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chronicallyreadingandcats's review
4.0
I'm a bit confused by the reviews for this book being poor. It is well written in my opinion with great detail about war and tactics. The beginning was very dark and the dark themes do run throughout. Except for some of the imagery being graphic I would say this is more YA in nature but this does not detract from the book. Its pacing varies and the last few chapters feel slightly rushed but otherwise a great read.
dantastic's review against another edition
3.0
In the hellish Sanctuary of the Redeemer, young boys are trained from the age of five to be unthinking soldiers. Cale, the most promising, is singled out for punishment for the most trivial offenses. One day, Cale stops a Redeemer from dissecting a girl and he and his two friends Vague Henri and Kleist, escape the Sanctuary and go on the lam. Can they stop the Redeemers from conquering the world?
First of all, I'm pissed that there's no indication on the cover that this is the first book in a trilogy. Now that I've gotten that off my chest, here goes.
The Left Hand of God is marketed as fantasy but there aren't really many fantasy elements about it. It's not really overly science-fictiony either. It's almost an alternate future tale. It takes place on earth but thousands of years in the future.
The story itself is pretty good. Cale and his friends adjust to life in Memphis, only to have the Redeemers show up when they were just getting settled in. Memphis is well done but I think the Redeemers are better developed, religions fanatics dedicated to wiping out sin. The relationships between the characters are fairly good, although Kleist and Vague Henri don't get much time. The final battle was surprising and the ending was a shocker, although the title gives it away a little.
The writing is good but the tone was a little weird. In some places it was chilling and in others hilarious. I liked it but I could see how some people could find it jarring.
First of all, I'm pissed that there's no indication on the cover that this is the first book in a trilogy. Now that I've gotten that off my chest, here goes.
The Left Hand of God is marketed as fantasy but there aren't really many fantasy elements about it. It's not really overly science-fictiony either. It's almost an alternate future tale. It takes place on earth but thousands of years in the future.
The story itself is pretty good. Cale and his friends adjust to life in Memphis, only to have the Redeemers show up when they were just getting settled in. Memphis is well done but I think the Redeemers are better developed, religions fanatics dedicated to wiping out sin. The relationships between the characters are fairly good, although Kleist and Vague Henri don't get much time. The final battle was surprising and the ending was a shocker, although the title gives it away a little.
The writing is good but the tone was a little weird. In some places it was chilling and in others hilarious. I liked it but I could see how some people could find it jarring.
blodeuedd's review against another edition
3.0
I am confused, was this the future or an alternate history? At first I thought it was fantasy, and yes I would have liked it to stay that way. I am not really a fan of the BOOM! Ha this is our future thing. But of course I cannot be sure of that, but yeah our world. A few cities and countries are name. It sadly is about Christianity (boring), religion is evil, and still is.
This book is about Cale, a teen in a place with others teens. The food sucks. They are taught to fight. If they question things they are killed. Doors are forbidden cos they are sinners. Scary religion. It convert and die or plainly die. Nothing in between. I did like the darkness shown then zealots take over everything.
Oh, the guys they are fighting, who on earth are those?
What I did not really like was his age, he is 14. Ok so that would have been fine, but then he sees a woman for he first time. Srsly, you are 14, what do you know about love? It just made me roll my eyes. And the end, eye roll. Make him at least 18 and I can start to believe.
So yeah, I wish he had not made this our world. It would have worked excellent without that. You can still have your creepy religion and stuff, you can even have your pope. And yes Cale could have aged a bit.
But it was good, and I did pick up the next one at once.
This book is about Cale, a teen in a place with others teens. The food sucks. They are taught to fight. If they question things they are killed. Doors are forbidden cos they are sinners. Scary religion. It convert and die or plainly die. Nothing in between. I did like the darkness shown then zealots take over everything.
Oh, the guys they are fighting, who on earth are those?
What I did not really like was his age, he is 14. Ok so that would have been fine, but then he sees a woman for he first time. Srsly, you are 14, what do you know about love? It just made me roll my eyes. And the end, eye roll. Make him at least 18 and I can start to believe.
So yeah, I wish he had not made this our world. It would have worked excellent without that. You can still have your creepy religion and stuff, you can even have your pope. And yes Cale could have aged a bit.
But it was good, and I did pick up the next one at once.
madlenka's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. This book is so different from what it promises on the cover and what I expected. But oh my, it is SO good.
I've fallen in love with Paul Hoffman's writing. He describes misery so well you truly feel desperate. There are not many happy moments but you feel happy yourself when you read them. I don't know if I like Cale. He is one of the most inconsistent characters I have ever read about but I think the good things he has done outweigh the bad ones. He is very sympathizable because he has gone though real hell and you understand why his personality is what it is then. And it is obvious there are much greater things waiting for him.
Hoffman has a real sense for characters. You meet tens of them thoughout the book and each of them is special in some way, no matter if he stays for two or twenty chapters. You always get to know the important features althrough all of them still have secrets.
I imagine The Left Hand of God is set into Middle Ages, but it took me many pages to figure it out. First I thought it could even be future (though not the one with super modern machines, more like the opposite). The names of places are a little confusing. It mostly seems like Hoffman took some known names but put them into a different world. Memphis, Thames, Norwegians, Jerusalem are some of those. The religion of the Redeemers can remind some people of Christianity. Of course it is different, but Hoffman took some features - though he twisted them A LOT. (I also didn't really get the hint of Jesus which wasn't explained at all.)
There are many things we have to wait to find out more about, many unfinished lines, some of them epic, some less epic, but all of them thrilling and very promising.
I've fallen in love with Paul Hoffman's writing. He describes misery so well you truly feel desperate. There are not many happy moments but you feel happy yourself when you read them. I don't know if I like Cale. He is one of the most inconsistent characters I have ever read about but I think the good things he has done outweigh the bad ones. He is very sympathizable because he has gone though real hell and you understand why his personality is what it is then. And it is obvious there are much greater things waiting for him.
Hoffman has a real sense for characters. You meet tens of them thoughout the book and each of them is special in some way, no matter if he stays for two or twenty chapters. You always get to know the important features althrough all of them still have secrets.
I imagine The Left Hand of God is set into Middle Ages, but it took me many pages to figure it out. First I thought it could even be future (though not the one with super modern machines, more like the opposite). The names of places are a little confusing. It mostly seems like Hoffman took some known names but put them into a different world. Memphis, Thames, Norwegians, Jerusalem are some of those. The religion of the Redeemers can remind some people of Christianity. Of course it is different, but Hoffman took some features - though he twisted them A LOT. (I also didn't really get the hint of Jesus which wasn't explained at all.)
There are many things we have to wait to find out more about, many unfinished lines, some of them epic, some less epic, but all of them thrilling and very promising.
sylviaisme's review against another edition
2.0
Questo libro trabocca di difetti. Scrittura povera, personaggi piatti senza alcuno spessore psicologico, trama confusa e spesso contraddittoria, POV ballerino e indefinito. Non gli ho dato una stella perché quest'anno mi è capitato di leggere anche di peggio, ma insomma, siamo lì.
hisuin's review
3.0
No está mal, aunque por las críticas leídas me esperaba más de este libro.
Como puntos positivos, me ha parecido muy interesante la personalidad de Cale, y la originalidad de la trama en sí, pero por otra parte el libro se me ha hecho muy largo (y eso que es sólo la primera parte), y efectivamente (como ya me habían comentado) hay cosas que parecen un poco sacadas de la manga.
Como puntos positivos, me ha parecido muy interesante la personalidad de Cale, y la originalidad de la trama en sí, pero por otra parte el libro se me ha hecho muy largo (y eso que es sólo la primera parte), y efectivamente (como ya me habían comentado) hay cosas que parecen un poco sacadas de la manga.
efuaesaba's review
3.0
I inhaled this book, so something went well. But I'm also confused as to why because I can't point to anything specifically mindblowing. It was just fun I guess?? The weird mindset of such a damaged main character is a very interesting POV.
minieggs's review against another edition
1.0
I don’t know that I have the energy to write anything particularly concise about this book so I’ll just make a list here of the contents I can remember which led to this rating:
- underdeveloped world building. Strange mixture of place names which exist in our world (York and Jerusalem and Memphis, for example) and names the author came
up with himself. The places named after currently existing real world places were distinctly different from those in the real world — Norway was seemingly a warm country, and York and Memphis were mere hundreds of mile apart.
- the central religion. This was so obviously a variation on Christianity, having a martyred central figure who died for the sins of the people. And yet. Aspects of the Christian faith are used and misused throughout the book in relation to this fictional faith. Jesus of Nazareth is mentioned but his story is actually that of Jonah and the whale. There is an Ark of the Covenant mentioned, mass and priests are thrown in, and holy relics and sainthood exist. So really why bother with this Hanged Redeemer nonsense?
- not one female character had any real substance to them. Most were purely aesthetic characters, vapid and shallow. Most are “beautiful” or “pretty”; one is so beautiful she’s described as having a long neck and given the name Arbel Swan-Neck?? The only 2 female characters aside from these were a nun (mentioned in like 2 sentences) and an assassin who gets introduced and killed in a single chapter because she’s found herself fallen in love with a 14 year old boy?
- speaking of the 14 year old boy: he is decidedly unbelievable. We’re meant to believe that this child is capable of creating complex military tactics; he’s supposedly bumped his head and granted immense fighting capabilities; he doesn’t know how to keep a civil tongue when faced with anyone; and he’s somehow lovable. It’s preposterous.
- Cale’s abilities are only really explained in the very last chapter of the book, which incidentally is the only information the synopsis on the back of the book gives you? You really needn’t read anything before the last chapter.
- Riba is the victim of both fatphobia and misogyny and it’s disgusting.
- A child-molesting Redeemer is described as having been burnt alive and the escaped acolytes lament his death??? They called him Redeemer Bumfeel???
- underage sex between two 14 year olds. The female 14 year old is described as beautiful all the time, and that she also has a lithe body.
- the writing in and of itself is atrocious. The reader is never given an opportunity to infer for themselves or come to their own conclusions; the author consistently tells and does not show.
- shallow character-building. Not one character came across as unique or genuine.
- what was the deal with the mutilation of the girls by Redeemer Perabo or whoever? What did Cake pocket and forget about from that time? A gallstone? No explanation.
That’s all that’s coming to me for now. This book should have went through myriad more edits than it saw. I will not be reading the series further. I only completed this book because of how easily it read and I was somewhat interested in the plot but given my point about the synopsis, I needn’t really have bothered.
- underdeveloped world building. Strange mixture of place names which exist in our world (York and Jerusalem and Memphis, for example) and names the author came
up with himself. The places named after currently existing real world places were distinctly different from those in the real world — Norway was seemingly a warm country, and York and Memphis were mere hundreds of mile apart.
- the central religion. This was so obviously a variation on Christianity, having a martyred central figure who died for the sins of the people. And yet. Aspects of the Christian faith are used and misused throughout the book in relation to this fictional faith. Jesus of Nazareth is mentioned but his story is actually that of Jonah and the whale. There is an Ark of the Covenant mentioned, mass and priests are thrown in, and holy relics and sainthood exist. So really why bother with this Hanged Redeemer nonsense?
- not one female character had any real substance to them. Most were purely aesthetic characters, vapid and shallow. Most are “beautiful” or “pretty”; one is so beautiful she’s described as having a long neck and given the name Arbel Swan-Neck?? The only 2 female characters aside from these were a nun (mentioned in like 2 sentences) and an assassin who gets introduced and killed in a single chapter because she’s found herself fallen in love with a 14 year old boy?
- speaking of the 14 year old boy: he is decidedly unbelievable. We’re meant to believe that this child is capable of creating complex military tactics; he’s supposedly bumped his head and granted immense fighting capabilities; he doesn’t know how to keep a civil tongue when faced with anyone; and he’s somehow lovable. It’s preposterous.
- Cale’s abilities are only really explained in the very last chapter of the book, which incidentally is the only information the synopsis on the back of the book gives you? You really needn’t read anything before the last chapter.
- Riba is the victim of both fatphobia and misogyny and it’s disgusting.
- A child-molesting Redeemer is described as having been burnt alive and the escaped acolytes lament his death??? They called him Redeemer Bumfeel???
- underage sex between two 14 year olds. The female 14 year old is described as beautiful all the time, and that she also has a lithe body.
- the writing in and of itself is atrocious. The reader is never given an opportunity to infer for themselves or come to their own conclusions; the author consistently tells and does not show.
- shallow character-building. Not one character came across as unique or genuine.
- what was the deal with the mutilation of the girls by Redeemer Perabo or whoever? What did Cake pocket and forget about from that time? A gallstone? No explanation.
That’s all that’s coming to me for now. This book should have went through myriad more edits than it saw. I will not be reading the series further. I only completed this book because of how easily it read and I was somewhat interested in the plot but given my point about the synopsis, I needn’t really have bothered.
sheyri's review against another edition
2.0
Content warning:
Cale is a Mary Sue and that makes it impossible to build tension once you realised that. Whatever he does, he succeeds in.
And what is it with the Redeemers? They're supposed to be those big bad warriors, the best of all, terrifying enemies on the battlefield. Trained since early childhood to be killing machines. Yet they don't seem to win any fight unless they're met with incompetence. The only good fighters are, of course, Cale and his friends.
I also don't understand how people can call this masterful writing. If your expectation is "knows how sentences work", then yes, I guess. But beyond that it's not really outstanding? Quite the contrary. I still have no idea what the world is supposed to look like, not even where the Sanctuary and Memphis are in relation to each other, and it took me about a hundred pages to even begin to suspect it's supposed to be alternate history of our world. Honestly, this feels like a Civ 6 campaign or something.
And on a more personal note:
I went into this book expecting graphic violence, because that's what the blurb promises, right? Yet I don't even get a decent whipping scene. We're told over and over how cruel the Redeemers are to the kids, but that's where it remains: telling. Give me some good graphic violence or don't make such promises!
Anyway, that's just a personal preference, but I've also read YA books with more detailed descriptions...
Spoiler
violence, gore, though not nearly as graphic as you would expect from the blurbCale is a Mary Sue and that makes it impossible to build tension once you realised that. Whatever he does, he succeeds in.
And what is it with the Redeemers? They're supposed to be those big bad warriors, the best of all, terrifying enemies on the battlefield. Trained since early childhood to be killing machines. Yet they don't seem to win any fight unless they're met with incompetence. The only good fighters are, of course, Cale and his friends.
I also don't understand how people can call this masterful writing. If your expectation is "knows how sentences work", then yes, I guess. But beyond that it's not really outstanding? Quite the contrary. I still have no idea what the world is supposed to look like, not even where the Sanctuary and Memphis are in relation to each other, and it took me about a hundred pages to even begin to suspect it's supposed to be alternate history of our world. Honestly, this feels like a Civ 6 campaign or something.
And on a more personal note:
I went into this book expecting graphic violence, because that's what the blurb promises, right? Yet I don't even get a decent whipping scene. We're told over and over how cruel the Redeemers are to the kids, but that's where it remains: telling. Give me some good graphic violence or don't make such promises!
Anyway, that's just a personal preference, but I've also read YA books with more detailed descriptions...
lvyino64's review
3.0
Enjoyed the concepts at the start, but the moment Cale began having feelings for Arbell (?) it got boring. Like when did they even like each other?? When did their relationship develop to the point of making love?? LIKE WHAT