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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
slow-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:
Complicated
The best way to review this is in Mike Economy-ical fashion. "It was all right."
Really, really enjoyed it! I read about 80% in one go on a flight back from Europe and became thoroughly entranced with the world. Great characters, lovely world building, and the typical bittersweet GGK ending. There were a few moments where the written tenses threw me out of the story for a little bit, a few incomplete sentence fragments for ~impact, and I also feel as if the female characters could have been developed a little further past emotionless martial arts expert and beautiful concubines (though I did like all). These prevented it from being 5 stars, but otherwise I loved it!
Utterly, absolutely, stunned by the writing and story. The characters get into your head and heart and stay there, tugging away at your soul and making you live their lives. I rarely want to share or highlight a fiction book but I found myself doing so due to the sheer greatness of the prose. Kay already ranks as one of my favorite writers and this solidified that status. The intricacy of the court intrigue, the raw humanness of the characters, the heartache of love lost and gained, this is not a light read but a fulfilling one.
I'm halfway through and thinking of quitting. It's slow, very boring. The only remotely interesting character is Shen Tais sister and Meshag (I wouldn't mind if the book were about him).
If slow (very slow, like, a snail is faster) buildups and macho characters who hide their machoness behind confusing words, which are supposed to make them look smart, are your thing, then by all means. Go ahead.
Also: poetry. A lot of it. I very much identified with a prostitute, who also didn't care for it.
If slow (very slow, like, a snail is faster) buildups and macho characters who hide their machoness behind confusing words, which are supposed to make them look smart, are your thing, then by all means. Go ahead.
Also: poetry. A lot of it. I very much identified with a prostitute, who also didn't care for it.
An elegant write. I've always loved Kay for his ability to put words together in a way that make you stop and catch your breath, and this did not disappoint. Simply a beautiful read. (Secretly, I want to write like him when I grow up.)
adventurous
emotional
reflective
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:
No
adventurous
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
sad