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barb4ry1's review against another edition
2.0
Actual rating: 2.5/5
The Rise of the Fallen contains thrilling ideas but feels like a B-movie. If you're in the mood for a fast-paced and violent adventure set in exotic landscape (pirate ships, jungle, forgotten places), look no more. Your quest is over.
If, however, you're looking for a complex plot, interesting villains and believable characters, look elsewhere.
Fungal magic and combat use of spores impressed me. I appreciate fresh ideas and Fugazzotto delivers good ones. His characters, however, didn't impress me that much.
Maja used to be a part of an elite group of royal bodyguards. After failing to stop an assassination, she was cast out and forced to live in exile on the outer islands. As she's skilled with the sword, she's built a new life with pirates.
Her past comes to hunt her when she's asked to protect a monk boy from a mad pursuer. The story develops at a breakneck pace, but constant running and fighting and running and testing loyalties and running tired me early on.
Maja has an interesting backstory (she was captured as a child, raised on a tropical island as an empress' caprice, abused, exiled), but I didn't manage to warm to her. She's impulsive, illogical and I just didn't understand changes in her attitude. Unfortunately, she's no exception. I simply didn't care about a single character in the story.
The plotting itself felt naive and repetitive. I finished the book tired of running through the jungle.
All in all, The Rise of the Fallen is okay as simple escapism, but Fuggazzotto's storytelling skills don't match his easygoing prose yet.
The Rise of the Fallen contains thrilling ideas but feels like a B-movie. If you're in the mood for a fast-paced and violent adventure set in exotic landscape (pirate ships, jungle, forgotten places), look no more. Your quest is over.
If, however, you're looking for a complex plot, interesting villains and believable characters, look elsewhere.
Fungal magic and combat use of spores impressed me. I appreciate fresh ideas and Fugazzotto delivers good ones. His characters, however, didn't impress me that much.
Maja used to be a part of an elite group of royal bodyguards. After failing to stop an assassination, she was cast out and forced to live in exile on the outer islands. As she's skilled with the sword, she's built a new life with pirates.
Her past comes to hunt her when she's asked to protect a monk boy from a mad pursuer. The story develops at a breakneck pace, but constant running and fighting and running and testing loyalties and running tired me early on.
Maja has an interesting backstory (she was captured as a child, raised on a tropical island as an empress' caprice, abused, exiled), but I didn't manage to warm to her. She's impulsive, illogical and I just didn't understand changes in her attitude. Unfortunately, she's no exception. I simply didn't care about a single character in the story.
The plotting itself felt naive and repetitive. I finished the book tired of running through the jungle.
All in all, The Rise of the Fallen is okay as simple escapism, but Fuggazzotto's storytelling skills don't match his easygoing prose yet.
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