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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I am so disappointed in this book, which is sad because I was really looking forward to reading it. Where to start? Is it the curse of the sequel? Because I simply did not enjoy this part of the story, at all. Once I got about halfway through the book, I had already forgotten what had transpired in the first half. It wasn't memorable and was very redundant, in that it felt like I kept reading the same chapter over and over. I also feel like this book didn't give me any new information that I already knew from reading the first book. And don't even get me started with the whole "I hate you! You betrayed me so I'm gonna betray you! But I love you so much & can't tell you until you're literally dying in my arms" nonsense between the MC & her LI. The MC Nadya, if she's meant to be a heroine, falls short. Like, she doesn't even get in the vicinity of heroine. I didn't particularly enjoy reading any of her chapters because I got tired of reading about what a victim she is and her defeatist attitude. The book was just boring. I mean, I couldn't even be bothered to care when Kostya died. Instead, I was left wondering if we were supposed to care seeing as he was barely in the story. I just feel like we could've done without this book in the series, but whatevs, read at your own risk, I suppose.
It took me a year to finally finish Ruthless Gods, that’s probably the best place to start. The majority of this book is very slow, and unfortunately, commits some writing crimes that aren’t easily forgivable. There are a lot of issues that were present in the first book, such as character development and plot, that definitely don’t improve in the second one. I think Duncan has, again, brushed up against really great and interesting concepts for a story, but she’s got a long way to go.
I’ll start with pacing.
It’s hard for me to remember where the characters started at the beginning of the book as it seems irrelevant to the ending. At some point the ‘main’ characters and the ‘villain troop’ decide to work together so they can kill Malachiasz (maybe, the jury is still out on whether any of them actually mean to follow up on this ever present threat). From there, it’s a long slog to the middle, suffering heavily from the authors decision for Pelageya the witch to randomly summon the characters to her house in order to give them vague and meaningless prophecies.
Pelageya wrenching the characters out of the story is what made it really difficult for me to sit down and read continuously. It made it nearly impossible to follow the thread of the group traveling and keeping track of people’s motivations; but more than that, the scenes themselves were difficult to read. Having a seemingly omniscient character being able to summon the characters any time she wants introduces a mechanic that should have major implications in the story, but it ends up feeling like a hollow excuse to move the story.
In all honesty, it feels like the author inserted herself as the witch and wanted to be able to play with her characters. But because none of this information they’re given is earned, or even directly relevant to their journey, it’s just confusing and easily forgettable. If Duncan needed Pelagya in the book it would have been better for the characters to travel to find her and ask her a question that had prophetic answers. At least then there is a linear progression. Unfortunately, I think Pelagya’s real role is to 1) add the ‘aesthetic’ of mystical prophesies and the idea of lyrical prose, and 2) be a short cut for the author to inject her story with plot as she struggles to reveal it through actual narrative. If I’m being severe, it would have been better for those scenes to be replaced with brackets the just said INSERT MYSTICAL PROPHESIES HERE. FEEL SPOOKY.
The second issue is character development.
There is very little of it. The most glaring issue is that there is this pretense that most of the troop want to kill Malachiasz. They talk about it, threaten it, spend many paragraphs internally debating over it…and I never once believed any one of them would do it. I think it’s because we’ve seen no other instance of the characters doing anything difficult- maybe Nadya using heretic magic, and Malachiasz killing the king and taking on vast amounts of power, but other than that they have made no difficult choices or suffered difficult losses.
Serefin is the biggest culprit in this regard., and Serefin is supposed to be an alcoholic from all the things he did and witnessed in the war. But because the author quickly makes Serefin this sympathetic prince character there is no real weight behind any of his threats. I don’t even think you see him fight anyone or take action other than wandering away from the group when his dark god summons him.
Nadya and Malachiasz relationship is another issue. I think Duncan has some good lines regarding tender touches and intimate moments between the two of them. And I will say, the dialog between them seems fairly realistic and sweet, but the timing is super weird. I’m all here for fighting and ‘enemies to lovers’ but Nadya is never believably cruel, and those scenes were she’s written to act that way feel weak and unconvincing.
The character with the most development, energy, and agency is Katya the tsarina. We meet her half way through the book and she added much needed energy and motivation to the plot and pacing. She’s mean,, she adds another interesting element to the way magic works in the world, and I actually believe that she would kill Malachiasz. It feels like she was a quick addition on the author’s part, as you’ve never even heard of the tsarina until she arrives, but I think that actually serves the story. The other characters are overladen with premeditated expectation and aesthetic, so this new character actually feels actualized in the story. She develops in-front of the reader, instead of the reader just being told what she’s like.
The final point I’ll talk about is the plot.
Here is the major writing crime that is committed that made me so frustrated I almost stopped reading. After slogging through the scattered first half, there is a chance to actually see Nadya, Malachiasz, and this new Katya fight a monster- and the author doesn’t let us see it. She cuts to Serefin doing something or getting blinded or whatever, and then the three come back and are like ‘wow, we killed it. Nadya was crazy powerful.’ I was shocked. I flipped back to see if I missed something, then I thought ‘maybe we’ll flip over to Nadya or Malachiasz’s POV and see it from that angle’ but no.
More than that scene though, the author seems to have taken a piece from Lovecraft and anytime there is any monstrosity or unbelievable other worldly interaction the reader never gets to see it. Its always ‘Nadya’s human mind could comprehend it’ or ‘Its shapes were not of this world’…it was such a copout from intense creative writing it made me so sad, for both the reader and the author. It was clear by this point that the author didn’t have the image in her own mind, instead it was just tableaus of ethereal aesthetics she expects the reader to agree with.
There are other issues with the plot, but it’s similar to the issues in the first book. I think the author wanted the affect of a complicated political/theological plot, but it’s clear there isn’t much understanding of the larger world in which these characters live, which leads to a thin and flimsy plot.
In conclusion,
Duncan definitely has some great concepts and still imagery. Relics as weapons are a great idea, the function of magic in her world is interesting and I even like Nadya and Malachiasz. But the flow of writing, the function of plot, and the concept of the world as a whole is lacking and shallow. The reader is railroaded into ‘aesthetics’ and ‘concepts’, and instead of letting the world unfold on the page it feels more like going to a friends house when you’re young and getting dropped into their pre-made pretend dream world. Except you don’t get to be the dog, you have to sit and listen to them explain it to you.
All that being said, I’ll probably read the third. Not because I expect it to be better, but because I don’t like to leave things unfinished. I know the author is working on a new series, maybe I’ll give that one a try, but if there is no improvement of skill then I might not be able to read another entire trilogy.
I’ll start with pacing.
It’s hard for me to remember where the characters started at the beginning of the book as it seems irrelevant to the ending. At some point the ‘main’ characters and the ‘villain troop’ decide to work together so they can kill Malachiasz (maybe, the jury is still out on whether any of them actually mean to follow up on this ever present threat). From there, it’s a long slog to the middle, suffering heavily from the authors decision for Pelageya the witch to randomly summon the characters to her house in order to give them vague and meaningless prophecies.
Pelageya wrenching the characters out of the story is what made it really difficult for me to sit down and read continuously. It made it nearly impossible to follow the thread of the group traveling and keeping track of people’s motivations; but more than that, the scenes themselves were difficult to read. Having a seemingly omniscient character being able to summon the characters any time she wants introduces a mechanic that should have major implications in the story, but it ends up feeling like a hollow excuse to move the story.
In all honesty, it feels like the author inserted herself as the witch and wanted to be able to play with her characters. But because none of this information they’re given is earned, or even directly relevant to their journey, it’s just confusing and easily forgettable. If Duncan needed Pelagya in the book it would have been better for the characters to travel to find her and ask her a question that had prophetic answers. At least then there is a linear progression. Unfortunately, I think Pelagya’s real role is to 1) add the ‘aesthetic’ of mystical prophesies and the idea of lyrical prose, and 2) be a short cut for the author to inject her story with plot as she struggles to reveal it through actual narrative. If I’m being severe, it would have been better for those scenes to be replaced with brackets the just said INSERT MYSTICAL PROPHESIES HERE. FEEL SPOOKY.
The second issue is character development.
There is very little of it. The most glaring issue is that there is this pretense that most of the troop want to kill Malachiasz. They talk about it, threaten it, spend many paragraphs internally debating over it…and I never once believed any one of them would do it. I think it’s because we’ve seen no other instance of the characters doing anything difficult- maybe Nadya using heretic magic, and Malachiasz killing the king and taking on vast amounts of power, but other than that they have made no difficult choices or suffered difficult losses.
Serefin is the biggest culprit in this regard.
Spoiler
It’s supposed to be heart wrenching and confusing that he has to kill the ‘boy’ that he discovered was his brotherNadya and Malachiasz relationship is another issue. I think Duncan has some good lines regarding tender touches and intimate moments between the two of them. And I will say, the dialog between them seems fairly realistic and sweet, but the timing is super weird.
Spoiler
Nadya will randomly have these moments of ‘cruelty’ where she hold the only weapon that could kill Malachiasz up to his throat, and then they’ll maybe make out.The character with the most development, energy, and agency is Katya the tsarina. We meet her half way through the book and she added much needed energy and motivation to the plot and pacing. She’s mean,
Spoiler
she kills Serefin to test a theoryThe final point I’ll talk about is the plot.
Here is the major writing crime that is committed that made me so frustrated I almost stopped reading. After slogging through the scattered first half, there is a chance to actually see Nadya, Malachiasz, and this new Katya fight a monster- and the author doesn’t let us see it. She cuts to Serefin doing something or getting blinded or whatever, and then the three come back and are like ‘wow, we killed it. Nadya was crazy powerful.’ I was shocked. I flipped back to see if I missed something, then I thought ‘maybe we’ll flip over to Nadya or Malachiasz’s POV and see it from that angle’ but no.
More than that scene though, the author seems to have taken a piece from Lovecraft and anytime there is any monstrosity or unbelievable other worldly interaction the reader never gets to see it. Its always ‘Nadya’s human mind could comprehend it’ or ‘Its shapes were not of this world’…it was such a copout from intense creative writing it made me so sad, for both the reader and the author. It was clear by this point that the author didn’t have the image in her own mind, instead it was just tableaus of ethereal aesthetics she expects the reader to agree with.
There are other issues with the plot, but it’s similar to the issues in the first book. I think the author wanted the affect of a complicated political/theological plot, but it’s clear there isn’t much understanding of the larger world in which these characters live, which leads to a thin and flimsy plot.
In conclusion,
Duncan definitely has some great concepts and still imagery. Relics as weapons are a great idea, the function of magic in her world is interesting and I even like Nadya and Malachiasz. But the flow of writing, the function of plot, and the concept of the world as a whole is lacking and shallow. The reader is railroaded into ‘aesthetics’ and ‘concepts’, and instead of letting the world unfold on the page it feels more like going to a friends house when you’re young and getting dropped into their pre-made pretend dream world. Except you don’t get to be the dog, you have to sit and listen to them explain it to you.
All that being said, I’ll probably read the third. Not because I expect it to be better, but because I don’t like to leave things unfinished. I know the author is working on a new series, maybe I’ll give that one a try, but if there is no improvement of skill then I might not be able to read another entire trilogy.
adventurous
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
honestly don’t know why i kept reading this series… it feels very repetitive and i don’t care for most of the characters anymore
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was fantastic and I’m internally screaming now. I need the next one.
The storyline was interesting enough for me to want to start book 2 (this book) but I couldn't stand the interpersonal dynamic presented to finish the book