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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
A very strong start and an awesome world and concept followed by a middle that dragged and felt repetitive. Could have been saved by a good editor. Intrigue of the story and the great characters have me hooked enough to read the next book but gosh. Really drove home the importance of good editing.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
It was alright. Might come back to it when I’m not depressed
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
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
Let down by typos & similar errors as well as a cliffhanger-style ending. Also did not like the recurring, nearly literal, deus ex machinas.
Knowing I love Matthew Colville's D&D content, I tried to approach his books with an unbiased mind. It allowed me to be very positively surprised by his first work of fiction, and I do want to read the second volume (and third, if he ever finishes it). I recommend it to everyone interested in... dark fantasy?
Looking at writing quality (pacing, dialogues and overall tone), I think Matt does a really good job, especially considering this is his first book. Now, don't get me wrong: the writing isn't brilliant and it does feel coming from a place of inexperience often, but it gets better over the course of the book, and it is sparkled with a humor and sense of epic that are very unique to his author (and that I personally enjoy).
As for the plot, it is captivating, even though it comes off slightly confusing/incomplete. I know Matt wrote it like this purposefully, in order to leave us with a the sense of a bigger, mysterious world and a past to the main character that is not baby-fed to us readers but can only be guessed through the hints, but the execution of this idea erred a bit too much on the side of the unexplained for me (for the love of god, tell me finally what was up with Eden and "the one woman he ever loved" please ahah).
Where this book shines best is at worldbuilding: from its geographical places to the orders and members of nobility and clergy, or side characters and creatures, everything was damn interesting, complex, appealing, worth every moment of reading. This is the main reason why I want to keep reading the trilogy too: to unveil more and more of this mysterious world, and to know how the main character will evolve along the way.
Nonetheless, I do not advise "Priest" to anyone that is not prepared for fantasy Game of Thrones-style. It's not about happiness and justice... As some other reviewer pointed out, "I hated this book so much because it sucks every drop of joy", and it does really come out a bit like that eventually ahah
In any case, rooting for Heden here!
Looking at writing quality (pacing, dialogues and overall tone), I think Matt does a really good job, especially considering this is his first book. Now, don't get me wrong: the writing isn't brilliant and it does feel coming from a place of inexperience often, but it gets better over the course of the book, and it is sparkled with a humor and sense of epic that are very unique to his author (and that I personally enjoy).
As for the plot, it is captivating, even though it comes off slightly confusing/incomplete. I know Matt wrote it like this purposefully, in order to leave us with a the sense of a bigger, mysterious world and a past to the main character that is not baby-fed to us readers but can only be guessed through the hints, but the execution of this idea erred a bit too much on the side of the unexplained for me (for the love of god, tell me finally what was up with Eden and "the one woman he ever loved" please ahah).
Where this book shines best is at worldbuilding: from its geographical places to the orders and members of nobility and clergy, or side characters and creatures, everything was damn interesting, complex, appealing, worth every moment of reading. This is the main reason why I want to keep reading the trilogy too: to unveil more and more of this mysterious world, and to know how the main character will evolve along the way.
Nonetheless, I do not advise "Priest" to anyone that is not prepared for fantasy Game of Thrones-style. It's not about happiness and justice... As some other reviewer pointed out, "I hated this book so much because it sucks every drop of joy", and it does really come out a bit like that eventually ahah
In any case, rooting for Heden here!
What a book..
Reading this book was a rollercoaster ride. Sometimes I thought that book was not worth the effort, as some themes were repeatedly used but boy was I wrong. The setting is pretty good. The plot seems strected out sometimes but is fruitious at the end. The characters are so wonderfully flesed out. The flaw that i can think of is limited worldbuilding.
Reading this book was a rollercoaster ride. Sometimes I thought that book was not worth the effort, as some themes were repeatedly used but boy was I wrong. The setting is pretty good. The plot seems strected out sometimes but is fruitious at the end. The characters are so wonderfully flesed out. The flaw that i can think of is limited worldbuilding.
While I didn't dislike it - reading it feels like following a DnD-Adventure, and I'm here for it - both story and characters, even though they are technically interesting, feel inconsequential to me. The whole plot is little more than a side quest, and the protagonists emotional struggle with the events is never about the events themselves, but about the way they remind him of a past we never get to know much about, and it somehow failed to give me the feeling of nostalgia and dying grandeur this kind of Character usually has.
It's still worth reading, because many of the worldbuilding details are fancy enough to keep you going, and the sequel, "Thief", uses this book as a foundation for a way more interesting plot centered around the power-dynamics of different more or less criminal factions, who finally give the main character a connection to his story and the reader a chance to really delve into his life and the world.
Plus one star, because the author is a really cool guy with an amazing Youtube-Series on worldbuilding. Minus one star for making this series and still employing this why-did-you-even-do-this Ork-recolour that made the "Urq" dark blue and nothing else.
This review sounds horrible I'm just mad because I like this book and want to recommend this and then I compare it to Thief and then I'm disappointed. Read this book.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
At first, it seems like you are reading the second book in a trilogy, and then you realize you are reading the prequel to the next book in the series. Still, an engaging read if not for some of the familiar flaws of a self-published novel and female characters that are clearly written by a man.