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mandolin_dreams's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
cirenel's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.5
blodeuedd's review against another edition
2.0
I struggled, oh how I struggled. This was the second time I started this book, the first was a DNF. This time I did get to half the book, but yawn.
The world is fascinating! Scifi mixed with fantasy. Humans came to a planet and settled. They lost their tech ad found magic and a cruel world. Awesome worldbuilding.
But, the characters are flat, the story was not interesting. After 250 pages I started to skim. I just could not bother anymore. At the end I closed the book, and will not read more or care what happens.
I will give it a ok grade for that amazing world and the promise it held. I did half like it at times. But, nah, not for me.
The world is fascinating! Scifi mixed with fantasy. Humans came to a planet and settled. They lost their tech ad found magic and a cruel world. Awesome worldbuilding.
But, the characters are flat, the story was not interesting. After 250 pages I started to skim. I just could not bother anymore. At the end I closed the book, and will not read more or care what happens.
I will give it a ok grade for that amazing world and the promise it held. I did half like it at times. But, nah, not for me.
sleepgoblin's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this. The magic was interesting and well described. Tarrant is a delight. It's great to have such a nuanced character.
kadomi's review against another edition
1.0
I keep trying to read books by C.S. Friedman, and they get praised by people whose opinion I cherish, but I just can't do it. I dislike the storyline that within the first quarter of the book strips the powerful female mage Ciani of all her memories and power. I roll my eyes at the chivalrous warrior-priest who sets out on a quest to cure his beloved Ciani. I gnash my teeth at the bad boy Tarrant, the vampire guy who assists them on their quest.
I plodded on because of the world-building, the glimpses of it that you receive. It has a touch of science fantasy, a genre beloved by me. But for all the great world-building and setting, I cannot get over how mediocre the story, how tedious and annoying the characters are. It started so well, and then got worse and worse for me. Thus we must part ways, and the book ends up on my 'it's not you, it's me' shelf of books I desperately try to like, it just didn't happen that way.
I plodded on because of the world-building, the glimpses of it that you receive. It has a touch of science fantasy, a genre beloved by me. But for all the great world-building and setting, I cannot get over how mediocre the story, how tedious and annoying the characters are. It started so well, and then got worse and worse for me. Thus we must part ways, and the book ends up on my 'it's not you, it's me' shelf of books I desperately try to like, it just didn't happen that way.
janu0303's review against another edition
3.0
Apart from a self-righteous, irritable priest as a protagonist, a pseudo-vampire with an annoying sense of mystery as his side-kick, and a fae-bound chick who was the only sensible one the book was passable at best. Oh, did I mention the antagonist of this book was the vengeful wife of the vampire? Yeah, they were duking out some sort of millennium old marital feud. Goes to show how long women can hold a grudge.
posole's review against another edition
2.0
The first hundred pages of this book were strong, and I enjoyed the writing a lot. She has a way of describing the landscape that is captivating. The world and magic system was also really cool - an original blend of sci-fi and fantasy themes. The problem is, the plot moved really slowly and the vivid descriptions that made the first few chapters so interesting eventually became tiresome. Too much time was spent describing the landscape, or describing the thoughts of the characters with very little action in between. I was speed reading for the last half of the book. Overall this book was a disappointment.
littlemegs's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
thomas_hense's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Strong start, but started skim reading later on.
The book had one if the best prologues I have ever read.
The writing in the beginning was very efficient and to the point, conveying a lot of information making it feel fast paced.
The book had one if the best prologues I have ever read.
The writing in the beginning was very efficient and to the point, conveying a lot of information making it feel fast paced.