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4.29 AVERAGE
4.29 AVERAGE
Po více jak měsíci s přestávkami dočteno. Je to náročnější čtení, člověk se snadno ztratí v tom množství jmen a pojmů. Ale je to hodně zdařilá fantasy, i když místy měla až moc nudné pasáže. Proto dávám 4 hvězdy.
Edited review:
I did love this book. I did love it soo much!
But my fangirling has been toned down a notch or three, as in my personal opinion the second one couldn't hold up to this one. It was okay, but as I was waiting for another WOW effect, and I didn't get that at all.
I'll still keep the 5 stars on this one, as I really love the plot, the characters and the world, but I can't recommend it as enthusiastically as I did before reading the second one, because what use is a great start to a series if the next one can't hold up?
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I loved this book! It was just exactly what I was looking for. If you hate coming of age and school/training stories, you might not like it, but if you don't mind that - this is amazing!
I loved the prose, I clicked with the characters right away, the plot was interesting and I was very well entertained all the way through!
I did love this book. I did love it soo much!
But my fangirling has been toned down a notch or three, as in my personal opinion the second one couldn't hold up to this one. It was okay, but as I was waiting for another WOW effect, and I didn't get that at all.
I'll still keep the 5 stars on this one, as I really love the plot, the characters and the world, but I can't recommend it as enthusiastically as I did before reading the second one, because what use is a great start to a series if the next one can't hold up?
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I loved this book! It was just exactly what I was looking for. If you hate coming of age and school/training stories, you might not like it, but if you don't mind that - this is amazing!
I loved the prose, I clicked with the characters right away, the plot was interesting and I was very well entertained all the way through!
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Before I actually review this I want to take a second to rant: why, why, WHY are there so many run-on sentences in this book? What is Mr Ryan’s objection to semi-colons, en-dashes and simple, noble conjunctions like “and” and “but”? Why does he only do it in certain parts of the book? Is it inexperience or some kind of (anti-)stylistic choice? And if the latter, what possible stylistic reason could there be for constantly slapping unrelated clauses together like some demented literary Frankenstein?!
Okay. That’s out of my system. Barring the above-mentioned insanity as regards punctuation, this is a decent fantasy book, working the heck out of the trained-as-a-warrior-since birth trope and covering a long chronological period without feeling rushed or shallow. I don’t think there’s anything stunningly original in the plot – I’d have a hard time picking this particular world out of a line-up of modern fantasy settings.
What it does have going for it is a certain psychological realism in the characterisation. Vaelin, our hero, is a gifted swordsman and a good leader, but he’s only all right at most other things. His relationships with the other boys/young men in the brutally tough institution where they’re trained to defend his country and their faith are a refreshing change from tropes and rivalries. He and his “brothers” often argue and fight, and they may not always like each other, but they’re dependent on each other for survival and they’re very aware of that. There’s not much room for the kind of pettiness that so frequently crops in these kind of settings, and I appreciated that.
The plot leans heavily on a mixture of political machinations, family revelations and magical/religious shenanigans, and while it did hold my attention enough to finish it in one weekend, I’m just not interested enough to move on to the next book. If the treatment of religion felt more authentic, I’d be more inclined to continue, I think. But my overriding impression was that Anthony Ryan doesn’t actually know what it means to practise a faith, and the religious figures in the books are deadly earnest fanatics. The humour, simplicity and gleeful appreciation of the absurd that I’ve always found among faithful people was just absent.
Okay. That’s out of my system. Barring the above-mentioned insanity as regards punctuation, this is a decent fantasy book, working the heck out of the trained-as-a-warrior-since birth trope and covering a long chronological period without feeling rushed or shallow. I don’t think there’s anything stunningly original in the plot – I’d have a hard time picking this particular world out of a line-up of modern fantasy settings.
What it does have going for it is a certain psychological realism in the characterisation. Vaelin, our hero, is a gifted swordsman and a good leader, but he’s only all right at most other things. His relationships with the other boys/young men in the brutally tough institution where they’re trained to defend his country and their faith are a refreshing change from tropes and rivalries. He and his “brothers” often argue and fight, and they may not always like each other, but they’re dependent on each other for survival and they’re very aware of that. There’s not much room for the kind of pettiness that so frequently crops in these kind of settings, and I appreciated that.
The plot leans heavily on a mixture of political machinations, family revelations and magical/religious shenanigans, and while it did hold my attention enough to finish it in one weekend, I’m just not interested enough to move on to the next book. If the treatment of religion felt more authentic, I’d be more inclined to continue, I think. But my overriding impression was that Anthony Ryan doesn’t actually know what it means to practise a faith, and the religious figures in the books are deadly earnest fanatics. The humour, simplicity and gleeful appreciation of the absurd that I’ve always found among faithful people was just absent.
Honestly? Fantastic. There's a lot of information, but it's not all shoved down your throats in the first few chapters. It's metered out and allows you to keep up with Anthony Ryan's clever writing.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A really enjoyable read. An interesting story following the life of Vaelin, a boy left to the 6th order (defenders of the faith) and trained to fight. It starts off focussing solely on his education and training, but slowly weaves in political intrigue, elements of magic, war, and religious secrets.
Unlike most of the fantasy novels i’ve read recently, this book used a single POV throughout, really letting you live in Vaelins mind for the entire story. I enjoyed the character focused slant the book took for most of the novel, and the lengths it took to show his training over the years. Additionally, given that a large portion of the start of the book takes place during his childhood training, the scope of locations is very limited early on. This was a great way to allow the reader to adjust to the world before branching out and showing them the entire scope of countries that the book would contain. I found the slow reveal of the world, political system, and state of the kingdom was done gradually and managed to avoid overloading the reader with too much information at once.
Overall: a very very enjoyable fantasy novel with grounded world building and an interesting plot. When I finish working through the giant backlog of books i own but never read, I’ll definitely be continuing this series.
Unlike most of the fantasy novels i’ve read recently, this book used a single POV throughout, really letting you live in Vaelins mind for the entire story. I enjoyed the character focused slant the book took for most of the novel, and the lengths it took to show his training over the years. Additionally, given that a large portion of the start of the book takes place during his childhood training, the scope of locations is very limited early on. This was a great way to allow the reader to adjust to the world before branching out and showing them the entire scope of countries that the book would contain. I found the slow reveal of the world, political system, and state of the kingdom was done gradually and managed to avoid overloading the reader with too much information at once.
Overall: a very very enjoyable fantasy novel with grounded world building and an interesting plot. When I finish working through the giant backlog of books i own but never read, I’ll definitely be continuing this series.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
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:
No