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lisalark's review against another edition
3.0
This was ok. I read some of Michelle Sagara/West's Sun Sword series, and I think I liked this better, but I didn't like Sun Sword much so - I think I am not a good reader for Sagara/West.
I had that thing were the world never really coalesced and people were running around in weird fog banks being faceless, but not so much in a confusing way as a confusing way. Also, I never properly attached to the characters and was very unconcerned about people being injured, attacked, dying, whatever.
In theory, I should like this book. But I did not.
I had that thing were the world never really coalesced and people were running around in weird fog banks being faceless, but not so much in a confusing way as a confusing way. Also, I never properly attached to the characters and was very unconcerned about people being injured, attacked, dying, whatever.
In theory, I should like this book. But I did not.
kaitlynh's review against another edition
2.0
This book has an excellent and intriguing storyline and wonderful characters. Michelle has thought up and brought to life a beautiful world with creatures and ideas that aren’t extremely common in most fantasy books.
But the writing is atrocious.
I borrowed the ebook from my library and wondered, until about half way through, if the entire book had not downloaded. I felt like I was missing passages. The descriptions and details are very muddy, making it hard to read and hard to follow. I want to continue with this series but I’m not sure if I will because it made me so angry reading it.
But the writing is atrocious.
I borrowed the ebook from my library and wondered, until about half way through, if the entire book had not downloaded. I felt like I was missing passages. The descriptions and details are very muddy, making it hard to read and hard to follow. I want to continue with this series but I’m not sure if I will because it made me so angry reading it.
rclz's review against another edition
5.0
Somewhere between 4 1/2 and 5. Great world building, good characters but a bit wordy at times. That said, I'll definitely continue on. It doesn't hurt that one of my favorite narrators does the audio for the entire series.
somewheregirl7's review against another edition
3.0
The initial premise for this book was really interesting, however it quickly loses focus. This is a long book and it could do with some tightening up and lose about a quarter of the page length. The characters remain fairly flat throughout and there is little character progression overall. By half-way through I'd mostly lost interest. I'm not sure what didn't click for me but for whatever reason I just couldn't connect with the characters and the overal mystery and plot wasn't enough to hold my interest. I had to force myself to keep reading and ultimately abandoned the book with a couple chapters still to go. I just wasn't itnerested anymore.
thechaoshour's review against another edition
5.0
This book probably should only have 4 out of 5 stars because of a few things I’ll mention in a bit, but I enjoyed the story so much I bumped it up to 5.
The things I didn’t like about this book are (1) it’s really complicated, (2) it’s really confusing, and (3) there wasn’t a whole lot of character development. BUT the good things were so entertaining that I sorted of just ignore all the bad things. The book was really, really confusing. The character doesn’t know all that much about what’s going on so we’re in the dark with her. But I did kind of like gradually finding out things as she did, even when they didn’t make sense to me. There’s a lot happening in this book. First of all, there’s a lot of races. There’s bird people, elvish people, humans, tentacle people, magic people, cat people, dragon people, the list goes on forever. I guess technically it’s just a lot of shapeshifters but it gets confusing remembering what every one can do. I kind of like learning about all these races though. It’s something new and fresh that we don’t see very often. I know pretty much all the myths about vampires but not a lot about these shapeshifting creatures.
The only character development I found was with the main character Kaylin, and she didn’t even change that much. Yet. I found that this book hints that she will change in the future, it’s just going to be really slow. For everyone else we don’t know a lot about them but I think we’re going to learn things a little bit at a time. While all the character things were slow, the plot wasn’t. There was lots of action and mystery to keep you busy and distracted from not knowing anything. Also there wasn’t a love triangle in this book! I’m very impressed about that. There was no romance at all really but I think there’s going to be in the future. There’s some hints at it!
Even though it seems like I’m giving it a really bad review, I found I really enjoyed reading this book and didn’t want to put it down. To me, that’s more important than all the technical things. The most important is the writing in general and I liked the writing style of this author. I’m looking forward to reading more.
The things I didn’t like about this book are (1) it’s really complicated, (2) it’s really confusing, and (3) there wasn’t a whole lot of character development. BUT the good things were so entertaining that I sorted of just ignore all the bad things. The book was really, really confusing. The character doesn’t know all that much about what’s going on so we’re in the dark with her. But I did kind of like gradually finding out things as she did, even when they didn’t make sense to me. There’s a lot happening in this book. First of all, there’s a lot of races. There’s bird people, elvish people, humans, tentacle people, magic people, cat people, dragon people, the list goes on forever. I guess technically it’s just a lot of shapeshifters but it gets confusing remembering what every one can do. I kind of like learning about all these races though. It’s something new and fresh that we don’t see very often. I know pretty much all the myths about vampires but not a lot about these shapeshifting creatures.
The only character development I found was with the main character Kaylin, and she didn’t even change that much. Yet. I found that this book hints that she will change in the future, it’s just going to be really slow. For everyone else we don’t know a lot about them but I think we’re going to learn things a little bit at a time. While all the character things were slow, the plot wasn’t. There was lots of action and mystery to keep you busy and distracted from not knowing anything. Also there wasn’t a love triangle in this book! I’m very impressed about that. There was no romance at all really but I think there’s going to be in the future. There’s some hints at it!
Even though it seems like I’m giving it a really bad review, I found I really enjoyed reading this book and didn’t want to put it down. To me, that’s more important than all the technical things. The most important is the writing in general and I liked the writing style of this author. I’m looking forward to reading more.
rachel_abby_reads's review against another edition
1.0
Sentence fragments. Abundant. Qualifying and redundant. Slightly repetitive. In the same sense that Roseanne Barr was slightly mouthy.
I have read this once before and wasn't enchanted. I reread it because my mother enjoyed it, and I thought I'd give it another chance. Apparently, I'm a glutton for punishment.
There are a few things I can tell you about the main character with total confidence: she is always late, she failed every non-practical class in her education, did well in languages, rarely grooms or cleans her home, and never sleeps enough. I know this because the author told us these things either explicitly or implicitly 5 or 6 times each. This book could have been half as long if Sagara's editor had used his/her red pen more effectively.
I didn't like the main character, I didn't care about her, and that went with her whole stupid world. I found the narrative style repetitive and the sentence fragments irritating. I did ask my mom if she eventually developed a romantic relationship with any of the males apparently available, and she said "Not as of book 5 or 6." Book 5 or 6?!
I think I was so disappointed because I enjoyed Sagara's first Children of the Blood series. On the other hand, it's been years since I last read them. Maybe I should read them again and see if my opinion has changed.
I have read this once before and wasn't enchanted. I reread it because my mother enjoyed it, and I thought I'd give it another chance. Apparently, I'm a glutton for punishment.
There are a few things I can tell you about the main character with total confidence: she is always late, she failed every non-practical class in her education, did well in languages, rarely grooms or cleans her home, and never sleeps enough. I know this because the author told us these things either explicitly or implicitly 5 or 6 times each. This book could have been half as long if Sagara's editor had used his/her red pen more effectively.
I didn't like the main character, I didn't care about her, and that went with her whole stupid world. I found the narrative style repetitive and the sentence fragments irritating. I did ask my mom if she eventually developed a romantic relationship with any of the males apparently available, and she said "Not as of book 5 or 6." Book 5 or 6?!
I think I was so disappointed because I enjoyed Sagara's first Children of the Blood series. On the other hand, it's been years since I last read them. Maybe I should read them again and see if my opinion has changed.
tmdavis's review against another edition
3.0
This novel suffered from a massive case of too much world building. The main character, Kaylin Neya, is a human who lives in the city of Elantra along five other races. From what the author wrote and then what I could find online (since what the author wrote was confusing), Kaylin lives alongside five different races: the Barrani (immortals), the Dragons (also immortals, who can appear human), the Tha'alani (mortals who can discern the truth by touching you with the stalks growing out of their foreheads), the Leontines (lion-like mortals), and the Aerians (mortals with wings who can fly).
The city of Elantra is run by the three Lords of Law under the direction of the Emperor. The Lord of Hawks, the Lord of Swords, and the Lord of Wolves all have teams of people (made up of different races) who help run the city. The Swords are the city's peacekeepers, the Wolves its hunters/killers, and the Hawks its eyes and ears--the people who actually solve crimes. Kaylin Neya is a Hawk and has been for the past seven years.
The novel begins with Kaylin being given an assignment by the Hawklord to investigate the deaths of children in the fief of Nightshade. She is paired with a Severn, a past friend who she no longer trusts and hasn't seen in seven years, and the first Dragon to become a hawk.
Kaylin grew up in the fief of Nightshade and witnessed the similar deaths of children over a period of three years. In addition, when she turned 13, she noticed that tattoos had appeared on her forearms and thighs--tattoos just like the ones the dead children had. She has no idea who put them there or why she has them or why they keep changing as the murders continue. After receiving the tattoos, she has an unexplainable ability to heal. This power grows but also has a dark side, which after she joins the Hawks she wears a bracer on her arm to contain. At 13, after an especially traumatic event, she runs from Nightshade to the safety of the Hawks where she has been ever since. And now she must go back.
The fiefs of the city of Elantra are not bound by the law of the Emperor but by their own law, their own armies, and their own lords. Each fief is ruled by a different fieflord, who rules with money and power. Kind of like the slums of the city where unruly and "illegal" things happen but the law enforcers turn a blind eye. Not a happy place to be.
The story, the first in a series, is intriguing, but the author confuses details and there is so much exposition that it makes it really hard to follow. There were parts that I had to reread to make sure I understood what was going on. In addition, the copious worldbuilding and some of the dialogue pulled me completely out of the story instead of drawing me into it--and this continued throughout the book. The beginning and end seemed to drag while the middle was the quickest read in the book. In addition, the explanation for the murders (while given) is not made fully clear which left me with a feeling that I must be missing something. I am hoping that the author will at least clear up some questions in the next book.
I think I will give the series one more book and if it doesn't improve, then I'll move on.
The city of Elantra is run by the three Lords of Law under the direction of the Emperor. The Lord of Hawks, the Lord of Swords, and the Lord of Wolves all have teams of people (made up of different races) who help run the city. The Swords are the city's peacekeepers, the Wolves its hunters/killers, and the Hawks its eyes and ears--the people who actually solve crimes. Kaylin Neya is a Hawk and has been for the past seven years.
The novel begins with Kaylin being given an assignment by the Hawklord to investigate the deaths of children in the fief of Nightshade. She is paired with a Severn, a past friend who she no longer trusts and hasn't seen in seven years, and the first Dragon to become a hawk.
Kaylin grew up in the fief of Nightshade and witnessed the similar deaths of children over a period of three years. In addition, when she turned 13, she noticed that tattoos had appeared on her forearms and thighs--tattoos just like the ones the dead children had. She has no idea who put them there or why she has them or why they keep changing as the murders continue. After receiving the tattoos, she has an unexplainable ability to heal. This power grows but also has a dark side, which after she joins the Hawks she wears a bracer on her arm to contain. At 13, after an especially traumatic event, she runs from Nightshade to the safety of the Hawks where she has been ever since. And now she must go back.
The fiefs of the city of Elantra are not bound by the law of the Emperor but by their own law, their own armies, and their own lords. Each fief is ruled by a different fieflord, who rules with money and power. Kind of like the slums of the city where unruly and "illegal" things happen but the law enforcers turn a blind eye. Not a happy place to be.
The story, the first in a series, is intriguing, but the author confuses details and there is so much exposition that it makes it really hard to follow. There were parts that I had to reread to make sure I understood what was going on. In addition, the copious worldbuilding and some of the dialogue pulled me completely out of the story instead of drawing me into it--and this continued throughout the book. The beginning and end seemed to drag while the middle was the quickest read in the book. In addition, the explanation for the murders (while given) is not made fully clear which left me with a feeling that I must be missing something. I am hoping that the author will at least clear up some questions in the next book.
I think I will give the series one more book and if it doesn't improve, then I'll move on.
dlmoldovan's review against another edition
4.0
great book! interesting concept. a little slow in a couple of places, but very enjoyable. i could hardly put it down. can't wait to read the next two in the series