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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was alright, but it didn't have that something that other fantasy epics have that really hooked me. It was good enough for me to read the whole thing but I don't think, for me, it will be particularly memorable in the long run. It was an interesting storyline. However, it was difficult keeping track of some of the characters. Many were introduced as to being important to the plot and then never mentioned again until several hundred pages later which made it difficult to remember them at that point.
Perhaps the story just had a lout of world-building to do and the sequel will be better. I'll give it a try down the road. I need to get some other books off my TBR list first.
Perhaps the story just had a lout of world-building to do and the sequel will be better. I'll give it a try down the road. I need to get some other books off my TBR list first.
3.75 // 5 stars
This book was a whirlwind. At the beginning, I was confused and it honestly took me a while to get fully into the story (like ~150 pages), but when I did, I had a great time for the most part. Honestly, it took me so long to read this book but I think that was partly me savoring it. The scenes that I enjoyed I never wanted to end but then other times I felt as though the book was dragging? I think the last 60 pages or so was pretty fast paced and I liked how everything wrapped up and connected at the end.
The one thing that decreased my enjoyment was the way it was told. Not only does every chapter alternate who is telling the story, but it alternates between first and third person and between different timelines. But it's all Kirhin's story? It's told in such an original/unique way that honestly through me way off. I would finally get sucked in to a chapter and then be yanked out and placed in a different time and different event where my mind would have to go back and remember what had happened a couple chapters ago. I think if it had been told chronologically, it would have been a lot easier for me to get sucked in.
Okay, so in terms of plot, I thought that the way things were woven together was very interesting. I think if I were to reread this, which I'm sure I'll do at some point before the sequel, I would take notes just to have everything fresh in my mind because this book is long and a lot happens. There were moments where I was flipping through the pages as fast as I could to see what happened next and then there were moments where I was slowly savoring the scenes. But for pretty much the entire book, I was some level of confused as to what was happening.
I think my number one thing that I enjoyed about this book was Kirhin. I think if we'd had any other character as the lead or if Kirhin hadn't been exactly like he was, I wouldn't have enjoyed the story as much. But Kirhin...oh my sweet boy. So much happens to him and, honestly, he can never catch a break. His sass is just so perfect, though. I feel like I relate a lot more to his humor than some other characters because he's a sarcastic brat half the time and then the other half is deprecating humor that just lines up perfectly with my sense of humor. I love him.
I'm excited to see what happens in the next book. There were so many loose ends at this end of this book, which I get because it's the first of five. I will say, if you want to read this book (which I do recommend if you love high fantasy and sassy characters!) that you take notes and don't try to speed through because that won't work. I definitely wish I'd taken more notes throughout as I probably wouldn't have been as confused.
A huge thank you to Tor Books for sending me an advanced copy of this book to review and to Jean for allowing me to be a part of this book tour.
Blog Tour here
This book was a whirlwind. At the beginning, I was confused and it honestly took me a while to get fully into the story (like ~150 pages), but when I did, I had a great time for the most part. Honestly, it took me so long to read this book but I think that was partly me savoring it. The scenes that I enjoyed I never wanted to end but then other times I felt as though the book was dragging? I think the last 60 pages or so was pretty fast paced and I liked how everything wrapped up and connected at the end.
The one thing that decreased my enjoyment was the way it was told. Not only does every chapter alternate who is telling the story, but it alternates between first and third person and between different timelines. But it's all Kirhin's story? It's told in such an original/unique way that honestly through me way off. I would finally get sucked in to a chapter and then be yanked out and placed in a different time and different event where my mind would have to go back and remember what had happened a couple chapters ago. I think if it had been told chronologically, it would have been a lot easier for me to get sucked in.
Okay, so in terms of plot, I thought that the way things were woven together was very interesting. I think if I were to reread this, which I'm sure I'll do at some point before the sequel, I would take notes just to have everything fresh in my mind because this book is long and a lot happens. There were moments where I was flipping through the pages as fast as I could to see what happened next and then there were moments where I was slowly savoring the scenes. But for pretty much the entire book, I was some level of confused as to what was happening.
I think my number one thing that I enjoyed about this book was Kirhin. I think if we'd had any other character as the lead or if Kirhin hadn't been exactly like he was, I wouldn't have enjoyed the story as much. But Kirhin...oh my sweet boy. So much happens to him and, honestly, he can never catch a break. His sass is just so perfect, though. I feel like I relate a lot more to his humor than some other characters because he's a sarcastic brat half the time and then the other half is deprecating humor that just lines up perfectly with my sense of humor. I love him.
I'm excited to see what happens in the next book. There were so many loose ends at this end of this book, which I get because it's the first of five. I will say, if you want to read this book (which I do recommend if you love high fantasy and sassy characters!) that you take notes and don't try to speed through because that won't work. I definitely wish I'd taken more notes throughout as I probably wouldn't have been as confused.
A huge thank you to Tor Books for sending me an advanced copy of this book to review and to Jean for allowing me to be a part of this book tour.
Blog Tour here
- Just too heavy of a read right now, so will finish it later
DNF. This is well-written, but I just have no interest in another Eurocentric fantasy novel.
Oof.
This one is a bit of a mess. I took down my original review, because it was a little too vitriolic. Truth is, I really like parts of this book. It's similar in style to The Kingkiller Chronicles... there's a meta-narrative involving our two primary narrators telling the story to each other. But, they are telling the same story, just starting at different times in our main character (Khirin's) life. That's all well and good (if a little bit confusing) but there's also a third narrator providing meta-commentary on the two narratives. A "fun" choice, that definitely works better in the second book of the series. Yup. Sadly, this style seems to be the default framework of this cycle of novels.
Which is a shame. Cuz it drives me a bit bonkers.
I mean I get it. It's definitely an interesting way to shake up the narrative... it's a neat gimmick. But in this first installment in particular, I think it does more harm than good.
It is not helped by the absolute brattiness of our main character. Khirin is just insufferably arrogant and angsty. There are narrative reasons for him to be so, and in fairness, he learns and grows as he gets older... but man is he a turd for like 90% of this book. I was an angsty, insufferable teenage boy once. I get it. But, this is a whole 'nother level of turdliness.
The world around Khirin Turdbrat though, is interesting. Demons battering at the doors to the afterlife, truly massive dragons, a complicated magical history involving rebirths and living gods. The world gets a solid four stars from me. Nothing is really new here, per se, but it is familiar pieces arranged in a novel way and I dig it.
I continued on with this series and I'm glad I did so. Book two is a much more linear tale, with a much more likeable set of narrators.
This one is a bit of a mess. I took down my original review, because it was a little too vitriolic. Truth is, I really like parts of this book. It's similar in style to The Kingkiller Chronicles... there's a meta-narrative involving our two primary narrators telling the story to each other. But, they are telling the same story, just starting at different times in our main character (Khirin's) life. That's all well and good (if a little bit confusing) but there's also a third narrator providing meta-commentary on the two narratives. A "fun" choice, that definitely works better in the second book of the series. Yup. Sadly, this style seems to be the default framework of this cycle of novels.
Which is a shame. Cuz it drives me a bit bonkers.
I mean I get it. It's definitely an interesting way to shake up the narrative... it's a neat gimmick. But in this first installment in particular, I think it does more harm than good.
It is not helped by the absolute brattiness of our main character. Khirin is just insufferably arrogant and angsty. There are narrative reasons for him to be so, and in fairness, he learns and grows as he gets older... but man is he a turd for like 90% of this book. I was an angsty, insufferable teenage boy once. I get it. But, this is a whole 'nother level of turdliness.
The world around Khirin Turdbrat though, is interesting. Demons battering at the doors to the afterlife, truly massive dragons, a complicated magical history involving rebirths and living gods. The world gets a solid four stars from me. Nothing is really new here, per se, but it is familiar pieces arranged in a novel way and I dig it.
I continued on with this series and I'm glad I did so. Book two is a much more linear tale, with a much more likeable set of narrators.
That was a wild ride. Keeping track of the characters got confusing (for spoilery reasons that I won't go into), but it was a great adventure. Talon is a character like you're never read before -- fascinating yet terrifying.
It will be interesting to see how the sequels develop. Considering that this is meant to be the first of 5(!) books, there weren't a lot of plot threads left hanging.
It will be interesting to see how the sequels develop. Considering that this is meant to be the first of 5(!) books, there weren't a lot of plot threads left hanging.
Actually a 4.25, so I'll rate it as a 4 here.
I really enjoyed this book! Jenn Lyons does a brillaint job here of crafting a wonderful jumping off point to her Chorus of Dragons series that makes you want to immediately pick up the second book. It's an vibrant world full of intriguing characters, a rich, intricate plot, some cool action sequences and magic, and some thoughtful themes as well.
One of my favorite parts of this novel was its structure and use of POVs. The bulk of the story is told in two parts; from Kihrin's first person POV and a multifaceted third person POV from the character Talon, with the addition of footnotes from Thurvishar sporadically throughout. These layers of storytelling add an intriguing level of doubt to what you're reading, making you think about how much you can trust the narrators as you read. Even once the novel moves into the "now" portion of the story, you're still left with some doubt as to how much of what you read before was the full truth, which I found to be highly enjoyable. I also really liked Jenn Lyons' writing style; it's both detailed and fast-paced, and she handles heavy themes well and breaks them up with moments of levity and genuine humor. Kihrin worked nicely as a main character for me as well, and there are plenty of memorable side and supporting characters too. The world itself is immensely rich and full of tons of politics, lore, factions, families, races, gods, and more to the point of being overstuffed at times. It's thoroughly enjoyable for me as a fan of intricately crafted fantasy, but it was slightly much for me at times as well, which bumps the book down a bit. The pacing of the novel could be a bit slow too, but it doesn't totally detract from the story, and it paid off in the end with a really well done finale.
So, overall I thought this was a wonderful start to the Chorus of Dragons series and can't wait to read more of it.
I really enjoyed this book! Jenn Lyons does a brillaint job here of crafting a wonderful jumping off point to her Chorus of Dragons series that makes you want to immediately pick up the second book. It's an vibrant world full of intriguing characters, a rich, intricate plot, some cool action sequences and magic, and some thoughtful themes as well.
One of my favorite parts of this novel was its structure and use of POVs. The bulk of the story is told in two parts; from Kihrin's first person POV and a multifaceted third person POV from the character Talon, with the addition of footnotes from Thurvishar sporadically throughout. These layers of storytelling add an intriguing level of doubt to what you're reading, making you think about how much you can trust the narrators as you read. Even once the novel moves into the "now" portion of the story, you're still left with some doubt as to how much of what you read before was the full truth, which I found to be highly enjoyable. I also really liked Jenn Lyons' writing style; it's both detailed and fast-paced, and she handles heavy themes well and breaks them up with moments of levity and genuine humor. Kihrin worked nicely as a main character for me as well, and there are plenty of memorable side and supporting characters too. The world itself is immensely rich and full of tons of politics, lore, factions, families, races, gods, and more to the point of being overstuffed at times. It's thoroughly enjoyable for me as a fan of intricately crafted fantasy, but it was slightly much for me at times as well, which bumps the book down a bit. The pacing of the novel could be a bit slow too, but it doesn't totally detract from the story, and it paid off in the end with a really well done finale.
So, overall I thought this was a wonderful start to the Chorus of Dragons series and can't wait to read more of it.
It was a fun read, but confusing at times. The writing was okay. Great ending though I tore through the last 100 pages. I'd give it a 3.5 if I could.
Here's what I said in a Discord about this book that I think covers my thoughts:
Jenn's like, making a pasta sauce. and she threw in some garlic and some onion, and things were going well. and then she's like, also let's do some shallots and scallions and two kinds of tomatoes and three kinds of cheese and olives and fuck it I've got some capers in the fridge let's try those, and here's another kind of olives, and let's see what happens if I add some pineapple. And like is the sauce gonna be good, maybe! But damn it's a lot
Jenn's like, making a pasta sauce. and she threw in some garlic and some onion, and things were going well. and then she's like, also let's do some shallots and scallions and two kinds of tomatoes and three kinds of cheese and olives and fuck it I've got some capers in the fridge let's try those, and here's another kind of olives, and let's see what happens if I add some pineapple. And like is the sauce gonna be good, maybe! But damn it's a lot