Reviews

Lords of Rainbow by Vera Nazarian

dotreadsbooks's review

3.0

This author is highly talented and outrageously creative. She created a world without color and made it so vivid in all different shades of charcoal to light gray. It was amazing to imagine this world and even feel the depression of such a place. The story was not disorganized but at times difficult to follow. The characters were multi-faceted and emotional like any real human being is from one moment to another. At one moment I loved a character and the next I wanted to yell at them. My only reason for giving 3 stars is because I was disappointed by how the story played out. As the story progressed I felt like one dissonant chord after the other kept blaring. This is a dark story, just as this world is full of shadows. Beautifully written and wonderfully illuminated in my mind.

mankan's review against another edition

2.0

Beautiful prose. Slow paced plot. Kinda silly worldbuilding.

brianreadsbooks's review

4.0

This book had such a great, unique story. Her world and characters are interesting and different than I've ever read before. Unfortunately, the book really needed a good editor.

Regardless, it's absolutely worth a read if you love fantasy and are craving something new and different.

Pros:
- great, well-developed, never-seen-before protagonist; a strong female character, with depth and twists
- an interesting cast of secondary characters
- unique magic mechanic
- awesome story that kept me reading

Cons:
- a huge number of incidental characters that have too many pages dedicated to them, but never get fully developed. I like large casts in books, but most of these started promising, but then disappeared from focus.
- slow start; takes about 20% to really get going
- overuse of flowery prose. She tried hard to sound epic and literary, but hasn't mastered the style. It fell flat, almost distracting from an otherwise good book.
- I got tired of certain words always in italic wherever they appeared. It's hard not to read them with emphasis, and they didn't merit it.

There is a planned sequel to this book, and I will probably pick it up to see where the story and characters go. However, this book stands alone so you won't have to commit to a series.

gorillotaur's review

2.0

Beautiful prose. Slow paced plot. Kinda silly worldbuilding.

sonyakdr's review against another edition

5.0

Beautifully written. Sometimes these types of fantasy stories can get lost in describing every single detail – or in the author’s attempt at proving they are a “serious” fantasy writer and the story is more about the world and the quest and character development seems secondary.

I enjoyed this story because there was a good balance between world building, the quest, and the characters.

kurenai's review

5.0

It's so hard to know where to start a 5-star review; I have so few of them.

I could say that the world-building felt meticulous and well-planned, like something out of a Brandon Sanderson book, or that the thrilling scenes (whether fighting or falling in love) pulled me in like Sherwood Smith always does. I could say that at times the writing felt ethereal, almost like something Patricia A. McKillip or Tanith Lee could have thought of, or the light touch of sensuality brought in mind Jacqueline Carey. I could even say that the history of gravity reminded me of Guy Gavriel Kay with maybe even with some Michelle Sagara West thrown in for good measure.

I could... but no... enough of that.

In all truth, I did not know what to expect of this book or of Vera Nazarian. This is the first I have known of her and the first book I was lucky enough to read - and I thank you for that, Vera. I was enthralled from the first page envisioning the whole book in my head as we went along our-not-so-merry way. Ranhéas Ylir became some sort of grey-toned manly-woman, a riff off of the artwork of Yoshikita Amano's Vampire Hunter D, slouched upon her horse as she continues her quest to find herself. The whole world was set in startling shades of chiaroscuro until you think that maybe, just maybe, the world should actually be more like a Kunuko Y. Craft painting, rich in detail and yet soft with brilliant color, like a ray of sunshine - or a rainbow. It pulled me in so completely that I could feel the shift from colorblind layer by layer as the veils of the world was lifted to true color.

And that is about all I can say about this book. I truly enjoyed it and I look forward to picking it up again a few years hence to re-live that experience all over again. I'm not sure I can think of any better praise than that.