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chenoadallen's review against another edition
3.0
I read this after House Wars, and found this and book 3 in that series to be too repetitive. I appreciate that they're different points of view, though; it's still worth reading both. West's writing developed so much between this series and House Wars, so it's a little disappointing to go backward.
wynwicket's review against another edition
4.0
I don't know how I feel about this book -- I'm so glad I read it, and I'm so glad I've finished it. It danced back and forth between frustratingly complex and stunningly beautiful, both cosmic (the Gods have returned) and intimate (the loss of a loved one). To try to condense the story down into a few lines would do it a disservice: this book, even more than its predecessor, was a LOT. The last 150 pages or so were one long battle against the forces of darkness. I mean, technically, the whole book was-- but never mind.
The characters are what really stood out to me: Jewel, The Terafin, Stephen, and especially Evayne, a seer who is unstuck in time. They kept me reading, and they've inspired me to keep going with the series.
The characters are what really stood out to me: Jewel, The Terafin, Stephen, and especially Evayne, a seer who is unstuck in time. They kept me reading, and they've inspired me to keep going with the series.
kmj91's review
3.0
3 stars, I like it but my feelings are complicated
So I don't think this is a 3-star book in terms of quality, in many ways it is an exceptional and epic book with amazing characters and a wonderfully tragic tone that works marvelously. So what's the issue? Well, I've read this before. Specifically I've read exactly half of this story in House Name. See this book takes place concurrently with House Name and half of the POV sections in this book belong to Jewel Markess, the main character of the House War series. She also gets half of this book and her sections here are basically the same as her sections of House Name with the occasional tweak which makes for kind of a frustrating reading experience. If you read House Name fairly recently, as I did, you get the nagging feeling that most of this book is rereading but just enough is different that you feel weird about skipping those sections and the sections aren't discrete chapters so you can't easily tell what could be skipped over at a glance and even if you do suss it all out, skipping around really ruins the flow of the novel as important information is still being delivered in the sections you've already read. It's a very frustrating reading experience and I wish West had figured out how to separate these viewpoints a little more when she revisited Jewel in the House War series so they didn't feel so redundant. It's a good book but one I'm not sure how to recommend.
So I don't think this is a 3-star book in terms of quality, in many ways it is an exceptional and epic book with amazing characters and a wonderfully tragic tone that works marvelously. So what's the issue? Well, I've read this before. Specifically I've read exactly half of this story in House Name. See this book takes place concurrently with House Name and half of the POV sections in this book belong to Jewel Markess, the main character of the House War series. She also gets half of this book and her sections here are basically the same as her sections of House Name with the occasional tweak which makes for kind of a frustrating reading experience. If you read House Name fairly recently, as I did, you get the nagging feeling that most of this book is rereading but just enough is different that you feel weird about skipping those sections and the sections aren't discrete chapters so you can't easily tell what could be skipped over at a glance and even if you do suss it all out, skipping around really ruins the flow of the novel as important information is still being delivered in the sections you've already read. It's a very frustrating reading experience and I wish West had figured out how to separate these viewpoints a little more when she revisited Jewel in the House War series so they didn't feel so redundant. It's a good book but one I'm not sure how to recommend.
blatheringben's review
adventurous
slow-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? Yes
5.0
dinapetko's review
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
evakristin's review
4.0
Don’t be fooled by the über corny cover art, this is high fantasy with a complicated plot, a well-developed magic system and mythology, and several engaging characters to follow.
As a writer, West gives nothing away for free. There are no clumsy info dumps, her characters do not sit down at an inn and explain their world to each other over a mug of ale. You’re going to have to pay attention, if you fall behind you’ll be left behind. As I mentioned in my review of the first book of this duology, in this she reminds me of Steven Erikson of the Malazan.
It is with great expectations I’ve added West’s next book, The Broken Crown, to my TBR list. I just hope she has finished with the rather cartoonish gesture of raising of brows by then.
As a writer, West gives nothing away for free. There are no clumsy info dumps, her characters do not sit down at an inn and explain their world to each other over a mug of ale. You’re going to have to pay attention, if you fall behind you’ll be left behind. As I mentioned in my review of the first book of this duology, in this she reminds me of Steven Erikson of the Malazan.
It is with great expectations I’ve added West’s next book, The Broken Crown, to my TBR list. I just hope she has finished with the rather cartoonish gesture of raising of brows by then.
aconfundityofcrows's review
Stopped at page 237 in August 2015. It isn't a terrible book but there a bunch of other books I want to read and I'm not enjoying this one. I hate leaving books unfinished but I'm trying to read more books I like, so 200 out of 670 pages in 2-3 months means I don't want to read this book anymore.
buzzybeereads's review
5.0
I enjoyed the first book in this duology but this book really expanded the world, the characters, the mythology. I think Michelle West might become a new favourite author, and I can't wait to get started on the Sun Sword series!
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