely bad than somewhere in the middle.
I also have another small nitpick, but honestly, when it's a grimdark series, I think you should do better. There's a scene where
Overall, this book – after finishing it – had an interesting plot and world bogged down by bloat, slow pacing, and meh characters. Cut 150 or so pages and you'd have a better book. I honestly felt like I was slogging through the book while reading it, and I really wasn't sure if I was actually going to continue with the series (I actually thought about DNFing because I was so bored). But after that ending and some consequences for some characters... I do really want to know what happens. I'm unsure whether or not to continue. I might just look for spoilers in others' reviews. After everything, I give this 3 stars.
Edit: Okay, apparently all the prophecies and chosen one thing is a
sneschalmers's review
4.0
I’m conflicted about this brick of an epic fantasy book.
Plot: compelling mysteries, intrigue, politics, battle, and powerful artifact discovery- sweet!
Characters: meh. I’m not sure what to make of the disparaging language around women and heavy set people. I understand that we are meant to see many of them overcome adversity, but sometimes it felt like the characters were props for including women, differently shaped people, etc, not that these people had a right to be in the story regardless of their make/model. Characters have sudden changes in motivation which were not signaled and I’m not a fan of this. Some characters have motivations that are really bizarre and hard to understand why their actions were included at all (Dokie’s unfortunate pruritus???). Also why is everyone either beautiful and handsome or ugly and homely? There’s rarely a character description of somebody in between. Every main character female with one exception is startlingly beautiful and I’d be more interested in reading about character traits of women that do not lie in beauty or aesthetics.
Pacing: at times breakneck and at times bogged down by info dumps, I found myself reading in sprints with a need to put down for a day or two to muster the energy to wade through the info swamps.
Overall: worth a read, I think I’ll soldier on for the intricate world building and hopefully more organic character development in the second book. For a debut author and novel, this is a stand out book, I look forward to seeing where this author goes with more refinement to his writing over time.
Plot: compelling mysteries, intrigue, politics, battle, and powerful artifact discovery- sweet!
Characters: meh. I’m not sure what to make of the disparaging language around women and heavy set people. I understand that we are meant to see many of them overcome adversity, but sometimes it felt like the characters were props for including women, differently shaped people, etc, not that these people had a right to be in the story regardless of their make/model. Characters have sudden changes in motivation which were not signaled and I’m not a fan of this. Some characters have motivations that are really bizarre and hard to understand why their actions were included at all (Dokie’s unfortunate pruritus???). Also why is everyone either beautiful and handsome or ugly and homely? There’s rarely a character description of somebody in between. Every main character female with one exception is startlingly beautiful and I’d be more interested in reading about character traits of women that do not lie in beauty or aesthetics.
Pacing: at times breakneck and at times bogged down by info dumps, I found myself reading in sprints with a need to put down for a day or two to muster the energy to wade through the info swamps.
Overall: worth a read, I think I’ll soldier on for the intricate world building and hopefully more organic character development in the second book. For a debut author and novel, this is a stand out book, I look forward to seeing where this author goes with more refinement to his writing over time.
robertg's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I am blown away. This is easily going to be a top 5 series for me. A true fantasy epic. The perfect mix of character work, plot, and world building. Strongly religion driven story with a chosen one trope twisted to be five "chosen ones", and it is so well done here. There is mystery, intrigue, betrayal and, a deep, lush world with lovable characters. My only gripe is that the writing can be just a little repetitive, but not enough to take away from my enjoyment. Seriously good book and it NEEDS more recognition. Please pick this up if you love epic, dark, grim, bloody, enveloping stories.
thomas_hense's review
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
A fast paced read. Easy to follow. Will continue with the series.
elwoodradley's review against another edition
5.0
Holy fucking shit. This is easily one of the best fantasy novels I’ve read in a long while. It is absolutely brutal and the characters are great. Nail is obviously a favorite, but Squireck is a great character, I absolutely loved him and I hope that we get more of him in the next two books.
vickerstaylor's review against another edition
5.0
After watching a lot of Brian Lee Durfee's reviews on YouTube, I felt it was time to finally pick up his epic fantasy series, as well as join a readalong for it. This book is dense and throws a lot at you very quickly, but I felt Durfee was able to do that and then slowly put the pieces into place with great dialogue, characters, fights, and revelations. Usually with books like this it takes me a really long time to make my way through them, but I completely devoured this book. There were some truly shocking moments but they moved the plot forward in a great way. The revelations and mysteries being unraveled were ones I did not see coming. I can't wait to see how the story continues in Book 2.