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lanko's review against another edition
3.0
Black Wolves does something pretty bold in the beginning.
In the first ~90 pages we get Atani, Dannarah, Anjihosh and Kellas as our main characters. They're well-fleshed, dynamic, interesting and compelling. Other secondary characters appear and provoke intrigues, revelations and other actions that promise a lot of tension and conflict later.
Atani and Dannarah are great siblings, complementing each other very well. Kellas is also great, the spy/assassin member/secret leader of the deadly Black Wolves. Anjihosh is pretty grey when you look closely. Then comes queen Zayrah, the king's mother and politics, demons get involved, Mai, Arisit. The initial buildup is very good.
Then after getting attached to these characters and a really difficult choice is presented... Fourty-four years later...
Yes, that's right. It's a time skip of almost half a century.
And you learn that Atani, a great character, simply died twenty-two years ago, murdered by his own general. Dannarah is more than 60 years old. Kellas is more than 70. The Black Wolves were disbanded. The whole world is different, customs changed and there's a whole new cast of characters for you to start again.
Atani was intriguing. Dannarah was a 17 year old betrothed to a prince of another country. She didn't want to go, she wanted to do so many other things. Atani also didn't want her to go. Now we learn she actually escaped that fate by becoming a reeve. A reeve are riders of giant eagles. They are scouts and aerial warriors of the kingdom. Kellas is retired and threatened back to service.
I struggled through the next ~100 pages. I don't think it was only the massive changes, but also the way things were portrayed. There is a lot of exposition explaining things. And not much well-disguised infodumps, including characters speaking like encyclopedias during various tea meetings.
Then things started to move pretty nicely. Mostly Dannarah and Kellas carried until Sarai/Gil warmed up to a really nice plotline. Lifka started interesting but quickly faded into the background. The other interesting thing is the very rare flashbacks of Atani, whose murder and mystery were probably far more intriguing than the main plot.
There are lots of other secondary characters. And this causes a lot of exposition, because there really isn't page time for all of them. Tavahosh and Jehosh are more present and discernible, followed a little behind by Queen Chorranah.
There a lot of others (specially more sons, daughters, kin and etc) but they either simply end up fading or being introduced too late. The only thing you can make about them is what other characters explicitly tell you about their traits and behavior, which means you're always being told how to see/feel them.
There's a lot of factions and lots of people with secret agendas. Maybe a little too many of those. Jehosh, Tavahosh, Farihosh, Chorranah, Dia, the daughter of the neighboring Empire later, their agents' plots and the main characters.
This book already clocks around 800 pages and I think that for such large scope it wasn't nearly enough to properly shown it all.
Even Dannarah and Kellas start to fade a little near the end.
It felt like the book tried to do too much at once, even for 800 pages. And then that means for it to be more engaging, it would have to be even longer.
This means that even for a 800-page book, the story is overpopulated.
I think this affected the prose and the writing as well, as I highlighted very few passages (maybe 5) throughout 800 pages.
I think that the first ~90 pages were so gripping because they were showing me Kellas, Ajinhoshi, Dannarah and Atani extremelly well, but after the time skip and so much plot going on in an already long book, it had to switch for pure necessity to much more telling.
When characters were arguing it was still really nice and fluid to read, but when this wasn't happening and the narrative and descriptions settled in, it started to really suffer with pacing.
Also, the initial theme and intrigue of demons also disappears after the beginning to only return at the end of the book.
On the other hand it accomplishes other things really well. One thing a lot of people search for is for female empowerment and Black Wolves delivers on that.
Both queens (the king can have multiple wives) are the major players in the plots of the realm, much more than the king.
Dannarah continues to be a reeve and is also a Marshal who tricks princes and gets her way most of the time.
Sarai is the most curious one in this regard. While a lot of the other women usually fight against the traditional condition, Sarai fights to actually keep it, in a way. For example, Dannarah in the beginning doesn't want to marry politically. In the end, it works her way. Sarai, on the other hand, is sent to Gil (who also didn't want to marry anyone). Turns out they work together fairly well and come to like each other genuinely. Then he gets disgraced and everyone plots to divorce Sarai and even cause a miscarriage on her. Sarai passes the entire book fighting to actually keep her status as married to Gil. She's one who found freedom, in both body and mind, in marriage, and decides to stay in it out of her own choice instead of a pawn in others' plots.
There's very little violence in this book. I think there's only one mention of a battle (in a flashback near the end). There are no duels, gruesome assassinations or wars, sadly not even with the reeves and their mighty eagles. There's one or other dark moment, but considering the length, too few.
I think it's also a theme of the book. The cases of injustice, abuse and violence are all based on abuse of power. People getting arrested for very minor things, taxation, customs, racism, hierarchies. It's all about the power.
If you need battles and the like, you'll be a little disappointed. But if you want intrigue and power plays, you'll enjoy it if the other things I mentioned don't get in your way.
Finally, I have to say that Atani and his storyline (and how he died and why) is what made me really curious to keep going. It's very short, but definitely surprised me and probably won't disappoint you as well.
That's kinda of saying something about Atani. He only appears in the "prologue" and is dead for 90% of the book, only appearing through three of four rare and short flashbacks. For a comparison, he's a much better Rhaegar Targaryen.
While that says he's pretty great, maybe it also says something about the main plot and characters.
Which all comes down to the 44 year time skip.
I think I would've enjoyed Black Wolves much more if the initial story was the one told.
I wanted to see Atani grow (he also manages to get his two wives to be friendly to each other, another interesting plotline that is only mentioned briefly) and his death would've been much more shocking.
I wanted to see Dannarah's frustration at her fate and then becoming a reeve and working her way up to be one of the best. And her love/infatuation case with Kellas.
In the same line, I wanted to see more of Kellas' jobs and relationship with Dannarah and Mai. There's a part where Ajinhoshi discovers something about Kellas and Atani has to intervene. I wanted to see that scene, but it's only summarized.
And of course, the facets of good father to abusive/uncaring spouse of Ajinhoshi.
I think this plotline would've covered the book very well, and I would have been shown them instead of told. Or maybe it was the time skip that was too long.
Anyway, at that point the characters were really gripping, the story was flowing well and being pretty tight and surrounded with nuanced and explicit conflict and tension, present and future.
At the very least this story really left me wanting for much more. And it's probable it will be explored in later installments, but again, most likely through flashbacks.
It has some noticeable flaws, but overall it was an enjoyable ride, specially if you don't have trouble adjusting to the massive time skip.
In the first ~90 pages we get Atani, Dannarah, Anjihosh and Kellas as our main characters. They're well-fleshed, dynamic, interesting and compelling. Other secondary characters appear and provoke intrigues, revelations and other actions that promise a lot of tension and conflict later.
Atani and Dannarah are great siblings, complementing each other very well. Kellas is also great, the spy/assassin member/secret leader of the deadly Black Wolves. Anjihosh is pretty grey when you look closely. Then comes queen Zayrah, the king's mother and politics, demons get involved, Mai, Arisit. The initial buildup is very good.
Then after getting attached to these characters and a really difficult choice is presented... Fourty-four years later...
Yes, that's right. It's a time skip of almost half a century.
And you learn that Atani, a great character, simply died twenty-two years ago, murdered by his own general. Dannarah is more than 60 years old. Kellas is more than 70. The Black Wolves were disbanded. The whole world is different, customs changed and there's a whole new cast of characters for you to start again.
Atani was intriguing. Dannarah was a 17 year old betrothed to a prince of another country. She didn't want to go, she wanted to do so many other things. Atani also didn't want her to go. Now we learn she actually escaped that fate by becoming a reeve. A reeve are riders of giant eagles. They are scouts and aerial warriors of the kingdom. Kellas is retired and threatened back to service.
I struggled through the next ~100 pages. I don't think it was only the massive changes, but also the way things were portrayed. There is a lot of exposition explaining things. And not much well-disguised infodumps, including characters speaking like encyclopedias during various tea meetings.
Then things started to move pretty nicely. Mostly Dannarah and Kellas carried until Sarai/Gil warmed up to a really nice plotline. Lifka started interesting but quickly faded into the background. The other interesting thing is the very rare flashbacks of Atani, whose murder and mystery were probably far more intriguing than the main plot.
There are lots of other secondary characters. And this causes a lot of exposition, because there really isn't page time for all of them. Tavahosh and Jehosh are more present and discernible, followed a little behind by Queen Chorranah.
There a lot of others (specially more sons, daughters, kin and etc) but they either simply end up fading or being introduced too late. The only thing you can make about them is what other characters explicitly tell you about their traits and behavior, which means you're always being told how to see/feel them.
There's a lot of factions and lots of people with secret agendas. Maybe a little too many of those. Jehosh, Tavahosh, Farihosh, Chorranah, Dia, the daughter of the neighboring Empire later, their agents' plots and the main characters.
This book already clocks around 800 pages and I think that for such large scope it wasn't nearly enough to properly shown it all.
Even Dannarah and Kellas start to fade a little near the end.
It felt like the book tried to do too much at once, even for 800 pages. And then that means for it to be more engaging, it would have to be even longer.
This means that even for a 800-page book, the story is overpopulated.
I think this affected the prose and the writing as well, as I highlighted very few passages (maybe 5) throughout 800 pages.
I think that the first ~90 pages were so gripping because they were showing me Kellas, Ajinhoshi, Dannarah and Atani extremelly well, but after the time skip and so much plot going on in an already long book, it had to switch for pure necessity to much more telling.
When characters were arguing it was still really nice and fluid to read, but when this wasn't happening and the narrative and descriptions settled in, it started to really suffer with pacing.
Also, the initial theme and intrigue of demons also disappears after the beginning to only return at the end of the book.
On the other hand it accomplishes other things really well. One thing a lot of people search for is for female empowerment and Black Wolves delivers on that.
Both queens (the king can have multiple wives) are the major players in the plots of the realm, much more than the king.
Dannarah continues to be a reeve and is also a Marshal who tricks princes and gets her way most of the time.
Sarai is the most curious one in this regard. While a lot of the other women usually fight against the traditional condition, Sarai fights to actually keep it, in a way. For example, Dannarah in the beginning doesn't want to marry politically. In the end, it works her way. Sarai, on the other hand, is sent to Gil (who also didn't want to marry anyone). Turns out they work together fairly well and come to like each other genuinely. Then he gets disgraced and everyone plots to divorce Sarai and even cause a miscarriage on her. Sarai passes the entire book fighting to actually keep her status as married to Gil. She's one who found freedom, in both body and mind, in marriage, and decides to stay in it out of her own choice instead of a pawn in others' plots.
There's very little violence in this book. I think there's only one mention of a battle (in a flashback near the end). There are no duels, gruesome assassinations or wars, sadly not even with the reeves and their mighty eagles. There's one or other dark moment, but considering the length, too few.
I think it's also a theme of the book. The cases of injustice, abuse and violence are all based on abuse of power. People getting arrested for very minor things, taxation, customs, racism, hierarchies. It's all about the power.
If you need battles and the like, you'll be a little disappointed. But if you want intrigue and power plays, you'll enjoy it if the other things I mentioned don't get in your way.
Finally, I have to say that Atani and his storyline (and how he died and why) is what made me really curious to keep going. It's very short, but definitely surprised me and probably won't disappoint you as well.
That's kinda of saying something about Atani. He only appears in the "prologue" and is dead for 90% of the book, only appearing through three of four rare and short flashbacks. For a comparison, he's a much better Rhaegar Targaryen.
While that says he's pretty great, maybe it also says something about the main plot and characters.
Which all comes down to the 44 year time skip.
I think I would've enjoyed Black Wolves much more if the initial story was the one told.
I wanted to see Atani grow (he also manages to get his two wives to be friendly to each other, another interesting plotline that is only mentioned briefly) and his death would've been much more shocking.
I wanted to see Dannarah's frustration at her fate and then becoming a reeve and working her way up to be one of the best. And her love/infatuation case with Kellas.
In the same line, I wanted to see more of Kellas' jobs and relationship with Dannarah and Mai. There's a part where Ajinhoshi discovers something about Kellas and Atani has to intervene. I wanted to see that scene, but it's only summarized.
And of course, the facets of good father to abusive/uncaring spouse of Ajinhoshi.
I think this plotline would've covered the book very well, and I would have been shown them instead of told. Or maybe it was the time skip that was too long.
Anyway, at that point the characters were really gripping, the story was flowing well and being pretty tight and surrounded with nuanced and explicit conflict and tension, present and future.
At the very least this story really left me wanting for much more. And it's probable it will be explored in later installments, but again, most likely through flashbacks.
It has some noticeable flaws, but overall it was an enjoyable ride, specially if you don't have trouble adjusting to the massive time skip.
buuboobaby's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars
This doesn't end so much as it grinds to a halt when events were getting really, REALLY interesting. Just when I thought I understood some of the characters, they do something completely unexpected. Frustrated that we didn't get to see much of Mai, because she has a lot more to do with what's going on then originally expected. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series; this was hard to put down.
This doesn't end so much as it grinds to a halt when events were getting really, REALLY interesting. Just when I thought I understood some of the characters, they do something completely unexpected. Frustrated that we didn't get to see much of Mai, because she has a lot more to do with what's going on then originally expected. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series; this was hard to put down.
mhall's review against another edition
4.0
Giant eagles, women's rights, the role of religion in a fantasy society, long and involved and I liked it immensely.
etoiline's review against another edition
3.0
Intricate but long
Huge book with really interesting world-building and developed characters, but has some points where it drags. Many characters to lose track of, but stick it out till the end and you'll be rewarded with a faster pace and lots of plot developments. Sort of abrupt ending but it's book one of a trilogy so there will be more.
Huge book with really interesting world-building and developed characters, but has some points where it drags. Many characters to lose track of, but stick it out till the end and you'll be rewarded with a faster pace and lots of plot developments. Sort of abrupt ending but it's book one of a trilogy so there will be more.
urs's review against another edition
5.0
The characters feel gorgeously real and insufferably human in this sprawling diverse landscape of a novel. I loved it.
Follow the intertwining stories of Captain Kellas and Marshall Dannarah,
backed up by a varied set of supporting characters.
There is court intrigue, rebellion, religious strife,
secrets on secrets on secrets, and eagles.
What starts for Dannarah with the task of tracking down a gang of escaped criminals, with all the clues making very
little sense, turns into a reconnection with all the familial turmoil in her past. As Dannarah and Kellas return from their seperate self-imposed exiles each step reveals more of the corruption flourishing in the court and land.
Is this book for you?
if you are an epic fantasy lover this is a must,
if you have grown weary (as I did) with ye olde boyfarmer hero's journey this is so delightfully far removed you may find yourself with an achingly huge smile on your face (like I did).
if you are (rightfully so) critical of the over-saturation of "whiteness" in fantasy, Imperial Asia-inspired is this books setting (my guess) with a rainbow of people
if you are in the mood from seeing epic fantasy tackle socialpolitical themes in a sophisticated way
if you aren't a big reader of brick-sized novels this book is no slog, a steady river-cruise of a book, with measured onward pace, and interspersed with small stop offs to soak a particularly rich bit of scenery (eagles!)
Things to get picky about:
Fed information in dialogue, it has slight telling-not-showing issues. None so obtrusive that it jarred for me; there is a lot of world to shuffle into your head and an author only has so many ways to paint a vivid picture.
High number of characters, including bit parts. For some this may be too much, I personally found it a positive thing, helping filling out this world and story.
I could see some people maybe disagreeing with the abstracted blending of Asian cultures happening here, but I don't feel it in any way casts it in an "exotic" light. It is not my place to say whether the result of drawing on those inspirations is done well or respectfully.
As a whole I thoroughly enjoyed the world, its characters and the sheer skill of storytelling Kate Elliott displayed in this book. Now I have to occupy myself with her backlist until book 2 is out in 2020.
Follow the intertwining stories of Captain Kellas and Marshall Dannarah,
backed up by a varied set of supporting characters.
There is court intrigue, rebellion, religious strife,
secrets on secrets on secrets, and eagles.
What starts for Dannarah with the task of tracking down a gang of escaped criminals, with all the clues making very
little sense, turns into a reconnection with all the familial turmoil in her past. As Dannarah and Kellas return from their seperate self-imposed exiles each step reveals more of the corruption flourishing in the court and land.
Is this book for you?
if you are an epic fantasy lover this is a must,
if you have grown weary (as I did) with ye olde boyfarmer hero's journey this is so delightfully far removed you may find yourself with an achingly huge smile on your face (like I did).
if you are (rightfully so) critical of the over-saturation of "whiteness" in fantasy, Imperial Asia-inspired is this books setting (my guess) with a rainbow of people
if you are in the mood from seeing epic fantasy tackle socialpolitical themes in a sophisticated way
if you aren't a big reader of brick-sized novels this book is no slog, a steady river-cruise of a book, with measured onward pace, and interspersed with small stop offs to soak a particularly rich bit of scenery (eagles!)
Things to get picky about:
Fed information in dialogue, it has slight telling-not-showing issues. None so obtrusive that it jarred for me; there is a lot of world to shuffle into your head and an author only has so many ways to paint a vivid picture.
High number of characters, including bit parts. For some this may be too much, I personally found it a positive thing, helping filling out this world and story.
I could see some people maybe disagreeing with the abstracted blending of Asian cultures happening here, but I don't feel it in any way casts it in an "exotic" light. It is not my place to say whether the result of drawing on those inspirations is done well or respectfully.
As a whole I thoroughly enjoyed the world, its characters and the sheer skill of storytelling Kate Elliott displayed in this book. Now I have to occupy myself with her backlist until book 2 is out in 2020.
caroleen's review
4.0
Black Wolves is a strong debut to the new series.
The world is easy to sink into and even easier to appreciate because it's so unique. The fantasy wrapped up in many aspects of a country on the brink of civil war (or so it seems) makes for a layered and engrossing plot.
I particularly liked:
--the characters. It's a large cast, but it isn't a problem for Elliott. Each is well drawn and believable.
--the many cultures represented and the unique and fascinating details of each
--Reeves! People who pair up with huge Eagles and ride them through the sky. <3
--girls/women who don't stand quietly by and wait for help; instead, they fight and risk and love like equals
--the pitting of good rulers against bad against somewhere in the middle; the conviction with which some rulers believe they are doing the right thing (the tension!)
--the many twists I didn't expect
I can't wait to see where the story goes.
The world is easy to sink into and even easier to appreciate because it's so unique. The fantasy wrapped up in many aspects of a country on the brink of civil war (or so it seems) makes for a layered and engrossing plot.
I particularly liked:
--the characters. It's a large cast, but it isn't a problem for Elliott. Each is well drawn and believable.
--the many cultures represented and the unique and fascinating details of each
--Reeves! People who pair up with huge Eagles and ride them through the sky. <3
--girls/women who don't stand quietly by and wait for help; instead, they fight and risk and love like equals
--the pitting of good rulers against bad against somewhere in the middle; the conviction with which some rulers believe they are doing the right thing (the tension!)
--the many twists I didn't expect
I can't wait to see where the story goes.
onceandfuturelaura's review against another edition
3.0
High Fantasy with women and people of color as POV characters. And Justice Eagles. Justice Eagles! Set in a preindustrial world that seemed to have pieces of medieval China, the Ottoman Empire, feudal Europe and Meiji Era Japan. It spans three generations marked by the successful conquest of this land by family members of a nearby empire. The conquering king styles himself the liberator of the land, which might be true. His son tried to bring law. His grandson, or at least his grandson's court, is bringing totalitarianism, misogamy, and a stifling religion.
Elliott's a disciplined writer. There were hints early on that unreliable narrators were unreliable, but it's not until the last 50 pages or so that the hidden threads start revealing themselves in the fabric. There's a pretty good poke at those who insist that people who are traditionally marginalized in epic fantasy don't belong there. And some really satisfying assassinations.
Elliott's a disciplined writer. There were hints early on that unreliable narrators were unreliable, but it's not until the last 50 pages or so that the hidden threads start revealing themselves in the fabric. There's a pretty good poke at those who insist that people who are traditionally marginalized in epic fantasy don't belong there. And some really satisfying assassinations.
angrywombat's review against another edition
3.0
Wow, this was very unexpected.
I've not read anything else by Kate Ellliot, so this was a very pleasant surprise. It starts really slowly, and the writing is in some need of editing, which all made me want to give up for the fist bit. But about a third of the way in it started to really click - the characters started to make more sense and the tension and stakes were constantly increasing - but about half way through there was no stopping!
There are three main characters whose stories are twisted together: Dannarah, a grumpy and headstrong old woman who is a reeve (giant eagle rider!) and the aunt of the King; Kellas, a disgraced ex-captain of the old King's private guard; and Sarai, a young bastard child of a cloistered society. The story winds around a central mystery - why was the King's father murdered? Who was really responsible, and is the current king really fit to be king?
I loved how this was a very strong story about conflicting points of view. No one really knew the truth of events, but was guessing at other's motivations. No one had it right, and everyone was acting on partial information. It was glorious how everything was driven by the character's motivations, and their reactions to their bad guesses of other's motivations. Each time a new piece of information was revealed, it made me reconsider everything that had come so far, and keep guessing as to the truth of the murder.
This would be 5 stars, except for the horrible start ( i hate the idea of a prologue, and this one was especially bad), and what felt at times to be cumbersome writing. But the actions of the characters really pulled me in, and I was becoming desperate that all these problems would work out in their favour.
But at the end, I was most frustrated that the second book isn't out yet!
I've not read anything else by Kate Ellliot, so this was a very pleasant surprise. It starts really slowly, and the writing is in some need of editing, which all made me want to give up for the fist bit. But about a third of the way in it started to really click - the characters started to make more sense and the tension and stakes were constantly increasing - but about half way through there was no stopping!
There are three main characters whose stories are twisted together: Dannarah, a grumpy and headstrong old woman who is a reeve (giant eagle rider!) and the aunt of the King; Kellas, a disgraced ex-captain of the old King's private guard; and Sarai, a young bastard child of a cloistered society. The story winds around a central mystery - why was the King's father murdered? Who was really responsible, and is the current king really fit to be king?
I loved how this was a very strong story about conflicting points of view. No one really knew the truth of events, but was guessing at other's motivations. No one had it right, and everyone was acting on partial information. It was glorious how everything was driven by the character's motivations, and their reactions to their bad guesses of other's motivations. Each time a new piece of information was revealed, it made me reconsider everything that had come so far, and keep guessing as to the truth of the murder.
This would be 5 stars, except for the horrible start ( i hate the idea of a prologue, and this one was especially bad), and what felt at times to be cumbersome writing. But the actions of the characters really pulled me in, and I was becoming desperate that all these problems would work out in their favour.
But at the end, I was most frustrated that the second book isn't out yet!
hazelsf's review against another edition
3.0
Overall I liked this but I had a lot of issues so I couldn't give it higher than a 3 out of 5.
I enjoyed the themes in this book, the power struggle between kings and their family, the way cultures change rapidly from generation to generation, monotheism vs. polytheism, and the bond between humans and animals.
I liked the giant eagles that choose their human riders (well, the people who hang below them on a harness) and share a magical bond. I liked the demon magic and that there were multiple female main characters. It was refreshing to a have one main character who was (73/74?). I liked that there was a bisexual character. My favourite characters were Sarai, Lifka and Gil. I felt sorry for the outsider women caught up in the conflict.
However, for the first 194 pages I was considering DNF-ing this because I was bored. I didn't enjoy the characterisation overall. The bond between eagles and reeves could have been more magical and emotional. The chapters that I loved I really, really loved but there were always too many chapters in between that felt like a slog to get through. When I felt something towards the characters it was usually just because something really bad was happening to them. The anger I felt wasn't baalnced out by humour or characterisation. I don't really like reading about people abusing power over animals and I found one scene so upsetting that I had to put the book down and walk away to calm down!
I don't care if a book is full of female characters if I don't love any of their personalities. While one character was Bisexual the focus was really on her hetero relationship.
My main gripe was that I felt quite passionately that one character needed to die, and when they did die, it was mentioned in a matter of fact way after the event - like, oh yeah, I killed them. Show me don't tell me! I want to have a satisfying scene where a character I hate dies! I want to see the look on their faces when they realise it's all over for them.
You do not need to have read the Crossroads books before this trilogy, but I ended up wishing I had because 1. I may have cared more for the characters and 2. the world in the past sounded much more interesting!
I enjoyed the themes in this book, the power struggle between kings and their family, the way cultures change rapidly from generation to generation, monotheism vs. polytheism, and the bond between humans and animals.
I liked the giant eagles that choose their human riders (well, the people who hang below them on a harness) and share a magical bond. I liked the demon magic and that there were multiple female main characters. It was refreshing to a have one main character who was (73/74?). I liked that there was a bisexual character. My favourite characters were Sarai, Lifka and Gil. I felt sorry for the outsider women caught up in the conflict.
However, for the first 194 pages I was considering DNF-ing this because I was bored. I didn't enjoy the characterisation overall. The bond between eagles and reeves could have been more magical and emotional. The chapters that I loved I really, really loved but there were always too many chapters in between that felt like a slog to get through. When I felt something towards the characters it was usually just because something really bad was happening to them. The anger I felt wasn't baalnced out by humour or characterisation. I don't really like reading about people abusing power over animals and I found one scene so upsetting that I had to put the book down and walk away to calm down!
I don't care if a book is full of female characters if I don't love any of their personalities. While one character was Bisexual the focus was really on her hetero relationship.
My main gripe was that I felt quite passionately that one character needed to die, and when they did die, it was mentioned in a matter of fact way after the event - like, oh yeah, I killed them. Show me don't tell me! I want to have a satisfying scene where a character I hate dies! I want to see the look on their faces when they realise it's all over for them.
You do not need to have read the Crossroads books before this trilogy, but I ended up wishing I had because 1. I may have cared more for the characters and 2. the world in the past sounded much more interesting!
missmegreads's review against another edition
2.0
I stuck it out for 100 pages before I called it. I may someday try to go back and finish this, but right now I just can't justify spending another minute of my life slogging through it.
My first issue with this book is that it promises a Chinese (or alt-China) setting and aesthetic, but very little in the book is actually Chinese. Nobody has Chinese names, and in fact nobody has names that are consistent enough to make me think they belong to the same ethnic groups.
The author uses the word "Qin" to describe people ethnically, but not in a way that makes sense. Qin is a thing. It's either a state or it's a dynasty (circa 220 BC), it's a part of Chinese history but it's like the author just picked up the word and mixed it in. I'm not an expert on Chinese history by any means, but I know enough that it bothered me each time I saw it because THAT WORD ACTUALLY MEANS STUFF FROM REAL LIFE HISTORY. So either respect that and address it in a way that makes some sense or USE A DIFFERENT WORD.
The author seems to have nabbed bits and pieces of China that she liked and that was it. It's like she wanted to set a grand epic in, say, generically ye old China but didn't wanna bother doing the massive amount of research it would take to do it well.
The book is in need of some really good editing. The dialogue is terribly awkward in places. The author apparently needs to make up fake exclamatory words: "Aui!" and "Eiya!". Also, the way the author uses the word "cursed" instead of just saying "damn" is grating. I counted it up each time I saw it. Nineteen times in 100 pages, the author could've just used the word "damn".
Take for instance this gem on page 12: "Heya, lads, what say we go down to that thrice-rotted inn and drink what passes for decent rice wine here in this cold-cursed valley?" I winced. That sounds like a bad line out of some snoozefest doorstopper fantasy book set in Medieval Whitebreadia. Shouldn't this guy be helping a farm boy realize his royal destiny or something?
Side note: One thing I've learned is that it's always to the author's benefit not to invent curse words or slang any more than is necessary.
The book also takes a long, long time to get interesting. The first few pages mean very little. Throwing lots of contextless names at us through Kellas's eyes makes them all seem fake and meaningless, which just makes the scene seem pointless.
The entire first chapter is summarized in a paragraph when Kellas speaks to King Anjihosh and frankly, that would've been a better place to start. You know, with the actual story.
Exposition in the book is clumsy. And I mean clumsy. There's literally a scene where all the background info on Anjihosh's reign and general world history is explained by the young princess telling them about her school lessons.
The book does manage to get interesting somewhere around page 40 when people we have context for actually start doing things that we have a reason to care about. And it goes on a good run, following Atani and Dannarah (the king's oldest kids) and Kellas as they discover that King Anjihosh has some seriously awful secrets. There's a runaway prince, a princess who wants to fly on eagles, a guy who was just some reckless fool who climbed a rock and ended up a trusted officer now tasked with looking after this prince who, as I mentioned, doesn't like to stay put.
It gets really good. Like "get the popcorn" good. We're following Kellas, we got some family secrets that just saw the light of day and maybe more waiting to be uncovered, we got a squirrely prince on the loose, a sympathetically tough princess with a crush, and there's some plot actually happening.
Then *bam*. That part of the book ends and we fast forward by forty-four years and suddenly we're right back in a setting filled with characters running around with fake sounding names, a lot of weirdly placed exposition, and no clue as to what kind of actual plot is taking place. All we get are hints that we skipped the good stuff.
Then we get to see Dannarah fly on an eagle and while I'm happy that she gets to be badass, could we maybe get to the point instead of going through a whole new cycle of intro, exposition, description of architecture and background and As You Know Bob type dialogue. It's like having to start again with an entirely new book and given that this thing is 782 pages, I'm just noping my way on out of it.
My first issue with this book is that it promises a Chinese (or alt-China) setting and aesthetic, but very little in the book is actually Chinese. Nobody has Chinese names, and in fact nobody has names that are consistent enough to make me think they belong to the same ethnic groups.
The author uses the word "Qin" to describe people ethnically, but not in a way that makes sense. Qin is a thing. It's either a state or it's a dynasty (circa 220 BC), it's a part of Chinese history but it's like the author just picked up the word and mixed it in. I'm not an expert on Chinese history by any means, but I know enough that it bothered me each time I saw it because THAT WORD ACTUALLY MEANS STUFF FROM REAL LIFE HISTORY. So either respect that and address it in a way that makes some sense or USE A DIFFERENT WORD.
The author seems to have nabbed bits and pieces of China that she liked and that was it. It's like she wanted to set a grand epic in, say, generically ye old China but didn't wanna bother doing the massive amount of research it would take to do it well.
The book is in need of some really good editing. The dialogue is terribly awkward in places. The author apparently needs to make up fake exclamatory words: "Aui!" and "Eiya!". Also, the way the author uses the word "cursed" instead of just saying "damn" is grating. I counted it up each time I saw it. Nineteen times in 100 pages, the author could've just used the word "damn".
Take for instance this gem on page 12: "Heya, lads, what say we go down to that thrice-rotted inn and drink what passes for decent rice wine here in this cold-cursed valley?" I winced. That sounds like a bad line out of some snoozefest doorstopper fantasy book set in Medieval Whitebreadia. Shouldn't this guy be helping a farm boy realize his royal destiny or something?
Side note: One thing I've learned is that it's always to the author's benefit not to invent curse words or slang any more than is necessary.
The book also takes a long, long time to get interesting. The first few pages mean very little. Throwing lots of contextless names at us through Kellas's eyes makes them all seem fake and meaningless, which just makes the scene seem pointless.
The entire first chapter is summarized in a paragraph when Kellas speaks to King Anjihosh and frankly, that would've been a better place to start. You know, with the actual story.
Exposition in the book is clumsy. And I mean clumsy. There's literally a scene where all the background info on Anjihosh's reign and general world history is explained by the young princess telling them about her school lessons.
The book does manage to get interesting somewhere around page 40 when people we have context for actually start doing things that we have a reason to care about. And it goes on a good run, following Atani and Dannarah (the king's oldest kids) and Kellas as they discover that King Anjihosh has some seriously awful secrets. There's a runaway prince, a princess who wants to fly on eagles, a guy who was just some reckless fool who climbed a rock and ended up a trusted officer now tasked with looking after this prince who, as I mentioned, doesn't like to stay put.
It gets really good. Like "get the popcorn" good. We're following Kellas, we got some family secrets that just saw the light of day and maybe more waiting to be uncovered, we got a squirrely prince on the loose, a sympathetically tough princess with a crush, and there's some plot actually happening.
Then *bam*. That part of the book ends and we fast forward by forty-four years and suddenly we're right back in a setting filled with characters running around with fake sounding names, a lot of weirdly placed exposition, and no clue as to what kind of actual plot is taking place. All we get are hints that we skipped the good stuff.
Then we get to see Dannarah fly on an eagle and while I'm happy that she gets to be badass, could we maybe get to the point instead of going through a whole new cycle of intro, exposition, description of architecture and background and As You Know Bob type dialogue. It's like having to start again with an entirely new book and given that this thing is 782 pages, I'm just noping my way on out of it.