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blackangel's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
whatsmacksaid's review against another edition
2.0
To be honest, I'm not sure if I liked The Left hand of God, though I suppose it's a good sign that I'm still thinking about it two weeks after I finished reading it.
I did enjoy large swathes of the book. I liked the three main characters and their relationship and interactions. I thought the first part of the book, before their escape, was very strong writing and an enjoyable read. I also liked the soft Homeric imitations and thought they were very clever.
There were aspects of the books that bothered me, though. I wasn't impressed by the overt connection between the Redeemers and Catholicism. It detracted from the story because I kept wondering if Hoffman has a special dislike of Catholicism, or if it was just an easy scapegoat. I felt like I ought to adore both Cale's love interest and his witty mentor, but I didn't particularly care for either. There are a handful of characters that are very fully and well developed (the three main boys, the girl they rescue, and the head honcho's adviser), but there were just as many other characters that felt absolutely flat. Cale's rival at learning-to-be-a-hero training camp was one, his love interest was another, as was her father, and frankly the big bad guy was a fourth. He's a zealot, but that doesn't become clear until very late in the story. For most of the novel he is simply a frightening, mysterious guy and I would have preferred he took a bit more of a forefront instead of sauntering in at the end to ruin everyone's lives and set things up for book #2.
All that said, I will be reading the second novel (I will probably borrow it from the library, though), and I recommend reading The Left Hand of God if you've got some time to kill. It's a quick, enjoyable read, but if it was trying to be as awesome as the Night Angel trilogy, it sadly failed.
I did enjoy large swathes of the book. I liked the three main characters and their relationship and interactions. I thought the first part of the book, before their escape, was very strong writing and an enjoyable read. I also liked the soft Homeric imitations and thought they were very clever.
There were aspects of the books that bothered me, though. I wasn't impressed by the overt connection between the Redeemers and Catholicism. It detracted from the story because I kept wondering if Hoffman has a special dislike of Catholicism, or if it was just an easy scapegoat. I felt like I ought to adore both Cale's love interest and his witty mentor, but I didn't particularly care for either. There are a handful of characters that are very fully and well developed (the three main boys, the girl they rescue, and the head honcho's adviser), but there were just as many other characters that felt absolutely flat. Cale's rival at learning-to-be-a-hero training camp was one, his love interest was another, as was her father, and frankly the big bad guy was a fourth. He's a zealot, but that doesn't become clear until very late in the story. For most of the novel he is simply a frightening, mysterious guy and I would have preferred he took a bit more of a forefront instead of sauntering in at the end to ruin everyone's lives and set things up for book #2.
All that said, I will be reading the second novel (I will probably borrow it from the library, though), and I recommend reading The Left Hand of God if you've got some time to kill. It's a quick, enjoyable read, but if it was trying to be as awesome as the Night Angel trilogy, it sadly failed.
alboyer6's review against another edition
3.0
Grabbed me at the beginning though it did drag a little in the middle but the end is well worth it. Now just to wait for the next book in the series.
karireads's review against another edition
The prose is somewhat awkward and clunky, but the real problem was the women characters. Riba is called fat from her first appearance, she is always helpful and sweet when she isn’t being emotional and problematic. The women exist solely as objects of desire except, oddly, an assassin who falls in love with Cale for no apparent reason.
erazonasarah's review against another edition
4.0
What I liked the most about this book was its ability to take me by surprise, which it did several times through the story. Cale is a compelling and intense character, whose darkness I found really interesting.
zaphod46's review against another edition
3.0
This is a fine quick read. It would have been better as a stand alone novel instead of advertised as first in a trilogy. The trilogy aspect made the story arc too predictable.
One interesting style point is that the author made little effort to come up with fantastic sounding names for people and places. It was fun seeing lots of modern terms and ideas repackaged into a fantasy world, though I don't think everyone will agree
One interesting style point is that the author made little effort to come up with fantastic sounding names for people and places. It was fun seeing lots of modern terms and ideas repackaged into a fantasy world, though I don't think everyone will agree
metalandteacups's review against another edition
5.0
This is the closest book, I've ever read, to being a genuine masterpiece. The only other author I've found on par with Hoffman, is Mark Lawrence, author of THE BROKEN EMPIRE series.
chronicallyreadingandcats's review against another edition
4.0
I'm a bit confused by the reviews for this book being poor. It is well written in my opinion with great detail about war and tactics. The beginning was very dark and the dark themes do run throughout. Except for some of the imagery being graphic I would say this is more YA in nature but this does not detract from the book. Its pacing varies and the last few chapters feel slightly rushed but otherwise a great read.
dantastic's review against another edition
3.0
In the hellish Sanctuary of the Redeemer, young boys are trained from the age of five to be unthinking soldiers. Cale, the most promising, is singled out for punishment for the most trivial offenses. One day, Cale stops a Redeemer from dissecting a girl and he and his two friends Vague Henri and Kleist, escape the Sanctuary and go on the lam. Can they stop the Redeemers from conquering the world?
First of all, I'm pissed that there's no indication on the cover that this is the first book in a trilogy. Now that I've gotten that off my chest, here goes.
The Left Hand of God is marketed as fantasy but there aren't really many fantasy elements about it. It's not really overly science-fictiony either. It's almost an alternate future tale. It takes place on earth but thousands of years in the future.
The story itself is pretty good. Cale and his friends adjust to life in Memphis, only to have the Redeemers show up when they were just getting settled in. Memphis is well done but I think the Redeemers are better developed, religions fanatics dedicated to wiping out sin. The relationships between the characters are fairly good, although Kleist and Vague Henri don't get much time. The final battle was surprising and the ending was a shocker, although the title gives it away a little.
The writing is good but the tone was a little weird. In some places it was chilling and in others hilarious. I liked it but I could see how some people could find it jarring.
First of all, I'm pissed that there's no indication on the cover that this is the first book in a trilogy. Now that I've gotten that off my chest, here goes.
The Left Hand of God is marketed as fantasy but there aren't really many fantasy elements about it. It's not really overly science-fictiony either. It's almost an alternate future tale. It takes place on earth but thousands of years in the future.
The story itself is pretty good. Cale and his friends adjust to life in Memphis, only to have the Redeemers show up when they were just getting settled in. Memphis is well done but I think the Redeemers are better developed, religions fanatics dedicated to wiping out sin. The relationships between the characters are fairly good, although Kleist and Vague Henri don't get much time. The final battle was surprising and the ending was a shocker, although the title gives it away a little.
The writing is good but the tone was a little weird. In some places it was chilling and in others hilarious. I liked it but I could see how some people could find it jarring.
blodeuedd's review against another edition
3.0
I am confused, was this the future or an alternate history? At first I thought it was fantasy, and yes I would have liked it to stay that way. I am not really a fan of the BOOM! Ha this is our future thing. But of course I cannot be sure of that, but yeah our world. A few cities and countries are name. It sadly is about Christianity (boring), religion is evil, and still is.
This book is about Cale, a teen in a place with others teens. The food sucks. They are taught to fight. If they question things they are killed. Doors are forbidden cos they are sinners. Scary religion. It convert and die or plainly die. Nothing in between. I did like the darkness shown then zealots take over everything.
Oh, the guys they are fighting, who on earth are those?
What I did not really like was his age, he is 14. Ok so that would have been fine, but then he sees a woman for he first time. Srsly, you are 14, what do you know about love? It just made me roll my eyes. And the end, eye roll. Make him at least 18 and I can start to believe.
So yeah, I wish he had not made this our world. It would have worked excellent without that. You can still have your creepy religion and stuff, you can even have your pope. And yes Cale could have aged a bit.
But it was good, and I did pick up the next one at once.
This book is about Cale, a teen in a place with others teens. The food sucks. They are taught to fight. If they question things they are killed. Doors are forbidden cos they are sinners. Scary religion. It convert and die or plainly die. Nothing in between. I did like the darkness shown then zealots take over everything.
Oh, the guys they are fighting, who on earth are those?
What I did not really like was his age, he is 14. Ok so that would have been fine, but then he sees a woman for he first time. Srsly, you are 14, what do you know about love? It just made me roll my eyes. And the end, eye roll. Make him at least 18 and I can start to believe.
So yeah, I wish he had not made this our world. It would have worked excellent without that. You can still have your creepy religion and stuff, you can even have your pope. And yes Cale could have aged a bit.
But it was good, and I did pick up the next one at once.