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woolerys's review
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Writing - 4/5
Plot - 2/5
Characters - 4/5
World-building - 3/5
Personal tastes - 3/5
TOTAL: 3.2
The pacing was uneven and the plot was occasionally hard to follow given the unsignaled time jumps; however, the novel’s voice and the characters were vibrant and engaging. Had it been a longer book, I would have been glad to hang out with the protagonist for as many more pages as Wilson wanted to write.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Body horror, Violence, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Alcohol
Minor: Sexism and Xenophobia
booksthatburn's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
THE SORCERER OF THE WILDEEPS is lyrical and fantastic, with excellent prose made somehow even better by the audiobook narrator's performance. This falls into a particular category of story for me, one where it feels so good to read on a sentence-by-sentence level that I'm fine being confused by the overall story. The focus jumps around suddenly and unpredictably, with the narrative shifting more often as the ending nears.
The worldbuilding is immersive, conveying the language barrier in the gap between what Demane thinks and how stilted his speech is with the rest of the caravan. I love the way AAVE is used by the caravan brothers, forming a blend between casual speech and Demane's smatterings of technical knowledge that he keeps trying to apply to what's happening. It creates a visceral sense of the language barrier he experiences, wanting to say so much more but not having the words, or frustrated that the closest words don't carry the meanings he intends.
The ending is ambiguous, but it's clearly meant to be unresolved rather than a teaser or cliffhanger. There is a sequel, but it seems to be an indirect follow-up.
The worldbuilding is immersive, conveying the language barrier in the gap between what Demane thinks and how stilted his speech is with the rest of the caravan. I love the way AAVE is used by the caravan brothers, forming a blend between casual speech and Demane's smatterings of technical knowledge that he keeps trying to apply to what's happening. It creates a visceral sense of the language barrier he experiences, wanting to say so much more but not having the words, or frustrated that the closest words don't carry the meanings he intends.
The ending is ambiguous, but it's clearly meant to be unresolved rather than a teaser or cliffhanger. There is a sequel, but it seems to be an indirect follow-up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Colonisation, Cursing, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Animal death, War, Grief, Slavery, Racism, Sexism, Misogyny, and Vomit
Minor: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, and Excrement
erebus53's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. It chucks you in the deep end a bit at the start but any fantasy or science fiction reader would find a footing pretty quickly, as it leans in hard to it's show-don't-tell ways.
I see some similarities to (of all things?!) Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. In both we are immersed in a world explained by scientific and theoretic under underpinnings that we know we know little of, with queer love, and anime-style hyper-violent action fight scenes. I've never really been one for fight scenes or battles so the splurt and slice does little for me, and leaves me feeling a little like hardly anything relevant has happened.
The descriptions are sumptuous and creative. The author has a real handle on simile and metaphor that can make seemingly bland things seem visceral and organic. The best things in the way the story is told though, are the dialogue and the world. This is probably even more striking in the Audiobook performance. The "brothers" feel like Black American soldiers...
... kinda want to understand where those soldiers are going and what for though. The whole book feels like it left off at the end of the first chapter and you've come to your first crossing, but nowhere near the end of your journey.
I see some similarities to (of all things?!) Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. In both we are immersed in a world explained by scientific and theoretic under underpinnings that we know we know little of, with queer love, and anime-style hyper-violent action fight scenes. I've never really been one for fight scenes or battles so the splurt and slice does little for me, and leaves me feeling a little like hardly anything relevant has happened.
The descriptions are sumptuous and creative. The author has a real handle on simile and metaphor that can make seemingly bland things seem visceral and organic. The best things in the way the story is told though, are the dialogue and the world. This is probably even more striking in the Audiobook performance. The "brothers" feel like Black American soldiers...
... kinda want to understand where those soldiers are going and what for though. The whole book feels like it left off at the end of the first chapter and you've come to your first crossing, but nowhere near the end of your journey.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Medical content, Murder, and Sexual content
catapocalypse's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
This is a bumpy ride through time and space, first and foremost warning. I'm pretty good at staying oriented through time hops, and I still had to double check a couple threads and generally feel I'd benefit from a reread. And while the last chunk of it was the real action-packed part, the whole read felt like an adventure for me. I enjoyed the lush worldbuilding and the relationship between Demane and Captain Isa.
The story follows Demane, a man descended from the gods who have since departed the world, after he takes up a mercenary job to escort a merchant caravan safely to its destination in a southern kingdom. The Captain of this escort is a man descended from another divine family. They both do their best to serve the caravan while hiding their demigod qualities--and their passion for each other. Meanwhile, a rare and exceptionally dangerous force is defying the protections on the Road through the Wildeeps, which is the path their caravan must take. Demane and the Captain's abilities are tested when they must pursue this foe while navigating the volatile Wildeeps itself.
The book ends with some ambiguity, and honestly felt like a cliffhanger to me. I feel more could have been explored there, and even in the events after. There's also only one woman with any significant role in the story in the whole book (and she isn't referred to with an actual name). This could have warranted 3 or 3.5 stars, but I'd say my personal enjoyment was at 4 stars.
The story follows Demane, a man descended from the gods who have since departed the world, after he takes up a mercenary job to escort a merchant caravan safely to its destination in a southern kingdom. The Captain of this escort is a man descended from another divine family. They both do their best to serve the caravan while hiding their demigod qualities--and their passion for each other. Meanwhile, a rare and exceptionally dangerous force is defying the protections on the Road through the Wildeeps, which is the path their caravan must take. Demane and the Captain's abilities are tested when they must pursue this foe while navigating the volatile Wildeeps itself.
The book ends with some ambiguity, and honestly felt like a cliffhanger to me. I feel more could have been explored there, and even in the events after. There's also only one woman with any significant role in the story in the whole book (and she isn't referred to with an actual name). This could have warranted 3 or 3.5 stars, but I'd say my personal enjoyment was at 4 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Drug use, Excrement, Grief, Homophobia, and Sexual content
karinh's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, and Vomit
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