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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
tense
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:
Yes
The premise of the book is incredibly cool, I mean formed on a bet that he couldn't combine Pokemon with Roman Legions, Jim Butcher really came out strong. This is a very fast paced book, non-stop actions, lots of conflict for sure. And also an element of mystery surrounding a few key characters, that kept me intrigued as the story progressed. I also really appreciated that there was not a lot of exposition or inf0-dump sections up front, and it was very much that the reader was learning on the go what the limits of this magic system are and what the world looks like etc. There are also many fascinating creatures in this world as well that I really enjoyed reading about (I'm a sucker for fighting creatures I guess).
There were however some issues with it, which is why this book is only a 3.5/5 for me. I understand that this book was written back in 2005, when society was maybe a bit less progressive than we are today. However the similarities between the Marat race who are depicted as savages fighting only in loincloths struck a bit too close to inspiration from Native American cultures for me and I wasn't a fan of that portrayal. I am not opposed to authors borrowing inspiration from cultures around the world and shaping them within their own worlds but this looked more like a direct import of a common stereotype of Native American Peoples to me. That being said, because this was written in 2005, this isn't a show stopper for me, and I'm willing to read on and see how the Marat tribes are developed further into hopefully more of a distinctly fantasy race deviating away from the Native American stereotypes.
A trigger warning that I want to mention is that there is r*pe in this book, and I know it was relatively common for fantasy of this era to use that as a plot device for a characters growth (R. Scott Bakker, Peter V. Brett etc.) and I just don't vibe with that.
All in all, I probably will continue the series, because I do enjoy Jim Butcher's writing and I'm more drawn to this series than I am towards Dresden, but it's not jumping to the top of my TBR.
There were however some issues with it, which is why this book is only a 3.5/5 for me. I understand that this book was written back in 2005, when society was maybe a bit less progressive than we are today. However the similarities between the Marat race who are depicted as savages fighting only in loincloths struck a bit too close to inspiration from Native American cultures for me and I wasn't a fan of that portrayal. I am not opposed to authors borrowing inspiration from cultures around the world and shaping them within their own worlds but this looked more like a direct import of a common stereotype of Native American Peoples to me. That being said, because this was written in 2005, this isn't a show stopper for me, and I'm willing to read on and see how the Marat tribes are developed further into hopefully more of a distinctly fantasy race deviating away from the Native American stereotypes.
A trigger warning that I want to mention is that there is r*pe in this book, and I know it was relatively common for fantasy of this era to use that as a plot device for a characters growth (R. Scott Bakker, Peter V. Brett etc.) and I just don't vibe with that.
All in all, I probably will continue the series, because I do enjoy Jim Butcher's writing and I'm more drawn to this series than I am towards Dresden, but it's not jumping to the top of my TBR.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Pretty nice and interesting, yep. A few places came off, judging by discussion with somebody who's read the whole series, as differently than they should, but nothing to throw me off the story too much. Going on to the rest of the series!
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Review Summary: Disappointing
I listened to half the series as an audiobook. Add one star this this rating for the audiobook as that was very well done (and you can afford to miss a large portion of narration without really missing much of the story).
Frankly that only reason I continued with the series was that fact that the world building wasn't half bad. You have a lost roman legion who setup a new society on another world/dimension where nature spirits manifest themselves a "furies" which are controlled by a communities of citizen sorcerers with a eugenics style breeding program to maintain and/or improve this power over their environment. Stir in several conflicts with barbarians (mongol style hordes, wolf men and ice men), and you do get an interesting backdrop for a story.
Book 1: The characters themselves seemed to be little more than exaggerated caricatures with very little nuance and emotional control. Sadly, this is a very similar style to how he wrote the Dresden Files, of which I am a fan; however, the style doesn't extend well into the epic fantasy motif. Too many characters and no enough obvious limits on plot development (a common probably with fantasy). After awhile, it felt like the "good" guys were perpetually "preaching" limited points from very weak straw-man positions. It quickly grew tedious when it became apparent that the author was simply building his story from a collection of tropes and cliches. I truly found very little that was a unique contribution and that is where the bulk of my disappoint lies. All-n-all, it would be an okay youth fantasy story (right in the middle of the pack here).
Series: The main problem that I had with the series was that the storyline kept repeating with little to no character development and very limited world development. After about the 3rd or 4th time hearing that the enemy slammed into the defenders with "ruinous" effect, I had flash-backs to the Princess Bride when Montoya states "You keep using that word; I don't think it means what you think it means."
As a military fantasy ... the series is a complete failure (though perhaps my own military experience and awareness of military history makes me too hard here). I also found the over-arching plot development to be lacking discipline, as the protagonist and his allies frequently gets written into a corner where the author must break nearly all bonds of credulity to save them ... presumably to show of how clever they are. I just didn't see it that way; frankly this style of story telling is why fantasy as a genre has such a bad reputation.
I listened to half the series as an audiobook. Add one star this this rating for the audiobook as that was very well done (and you can afford to miss a large portion of narration without really missing much of the story).
Frankly that only reason I continued with the series was that fact that the world building wasn't half bad. You have a lost roman legion who setup a new society on another world/dimension where nature spirits manifest themselves a "furies" which are controlled by a communities of citizen sorcerers with a eugenics style breeding program to maintain and/or improve this power over their environment. Stir in several conflicts with barbarians (mongol style hordes, wolf men and ice men), and you do get an interesting backdrop for a story.
Book 1: The characters themselves seemed to be little more than exaggerated caricatures with very little nuance and emotional control. Sadly, this is a very similar style to how he wrote the Dresden Files, of which I am a fan; however, the style doesn't extend well into the epic fantasy motif. Too many characters and no enough obvious limits on plot development (a common probably with fantasy). After awhile, it felt like the "good" guys were perpetually "preaching" limited points from very weak straw-man positions. It quickly grew tedious when it became apparent that the author was simply building his story from a collection of tropes and cliches. I truly found very little that was a unique contribution and that is where the bulk of my disappoint lies. All-n-all, it would be an okay youth fantasy story (right in the middle of the pack here).
Series: The main problem that I had with the series was that the storyline kept repeating with little to no character development and very limited world development. After about the 3rd or 4th time hearing that the enemy slammed into the defenders with "ruinous" effect, I had flash-backs to the Princess Bride when Montoya states "You keep using that word; I don't think it means what you think it means."
As a military fantasy ... the series is a complete failure (though perhaps my own military experience and awareness of military history makes me too hard here). I also found the over-arching plot development to be lacking discipline, as the protagonist and his allies frequently gets written into a corner where the author must break nearly all bonds of credulity to save them ... presumably to show of how clever they are. I just didn't see it that way; frankly this style of story telling is why fantasy as a genre has such a bad reputation.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I am a big fan of the Dresden Files so I was excited to see what Butcher would do when he was creating a world from scratch. I was hoping that Butcher's knack for humor would emerge at some point too. I was not disappointed. One thing I have always liked about Butcher is that he doesn't dilly dally. His characters grow and change and the plot moves at a clip but not in a rushed way; it's confidence in the act of storytelling and in the story that makes for surprising turns and dialogue that feels so present that I feel I know the characters.
I won't go into detail about the plot. Suffice it to say, this series is fantastic and I am burning through them so fast that I seem to think they want to run away from me.
I won't go into detail about the plot. Suffice it to say, this series is fantastic and I am burning through them so fast that I seem to think they want to run away from me.
My husband and I read this together and really enjoyed it! I wouldn't categorize this is a humorous book, but the subtle humour in some of the dialogue was my favourite. Loved the characters and looking forward to book 2.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced