Reviews

This book was recommended to me so I had no idea what I was getting in to. For the first little bit I was afraid I had somehow started mid-series because I could not figure out what was going on. Building the world as the story progressed was hard for me to follow and I sometimes had trouble paying attention when so much of it meant nothing to me. Once I kind of started to figure it out I got into it a little more, but then everything sort of unwound again at the end. I'm usually a big fantasy fan but something about this was just not jiving with my brain.

highlanderajax's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

This is a hard one. I think it's a great book for most people, it's really well-written, and it's a fantastically fun take on magic systems that I haven't really seen before. Plot is pretty compelling and there's just a ton of incredible world-building that made me really interested in the book. I was a big fan of the actual plot, when it was happening - it tied in well with the magic system. The climax was bold, punchy, and incredibly engrossing - liked it a lot.

However, the character work is pretty ropey. The characters are kind of cut-outs for the most part, and while they get some characterisation it's not the most in-depth stuff. It makes it harder to connect with and care about them. Additionally, while the plot is compelling, it goes from fluid and engaging to juddering and grinding along. There are sections where everything feels very slow - I suspect this is linked to the character isues, as when the plot needs space for conversation, discussions and information, the characters aren't developed enough to keep everything interesting.

The "lawyering" scenes were a little tricky for me. It's a fresh take, but there are times that Gladstone seems to really want to lean into the legalese concepts and times that he's kind of thrown them out for the sake of entertainment - he sets things up like there'll be a quite strict conract-based set of hearings and trial, but soon enough we're back into magic duels and off-the-cuff speeches. I wouldn't have minded a little more fidelity to the legal part of the legal-magic vibe.. It's also a little inconsistent how he uses Craftsmen/Craftswomen and how exactly they fit into the world. I suspect this is mostly down to first-installment oddness, but it is noteworthy.

Overall, this falls a little short in a few key areas, but it does so well at developing this interesting magic system and entertaining world that I think I'll pick up the next book.

sh1323's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

lthintz's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? No

3.5

e_oneita's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

This novel truly blew me away. It was like Max Gladstone reached into my brain and pulled out everything I have ever thought might be cool, and mushed it together so much more intricately and interestingly than I ever could. If I tried to describe this book, it would be "cyberpunk with necromancers", which sounds cool enough but really does the book no justice in how much more clever and mind-bending it is than such a simple description.

Needless to say, I immediately picked up the rest of the series, and I cannot wait to dive more deeply into the incredible world Gladstone has created.

More...