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connoras's review against another edition
2.0
Savage dragons, violent magic, deadly battles: what's not to love? Great and inventive ideas, but the quality of writing not to my liking.
I read this series many, many years ago and loved it. Over the weekend I fondly remembered certain scenes and resolved to read it again; sadly these scenes were better in memory.
Reading it again as an adult—particularly having taken an interest in creative writing in the 15-or-so years since reading it for the first time—I found the writing to be unexpectedly disappointing. I don't think my issue was with the author's style, but with poor execution of the craft itself (particularly, the golden rule of "show, don't tell" was grossly unobserved).
I can't give an evaluation of the story, characters, world building, or themes because I couldn't get past the first 100 pages this time round, and there was very little development up to this point. Gritty adult fantasy with potential. 2 stars for the memories.
Note: This is an edit. I posted the original review 4 months ago with the disappointment of shattered expectations still fresh and a list of literary criticisms raging in my mind; the original review was pretentious and melodramatic, possibly offensive in parts, and has caused me some discomfort in the period since.
I read this series many, many years ago and loved it. Over the weekend I fondly remembered certain scenes and resolved to read it again; sadly these scenes were better in memory.
Reading it again as an adult—particularly having taken an interest in creative writing in the 15-or-so years since reading it for the first time—I found the writing to be unexpectedly disappointing. I don't think my issue was with the author's style, but with poor execution of the craft itself (particularly, the golden rule of "show, don't tell" was grossly unobserved).
I can't give an evaluation of the story, characters, world building, or themes because I couldn't get past the first 100 pages this time round, and there was very little development up to this point. Gritty adult fantasy with potential. 2 stars for the memories.
Note: This is an edit. I posted the original review 4 months ago with the disappointment of shattered expectations still fresh and a list of literary criticisms raging in my mind; the original review was pretentious and melodramatic, possibly offensive in parts, and has caused me some discomfort in the period since.
wealhtheow's review against another edition
1.0
So, so bad. Like LE Modesitt Jr. smashed together with Pern, but with even less interesting writing. If you’re looking for a Marty-Sue character to do battle and ride dragons, read this crap. I didn’t even bother finishing it.
zanosgood's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
mollyridley's review
I got about 70 pages in, it just wasn't clicking for me. I found sometimes the writing got clunky, things would be repeated or multiple words used which meant the same thing. Mostly my issue was that I didn't feel any sympathy for the main character, nor did I really understand what drove him through life. That might be an intentional thing, as the character doesn't really know what he's doing with himself, but it just didn't connect for me.
kjharrowick's review
2.0
This story started out fantastic, but as I got deeper into it, many of the chapters focused more on war maneuvers than actual dragoning. Such a bummer, too as I lost connection with the character and the story.
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