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kitvaria_sarene's review against another edition
I won't rate this, because I couldn’t get past page 100 of this one. I hate to rip apart books, and I couldn’t write anything even a fraction as well as this, so still kudos for writing a novel like this! But this just didn’t work for me at all. Instead of hating on it, I’ll just try and give you examples of what was problematic for me – you might not mind the same things as much as me.
I couldn’t really get to the plot or story, or enjoy the world building, as I felt myself barred from immersion by the prose. The world and plot and magic all have potential, but I just couldn’t get into the story as the prose itself just constantly kept grinding on me.
Especially the first chapter was very repetitive in sentence structure.
There were also sentences like this, spoken from husband to wife:
I also don’t especially like this:
or these:
– quite an exact guess… Some phrases felt way too modern to fit the setting:
Some bits just didn’t make sense to me – like escaping a slave ship and the first night with a roof over your head after, you go “This would be a trial, what with father’s snoring” because you have to share a room?
Or like being freezing cold, especially mentioning a coat that was lost with the ship. Finding the wreckage at the beach, and leaving all clothes that are even mentioned, instead lugging a big random chest with you. Because the one who used to own it had money – you know that because you got a gold coin from them. Only a few chapters later it’s a counterfeit coin, and you knew it all along…
Add to that quite some moments with actually inappropriate words being used (fermented rebellion being a favourite of mine) and I just couldn’t get past the writing to make it to the actual story sadly.
I couldn’t really get to the plot or story, or enjoy the world building, as I felt myself barred from immersion by the prose. The world and plot and magic all have potential, but I just couldn’t get into the story as the prose itself just constantly kept grinding on me.
Especially the first chapter was very repetitive in sentence structure.
“Olvar jumped up. The junior Overseer pulled his sword. Olvar raised a placating hand.”
There were also sentences like this, spoken from husband to wife:
“Don’t worry, woman, it’s just a scratch.”
I also don’t especially like this:
“That was the kind of thing you noticed if you did a lot of noticing, which he did. Unfortunately, another noticed thing had been the boson’s manifest, a stolen glance over the man’s shoulder on the day of departure suggesting over two hundred souls aboard.”
or these:
“He grunted a contemptuous laugh”
“Smiling at the three daughters, nine, twelve and fourteen, at a guess.”
– quite an exact guess… Some phrases felt way too modern to fit the setting:
“Chairs being at a premium”
“So you can’t accuse me of being sexist now, can you?”
“Passive-aggressive comments about the incompetence of foreigners”
“Have ideas to make real dough”
“Staring at his clone”
In a scene with two mothers in one room, it isn’t the best choice to use “Mother” like a name. “She turned to Mother”, “Mother smiled tightly” – whose mother exactly now? Yes, I assume the POVs mother, but as it isn’t first person, it just didn’t feel smooth.
Some bits just didn’t make sense to me – like escaping a slave ship and the first night with a roof over your head after, you go “This would be a trial, what with father’s snoring” because you have to share a room?
Or like being freezing cold, especially mentioning a coat that was lost with the ship. Finding the wreckage at the beach, and leaving all clothes that are even mentioned, instead lugging a big random chest with you. Because the one who used to own it had money – you know that because you got a gold coin from them. Only a few chapters later it’s a counterfeit coin, and you knew it all along…
Add to that quite some moments with actually inappropriate words being used (fermented rebellion being a favourite of mine) and I just couldn’t get past the writing to make it to the actual story sadly.
egswriter's review against another edition
4.0
While many fantasy stories are epic in scale, not all of them move from action scene to desperate situation; some are more deliberate and intentional in their collection of details into a story. Nether Light by Shaun Paul Stevens is, I would say, an epic fantasy that is happy to burn slowly into something dramatic.
1. Thoughts on the plot
This story follows Guyen, a refugee in the land of his enemies. He plans not only to survive, but to fight back, until his brother falls into a coma to do with the Faze—the magical energies of the world—and Guyen is called to the capital. There, he works on Faze and Binding, deals with political intrigue, and discovers the world is much, much larger than his own problems.
Taken as a storyboard, this story is fairly typical. Person washes up in land of his enemy, discovers he is something a bit more, learns from his enemy and discovers that things are not what they seem. It’s a generally standard epic fantasy-style story where the stakes grow ever larger as our hero’s knowledge increases. However, this plot is very, very detailed. The intricacies of Guyen’s day-to-day life are often laid out and we see much of his thought proceses as he goes about his life.
Generally speaking, I like stories that delve this deeply into a character, because I find that the details are the pieces that really make a story interesting and relatable. This story is fairly good in that regard, but I think that there is too much detail and the overarching plot gets lost in the minutiae. At least, that is true until about 65% of the way through the novel when the threads start to really weave together. Okay, that’s generally fine with me; I don’t need to understand everything all the time and having things come together later is usually what I prefer. But this novel is also 650 pages and it took a very long time to get to the point where the plot really took off.
So the plot was good, even very interesting, but a little too bogged down in detail, I think.
2. Thoughts on the character
Guyen is, on the surface, another example of a fairly standard epic fantasy-style hero. He has a staunch loyalty to his family—his brother in particular—and a firm belief in right and wrong. He is fond of books and learning and determined. These are all fantastic character traits, and Guyen displays them well. He is a likeable hero and, given the detail that is presented in describing his life (mentioned above) we see a lot of what goes into his thought processes.
The only thing I would like is a little more definitive presentation of intent in his actions. There is most certainly a purpose in what he is doing (no spoilers, sorry) and that makes perfect sense to drive his actions for about 90% of the book. But there is that extra 10% where his purpose doesn’t apply, either because he has to wait for something else to happen or because something else gets in the way. In these situations, Guyen’s actions make perfect sense, but they don’t really seem to have a reason behind them other than they further the plot.
I would say that I like Guyen; he’s a nice hero to follow and I grow really sympathetic towards him around the point of the trial (again, sorry, no more than that for spoiler purposes). Actually, at that point, he really begins to shine as a character and I find that I like him quite a lot.
3. Favourite part
The trial! I cannot really describe this a whole lot because spoilers, but I can say that I really like it when logical arguments win out despite political machinations and angry people getting in the way. It’s pretty much my favourite thing to read.
4. Critique
My only real critique for this book is mentioned in section 1; the plot gets a little too bogged down in the detail. I don’t really have a problem with slow burn novels. In fact, I often prefer them. In this case, I just feel that the overarching plot was a little lost amongst the individual pieces. It’s not a huge issue, especially once you hit the 65% mark in the book and the pacing picks up a significant amount, making all those earlier details important, but it did take a bit to get through.
Overall, I would say that Nether Light is a solidly good book. The characters were interesting (Mist was my favourite) and the story was more on the unique scale for all of the pieces that seem “standard” for an epic fantasy. The magic was well-crafted, the world very realistic, and the ups and downs well paced. If you’re looking for a story to really sink your teeth into for a long weekend, this is definitely one to consider.
1. Thoughts on the plot
This story follows Guyen, a refugee in the land of his enemies. He plans not only to survive, but to fight back, until his brother falls into a coma to do with the Faze—the magical energies of the world—and Guyen is called to the capital. There, he works on Faze and Binding, deals with political intrigue, and discovers the world is much, much larger than his own problems.
Taken as a storyboard, this story is fairly typical. Person washes up in land of his enemy, discovers he is something a bit more, learns from his enemy and discovers that things are not what they seem. It’s a generally standard epic fantasy-style story where the stakes grow ever larger as our hero’s knowledge increases. However, this plot is very, very detailed. The intricacies of Guyen’s day-to-day life are often laid out and we see much of his thought proceses as he goes about his life.
Generally speaking, I like stories that delve this deeply into a character, because I find that the details are the pieces that really make a story interesting and relatable. This story is fairly good in that regard, but I think that there is too much detail and the overarching plot gets lost in the minutiae. At least, that is true until about 65% of the way through the novel when the threads start to really weave together. Okay, that’s generally fine with me; I don’t need to understand everything all the time and having things come together later is usually what I prefer. But this novel is also 650 pages and it took a very long time to get to the point where the plot really took off.
So the plot was good, even very interesting, but a little too bogged down in detail, I think.
2. Thoughts on the character
Guyen is, on the surface, another example of a fairly standard epic fantasy-style hero. He has a staunch loyalty to his family—his brother in particular—and a firm belief in right and wrong. He is fond of books and learning and determined. These are all fantastic character traits, and Guyen displays them well. He is a likeable hero and, given the detail that is presented in describing his life (mentioned above) we see a lot of what goes into his thought processes.
The only thing I would like is a little more definitive presentation of intent in his actions. There is most certainly a purpose in what he is doing (no spoilers, sorry) and that makes perfect sense to drive his actions for about 90% of the book. But there is that extra 10% where his purpose doesn’t apply, either because he has to wait for something else to happen or because something else gets in the way. In these situations, Guyen’s actions make perfect sense, but they don’t really seem to have a reason behind them other than they further the plot.
I would say that I like Guyen; he’s a nice hero to follow and I grow really sympathetic towards him around the point of the trial (again, sorry, no more than that for spoiler purposes). Actually, at that point, he really begins to shine as a character and I find that I like him quite a lot.
3. Favourite part
The trial! I cannot really describe this a whole lot because spoilers, but I can say that I really like it when logical arguments win out despite political machinations and angry people getting in the way. It’s pretty much my favourite thing to read.
4. Critique
My only real critique for this book is mentioned in section 1; the plot gets a little too bogged down in the detail. I don’t really have a problem with slow burn novels. In fact, I often prefer them. In this case, I just feel that the overarching plot was a little lost amongst the individual pieces. It’s not a huge issue, especially once you hit the 65% mark in the book and the pacing picks up a significant amount, making all those earlier details important, but it did take a bit to get through.
Overall, I would say that Nether Light is a solidly good book. The characters were interesting (Mist was my favourite) and the story was more on the unique scale for all of the pieces that seem “standard” for an epic fantasy. The magic was well-crafted, the world very realistic, and the ups and downs well paced. If you’re looking for a story to really sink your teeth into for a long weekend, this is definitely one to consider.
barb4ry1's review against another edition
3.0
I loved Nether Light’s opening chapter. It set the tone of the story and made me eager to continue. The more I read, though, the more my immersion became sinusoidal.
Nether Light has both strong ups and strong downs.The story follows Guyen, a refugee who needs to find his way in the land of his enemy. We learn about the world through his point of view, and his perspective feels tinged with anger and a touch of hatred. Despite this, Guyen is also naïve and ready to help, trust, and forgive. Not the best combination when you have to deal with political intrigue, mature and experienced foes, and the world in general.
Stevens delves deep into Guyen’s mind, allowing readers to observe and discover how his perspective and the image of the world change. While convincing and dramatic, it’s also a slow process that will hinder the reading experience of those who won’t click with Guyen right away. Unfortunately, I’m in this group. As a result, I had to force myself to read through parts of the book and I’m convinced a slimming treatment would strengthen it.
Stevens’ writing throughout is vivid, with many noteworthy secondary characters, from Guyen’s close ones to Mist, an intriguing girl skilled with blades. The world itself awed me with rich imagery and fascinating concepts (like almost limitless probability-based magic or the city’s dark and atmospheric setting). We discover it through the eyes of a young foreigner and he likes details. We get plenty of them. Probably too much. I would say the story really gets going around the 60-65% mark. Once you get there, you’ll probably start to turn the pages with growing interest. Before, though, a lot feels pointless.
At 660 pages, Nether Light requires a level of trust from readers. I found the pacing uneven and discouraging, with exciting bits bogged down with details and Guyen’s brooding. Listen, Guyen, I get it, your life sucks and nothing’s as it seems but c’mon man, get a grip! And cheer up a bit. Not everyone wants to hurt you, and you can find friends in surprising places.
Readers who enjoy slow-burn and dark epic fantasies with a unique magic system and intriguing setting will find Steven’s novel engaging and rewarding. Readers who prefer focused narratives may find it disappointing. Personally, I loved parts of the story but felt bored by others. And, to be frank, I’m not sure if I would finish it if it weren’t an SPFBO finalist. (6/10)
Nether Light has both strong ups and strong downs.The story follows Guyen, a refugee who needs to find his way in the land of his enemy. We learn about the world through his point of view, and his perspective feels tinged with anger and a touch of hatred. Despite this, Guyen is also naïve and ready to help, trust, and forgive. Not the best combination when you have to deal with political intrigue, mature and experienced foes, and the world in general.
Stevens delves deep into Guyen’s mind, allowing readers to observe and discover how his perspective and the image of the world change. While convincing and dramatic, it’s also a slow process that will hinder the reading experience of those who won’t click with Guyen right away. Unfortunately, I’m in this group. As a result, I had to force myself to read through parts of the book and I’m convinced a slimming treatment would strengthen it.
Stevens’ writing throughout is vivid, with many noteworthy secondary characters, from Guyen’s close ones to Mist, an intriguing girl skilled with blades. The world itself awed me with rich imagery and fascinating concepts (like almost limitless probability-based magic or the city’s dark and atmospheric setting). We discover it through the eyes of a young foreigner and he likes details. We get plenty of them. Probably too much. I would say the story really gets going around the 60-65% mark. Once you get there, you’ll probably start to turn the pages with growing interest. Before, though, a lot feels pointless.
At 660 pages, Nether Light requires a level of trust from readers. I found the pacing uneven and discouraging, with exciting bits bogged down with details and Guyen’s brooding. Listen, Guyen, I get it, your life sucks and nothing’s as it seems but c’mon man, get a grip! And cheer up a bit. Not everyone wants to hurt you, and you can find friends in surprising places.
Readers who enjoy slow-burn and dark epic fantasies with a unique magic system and intriguing setting will find Steven’s novel engaging and rewarding. Readers who prefer focused narratives may find it disappointing. Personally, I loved parts of the story but felt bored by others. And, to be frank, I’m not sure if I would finish it if it weren’t an SPFBO finalist. (6/10)
writeramyshannon's review against another edition
4.0
Great fantasy
Stevens pens a grand story in Nether Light. I have read fantasies from this author before, and I really enjoyed it. The characters were real and intense, because Guyen was totally in survival-mode. The characters in the story had a lot of depth, and the world building in this story made it feel real, and if it were real, almost terrifying. Magic and mayhem, struggling to survive in a world that looks down upon his status. His legacy. A very well-written story, and I enjoyed it. This author is not just a writer but a great storyteller that took this reader on a grand journey. It's a great story to follow and try to figure out what will happen next. I look forward to reading many more stories by this author. This book is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews.
Stevens pens a grand story in Nether Light. I have read fantasies from this author before, and I really enjoyed it. The characters were real and intense, because Guyen was totally in survival-mode. The characters in the story had a lot of depth, and the world building in this story made it feel real, and if it were real, almost terrifying. Magic and mayhem, struggling to survive in a world that looks down upon his status. His legacy. A very well-written story, and I enjoyed it. This author is not just a writer but a great storyteller that took this reader on a grand journey. It's a great story to follow and try to figure out what will happen next. I look forward to reading many more stories by this author. This book is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews.
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