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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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
I was very hooked on it. Enjoying the characters and making friends with them. But there was no mercy for any of them and I got pissed. I don't think I will read the rest of the series.
3.5
Me ha parecido un libro con muchos picos. Tiene partes bastante confusas y otras muy interesantes en las que vas hilando cosas. Tiene personajes bastante bien construidos y otros no tantos, que aparecen de repente sin apenas presentación...
En general está bastante bien, sobre todo para (según lo que leí) ser su primera novela. Está muy bien escrito aunque a veces se haga un poco lioso. Le he puesto una nota intermedia porque a pesar de que está bien y en muchas partes me sorprendió bastante, tampoco es que me haya apasionado...
Me ha parecido un libro con muchos picos. Tiene partes bastante confusas y otras muy interesantes en las que vas hilando cosas. Tiene personajes bastante bien construidos y otros no tantos, que aparecen de repente sin apenas presentación...
En general está bastante bien, sobre todo para (según lo que leí) ser su primera novela. Está muy bien escrito aunque a veces se haga un poco lioso. Le he puesto una nota intermedia porque a pesar de que está bien y en muchas partes me sorprendió bastante, tampoco es que me haya apasionado...
I really wanted to like this book, as I enjoyed the Black Prism series. But it was too gruesome for me and I didn’t connect with any of the characters.
DNF à 25%
J'avais essayé de lire le Prisme Noir à l'époque, mais il m'était déjà tombé des mains. J'ai vraiment de la peine avec le style d'écriture de Brent Weeks, sa façon de caractériser les personnages et je trouve son worldbuilding très plat. On ne m'y prendra plus.
J'avais essayé de lire le Prisme Noir à l'époque, mais il m'était déjà tombé des mains. J'ai vraiment de la peine avec le style d'écriture de Brent Weeks, sa façon de caractériser les personnages et je trouve son worldbuilding très plat. On ne m'y prendra plus.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Starts off very dark but becomes more enjoyable as the book progresses! If you can make it through the first 80 pages the book is really good.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
One of the book clubs I'm in is reading this, so I'm trying to read it again. Of coruse it's about 650 pages, so it'll take a while...
“Do you know what punishments I've endured for my crimes, my sins? None. I am proof of the absurdity of men's most treasured abstractions. A just universe wouldn't tolerate my existence.”
Looking at my review history here on Once Upon a Time to date, one may understandably draw the conclusion that all I read are books featuring assassins. ((Even Mistborn while not an assassin story per se, featured, well... Mistborn, which were themselves assassins, really.)) This isn't true, I swear! I may even get to something else one day. :P
However, apparent themes in my reading preferences aside, I did very much enjoy this assassin story.
It's very much one of those 'gritty' books, and I think most people already know whether this sort of story appeals to them or not. Living in the muck and grime of the Warrens is difficult and each must do what they must merely to survive. Joy is fleeting and momentary, with an unpleasant death in this unpleasant place the only certainty for most of the inhabitants.
'Grit' in a story is something I can personally take or leave, it doesn't instantly turn me away from a story but nor does it particularly endear me to it. At first I wondered if perhaps Weeks was trying a little too hard to stress the point of just how awful and hopeless things were for the guild rats living in the Warrens.
He managed to convince me before too much longer though that he knew what he was doing. As dark and grimy as much of the story is, there is a message of savouring what beauty is found in the smaller things of day to day life.
There is a conflict between the nihilist theories and thoughts espoused by Durzo Blint and the surprisingly hopeful outlook that Azoth tries to nurture throughout his tutelage. As much as Azoth wants to be like Durzo -- seemingly fearless and unbeatable by anyone, an appealing set of attributes to someone having grown up in the Warrens -- he struggles to adopt this ideology.
All through the story, we see Azoth -- eventually Kylar -- struggle with this.
"Life is empty. Life is worthless. When we take a life, we aren't taking anything of value."
- Durzo Blint
vs.
“I regretted that I hadn't turned myself into the kind of man that you could be with. That it wouldn't be just for me to be with you, even if you wanted me. Our lives started in the same shit hole, Elene, but somehow you've turned into you, and I've turned into this. I don't like what I've done. I don't like who I've become. You don't deserve a fairy tale? I don't deserve another chance, but I'm asking you for one. You're afraid that love is too risky? I've seen what happens when you don't risk it. [...] I'm willing to risk it to see the world through your eyes.”
- Azoth (Kylar)
So yes, there is romance. There is also plenty of frenetic action, and even a dab of magic to complete the epic fantasy checklist.
Don't let the lesser count of Emblems throw you off from reading this one. It was a debut work for Brent Weeks, so perhaps some elements could have been stronger. In particular, some of the reveals which would otherwise have earnt this book an, 'Oh Snap!' seemed to come from no where. They weren't jarring enough to throw me out of the book, but still noticeable.
There was also a facepalm moment when Azoth / Kylar fails to see something which I feel falls strongly under the 'Character is Stupid in Order to Progress Plot' banner unfortunately, but the final resolution of this incident is almost satisfying enough to wave off the bears and give Weeks a pass on it. It came close to eliciting a Man Tear, but not quite there.
Overall, despite the issues mentioned, I loved the book and I've dived into the second to fill out my reading time when I get caught up with the current Warbreaker Group Read. You will no doubt see reviews of the second and third books in due course. :)
-- Originally posted at the Once Upon a Time blog.