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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Weird, dark mirror of the lives of medieval monks, heresiarchs, prophets, and scholars. Would recommend to church nerds and weirdos, would not recommend to people who don’t read Latin, as large parts would be incomprehensible.
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was a good read, I liked the mysterious and cozy vibes a lot, and I do love me a historical fiction based in the 14th century. I need to read more mysteries and thrillers for sure.
I will say however, it felt incredibly dense and a bit of a slog at times. It probably didn’t help that I also recently took a break from caffeine and my body is trying to figure out how to function without it, but I rarely made it more than 15 minutes of reading without dozing off…as such, this took me longer to get through than other books I’ve read that are almost double the length hahaha it definitely picks up in the last third of the story though!
Also, while I love good and thorough descriptive writing, there’s definitely skill and art in balancing how much detail is given for the perfect picture, not too much and not too little. Sometimes this book nailed it, and other times there would be 2 pages describing a stained glass window that isn’t mentioned again, or a large paragraph explaining what a beast drawn on parchment looked like where every body part is described as a comparison to a different animal, and it was a bit much at times.
But overall I enjoyed this read. There’s a lot of Latin and it’s about monks so it’s heavy in theological debates and references, but Google is “free” and I will say most of the Latin isn’t important enough to translate, and even the author notes at the end it’s more for setting the scene than what it actually says. I only looked up a couple lines here and there, but mostly just passed it.
Finally, from here on out I will be referring to Earth as “the terraqueous orb.”
I will say however, it felt incredibly dense and a bit of a slog at times. It probably didn’t help that I also recently took a break from caffeine and my body is trying to figure out how to function without it, but I rarely made it more than 15 minutes of reading without dozing off…as such, this took me longer to get through than other books I’ve read that are almost double the length hahaha it definitely picks up in the last third of the story though!
Also, while I love good and thorough descriptive writing, there’s definitely skill and art in balancing how much detail is given for the perfect picture, not too much and not too little. Sometimes this book nailed it, and other times there would be 2 pages describing a stained glass window that isn’t mentioned again, or a large paragraph explaining what a beast drawn on parchment looked like where every body part is described as a comparison to a different animal, and it was a bit much at times.
But overall I enjoyed this read. There’s a lot of Latin and it’s about monks so it’s heavy in theological debates and references, but Google is “free” and I will say most of the Latin isn’t important enough to translate, and even the author notes at the end it’s more for setting the scene than what it actually says. I only looked up a couple lines here and there, but mostly just passed it.
Finally, from here on out I will be referring to Earth as “the terraqueous orb.”
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
About half of it was interesting, struggled supremely to get through the second half and to focus my waining interest. Just glad to be done, years later.
There is way too much theology in this book for it to be for average reader, unless you are really interested in the subject. I was able to enjoy the book once I've started skipping those parts.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No