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xgongshowj03's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
malignantcactus's review against another edition
2.0
DNF at 35%.
This is hard and makes me sad. I love Hanrahan's Black Iron Legacy series. His creativity and imagination shine so brightly in the creature designs and world building that it's genuinely astonishing. He's shown diversity in writing different kinds of stories within those books. Just a great author.
But this book is boring. I was interested to see him take on a more classic fantasy setting, especially with the whole "heroes beat the bad guy forever ago, and this is the fallout" type story. I love that shit.
But The Sword Defiant does nothing with it. It's just blah to me. Alf is boring. The talking sword isn't utilized well. The past events about the Nine's journey and war sounded so much more interesting and fun. I'd have rather had that story first, and then this book so that I'm already invested in the characters and world by the time I see them 25 years later. I feel like I've missed everything.
It feels like a different author. Hanrahan's creativity isn't seen here at all.
This is hard and makes me sad. I love Hanrahan's Black Iron Legacy series. His creativity and imagination shine so brightly in the creature designs and world building that it's genuinely astonishing. He's shown diversity in writing different kinds of stories within those books. Just a great author.
But this book is boring. I was interested to see him take on a more classic fantasy setting, especially with the whole "heroes beat the bad guy forever ago, and this is the fallout" type story. I love that shit.
But The Sword Defiant does nothing with it. It's just blah to me. Alf is boring. The talking sword isn't utilized well. The past events about the Nine's journey and war sounded so much more interesting and fun. I'd have rather had that story first, and then this book so that I'm already invested in the characters and world by the time I see them 25 years later. I feel like I've missed everything.
It feels like a different author. Hanrahan's creativity isn't seen here at all.
katiethecatlady's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
4.5
peanutvue's review against another edition
5.0
fun classic fantasy, can definitely see the Tolkien and tabletop inspiration!! I sped through it in two days, I was addicted to the Silmarillion for a while and certain elements reminded me of it — the elves and the myths of the world particularly.
My only con is that some things happened a bit too fast and I didn’t feel that they had proper set up. Hopefully they’ll be expanded on in the second book
My only con is that some things happened a bit too fast and I didn’t feel that they had proper set up. Hopefully they’ll be expanded on in the second book
rndecker's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
mels_reading_rook's review against another edition
3.0
There were elements that I enjoyed about this story, and some that prevented me from getting fully immersed. I'll start with the good.
I loved the premise of analyzing a fantasy story from the perspective of heroes and a world twenty years after the quest is completed. Just because the evil has been slain, that doesn't mean everything else will immediately fall into place; there is still work to be done to put things back to right.
I also loved the worldbuilding and conflicts surrounding the elves. It was well-thought-out, and I found myself interested in learning their histories and how they move through the world compared to the other denizens of the world.
Now onto what didn't work for me.
Much of The Nine's past - mostly regarding their deeds and relationships - was told to me instead of shown in the narration. As a result, I didn't have much emotional attachment to them because I found most of their choices in the present-day distasteful. Tangentially, because I didn't know The Nine the way Alf did, I had a hard time understanding why he went along with some of the not so great things they did, even when it seemed to go against his moral compass.
The other non-spoiler issue I had with the book was with the pacing. It felt too slow for the amount of "action" that occurred (not just fighting action, but also worldbuilding and character development). It seemed the main plot was spread across too many pages, so while I enjoyed the story, I felt like I was waiting several pages for the next development to happen.
My last section will include spoilers from the story.
And then there was the ending.
I loved the premise of analyzing a fantasy story from the perspective of heroes and a world twenty years after the quest is completed. Just because the evil has been slain, that doesn't mean everything else will immediately fall into place; there is still work to be done to put things back to right.
I also loved the worldbuilding and conflicts surrounding the elves. It was well-thought-out, and I found myself interested in learning their histories and how they move through the world compared to the other denizens of the world.
Now onto what didn't work for me.
Much of The Nine's past - mostly regarding their deeds and relationships - was told to me instead of shown in the narration. As a result, I didn't have much emotional attachment to them because I found most of their choices in the present-day distasteful. Tangentially, because I didn't know The Nine the way Alf did, I had a hard time understanding why he went along with some of the not so great things they did, even when it seemed to go against his moral compass.
The other non-spoiler issue I had with the book was with the pacing. It felt too slow for the amount of "action" that occurred (not just fighting action, but also worldbuilding and character development). It seemed the main plot was spread across too many pages, so while I enjoyed the story, I felt like I was waiting several pages for the next development to happen.
My last section will include spoilers from the story.
Spoiler
I didn't fully understand the motives of the antagonizing forces, especially regarding Lath and Thurn. The mystery surrounding them was intentional, but I felt mostly confused about why they were aligned with Death. I didn't feel like I had gotten enough of a hint for their motives for me to guess at it, which is why I felt confused.And then there was the ending.
Spoiler
In the final chapter, Olva goes on a quest to the Grey Lands. I loved the interaction she had with Gundan as he reminisces over the good ol' days in his final moments until he passed on. After that, I was unsure of the meaning of the giants and her offering of Spellbreaker to them. And then the narration changes to a retelling of that moment from a future storyteller, and it broke me out of that moment. I wanted to continue to be in the moment with the characters, but instead, I was pulled out of it. Also, I was confused at the sudden shift in the characters' positions in Necrad. The story-within-the-story alluded to it a little, but there were a lot of specifics left out for why it happened, especially considering all the animosity Alf et al. generated from the rest of the council members before the final fight. I would like to see more explanation of this in the next installment.soryualan's review against another edition
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.
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.
jmac1378's review against another edition
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 against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0