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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
Breathtaking showstopping amazing inspiring beautiful wonderful 4.5*
I'm just bored? It's not the book, it's me.
ReRead in September 2021
Adjusted rating more like 2 stars
Well, this is awkward.
I was one of those people that loved Riyria Revelations (I do plan on rereading that sometime soon-ish to see if I still do) and was super excited for a new series by who was probably my favorite author at the time. I think that goes far in explaining why there's such a disparity in my ratings. (Also explains why I didn't originally read past the second book in the series.)
Anyway, this book is ... okay. It was just okay. The things that set it apart from the other fantasy I read, I've realized that I don't actually like.
And by that, I mean the setting. This is an early culture. This is stone age. (If you play Civ, they haven't even made their way through the ancient era yet.) I've learnt, reading this book and how awkward and uncomfortable I was at times, that I like more advanced cultures even in my fantasy.
I don't care about the characters. I am a character reader. If I like the characters enough, I can forgive a lackluster (or lacking) plot. (Which is why I was such a fan of Riyria, because I loved Royce and Hadrian.) You could kill off literally anyone and I wouldn't feel anything. I don't love them, I don't hate them, they are just there, seeming pretty darn devoid of real personalities.
The book itself is dreary, filled with doom and gloom (and the usual casual sexism that is inherent to these cultures. Though with the addition of several strong women. YMMV if it makes it better or worse) and so much of the book felt like an uphill struggle for anything good to happen.
This isn't a case of 'bad things happen, but people are mostly good' this is a case of 'bad things happen, people are self-serving and then you die.' (Okay, fantasy books tend to get depressing, usually though, they wait until the second book of a trilogy. This book starts the series off depressingly as well as feeling like an overly long prologue.)
I just...I'm kind of in a bad mood and a little depressed after reading this book. I might continue the series. I do, after all, own the second book and I can get the rest from my library. (And I am super curious about the door. That's the whole of the plot that caught my attention. The door.)
Side note: there is one female Fhrey whose most recent ex is a female and is alluded to (by name) as having had male significant others, too.
Edited to Add
I keep forgetting to add this to my review for this book (and the sequel) there is a lot of violence towards animals. Typical of the more 'ancient culture' fantasies, there are several battles against wolves and bears.
Adjusted rating more like 2 stars
Well, this is awkward.
I was one of those people that loved Riyria Revelations (I do plan on rereading that sometime soon-ish to see if I still do) and was super excited for a new series by who was probably my favorite author at the time. I think that goes far in explaining why there's such a disparity in my ratings. (Also explains why I didn't originally read past the second book in the series.)
Anyway, this book is ... okay. It was just okay. The things that set it apart from the other fantasy I read, I've realized that I don't actually like.
And by that, I mean the setting. This is an early culture. This is stone age. (If you play Civ, they haven't even made their way through the ancient era yet.) I've learnt, reading this book and how awkward and uncomfortable I was at times, that I like more advanced cultures even in my fantasy.
I don't care about the characters. I am a character reader. If I like the characters enough, I can forgive a lackluster (or lacking) plot. (Which is why I was such a fan of Riyria, because I loved Royce and Hadrian.) You could kill off literally anyone and I wouldn't feel anything. I don't love them, I don't hate them, they are just there, seeming pretty darn devoid of real personalities.
The book itself is dreary, filled with doom and gloom (and the usual casual sexism that is inherent to these cultures. Though with the addition of several strong women. YMMV if it makes it better or worse) and so much of the book felt like an uphill struggle for anything good to happen.
This isn't a case of 'bad things happen, but people are mostly good' this is a case of 'bad things happen, people are self-serving and then you die.' (Okay, fantasy books tend to get depressing, usually though, they wait until the second book of a trilogy. This book starts the series off depressingly as well as feeling like an overly long prologue.)
I just...I'm kind of in a bad mood and a little depressed after reading this book. I might continue the series. I do, after all, own the second book and I can get the rest from my library. (And I am super curious about the door. That's the whole of the plot that caught my attention. The door.)
Side note: there is one female Fhrey whose most recent ex is a female and is alluded to (by name) as having had male significant others, too.
Edited to Add
I keep forgetting to add this to my review for this book (and the sequel) there is a lot of violence towards animals. Typical of the more 'ancient culture' fantasies, there are several battles against wolves and bears.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
I'm not familiar with the other series in the same universe, but I became interested in this book because 1. this book's title since I've read quite a bit of mythology, and 2. the top negative review described as being too generic of a high fantasy series. Well, generic high fantasy is perfectly fine with me, just have an epic scope, a decent portrayal of magic, and not too many flaws and I'll eat it up.
This book didn't exactly deliver though. If I had to use one word to describe it, it is "anticlimactic". The premise is that the elves are treated by gods as humans and thought to be immortal, until one is killed, which destroys the perceived order of things. But it never really establishes the elves of earning the perception of immortal, considering within the first 10 pages one is bashed in the head and left unconscious.
Despite the anticlimactic nature of how the plot points played out in the details, and the weird fleshing out of the characters, I still found the macro-level plot quite engaging. Some characters are not quite what they seem, which adds a level of intrigue and mystery to what is actually going on. Being engaging is a decent bar to clear in of itself, which is why I still gave this book 3 stars. Now, back to complaining.
Regardless if characters are not completely what they seem on the surface, and if more is revealed later on, the fleshing out of the characters and their related plot points often still leave a lot to be desired. There is a lot of talking up of characters, but often there is little in their actions to make me earn their respect. The characters all seem horribly ignorant of the world at large and what others are capable of; this makes enough sense for the humans, but less for the elves and the gods. Even if there are underlying reasons that will be revealed in later books to give more context why something happened the way they did in this book, this book by itself and without its sequels should still make the puzzle pieces fit together enough so that outcomes feel believable for what the character has been built up to be so far. This includes some characters that are built up to be incredibly strong, only for them to get killed off, which greatly lessens the chance that there is an adequate explanation of why they left the series with such a whimper.
This book didn't exactly deliver though. If I had to use one word to describe it, it is "anticlimactic". The premise is that the elves are treated by gods as humans and thought to be immortal, until one is killed, which destroys the perceived order of things. But it never really establishes the elves of earning the perception of immortal, considering within the first 10 pages one is bashed in the head and left unconscious.
Despite the anticlimactic nature of how the plot points played out in the details, and the weird fleshing out of the characters, I still found the macro-level plot quite engaging. Some characters are not quite what they seem, which adds a level of intrigue and mystery to what is actually going on. Being engaging is a decent bar to clear in of itself, which is why I still gave this book 3 stars. Now, back to complaining.
Regardless if characters are not completely what they seem on the surface, and if more is revealed later on, the fleshing out of the characters and their related plot points often still leave a lot to be desired. There is a lot of talking up of characters, but often there is little in their actions to make me earn their respect. The characters all seem horribly ignorant of the world at large and what others are capable of; this makes enough sense for the humans, but less for the elves and the gods. Even if there are underlying reasons that will be revealed in later books to give more context why something happened the way they did in this book, this book by itself and without its sequels should still make the puzzle pieces fit together enough so that outcomes feel believable for what the character has been built up to be so far. This includes some characters that are built up to be incredibly strong, only for them to get killed off, which greatly lessens the chance that there is an adequate explanation of why they left the series with such a whimper.
I'm a huge fan of Michael Sullivan's Riyria series so it is no surprise I loved this book. He has a way of introducing danger, intrigue, and suspense at the same time making you laugh and grow fond of his quirky, awesome characters.
This book takes place long before Riyria when people (Rhunes) lived in pretty basic villages and considered their neighbors the Fhrey to be gods due to their long lives and magical abilities. This belief is questioned when a simple warrior Rhune kills a Fhrey and this story follows the events spiraling out from that single act.
There are so many fantastic characters in this book - my favorite is probably Suri, a young mystic who arrives in a small village to warn them of disaster. She has a pet wolf and a very different idea of the world. I also love Persephone the village clan chief's wife who pretty much is the clan chief in all but name. She can't help but speak up for common sense when she sees things going wrong and irks many of the villagers.
The audio was fantastic and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series!
This book takes place long before Riyria when people (Rhunes) lived in pretty basic villages and considered their neighbors the Fhrey to be gods due to their long lives and magical abilities. This belief is questioned when a simple warrior Rhune kills a Fhrey and this story follows the events spiraling out from that single act.
There are so many fantastic characters in this book - my favorite is probably Suri, a young mystic who arrives in a small village to warn them of disaster. She has a pet wolf and a very different idea of the world. I also love Persephone the village clan chief's wife who pretty much is the clan chief in all but name. She can't help but speak up for common sense when she sees things going wrong and irks many of the villagers.
The audio was fantastic and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series!
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
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:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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:
Complicated
While I wasn't convinced at first, I ended up being attached to the characters and MJS always pulls me in with a good ending. Will be continuing