Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

A Flame in the North by Lilith Saintcrow

1 review

maregred's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

While the synopsis checks all of my interest boxes, I unfortunately couldn’t get into this book. The pacing was uneven and the text was dense. There was no real urgency to the story, even during the battle scenes or when the main character, Solveig, discovered something important.

Though written in the style of older epic fantasies, the inner dialogue was meandering and repetitive. There was too much telling instead of showing.
For example, in the middle of a battle, Sol would go on a tangent about songs. Or when relaying an important conversation, Sol would then tangentially think about different types of drinks. There was also the mystery of how her trunk traveled, and readers are constantly reminded how curious she is.

I did like the Lord of the Rings and Norse mythology influences. I also liked a lot of the characters, especially Aeredh and Arneior. The magic system is interesting but the reader is left just as clueless as Solveig. 

While I’m not sure if I’ll continue the series, this made a for a good winter read.

I received this copy from Orbit Books and NetGalley for an honest review. 
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