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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
Exciting read!
The only reason I'm giving this four stars is that the prologue sort of feels like there will be no resolution to this fantastic story, or like it will be veeery long coming. I hope this series is not the type that goes on forever, that always ruins things for me, but I'm definitely reading the next instalment. I'm still hoping to see some things resolved, and I love the characters, so count me in for the second one.
The only reason I'm giving this four stars is that the prologue sort of feels like there will be no resolution to this fantastic story, or like it will be veeery long coming. I hope this series is not the type that goes on forever, that always ruins things for me, but I'm definitely reading the next instalment. I'm still hoping to see some things resolved, and I love the characters, so count me in for the second one.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-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
*Minor spoilers for the first few chapters*
Mathias lived a quiet life with his friend Aaslo and grandma Magdelay. But everything changed when invaders come to his hometown, he realizes he is the chosen one to fulfill the Aldrea prophecy, and that he must leave his friends behind to embark on an epic journey to discover what it means to hold the fate of humanity in his hands.
But then he dies.
So the prophecy is over, the enemies are coming, and there's basically no one to stop it. What do people do now? These are the questions that Aaslo ponders as he tries to help Magdelay communicate to the king that all is lost. But even when the chosen one is gone, can anyone even do anything about it? That's the premise that Kel Kade takes in her first book in The Shroud of Prophecy series.
There's a lot going for the book. Kade has some interesting characters that make an appearance, but unfortunately many of their story points seem to be forgotten as the main characters make their way from one location to the other. A few key characters such as Peck, More, and Teza are interesting foils to the main character of Aaslo, and I found the otherworld character of Myropa to be intriguing as well. But if you're looking for a well developed villain, you won't get that here. Many of the other side characters seem to be created as specific plot points instead of well rounded characters, and once their time was up they were no where to be seen again.
The book reads fast, especially after you've gotten through the first few chapters. The writing style felt simplistic, and if I didn't know any better I would have thought this to be Kade's first book. I really wanted to like this book and I do have faith that the plot could potentially lead to some great developments, so here's hoping for a plot thread that weaves these fantastic ideas into a artistic tapestry and not a ambiguous shroud.
Mathias lived a quiet life with his friend Aaslo and grandma Magdelay. But everything changed when invaders come to his hometown, he realizes he is the chosen one to fulfill the Aldrea prophecy, and that he must leave his friends behind to embark on an epic journey to discover what it means to hold the fate of humanity in his hands.
But then he dies.
So the prophecy is over, the enemies are coming, and there's basically no one to stop it. What do people do now? These are the questions that Aaslo ponders as he tries to help Magdelay communicate to the king that all is lost. But even when the chosen one is gone, can anyone even do anything about it? That's the premise that Kel Kade takes in her first book in The Shroud of Prophecy series.
There's a lot going for the book. Kade has some interesting characters that make an appearance, but unfortunately many of their story points seem to be forgotten as the main characters make their way from one location to the other. A few key characters such as Peck, More, and Teza are interesting foils to the main character of Aaslo, and I found the otherworld character of Myropa to be intriguing as well. But if you're looking for a well developed villain, you won't get that here. Many of the other side characters seem to be created as specific plot points instead of well rounded characters, and once their time was up they were no where to be seen again.
The book reads fast, especially after you've gotten through the first few chapters. The writing style felt simplistic, and if I didn't know any better I would have thought this to be Kade's first book. I really wanted to like this book and I do have faith that the plot could potentially lead to some great developments, so here's hoping for a plot thread that weaves these fantastic ideas into a artistic tapestry and not a ambiguous shroud.
This one definitely throws you into the story and you’re expected to catch up extremely quickly, but in a way that I was struggling to understand what was happening.
The writing definitely became stronger as the novel progressed, and I was invested by the end and will definitely read book #2, but I really struggled relating to the characters. Something pretty traumatic happens to the main character like 4 chapters in and homeboy doesn’t even cry? Doesn’t freak out? Doesn’t really grieve at all? I felt like there wasn’t a balance between being stoic and strong, and being a human with real emotions.
I was happy to see those feelings come later in the story, but it the pacing of it seemed off.
The writing definitely became stronger as the novel progressed, and I was invested by the end and will definitely read book #2, but I really struggled relating to the characters. Something pretty traumatic happens to the main character like 4 chapters in and homeboy doesn’t even cry? Doesn’t freak out? Doesn’t really grieve at all? I felt like there wasn’t a balance between being stoic and strong, and being a human with real emotions.
I was happy to see those feelings come later in the story, but it the pacing of it seemed off.
2/5 - Sad to be giving this book a lower rating.
Fate of the Fallen attempts to challenge the "chosen one" trope that's common in so many fantasy stories. Overall, I found this book to be disappointing. I wanted to get behind the premise, but I don't think I'll continue to read into the series.
While, I did enjoy the character Myropa and her interactions with the various deities of the world.
The book just doesn't seem to be fleshed out. The characters don't really have any motivations and you never really get to know **who** they are. There isn't much world building; you're told how the world works instead of learning about it through details and the characters actions. There are random action scenes. The pacing is very fast and I really think this book should have had 200-300 more pages.
Fate of the Fallen attempts to challenge the "chosen one" trope that's common in so many fantasy stories. Overall, I found this book to be disappointing. I wanted to get behind the premise, but I don't think I'll continue to read into the series.
While, I did enjoy the character Myropa and her interactions with the various deities of the world.
The book just doesn't seem to be fleshed out. The characters don't really have any motivations and you never really get to know **who** they are. There isn't much world building; you're told how the world works instead of learning about it through details and the characters actions. There are random action scenes. The pacing is very fast and I really think this book should have had 200-300 more pages.
2.75 stars
This was apparently pitched as “what if Frodo died and Sam had to complete his task” but that is not the feeling of this book, so don’t go in to this book with that expectation.
This is the story of the best friend of the “chosen one” who is really a grumpy loner who tends to the forest and likes it that way. Due to the nature of prophecy and apocalypses, he ends up on a quest.
This reads like a single player DnD campaign in which the player is our main character and every other character he encounters are NPCs. This gives it a particular feeling as the characters aren’t very fleshed out, but it still has the action of a fun quest game. Some plot lines also felt like a DM throwing things at a player to spice things up as there’s so little foreshadowing.
I don’t care enough to continue the series, but I had an okay time with this book.
This was apparently pitched as “what if Frodo died and Sam had to complete his task” but that is not the feeling of this book, so don’t go in to this book with that expectation.
This is the story of the best friend of the “chosen one” who is really a grumpy loner who tends to the forest and likes it that way. Due to the nature of prophecy and apocalypses, he ends up on a quest.
This reads like a single player DnD campaign in which the player is our main character and every other character he encounters are NPCs. This gives it a particular feeling as the characters aren’t very fleshed out, but it still has the action of a fun quest game. Some plot lines also felt like a DM throwing things at a player to spice things up as there’s so little foreshadowing.
I don’t care enough to continue the series, but I had an okay time with this book.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have to say this book wasn't what I expected but I still thought it was okay. It has a map at the beginning, I love when books have maps. It also has a list of characters, places and a glossary at the back which was handy.
The story mainly follows Aaslo who is a forester (man who lives and tends to the forest) and he is the one who tries to save the world after the chosen one dies. I liked Aaslo well enough but I didn't really connect to his character and some of his actions just annoyed me. One of my favourite characters was Tezha who was expelled from magic school and helps Aaslo on his journey. I would love to see more of her. There's also a prophet who was there but I didn't think he was needed as he couldn't tell them anything which was annoying.
Also the story has gods involved in mortal affairs which I didn't think really worked. I didn't mind the gods but I think in this book, it was trying to do a little too much.
Overall the Charcaters are what really carry this story and there's plenty of them.
The plot is interesting. It has adventure, fighting, interesting characters and humour. The humour I didn't fully connect with and the whole Aaslo is the only one to hear the talking head of his dead best friend/chosen one was a little strange. The sword fights are written really well and they were some of my favourite points in the book.
The book didn't feel like it was building up at any point and it didn't really flow as well as it could have done. The ending was a little disappointing as it was more like finishing a chapter than an actual book but I assume that's because it's going to be a series. This book seems to walk the line of holding up certain fantasy tropes and also being a satire of them.
The story mainly follows Aaslo who is a forester (man who lives and tends to the forest) and he is the one who tries to save the world after the chosen one dies. I liked Aaslo well enough but I didn't really connect to his character and some of his actions just annoyed me. One of my favourite characters was Tezha who was expelled from magic school and helps Aaslo on his journey. I would love to see more of her. There's also a prophet who was there but I didn't think he was needed as he couldn't tell them anything which was annoying.
Also the story has gods involved in mortal affairs which I didn't think really worked. I didn't mind the gods but I think in this book, it was trying to do a little too much.
Overall the Charcaters are what really carry this story and there's plenty of them.
The plot is interesting. It has adventure, fighting, interesting characters and humour. The humour I didn't fully connect with and the whole Aaslo is the only one to hear the talking head of his dead best friend/chosen one was a little strange. The sword fights are written really well and they were some of my favourite points in the book.
The book didn't feel like it was building up at any point and it didn't really flow as well as it could have done. The ending was a little disappointing as it was more like finishing a chapter than an actual book but I assume that's because it's going to be a series. This book seems to walk the line of holding up certain fantasy tropes and also being a satire of them.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was very, very original. A lot of concepts that sound like cliches are turned on their head in a clever way, not edgy. It's also pretty meta, with a character not quite breaking the 4th wall but rather knocking on it insisting they can't go places because "that's not how the story goes." It was a pretty enjoyable read and had many humorous moments.
However, the writing was somewhat lacking. The spatial awareness wasn't clear and how descriptive it was switched back and forth. The pacing was mostly consistent but I do wish some conceptd had been introduced earlier on so it was more cohesive. Character development was also not very deep, but I understand this is the first in a series so that was more understandable.
I will be reading the next book when it comes out. Looking forward to it!
However, the writing was somewhat lacking. The spatial awareness wasn't clear and how descriptive it was switched back and forth. The pacing was mostly consistent but I do wish some conceptd had been introduced earlier on so it was more cohesive. Character development was also not very deep, but I understand this is the first in a series so that was more understandable.
I will be reading the next book when it comes out. Looking forward to it!