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raelie24's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
vibeke_hiatt's review against another edition
3.0
This book is not Lockwood & Co. It's not the Bartimaeus trilogy. If you start the book thinking it will be like either series, you will likely be disappointed. The fantastical elements common in Stroud's books hardly appear in this folk tale. But, we still get Stroud's signature voice and descriptive style.
Halli Sveinsson has spent his life idolizing the heroes of the valley in which he lives. But the society of the valley now is very much unlike that of the heroes. But when the opportunity arises, does he really want to be like his ancestor Svein?
This story started slowly and, for the first half of the book, it was hard to see where it was going. About halfway through, though, it picks up and the story becomes much more clear. By the time it reaches the climax, you can't help but wonder how it's all going to end. And not even I saw the twist coming.
If you're looking for something light and don't mind meandering a little, this is a fun read.
Halli Sveinsson has spent his life idolizing the heroes of the valley in which he lives. But the society of the valley now is very much unlike that of the heroes. But when the opportunity arises, does he really want to be like his ancestor Svein?
This story started slowly and, for the first half of the book, it was hard to see where it was going. About halfway through, though, it picks up and the story becomes much more clear. By the time it reaches the climax, you can't help but wonder how it's all going to end. And not even I saw the twist coming.
If you're looking for something light and don't mind meandering a little, this is a fun read.
cloudy_weather's review against another edition
2.0
When I was a child, I loved Jonathan Strouds Bartimäus so much, I immediately bought this book to continue exploring Strouds marvelous works.
However, that book ended up on my shelves for 11(!) Years and covid finally gave me a reason to finish my backlog of books.
The books summary was written in a very endearing way, talking about two children leaving their home valley in order to explore the world, full of dangerous monsters and exciting encounters.
This book did not hold up to this promise.
The only adventure that happened was when Hal went to the lower end of the valley in order to get his revenge on the murder of a loved one.
While I think this scenario was not bad, I would have wished more of the promised exploration of the worlds lore and history.
On a sidenote: if Hal were an adventurer in a DnD campain, he would have died within the first session. He is utterly narcisstic, egoistic and does things without thinking about their consequences. His character does develop starting from the middle of the book, but boy was it a drag to read.
However, that book ended up on my shelves for 11(!) Years and covid finally gave me a reason to finish my backlog of books.
The books summary was written in a very endearing way, talking about two children leaving their home valley in order to explore the world, full of dangerous monsters and exciting encounters.
This book did not hold up to this promise.
The only adventure that happened was when Hal went to the lower end of the valley in order to get his revenge on the murder of a loved one.
While I think this scenario was not bad, I would have wished more of the promised exploration of the worlds lore and history.
On a sidenote: if Hal were an adventurer in a DnD campain, he would have died within the first session. He is utterly narcisstic, egoistic and does things without thinking about their consequences. His character does develop starting from the middle of the book, but boy was it a drag to read.
jackiehorne's review against another edition
4.0
Not as good as Bartimeaus; the tone is entirely different. But Stroud is still interested in how the stories our cultures shape us, and how we need to understand this in order to forge identities of our own making.
jurgenappelo's review against another edition
2.0
Disappointing. Mostly uninteresting shallow characters. Writing style annoyed me. Plot was OK.
lacrymosa's review against another edition
4.0
Ho sempre sentito nominare Stroud per la serie di Bartimeus ma non avevo mai letto niente di suo. Pensavo di approcciarmi a una storiella leggera senza particolari colpi di scena ed essendo un libro auto conclusivo davo quasi per scontato che non ci fosse il tempo di caratterizzare fortemente i personaggi... Beh, ero in errore. Nonostante il numero limitato di pagine riesce a creare un quadro ben chiaro dei protagonisti che sono tutto fuorché semplici o stereotipati. Non lascia nulla al caso e il finale è abbastanza inaspettato.
La storia all'inizio sembra piuttosto semplice, ma una volta che la nebbia si rischiara la luna illumina un mondo originale.
La storia all'inizio sembra piuttosto semplice, ma una volta che la nebbia si rischiara la luna illumina un mondo originale.
bookpup's review against another edition
4.0
The end should have been predictable but it wasn't. I liked it.
staciam's review against another edition
2.0
I had trouble keeping the characters straight... couldn't seem to follow the storyline (suddenly, the main character was traveling through the land but I didn't understand why or when he even left home!). Overall, this wasn't my favorite BUT I did stick with it and still enjoyed picking the book up each time to read.
mayhplumb's review against another edition
4.0
This book has a remarkably different style from the Bartimaeus books, and I really enjoyed both! Like some other reviewers say, Heroes of the Valley is more meditative, almost reverential (some humorous points, but none of the outright snarkiness found in Bartimaeus). It's a very engaging story, and although it uses the rather mundane lots-of-kingdoms-who-don't-like-each-other model, it does so in a pretty original way.
The audiobook reading by David Thorn is very good.
The audiobook reading by David Thorn is very good.
jcousins's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting read for the upper elementary/Jr High crowd. All about heroes and adventures, but in the end challenges ideas about heroes. I'm not sure why I didn't rate it higher. Maybe I just didn't really like the characters that well--didn't care what happened to them.