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katyanaish's review against another edition
5.0
I am not going to do a big detailed review, because at this point we are many books in to a long epic fantasy series... so you are either continuing to read because you like it, or you've dropped it.
As for me, I like it very much.
My continuing gripe, though, is regarding the South and the people in it. Aside from their horrific, misogynistic slave-trading culture, I just cannot get over how much they whine about people they lost in a war they started with the Empire. Like, dude! You claim to be some badass warrior culture, so far above the puny Empire because you are all about power and war. You started a war, like a bunch of bullies, and the Empire handed your ass to you. And now, more than a decade later, you bitch constantly about people you lost in the war. It was your fucking war! You don't get to play the victim here!
As a wise man once said: don't start none, won't be none.
You tried to be bully-boy warriors and you got beat. Suck it the fuck up. The Empire lost a lot of people too, but you don't see them bitching at you about it now as you are forced to ally and deal with a greater threat. And the Empire has EVERY REASON to despise you over it. The Ospreys have every reason. But no. They put on their big boy pants and are bending over backwards to make an alliance with a group of baby-men with swords.
Why? I have no idea. Frankly, the entire nation of the Dominion should be purged. But I swear to all the gods, if I have to read one more condescending bitch-fest from Alina or Mareo about the kai the North "murdered" I am going to start skipping their chapters, because I am way beyond done. Every time they start, the Ospreys or the Kalakar should start listing off all the people the Dominion murdered in that war.
As for me, I like it very much.
My continuing gripe, though, is regarding the South and the people in it. Aside from their horrific, misogynistic slave-trading culture, I just cannot get over how much they whine about people they lost in a war they started with the Empire. Like, dude! You claim to be some badass warrior culture, so far above the puny Empire because you are all about power and war. You started a war, like a bunch of bullies, and the Empire handed your ass to you. And now, more than a decade later, you bitch constantly about people you lost in the war. It was your fucking war! You don't get to play the victim here!
As a wise man once said: don't start none, won't be none.
You tried to be bully-boy warriors and you got beat. Suck it the fuck up. The Empire lost a lot of people too, but you don't see them bitching at you about it now as you are forced to ally and deal with a greater threat. And the Empire has EVERY REASON to despise you over it. The Ospreys have every reason. But no. They put on their big boy pants and are bending over backwards to make an alliance with a group of baby-men with swords.
Why? I have no idea. Frankly, the entire nation of the Dominion should be purged. But I swear to all the gods, if I have to read one more condescending bitch-fest from Alina or Mareo about the kai the North "murdered" I am going to start skipping their chapters, because I am way beyond done. Every time they start, the Ospreys or the Kalakar should start listing off all the people the Dominion murdered in that war.
winterreader40's review against another edition
4.0
Book 5 or 8 depending on your reading order, so it's harder to not spoil things :)
We leave the Arkosan Voyani in the desert to follow the Havallan Matriarch, the Serra's Diora and Theresa, Jewel, Avandar, Kallandras, Cellarient and the Winter King as they journey towards Valedan as he arrives in the South with the Northern army at his back.
This part of the story is more about the journey and prep for war, so it's a little less interesting to me but you can't just skip these things as they are necessary to the story and there are enough interesting twists and turns to keep my attention through out in spite of the war prep stuff.
We leave the Arkosan Voyani in the desert to follow the Havallan Matriarch, the Serra's Diora and Theresa, Jewel, Avandar, Kallandras, Cellarient and the Winter King as they journey towards Valedan as he arrives in the South with the Northern army at his back.
This part of the story is more about the journey and prep for war, so it's a little less interesting to me but you can't just skip these things as they are necessary to the story and there are enough interesting twists and turns to keep my attention through out in spite of the war prep stuff.
laurla's review against another edition
there are so many characters it gets confusing. especially when there SO many things are similarly named. dont get me wrong, i love the book. i just have a hard time keeping everyone and everything separate.
mareo, marano, marelo, meralonne, marente, marakas, markess, markaso, mancorvo
duarte, duvari, devon, devlin, devran
amar, amara, amarais
annagar, anton, andaro
alessandro, alesso, allasakar
averalaan, avander, averda
kallandras, kalakar, kalliaris, kialli, kiriel
"he knew, now, that he had accomplished only the unenviable task of lying to himself."
mareo, marano, marelo, meralonne, marente, marakas, markess, markaso, mancorvo
duarte, duvari, devon, devlin, devran
amar, amara, amarais
annagar, anton, andaro
alessandro, alesso, allasakar
averalaan, avander, averda
kallandras, kalakar, kalliaris, kialli, kiriel
"he knew, now, that he had accomplished only the unenviable task of lying to himself."
coolcurrybooks's review
3.0
Trigger warning: rape
I have returned to Michelle West’s Sun Sword series! This epic fantasy series starts with The Broken Crown and contains plenty of well written female characters. It’s also got what I think of as an older fantasy book style, with fairly dense prose, tons of characters, and battles between good and evil. While I wasn’t thrilled with this installment, I’d still recommend the series. The Riven Shield is book five out of six, so plot spoilers for previous books may follow.
Reading The Riven Shield meant me frantically trying to remember what the heck happened in Sea of Sorrows. Basically, Diora, Jewel, and Jewel’s collection of random characters are all in a city that’s risen from the desert. After spending the last book getting to this city, they now need to get back. Why they had to go to this city in the first place, I’m still not entirely certain. Hopefully it will become relevant in the last book, but my hopes are not high.
While various characters are trying to get Diora and the Sun Sword over to Valedan, Valedan is… talking politics? I’m not sure what he achieved in this book. There is some demon fighting, but since there’s been at least one scene of demon fighting per book, this doesn’t feel particularly significant.
Can I tell you a spoiler?Okay, end spoilers.
Oh, regarding the trigger warning. For whatever reason the beginning of the book is a flashback to Anya Cooper’s backstory, which includes rape. Why this narrative decision was made, I have no idea. In fact, I have no idea why so much time was spent on Anya’s backstory when she wasn’t really in the rest of the book.
Michelle West has written some characters I love, but the ratio of “characters I care about” to “characters I don’t care about” was not favorable here. I don’t really care about Jewel. Or Kallandras. Or Markos (or whatever his name is). And I hate Avandar with a passion. Also, for a series with so many characters to keep track of, the names are awfully similar.
There were bits of The Riven Shield I liked. There was one especially good scene with Teresa and Diora. Then again, I tend to enjoy any scene with Diora. Otherwise, I ended up skimming parts of this. I get the feeling West never uses one word where she can manage five instead.
The Riven Shield may edge out Sea of Sorrows for my least favorite Sun Sword installment. I just don’t have much patience for eight hundred page fantasy books where hardly anything happens. Let’s hope the next and final book can restore my positive feelings for this series.
Originally posted in The Illustrated Page.
I have returned to Michelle West’s Sun Sword series! This epic fantasy series starts with The Broken Crown and contains plenty of well written female characters. It’s also got what I think of as an older fantasy book style, with fairly dense prose, tons of characters, and battles between good and evil. While I wasn’t thrilled with this installment, I’d still recommend the series. The Riven Shield is book five out of six, so plot spoilers for previous books may follow.
Reading The Riven Shield meant me frantically trying to remember what the heck happened in Sea of Sorrows. Basically, Diora, Jewel, and Jewel’s collection of random characters are all in a city that’s risen from the desert. After spending the last book getting to this city, they now need to get back. Why they had to go to this city in the first place, I’m still not entirely certain. Hopefully it will become relevant in the last book, but my hopes are not high.
While various characters are trying to get Diora and the Sun Sword over to Valedan, Valedan is… talking politics? I’m not sure what he achieved in this book. There is some demon fighting, but since there’s been at least one scene of demon fighting per book, this doesn’t feel particularly significant.
Can I tell you a spoiler?
Spoiler
Diora does not in fact get all the way to Valedan. Thankfully she does get out of the desert, but I did not get to see her show up in front of Valedan being like, “Here’s the Sun Sword, hope you don’t die, also you’ve got to marry me because politics.” I seriously can’t wait for that scene.Oh, regarding the trigger warning. For whatever reason the beginning of the book is a flashback to Anya Cooper’s backstory, which includes rape. Why this narrative decision was made, I have no idea. In fact, I have no idea why so much time was spent on Anya’s backstory when she wasn’t really in the rest of the book.
Michelle West has written some characters I love, but the ratio of “characters I care about” to “characters I don’t care about” was not favorable here. I don’t really care about Jewel. Or Kallandras. Or Markos (or whatever his name is). And I hate Avandar with a passion. Also, for a series with so many characters to keep track of, the names are awfully similar.
There were bits of The Riven Shield I liked. There was one especially good scene with Teresa and Diora. Then again, I tend to enjoy any scene with Diora. Otherwise, I ended up skimming parts of this. I get the feeling West never uses one word where she can manage five instead.
The Riven Shield may edge out Sea of Sorrows for my least favorite Sun Sword installment. I just don’t have much patience for eight hundred page fantasy books where hardly anything happens. Let’s hope the next and final book can restore my positive feelings for this series.
Originally posted in The Illustrated Page.
evakristin's review
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The first book in this series blew me away, I was deeply fascinated by the world West created, particularly the pseudo-Asian society of the Dominion and the enigmatic character of Serra Diora De'Marano. The rest of the series has been so-so, mostly because I don't like Jewel at all, and find everything concerning her and her "den" overwhelmingly boring and to a large degree irrelevant to the story. I don't care who ends up ruling Terafin, I really don't.
Luckily this book concerns itself almost exclusively with the goings on in the South, and is by far my favourite excepting the first one. As a rule I often find West unnecessarily long winded and her language excessively poetic, but she also manages to create scenes that will stay with me for a long time. SPOILER Like the kai Clemente kneeling in moonshine in front of the altar of the Lady, crying over his sons severed head. Heartbreaking.
I'm looking forward to finally reading the conclusion of this saga. I just wish West would get over her abhorrence of definite article and the possessive pronouns. And the lifting of brows. Jeeze.
Luckily this book concerns itself almost exclusively with the goings on in the South, and is by far my favourite excepting the first one. As a rule I often find West unnecessarily long winded and her language excessively poetic, but she also manages to create scenes that will stay with me for a long time. SPOILER Like the kai Clemente kneeling in moonshine in front of the altar of the Lady, crying over his sons severed head. Heartbreaking.
I'm looking forward to finally reading the conclusion of this saga. I just wish West would get over her abhorrence of definite article and the possessive pronouns. And the lifting of brows. Jeeze.
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