Scan barcode
leitnerkev's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mistrum_crowe's review against another edition
5.0
A novel that I would thoroughly recommend to any fantasy fan. Complex and well thought out, these two installments bode well for the second half of the series. I honestly have no criticism that is big enough to be considered as more than a quibble.
mimsyborogoves's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
tempse's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
slow-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
4.25
It is both moving and painful to watch the protagonists and their relationships evolve in a world full of politics, intrigues, and tradition. Their struggles with themselves and with the ever-changing reality around them make for a compelling, if sorrowful, story.
Abraham's character work is outstanding, his worldbuilding subtle and unique.
The first book felt like an "introduction" to the world, and I was not entirely captivated by the story. However, the second book was a big step up, with its last couple of chapters being particularly delightful as all the pieces fall into place naturally and satisfyingly.
A Shadow in Summer: 3.75 stars
A Betrayal in Winter: 4.75 stars
cupiscent's review against another edition
5.0
Two books in this, and they really are two almost completely different stories, including some of the same characters in the second book, a dozen or so years later and at the other end of the country. There are some themes that carry over, some that counterpoint.
First, let me talk the world and the rich, glorious detail of it that seeps through in the crack of every lovely sentence Abraham crafts. Because I'd read a hundred and more pages of this without any clear driving sense of the story, but the world was just so magnificent and interesting and rich that I didn't care. It's intricate and charming and ruthless and I could just marry the concept of magic through binding a concept in poetry. MARRY IT.
When I finished A Shadow in Summer, I was a little confused about how small and careful and gentle a story it was - a tale of how much a person can take and bend, or break, and what we'll do to avoid greater horrors. This isn't something you see a lot of in fantasy - fantasy tends to be about the greater horrors, about war and acts of fell enormity and magic that can change the fate of the world.
Having finished the whole thing, I look back and see that Summer, too, was a tale of self-authored personal tragedies. It's just that A Betrayal in Winter was a sweeping, blistering, majestic delivery of tight-bound, screaming-inevitability self-authored personal tragedies. It's Shakespearean. It's Russian. It's a thousand twists of the knife that cannot be dodged without changing, fundamentally, who the characters are.
I am so impressed.
So while I have absolutely no idea what could possibly transpire in the third and fourth books of the series - there's still no driving direction to the overall story, and it wouldn't surprise me to jump another dozen years and to another location with another character (I have my suspicions who) - I will be getting on board, because this is some great storytelling write up my personal-tragedies alley.
First, let me talk the world and the rich, glorious detail of it that seeps through in the crack of every lovely sentence Abraham crafts. Because I'd read a hundred and more pages of this without any clear driving sense of the story, but the world was just so magnificent and interesting and rich that I didn't care. It's intricate and charming and ruthless and I could just marry the concept of magic through binding a concept in poetry. MARRY IT.
When I finished A Shadow in Summer, I was a little confused about how small and careful and gentle a story it was - a tale of how much a person can take and bend, or break, and what we'll do to avoid greater horrors. This isn't something you see a lot of in fantasy - fantasy tends to be about the greater horrors, about war and acts of fell enormity and magic that can change the fate of the world.
Having finished the whole thing, I look back and see that Summer, too, was a tale of self-authored personal tragedies. It's just that A Betrayal in Winter was a sweeping, blistering, majestic delivery of tight-bound, screaming-inevitability self-authored personal tragedies. It's Shakespearean. It's Russian. It's a thousand twists of the knife that cannot be dodged without changing, fundamentally, who the characters are.
I am so impressed.
So while I have absolutely no idea what could possibly transpire in the third and fourth books of the series - there's still no driving direction to the overall story, and it wouldn't surprise me to jump another dozen years and to another location with another character (I have my suspicions who) - I will be getting on board, because this is some great storytelling write up my personal-tragedies alley.
helenid's review against another edition
5.0
Two in one. Totally different to the norm; more Eastern than any other I can think of. Poses that add to language. Plus the poets and andats. Raced through the second book in just over a day.
badmc's review against another edition
3.0
Otah Machi is a son of a man that killed his brothers, and whose sons will also kill each other - by tradition, there can be only one. All this in a world ruled by might brought about by curious godlike creatures bind by words...
A promising beginning, curious world, and sympatethic characters pulled me in. Andats, those enigmatic creatures of will and temper, constantly battling their bonds, bent on destruction of everything and everyone - what a concept! Alas, I quickly grew tired of promises that weren't fulfilled. There is no plot, and there are numerous plot holes. Supposedly character-based, but characters behave like idiots and just react to their surroundings. Vast world, but poorly developed - plot of two books is set in two different cities and cultures, but one does not get much of the different atmosphere.
The books are just "OK", female characters are weirdly written, and we are coming to the reason I also stopped reading Expanse series from the author - I just don't care what happens next.
A promising beginning, curious world, and sympatethic characters pulled me in. Andats, those enigmatic creatures of will and temper, constantly battling their bonds, bent on destruction of everything and everyone - what a concept! Alas, I quickly grew tired of promises that weren't fulfilled. There is no plot, and there are numerous plot holes. Supposedly character-based, but characters behave like idiots and just react to their surroundings. Vast world, but poorly developed - plot of two books is set in two different cities and cultures, but one does not get much of the different atmosphere.
The books are just "OK", female characters are weirdly written, and we are coming to the reason I also stopped reading Expanse series from the author - I just don't care what happens next.
hayesstw's review against another edition
4.0
A book set in an imaginary world where the geography is different from our world, but the climate and vegetation are similar. The sun and the moon behave similarly, winter and summar are more extreme. The setting is thus in one sense familiar, though the countries and their borders are strange. Like many other books of its type, the technology is vaguely pre-nineteenth century.
What is different are the peoples and their cultures, and this at times makes it difficult to read, as some of the features of the cultures and society in the book are introduced without being explained.
Most of the action takes place in the land of the Khaiem, a land of city states each ruled by a Khai, with vague memories of a fallen empire, some elements of whose culture have been inherited. There is a somewhat shadowy group called the utkhaiem, whose role is not explained until about two-thirds of the way through the book. At first their appear to be some kind of police force, but it later turns out that they are the upper class in the cities of the Khaiem.
The story takes place in two parts, the first in Saraykeht, one of the summer cities of the south, which thrives on the cotton trade, and the second in Machi, one of the winter cities of the north, where the main economic activity is mining. The plot revolves around one of the customs of the Khaiem -- when the Khai dies, his sons fight to the death to determine his successor -- and follows the fortunes of Otah Machi, the sixth son of the Khai of Machi, who abandons his heritage and identity, and seeks to make a new life for himself far from home.
The culture has two peculiar features. One is that though they can talk, they have an elaborate system of non-verbal communication, by taking poses with lots of subtle nuances. It makes it a bit difficult to picture people walking down the conversing, and stopping frequently to adopt appropriate poses.
The other feature of the culture is the andat, a kind of materialised god/ghost created and controlled by poets, who are usually drawn from the ranks of the younger sons of Khaiem. The andat have powers that underly the prosperity of the cities of the Khaiem. In the mining areas, for example, the andat has the power of making stone soft, which facilitates the tasks of miners. In the areas of the cotton trade, the andat removes seeds from cotton. In this sense that andat are a kind of substitute for technology, so there is no need for any kind of industrial revolution.
In this setting the plot of the story is played out, with the usual human features of love, hatred, rivalry, jealousy, ambition and all the rest. When I try to think of other books in the same genre, the one that springs first to mind is [b:Shardik|92408|Shardik (Beklan Empire #1)|Richard Adams|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347952145s/92408.jpg|894692] by [a:Richard Adams|7717|Richard Adams|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1210188763p2/7717.jpg].
What is different are the peoples and their cultures, and this at times makes it difficult to read, as some of the features of the cultures and society in the book are introduced without being explained.
Most of the action takes place in the land of the Khaiem, a land of city states each ruled by a Khai, with vague memories of a fallen empire, some elements of whose culture have been inherited. There is a somewhat shadowy group called the utkhaiem, whose role is not explained until about two-thirds of the way through the book. At first their appear to be some kind of police force, but it later turns out that they are the upper class in the cities of the Khaiem.
The story takes place in two parts, the first in Saraykeht, one of the summer cities of the south, which thrives on the cotton trade, and the second in Machi, one of the winter cities of the north, where the main economic activity is mining. The plot revolves around one of the customs of the Khaiem -- when the Khai dies, his sons fight to the death to determine his successor -- and follows the fortunes of Otah Machi, the sixth son of the Khai of Machi, who abandons his heritage and identity, and seeks to make a new life for himself far from home.
The culture has two peculiar features. One is that though they can talk, they have an elaborate system of non-verbal communication, by taking poses with lots of subtle nuances. It makes it a bit difficult to picture people walking down the conversing, and stopping frequently to adopt appropriate poses.
The other feature of the culture is the andat, a kind of materialised god/ghost created and controlled by poets, who are usually drawn from the ranks of the younger sons of Khaiem. The andat have powers that underly the prosperity of the cities of the Khaiem. In the mining areas, for example, the andat has the power of making stone soft, which facilitates the tasks of miners. In the areas of the cotton trade, the andat removes seeds from cotton. In this sense that andat are a kind of substitute for technology, so there is no need for any kind of industrial revolution.
In this setting the plot of the story is played out, with the usual human features of love, hatred, rivalry, jealousy, ambition and all the rest. When I try to think of other books in the same genre, the one that springs first to mind is [b:Shardik|92408|Shardik (Beklan Empire #1)|Richard Adams|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347952145s/92408.jpg|894692] by [a:Richard Adams|7717|Richard Adams|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1210188763p2/7717.jpg].
mabs's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-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? Yes
5.0
megandawn's review
3.0
(Re-posted from http://theturnedbrain.blogspot.com)
There was this fantasy series I loved like a mad thing when I was about fourteen or so, but I won’t say which one as I don’t want to spoil anyone. There was one character in particular I was very fond of, a dashing young prince. The trilogy, among other things, followed Prince Dashing on various adventures until he saves the land and his lady love and lives happily every after.
But the author did not stop with just this trilogy, he went on to write many (many, many) more set in the same universe, one of which was set seventy or so years after the original trilogy. This new trilogy opens with a courier announcing to a country town that the Prince from the first trilogy had died. At 80. By falling off his horse. Over ten years later and I still remember the specific details.
When you think about it, dying of natural-ish causes at 80 is pretty much the most anyone can ask for. And yet, I was gutted. It took me a long time to bring myself to return to the new trilogy, and I never was able to enjoy it fully. It was just too sad, seeing the characters I had loved so much become old and weak. In my mind Price Dashing had exsisted in his prime, but now that memory was replaced by 80 year old dead Prince Dashing. I just couldn’t shake the feeling of melancholy.
Which brings me to Daniel Abraham’s Long Price quartet. I've seen a lot of words getting used to describe these books: Underrated, amazing, masterpiece. And I’m not suggesting that those words aren’t apt, because they are, but for me only one descriptor truly applies; melancholy. Because like mystery author of my youth, Danial Abraham also employs the big jump forward. An average of fifteen years passes between each of the Long Price’s four volumes, so the characters we are introduced to as teenagers in volume one are nearing the ends of their lives by the last.
I mean, yes, these books are amazing. The world building is nothing short of stunning, and the prose is just beautiful. More than once I was stopped in my tracks by the sheer elegance of a metaphor or line of description. But it’s just so sad, watching the characters grow old.
Watching how time ravages not only their bodies but also their relationships with each other. Sad, but also pretty damn impressive. I myself have little experience with growing old, but it feels like Abraham nailed it perfectly. Writing from the point of view of a much older character isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but it carries more gravitas in the Long Price. The older character watching the younger character making the same mistakes they did carries more weight somehow when you were in that characters head while the made the mistakes. I don't think I really understood the folly of youth v. the wisdom of age before.
It might be easy to think, with all this talk of aging, that the books lack excitement, (which is exactly what I would have thought, if I’d known about the time jumps before hand). But it’s not the case! Set aside the fact that Abraham's skill grows viably with each book, and so to does our bond with the characters strengthen, the plot of each book just gets more and more thrilling. The stakes are upped in each volume, so where the first books deals primarily with the relationships between the characters, by the fourth volume empires are crumbling. The third volume, An Autumn War, was my personal favourite of the bunch and an excellent example of how to build suspense, and how to build it damn well.
Overall, these books are bittersweet. It’s a unique experience to stick with characters well into old age, (at least in this genre), and watching them age is very sad. But then we also see the birth of new characters, and new hope, which balances out that sadness out. Kind of like real life, I guess.
So, is the Long Prince quartet an easy read? Not even a little bit. But you’d be mad to pass over it.
There was this fantasy series I loved like a mad thing when I was about fourteen or so, but I won’t say which one as I don’t want to spoil anyone. There was one character in particular I was very fond of, a dashing young prince. The trilogy, among other things, followed Prince Dashing on various adventures until he saves the land and his lady love and lives happily every after.
But the author did not stop with just this trilogy, he went on to write many (many, many) more set in the same universe, one of which was set seventy or so years after the original trilogy. This new trilogy opens with a courier announcing to a country town that the Prince from the first trilogy had died. At 80. By falling off his horse. Over ten years later and I still remember the specific details.
When you think about it, dying of natural-ish causes at 80 is pretty much the most anyone can ask for. And yet, I was gutted. It took me a long time to bring myself to return to the new trilogy, and I never was able to enjoy it fully. It was just too sad, seeing the characters I had loved so much become old and weak. In my mind Price Dashing had exsisted in his prime, but now that memory was replaced by 80 year old dead Prince Dashing. I just couldn’t shake the feeling of melancholy.
Which brings me to Daniel Abraham’s Long Price quartet. I've seen a lot of words getting used to describe these books: Underrated, amazing, masterpiece. And I’m not suggesting that those words aren’t apt, because they are, but for me only one descriptor truly applies; melancholy. Because like mystery author of my youth, Danial Abraham also employs the big jump forward. An average of fifteen years passes between each of the Long Price’s four volumes, so the characters we are introduced to as teenagers in volume one are nearing the ends of their lives by the last.
I mean, yes, these books are amazing. The world building is nothing short of stunning, and the prose is just beautiful. More than once I was stopped in my tracks by the sheer elegance of a metaphor or line of description. But it’s just so sad, watching the characters grow old.
Watching how time ravages not only their bodies but also their relationships with each other. Sad, but also pretty damn impressive. I myself have little experience with growing old, but it feels like Abraham nailed it perfectly. Writing from the point of view of a much older character isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but it carries more gravitas in the Long Price. The older character watching the younger character making the same mistakes they did carries more weight somehow when you were in that characters head while the made the mistakes. I don't think I really understood the folly of youth v. the wisdom of age before.
It might be easy to think, with all this talk of aging, that the books lack excitement, (which is exactly what I would have thought, if I’d known about the time jumps before hand). But it’s not the case! Set aside the fact that Abraham's skill grows viably with each book, and so to does our bond with the characters strengthen, the plot of each book just gets more and more thrilling. The stakes are upped in each volume, so where the first books deals primarily with the relationships between the characters, by the fourth volume empires are crumbling. The third volume, An Autumn War, was my personal favourite of the bunch and an excellent example of how to build suspense, and how to build it damn well.
Overall, these books are bittersweet. It’s a unique experience to stick with characters well into old age, (at least in this genre), and watching them age is very sad. But then we also see the birth of new characters, and new hope, which balances out that sadness out. Kind of like real life, I guess.
So, is the Long Prince quartet an easy read? Not even a little bit. But you’d be mad to pass over it.