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moerenavillasenor's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
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? No
4.0
boomgrrrl's review
5.0
I loved this series. From start to finish, it did not disappoint from start to finish. First series in a while that completely taken me inside the book. Can't wait to read everything else from this author.
blodeuedd's review
4.0
Yay the end...in a good way ;) Yay that it was good to the end, but of course I am sad it did end. But trilogies are the best, not too long and not to short. The perfect fantasy formula.
We finally learn what it is that Mijak is hearing. The thing that tells Hekat to go forth and slaughter. Can't really be God when after having met Dex I get that his God is a good one. While the people of Mijak talk about demons and then go and kill everyone. Now who is listening to demons? It's a battle of god and bad.
OK so while all that religious stuff is going down Queen Rhian is trying to convince the Dukes that she will be a good queen. And meanwhile across the seas a bloodthirsty people is waiting to conquer the rest of the world. Most of the book is Rhian trying to convince idiots that she is good, or that darkness is coming. But idiots are idiots and do not listen. I did feel at one point that the book could have been 100 pages shorter but it was still a good end to the story.
There is death, darkness, war, politic and characters to love and hate. I enjoyed this series and I must read more by her.
We finally learn what it is that Mijak is hearing. The thing that tells Hekat to go forth and slaughter. Can't really be God when after having met Dex I get that his God is a good one. While the people of Mijak talk about demons and then go and kill everyone. Now who is listening to demons? It's a battle of god and bad.
OK so while all that religious stuff is going down Queen Rhian is trying to convince the Dukes that she will be a good queen. And meanwhile across the seas a bloodthirsty people is waiting to conquer the rest of the world. Most of the book is Rhian trying to convince idiots that she is good, or that darkness is coming. But idiots are idiots and do not listen. I did feel at one point that the book could have been 100 pages shorter but it was still a good end to the story.
There is death, darkness, war, politic and characters to love and hate. I enjoyed this series and I must read more by her.
anancientapple's review
adventurous
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
t_jenkins's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
mariexlupin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
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
4.25
midrel's review
2.0
The ending of this book was disappointing.
Which is a shame, because for most of its length, I think the book managed to combine the best things of the first and second books, while for the most parts avoiding its flaws. But the pace, awkward from the very first book in the series, faltered again, getting increasingly worse as the story neared its climax, until near the very end it started skimming and summarizing and jumping around like a monkey only at the last realizing he had squandered his allotted length of rope and had to make for a crash landing.
Thats how the ending, and in some regards most, of Hammer of God felt to me.
There was so much wasted space. So much time spent either on unimportant details or on hyping and building up Mijak's invasion- only to have that invasion summarised and fast-forwarded in the most unappealing of ways. Some plot threads also felt unimportant on the whole. Like the trip to Mijak's base, the scorpion knife, Ethrea's god telling the true to Zandakaar's father and his subsequent promise to help. That one never really pays up. Sure, we get to see Vortka's frustration and grief, but that in itself is nothing new. He has always been, as Hekat would say, a soft man. There really isn't any new development in him.
Seeing him come to the realization that Mijak's god was a demon would have been worth it, except again the scene is Deux-ex-machina'd in a way that while perhaps not boring, does steal some of the climatic feeling by stealing some of the conflict from the story. Honestly, I loved Dexterity's character. He and Vortka are probably my favourite ones, but I really hate the fomer's miracles, and I never failed to feel like they were doing more harm than good to the story.
I also particularly hate-loved the resolution between Zandakaar and Rhyan.
Which is a shame, because for most of its length, I think the book managed to combine the best things of the first and second books, while for the most parts avoiding its flaws. But the pace, awkward from the very first book in the series, faltered again, getting increasingly worse as the story neared its climax, until near the very end it started skimming and summarizing and jumping around like a monkey only at the last realizing he had squandered his allotted length of rope and had to make for a crash landing.
Thats how the ending, and in some regards most, of Hammer of God felt to me.
There was so much wasted space. So much time spent either on unimportant details or on hyping and building up Mijak's invasion- only to have that invasion summarised and fast-forwarded in the most unappealing of ways. Some plot threads also felt unimportant on the whole. Like the trip to Mijak's base, the scorpion knife, Ethrea's god telling the true to Zandakaar's father and his subsequent promise to help. That one never really pays up. Sure, we get to see Vortka's frustration and grief, but that in itself is nothing new. He has always been, as Hekat would say, a soft man. There really isn't any new development in him.
Seeing him come to the realization that Mijak's god was a demon would have been worth it, except again the scene is Deux-ex-machina'd in a way that while perhaps not boring, does steal some of the climatic feeling by stealing some of the conflict from the story. Honestly, I loved Dexterity's character. He and Vortka are probably my favourite ones, but I really hate the fomer's miracles, and I never failed to feel like they were doing more harm than good to the story.
I also particularly hate-loved the resolution between Zandakaar and Rhyan.
Spoiler
On one side, I think most people were expecting they would fall together from the very beginnings of the first book. To see that particular cliché avoided was good. On the other hand, I do wish Zandakaar had gotten a little closer. The story tells us that they are close and have a connection, but it doest actually shows this to us, other than their very brief scenes together and the many moments when Rhyan defends him to everyone else.vms_lcsw's review
3.0
meh. I wanted it to be more. This was sort of weak for a final climactic book of a trilogy.
woolfardis's review against another edition
4.0
[Short and quick review from memory before I re-read and re-review at a later date:
Loved this series quite a lot, but I don't remember much from the latter two books. Definite re-read, and I think it was relatively quick-read fantasy, too, which is basically what it's there for.]
Loved this series quite a lot, but I don't remember much from the latter two books. Definite re-read, and I think it was relatively quick-read fantasy, too, which is basically what it's there for.]