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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
Dnf’d about 30% through, I don’t know why I stopped, I think I just got bored but I don’t really remember
I think I’ll pick up some time, but this book is a chunk, and I just finished Les Mis, and I need some cool down time
I think I’ll pick up some time, but this book is a chunk, and I just finished Les Mis, and I need some cool down time
This book gets a lot of hate from Tolkien fans, and I can see why it would irk people that it be maybe the most blatant use of LotR tropes. But it does feel pretty distinct apart from them to me. Plenty of fantasy books predating Tolkien and afterward have a similar setup. And after which it grows quite distinct in every respect.
I really liked that sign language was incorporated into trolls, and that they’re intelligent and knowledgeable and go completely against type. I also quite liked that the two brothers are foster brothers and have a pretty healthy relationship, also going against type for foster children. The sword itself and the relationship to the Warlock king is completely different than Sauron, and far more satisfying. It’s a bit more gritty and realistic of a young adult book in contrast to Tolkien, but retains some of the soft masculinity in some of the characters that is the main draw of the fellowship, for me.
What is pretty undeniable though, is the writing quality is far less literary and stylistically disparate. There is a lot of exposition and large issues with Show Don’t Tell. The pacing is a bit laborious at some points as well. It’s a huge book, and it does feel like a lot happens, but the interiority of the characters, while present, still feels like it’s only helping the plot feel like it’s spinning wheels. I think a large part of it is the expectations of young adult readers, possibly. Some publishers and writers don’t trust readers in the demographic to pick up on things, and so make everything blatant. And this puffs the piece up substantially because it’s constantly reiterating. Clearly it worked for most readers though, as it was/is extremely popular.
I do think it’s more accessible and sometimes more engaging than Tolkien. Not quite commercial fiction but leaning there. It was pretty readable to me, and I enjoyed most of it; primarily after the setup, which is almost perfunctory for epic fantasy at this point. Though it does predate the figurative avalanche of Tolkien clones somewhat at ‘77. Some pleasant surprises saved this for me and made it enjoyable. I’ll read the next one at some point.
I really liked that sign language was incorporated into trolls, and that they’re intelligent and knowledgeable and go completely against type. I also quite liked that the two brothers are foster brothers and have a pretty healthy relationship, also going against type for foster children. The sword itself and the relationship to the Warlock king is completely different than Sauron, and far more satisfying. It’s a bit more gritty and realistic of a young adult book in contrast to Tolkien, but retains some of the soft masculinity in some of the characters that is the main draw of the fellowship, for me.
What is pretty undeniable though, is the writing quality is far less literary and stylistically disparate. There is a lot of exposition and large issues with Show Don’t Tell. The pacing is a bit laborious at some points as well. It’s a huge book, and it does feel like a lot happens, but the interiority of the characters, while present, still feels like it’s only helping the plot feel like it’s spinning wheels. I think a large part of it is the expectations of young adult readers, possibly. Some publishers and writers don’t trust readers in the demographic to pick up on things, and so make everything blatant. And this puffs the piece up substantially because it’s constantly reiterating. Clearly it worked for most readers though, as it was/is extremely popular.
I do think it’s more accessible and sometimes more engaging than Tolkien. Not quite commercial fiction but leaning there. It was pretty readable to me, and I enjoyed most of it; primarily after the setup, which is almost perfunctory for epic fantasy at this point. Though it does predate the figurative avalanche of Tolkien clones somewhat at ‘77. Some pleasant surprises saved this for me and made it enjoyable. I’ll read the next one at some point.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
A good fantasy story in the vein of the Lord of the Rings. While parts are a bit slow, the story itself was a good one.
I read this very quickly, and would have liked it less if I'd stretched it out. It was hard to tell which characters were supposed to be the main protagonists, given their POV page time and development, and mid way through the book I really came to most enjoy the development of one character who seemed to have supposed to have been a secondary character (Menion Leah).
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This one was one of dans favs when he was a kid.
Have you ever wanted to read lord of the rings and thought, “I am not going to make it through this story because I truly don’t care about walking or how the tree looks for 30 pages”
Then this book is for you. This book has everything. Two small men trying to recover a talisman that can destroy mankind, a super tall wizard dude, a prince denied, a creepy Rasputin controlling another prince to rule a kingdom, elves and dwarves, the recovery party getting split up after a fire demon drags the wizard dude into a chasm.
Actually, a super fun story, especially if you already like lotr and decided you want to read it again but different.
Have you ever wanted to read lord of the rings and thought, “I am not going to make it through this story because I truly don’t care about walking or how the tree looks for 30 pages”
Then this book is for you. This book has everything. Two small men trying to recover a talisman that can destroy mankind, a super tall wizard dude, a prince denied, a creepy Rasputin controlling another prince to rule a kingdom, elves and dwarves, the recovery party getting split up after a fire demon drags the wizard dude into a chasm.
Actually, a super fun story, especially if you already like lotr and decided you want to read it again but different.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Eines der zahllosen Fantasywerke, die im Fahrwasser von "Herr der Ringe" geschrieben wurde, und so liest es sich auch, die Handlung ist größtenteils ähnlich mit nur wenig Abweichungen. Das Figurenensemble ist sehr homogen und hat wenig Tiefe. Der Schreibstil plätschert so vor sich hin und erzeugt kaum Spannung. Ich mag langsame Romananfänge, aber das war auch mein einziges Highlight in diesem Buch.