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128 reviews for:
The God Is Not Willing: Book One of the Witness Trilogy: A Novel of the Malazan World
Steven Erikson
4.52 AVERAGE
128 reviews for:
The God Is Not Willing: Book One of the Witness Trilogy: A Novel of the Malazan World
Steven Erikson
4.52 AVERAGE
One of the best Erikson books yet. The humour is top notch, be it the Malazan marines we know and love or the newly explored jheck race. The philosophising is milder, there are lots of cameos from the main ten books, a handful of lovable new characters and as per usual, the last half of the book speeds up considerably.
At the heart of the story is a hero's journey, climate change and slight time travel. For the sake of balance, I must mention the negative, which is there's a little too much 'we are the super amazing good guys' going on in one faction.
Overall a solid 5 star book!
At the heart of the story is a hero's journey, climate change and slight time travel. For the sake of balance, I must mention the negative, which is there's a little too much 'we are the super amazing good guys' going on in one faction.
Overall a solid 5 star book!
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
One of the most believable & relevant fantasy scenarios driving the events of the book & the motives of its characters I've ever read.
This is a story about climate change. About imperialism, colonization, & native peoples. About growth, change, and consequences, told from an individual & humanist perspective. All woven together with threads of empathy and compassion.
It isn't a book that asks you to ignore or forgive the atrocities of its characters, but to understand the systems that led people to violence & conflict. To see the people within those systems as people. It's challenge then, is to at once view the character's actions relativistically & individually. It doesn't tell you what to think, but presents a conflict within which you can ascribe your own meaning to. It's up to you as a reader to judge or not, to condone or reject, and all throughout view the characters as people of value who are operating within a broader system pushed by currents they don't control.
This is a story about climate change. About imperialism, colonization, & native peoples. About growth, change, and consequences, told from an individual & humanist perspective. All woven together with threads of empathy and compassion.
It isn't a book that asks you to ignore or forgive the atrocities of its characters, but to understand the systems that led people to violence & conflict. To see the people within those systems as people. It's challenge then, is to at once view the character's actions relativistically & individually. It doesn't tell you what to think, but presents a conflict within which you can ascribe your own meaning to. It's up to you as a reader to judge or not, to condone or reject, and all throughout view the characters as people of value who are operating within a broader system pushed by currents they don't control.
Solid. Same thematic richness, more concise and faster plotting than MBotF. A distillation of the best elements of his previous books. Lacking some of the impact that comes with prior investment in characters, but you'll be invested in this lot by the end and he still pulls off some very profound, stirring emotional plot beats.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Look, I just read the Kindle sample. I knew I was signing up for a big massive epic, and I was prepared for that. But the characters just aren't doing it for me. This is just a personal preference, and the writing itself was good, but the characters just felt... forced? Especially the Heavys. I don't know. Just not my thing.