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masong63's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
eidolon_scourge's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
icecreamemperor's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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? No
2.25
At some point about halfway through this book I just lost patience: with the glacial-but-somehow-frenetic pacing, with the slow blending-together of all the character's voices and personalities, with the author's compulsive need to obfuscate and allude even when clarity is required. And once I lost patience it was just an awful, endless slog -- not unlike the in-fiction slog that takes up basically 80% of the book, where we get to watch like six different groups of POV characters all... slowly... grimly... travelling... forever... repeatedly... going... somewhere? It's interminable.
And why have POV characters at all, why write in a character's specific voice, if they're not actually going to reveal any of the information or context they have about what is actually going on -- if instead they are going to constantly, repeatedly, ad-nauseumly make vague pronouncements about what might or might not maybe be happening... TO THEMSELVES, inside their own fucking heads?
Yeah, there was no patience left. At least in the first book the author actually had characters who a) were trying to understand what was going on and then b) would actually explain to the reader what they thought was going on. How can a book simultaneously have so much exposition and have so little of it make any sense? If you find yourself re-expositing THE SAME INFORMATION repeatedly throughout your book because you can't trust that the reader will actually understand or retain that information? You might need to rein in your impulse for endlessly-expansive worldbuilding. For the sake of producing a remotely readable book.
And why have POV characters at all, why write in a character's specific voice, if they're not actually going to reveal any of the information or context they have about what is actually going on -- if instead they are going to constantly, repeatedly, ad-nauseumly make vague pronouncements about what might or might not maybe be happening... TO THEMSELVES, inside their own fucking heads?
Yeah, there was no patience left. At least in the first book the author actually had characters who a) were trying to understand what was going on and then b) would actually explain to the reader what they thought was going on. How can a book simultaneously have so much exposition and have so little of it make any sense? If you find yourself re-expositing THE SAME INFORMATION repeatedly throughout your book because you can't trust that the reader will actually understand or retain that information? You might need to rein in your impulse for endlessly-expansive worldbuilding. For the sake of producing a remotely readable book.
theogb451's review against another edition
4.0
I think the most frustrating thing about Deadhouse Gates is how often I couldn't understand a character's motivations for their choices. There is obviously a lot here that isn't explained but I don't really mind that about the world. It isn't easy to make sense of but there's reward in the sheer depth of this book's background. However, the foreground story ends up feeling like a series of disconnected vignettes, each in a different style within the genre and they are good things, but the way they link up is frequently down to Deus Ex Machina. And the problem here is the book is setup so those are okay, the gods are directly involving themselves, but at times it still feels cheap. And at its heart, it's that lack of really understanding why the characters are making the choices they are. Not always to be sure but it happens enough that it makes the thing tricky to love.
naveen_subramanian00's review against another edition
4.0
My Rating – 4.25 / 5
Plot – 4 / 5
So now we are in a completely different continent with a new set of characters where we follow four storylines – Coltaine’s Chain of Dogs with Duiker, Mappo and Icarium’s journey , Felisin, Baudin and Heboric’s struggles, Kalam & Co’s Mission
Each has its high point and seriously it immerses you in the book despite its drag of a pace
Character – 4.5 / 5
The main cast and crew are the soul of this book, especially the Chain of Dog’s character every one of them adds something to that group. You will be emotionally wrecked at the end of this book
Overall this is a great improvement from the first book let’s see how it follows up
Plot – 4 / 5
So now we are in a completely different continent with a new set of characters where we follow four storylines – Coltaine’s Chain of Dogs with Duiker, Mappo and Icarium’s journey , Felisin, Baudin and Heboric’s struggles, Kalam & Co’s Mission
Each has its high point and seriously it immerses you in the book despite its drag of a pace
Character – 4.5 / 5
The main cast and crew are the soul of this book, especially the Chain of Dog’s character every one of them adds something to that group. You will be emotionally wrecked at the end of this book
Overall this is a great improvement from the first book let’s see how it follows up
lancefestivalen's review against another edition
4.0
I do feel that 'Deadhouse Gates' was an amazing read - and as such it should deserve a fifth star. But like 'Gardens of the Moon', it has it's flaws. And those should not be ignored when reviewing this book...
sade's review against another edition
4.0
Buddy read with the amazing edge
Deep Breaths*
I was going to go for 3.5 stars for this book, BUT Coltaine!! His character which we mainly saw from Duiker's POV was absolutely, gaddamn, breathtaking (I never thought i could enjoy battle scences until Coltaine) side note: i think i'm in love with his character. He single handedly made this book 4 stars for me.
I think i'll start with some of the stuffs i liked:
This is a major improvement from book 1. Characters are easier to understand, the plot is more engaging and even though there are additional characters characters, it's actually easier to remember them in this instance.
Mappo the Trell and Icarium. Can i just say Friendship fucking Goals
"I wish, Icaruim said slowly, i wish i could understand. This war i see within you breaks my heart Mappo. You must realise by now...
Realise what? the Trell creaked still unable to meet the Jhag's eyes.
That I would give my life for you, my only friend, my brother"
oh the feeelssssssss (cue the music please, i'm thinking Queen's You're my Best Friend or Randy Newman's You've got a friend in me. But i digress). Mappo's struggles to protect his friend but do what is "right" comes out practically bleeding from this book. I sincerly hope we see them again.
The battles. Lord above! Look book 1 didn't really have a shit load of battles, well there was the whole mage battle thing but magic was involved and Anomander with that was it a dragon? at Darajhistan (however it's spelled). The battles here were EPIC!! Like imagine the final episode of Game of Thrones battle with Jon Snow and Ramsey Bolton Epic x1000000000000 (Too much?) Nah!! I've never really been interested in battle scences but it's a testement to how good this book is that you are at the edge of your seat for all the battles with Coltaine's chain of Dogs and the Apocalypse army.
p.s: Karbolo Dom i hope your death is painful and gaddamn messy.
WICKANS WICKANS WICKANS specifically Uncle and Nephew.I think i feel in love with Uncle's character aka Bult when he referred to Laseen as "the short haired woman" lol i think everyone almost died from shock especially Duiker.
Then Coltaine.
Look Coltaine practically carried this book! That guy was breathtaking. and what's really crazy is that you never really get his POV. All you glen about his character is from Duiker's eyes. Which is exactly why
Spoiler
his "end" was so heartbreaking. I can still hear Nether screaming "Release him, please".My main issue with this book and really with all books that do this is, what is the point of calling a book a certain name that really doesn't have anything to do with the plot. Sha'ik was practically absent for her own freaking rebellion. Going to Deadhouse almost seemed like an afterthought to the characters involved. Except Deadhouse Gates were supposed to be something symbolic in which case it totally went over my head. Could have named it Chain of Dogs, that would have made more sense. Just saying.
Also, these chapters were freaking long. I dunno what kind of balance the author was trying to make. Maybe he thought, make it short and you have a lot of chapters as a whole which may put people off... dunno. but i kinda expect loads of chapters for fantasy books. I mean having 24 chapters seems really small to me for a fanatasy book especially for this kind of fantasy book and the trade off for smaller chapters as a whole seems to be never ending individual chapters, which let me tell you was really tiring at some points.
All in all, a major improvement from the first book cannot wait for more revelations in Book 3 (Although, somehow i'm already sure it won't have anything to do with Ice, Sigh*)
greathornedowl's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
kingjerwi's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75