Scan barcode
frederica49's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
a_big_slug's review against another edition
2.0
This book started off so strong with intense intruige. We start the story following the protagonist who does not know what or who they are or really what is happening at all. You learn about the setting and the world as the "foundling" does which is a great way to introduce the world.
Unfortunately for me there was not quite enough action and the book became a labour to read very quickly. There is some beautiful prose, but most of the time the book suffers from trying to be too 'tolkeinesque' - is that a word? I can see that the ye olde English style of language is attempting to add to the world building, but unfortunately it's not done well and the language falls flat again and again. It's just too wordy to be accessible to a wider audience.
There is a pronunciation guide that explains how many of these names are pronounced... and honestly... fuck it makes such little sense. Here are some examples:
"Boabansith" is pronounced "Baavan Shee"
"Gwragedd Annwn" is pronounced "Gwrageth Anoon."
Honestly, these made up words took away much of the experience of the story for me because I actually couldn't be bothered to learn how to pronounce them. I could guess some of the words because it seems like the language rules here loosely resemble Gaelic.
All this said, the world this story is set in is interesting and I know this was the author's first book, so I'm gong to continue to endure through the series. There were some really sweet moments here and there in the book that kind of made my heart go "awwwwe." But I will need to continue the series after a bit of a break because it was pretty darn taxing to get through.
Unfortunately for me there was not quite enough action and the book became a labour to read very quickly. There is some beautiful prose, but most of the time the book suffers from trying to be too 'tolkeinesque' - is that a word? I can see that the ye olde English style of language is attempting to add to the world building, but unfortunately it's not done well and the language falls flat again and again. It's just too wordy to be accessible to a wider audience.
There is a pronunciation guide that explains how many of these names are pronounced... and honestly... fuck it makes such little sense. Here are some examples:
"Boabansith" is pronounced "Baavan Shee"
"Gwragedd Annwn" is pronounced "Gwrageth Anoon."
Honestly, these made up words took away much of the experience of the story for me because I actually couldn't be bothered to learn how to pronounce them. I could guess some of the words because it seems like the language rules here loosely resemble Gaelic.
All this said, the world this story is set in is interesting and I know this was the author's first book, so I'm gong to continue to endure through the series. There were some really sweet moments here and there in the book that kind of made my heart go "awwwwe." But I will need to continue the series after a bit of a break because it was pretty darn taxing to get through.
theoclarke's review against another edition
2.0
Interesting and engaging plot but the pacing often seemed inappropriate, transitions seemed awkward, and the vocabulary is incongruous. I would not be surprised to learn that the author made a pass through the text 'upgrading' adjectives, verbs, and nouns. At least one adjective appears to be a malapropism... or perhaps the author meant to say that someone's face was like a tapeworm.
vorkosigan's review against another edition
1.0
Iz serije 'čitali smo da vi ne morate'.
Neko je u rivjuu nazvao ovo 'thesaurus rape'. Preveli mi to kao silovanje tezaurusa ili silovanje tezaurusom, u pravu je stopostotno. Petao kukurikne zato što dolazi zora? To se zove 'a cockerel's proclamation of the sun's imminence'. I to je sve vreme tako!
Red opisa prirode (vidi: thesaurus rape), red opisa različitih utvara i vilinskih stvorenja koja junakinja sreće na putovanju. (Ne, nema nikakvih interakcija s njima. Uglavnom ili pobegne ili ih zaobiđe. Ozbiljno.) Zapleta nema, osim stići od tačke a do tačke b (a onda nazad u tačku a NIŠTAMENEPITAJTE).I tako 600 strana. Pri tom, autorka kao da nije svesna da je potrebna bilo kakva promena dinamike. Tempo je sve vreme isti. (Spor.) Užas užas užas. A delovalo je tako zabavno, s letećim jedrenjacima, letećim konjićima i elementima keltskog folklora.
Neko je u rivjuu nazvao ovo 'thesaurus rape'. Preveli mi to kao silovanje tezaurusa ili silovanje tezaurusom, u pravu je stopostotno. Petao kukurikne zato što dolazi zora? To se zove 'a cockerel's proclamation of the sun's imminence'. I to je sve vreme tako!
Red opisa prirode (vidi: thesaurus rape), red opisa različitih utvara i vilinskih stvorenja koja junakinja sreće na putovanju. (Ne, nema nikakvih interakcija s njima. Uglavnom ili pobegne ili ih zaobiđe. Ozbiljno.) Zapleta nema, osim stići od tačke a do tačke b (a onda nazad u tačku a NIŠTAMENEPITAJTE).I tako 600 strana. Pri tom, autorka kao da nije svesna da je potrebna bilo kakva promena dinamike. Tempo je sve vreme isti. (Spor.) Užas užas užas. A delovalo je tako zabavno, s letećim jedrenjacima, letećim konjićima i elementima keltskog folklora.
madsg22's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
kielma's review against another edition
1.0
I really, really didn't like this book. It was a struggle for me to finish. The only reason I did was because I read a review saying they liked the romance in this book and I'm a sucker for romance. But the romance here is very, very minimal, so don't let that be your reason for reading this!'
I'm not a writer, but once when I was in high school I decided to write a really long story. A few pages in I got bored and switched the story line completely, mid-story. A few pages after that, I changed it again. In a few more pages I changed it again, and a few pages after that I gave up and killed off all the characters. Needless to say, that was an awful story I wrote. This book reminds me very much of that story. There are three distinct sections of this book in which the characters are completely different (including the main character!) and even the world is completely different. It just doesn't work. I found the world-building to be very interesting in the first section and was disappointed when it disappeared never to return.
Another complaint is a definite feeling that the author wrote this with a thesaurus open on the desk beside her. She used very few words I didn't understand, she just used lots that barely fit the situation. I found this to be annoying.
The only good thing I have to say about this book is the way the author incorporated actual folklore from Scotland, Wales and the Orkney and Shetland Islands. The presence of creatures from this lore was the only constant in this book. This was great, except it got old really fast. Strange malevolent or mischievous magical creatures show up many times every day in the characters' lives, and despite the characters' absolute terror of these creatures, they rarely do any actual harm. Boring.
I'm not a writer, but once when I was in high school I decided to write a really long story. A few pages in I got bored and switched the story line completely, mid-story. A few pages after that, I changed it again. In a few more pages I changed it again, and a few pages after that I gave up and killed off all the characters. Needless to say, that was an awful story I wrote. This book reminds me very much of that story. There are three distinct sections of this book in which the characters are completely different (including the main character!) and even the world is completely different. It just doesn't work. I found the world-building to be very interesting in the first section and was disappointed when it disappeared never to return.
Another complaint is a definite feeling that the author wrote this with a thesaurus open on the desk beside her. She used very few words I didn't understand, she just used lots that barely fit the situation. I found this to be annoying.
The only good thing I have to say about this book is the way the author incorporated actual folklore from Scotland, Wales and the Orkney and Shetland Islands. The presence of creatures from this lore was the only constant in this book. This was great, except it got old really fast. Strange malevolent or mischievous magical creatures show up many times every day in the characters' lives, and despite the characters' absolute terror of these creatures, they rarely do any actual harm. Boring.
kristi_asleep_dreaming's review against another edition
3.0
Odd book. Was wavering between "decent" and "eh', but I really liked the use of Celtic folk tales, so I was generous. She made a world where legendary folk-tale happenings were part of common, everyday life, but very different from books like One for the Morning Glory, or Bridge of Birds. The people were more like the historical Irish who told those tales, down to earth and unlovely and afraid.
I wish she'd found a better tale to set in her background. And written it with more skill. Lots of awkward phrasings, and thud and blunder pretentiousness.
I would have liked it better if the ill-made mute hadn't turned out to be utterly beautiful, under her bumps. And I could understand the mud drawing out the poison, but how did it deal with the scaring from the badly done cure? A few marks would have made the whole thing much more realistic.
I didn't like Thorn either. Hyper-competant Aragorn type, only without the touches which made Aragorn human and interesting.
I'm often critical after reading, rarely so much while reading. But there was still much that was interesting there, underneath the clumsiness. Maybe she'll improve.
I wish she'd found a better tale to set in her background. And written it with more skill. Lots of awkward phrasings, and thud and blunder pretentiousness.
I would have liked it better if the ill-made mute hadn't turned out to be utterly beautiful, under her bumps. And I could understand the mud drawing out the poison, but how did it deal with the scaring from the badly done cure? A few marks would have made the whole thing much more realistic.
I didn't like Thorn either. Hyper-competant Aragorn type, only without the touches which made Aragorn human and interesting.
I'm often critical after reading, rarely so much while reading. But there was still much that was interesting there, underneath the clumsiness. Maybe she'll improve.
bokashi's review against another edition
2.0
I was not expecting to like this having read a few reviews. I think it is a writing style that works well in audio because then the flowery language can just flow by. I also enjoyed it as I viewed it as a sort of anthology of every Celtic mythology ever created (or at least by the end of the series I anticipate that). Therefore, if I listened with a kind of scholarly desire to know this aspect then it was much less tedious to have the main maritime broken up by all these side stories about the latest mythical creature. I'll probably continue with other books in the series for the same reason.
authrcatlabadie's review
3.0
More like 3.75 stars. This is such a marvelous, beautifully lyrical book...but it's much, MUCH longer than it needs to be.