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Eight for Eternity by Eric Mayer, Mary Reed

dtaylorbooks's review against another edition

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DNF. I just couldn't get into it. I selected it for review because I liked the history aspect. Constantinople on the falling side of the Roman Empire? Yeah, that interests me. A lot. Plus a murder mystery thrown in? Sure, I'll give it a try.

But it just didn't work for me. First I had no idea until I started reading the book that this was the eighth book in a series. The subtitle didn't really set off any triggers or anything. Not that I think the prior books would have added any depth. Just reading what I read this one could stand alone. I think that was its purpose.

I read up to the halfway point and I just didn't find the writing all that engaging. It's supposed to be a murder mystery but I didn't feel any tension, any suspense, nothing. I was just reading words for words' sake. Half the city was burning because of mob riots but I was like meh. Okay. I just felt like there was a haze between me and the story, that I just couldn't quite reach it.

What kind of weirded me out a little was the emphasis on eunuchs the story had. The main character is a eunuch but, personally, I think it's mentioned more than what his situations merited. I just didn't find it pertinent to the story most of the time it was mentioned so every time it was, it drew me back out. Not that I have a problem with eunuchs. It's just I wasn't used to this many eunuchs so predominant in the plot. It was weird.

I guess if you have the patience to read something in a slightly more "historical" word then you might be able to get through Eight for Eternity but everything cycled together, it just wasn't for me.
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