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jester_reviews's review against another edition
2.5
It's honestly a 2.5 stars in total, but now that this is on storygraph, i can actually give half stars! This book honestly confounds me. Someone else had said that this book was 90% set up for the last 10% and they're honestly right. The Lost War has middle-book syndrome despite it being the first in the series.
I was a sucker for the opening. Exploring what happens after the big fantasy war is such an interesting idea. I haven't seen it explored in depth before, so I thought I'd be in for a time. It started off well, giving us compelling protagonists that all had individual identities, strengths, and weaknesses. Fearless leader with extraordinary powers, the ranger with a good head on her shoulders, the pirate queen who is reckless, the ex-soldier who has PTSD, a monk who is devout to god, a highly skilled warrior with JoJo time powers, and the loveable kid NPC who tags along for the ride(and subsequently gets taken out midway through the book) . It's a standard dnd party, but it worked, and I liked their little interactions with each other
I'll get the ending talk out of the way because it reshapes the rest of the review.Spoiler alert: everything is fake. That's right, most of the book is a lie. Well, everything did happen, but the characters we knew, have had their memories altered. Most of the last 10% of the book was explaining the truth, why it happened, and introducing two extra big bads that would help the real big bad, the king. And I admit, it is an interesting twist, but it makes me feel like I wasted all that time getting to know those characters. And honestly, I don't want to read a whole new doorstopper to find out who these characters really are. Part of me wishes this twist popped up midway through or even 3/4ths of the way through, just so we could have a little more time with these guys as they truly are. Make the foreshadowing start earlier, and then reveal all! Have the conflict then be convincing other people!
that was my big complaint. The others were death by a thousand cuts. I didn't buy Alliandria and Aranok's relationship, even if it wasn't true (and I'd wager they're probably gonna end up together anyway later on in the series, which, predictable but fine i guess). They barely had any chemistry and spent a large part of their supposed loving relationship angry at each other (or at least, alliandra pissed off at something stupid Aranok did).
There were some weird narration bits in the beginning with Glorbad surrounding his fatness. Putting attention on his fatness in the beginning, when we aren't supposed to like him, then easing up on that later on is not a progressive move. Honestly, Glorbad kind of got the short end of the stick in general,right up to his untimely death at the hands of a demon (i get one of them had to die, but still. RIP my man). He deserved better, tbh.
I realized about midway through that like...no one actually cared about the quest. The reason why is obvious, but it still didn't make for an enjoyable read. Not to mention the stakes weren't clearly lined up, and the main character only realized that right at the end. Which...really??? Y'all didn't even ask why restoring a foreign queen to a throne was important. Who this queen even was? It all felt so floaty and disconnected that it was no wonder they went off on 5 side missions.And even then, wouldn't the king want to sell the lie more??
One of the best bits at least for me was Samily. An explicitly asexual and aromantic character in a fantasy novel, especially one who is so developed is fucking sick. There was barely any romance in the story anyway, but this demographic is so under-represented that I'm glad they got their dues. What I'm not happy with is seemingly her relationship with Rasa. I don't know if they're gonna turn out to be something more, but honestly, I don't like this decision. Everyone else in the novel is pretty much heterosexual anyway, so unloading all of the sexual/romantic diversity on one character earns a side eye from me. I hope there's gonna be more diversity within the series, but I'm not holding my breath.
Even if I liked the characters and the worldbuilding, and there were a lot of good discussions about religion, bigotry, and duty, I don't think I'm gonna continue with this series, and even if it's decent, I don't think I'd recommend this to other fantasy fans unless they want to sink into a whole series, because this feels incomplete without the entire story. It's a decent prologue for novel 2, where the real story begins, and that's not a good sign for a first book. Oh, well.
I was a sucker for the opening. Exploring what happens after the big fantasy war is such an interesting idea. I haven't seen it explored in depth before, so I thought I'd be in for a time. It started off well, giving us compelling protagonists that all had individual identities, strengths, and weaknesses. Fearless leader with extraordinary powers, the ranger with a good head on her shoulders, the pirate queen who is reckless, the ex-soldier who has PTSD, a monk who is devout to god, a highly skilled warrior with JoJo time powers, and the loveable kid NPC who tags along for the ride
I'll get the ending talk out of the way because it reshapes the rest of the review.
that was my big complaint. The others were death by a thousand cuts. I didn't buy Alliandria and Aranok's relationship, even if it wasn't true (and I'd wager they're probably gonna end up together anyway later on in the series, which, predictable but fine i guess). They barely had any chemistry and spent a large part of their supposed loving relationship angry at each other (or at least, alliandra pissed off at something stupid Aranok did).
There were some weird narration bits in the beginning with Glorbad surrounding his fatness. Putting attention on his fatness in the beginning, when we aren't supposed to like him, then easing up on that later on is not a progressive move. Honestly, Glorbad kind of got the short end of the stick in general,
I realized about midway through that like...no one actually cared about the quest. The reason why is obvious, but it still didn't make for an enjoyable read. Not to mention the stakes weren't clearly lined up, and the main character only realized that right at the end. Which...really??? Y'all didn't even ask why restoring a foreign queen to a throne was important. Who this queen even was? It all felt so floaty and disconnected that it was no wonder they went off on 5 side missions.
One of the best bits at least for me was Samily. An explicitly asexual and aromantic character in a fantasy novel, especially one who is so developed is fucking sick. There was barely any romance in the story anyway, but this demographic is so under-represented that I'm glad they got their dues. What I'm not happy with is seemingly her relationship with Rasa. I don't know if they're gonna turn out to be something more, but honestly, I don't like this decision. Everyone else in the novel is pretty much heterosexual anyway, so unloading all of the sexual/romantic diversity on one character earns a side eye from me. I hope there's gonna be more diversity within the series, but I'm not holding my breath.
Even if I liked the characters and the worldbuilding, and there were a lot of good discussions about religion, bigotry, and duty, I don't think I'm gonna continue with this series, and even if it's decent, I don't think I'd recommend this to other fantasy fans unless they want to sink into a whole series, because this feels incomplete without the entire story. It's a decent prologue for novel 2, where the real story begins, and that's not a good sign for a first book. Oh, well.
shandyt's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars.
I'm sure most reviews of this book will talk about the spectacularly twisty ending, saying that once the final piece of information drops into place, things from earlier in the book that seemed inconsistent or strange will suddenly make sense. This is true. Without risking spoilers, yes, this book does have a great twist ending at the end of the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, the rest of the book is little more than a setup for that twist.
Characterization is simplistic, falling back on easily recognizable tropes (likely because the book got its start as an RPG campaign), and the worldbuilding is quite thin. Only the main characters Aranok and Samily seem to get the attention they deserve in terms of complexity or personality.
Then when you take a closer look at the twist, certain parts of the setup seem to serve no purpose other than to be subverted later, or play for shock value. Spoilers:
Certain plotlines do end without a real resolution, so it's easy to imagine they'll get picked up again in the sequel. Perhaps some of my complaints will also be addressed, and with the author's extra experience, the overall read will be smoother. I'm hoping so.
I'm sure most reviews of this book will talk about the spectacularly twisty ending, saying that once the final piece of information drops into place, things from earlier in the book that seemed inconsistent or strange will suddenly make sense. This is true. Without risking spoilers, yes, this book does have a great twist ending at the end of the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, the rest of the book is little more than a setup for that twist.
Characterization is simplistic, falling back on easily recognizable tropes (likely because the book got its start as an RPG campaign), and the worldbuilding is quite thin. Only the main characters Aranok and Samily seem to get the attention they deserve in terms of complexity or personality.
Then when you take a closer look at the twist, certain parts of the setup seem to serve no purpose other than to be subverted later, or play for shock value. Spoilers:
Spoiler
The shock value of course mostly lies in the false relationship between Aranok and Allandria (what was Janaeus getting at?). As for the pointless: the inclusion and even more baffling memory erasure of the cocoon creatures (whose name I won't even attempt to spell, having listened to the audiobook). What were the Reivers there for, except to show up with strange jacket patches? Where are the demons coming from, and if they're from hell, why would Aranok deny the existence of God? The story would have worked just as well if there were no cocoon creatures, no demons, and no Reivers. The threat could simply have been the dead (or even demon-possessed undead), and the clues as to Mynaggog's innocence could have been sprinkled elsewhere. Even the quest itself ceases to make much sense if you examine it too closely. If Janaeus has that much power, why did he bother to send all his enemies on a quest, knowing there was a chance they'd learn the truth? Why not just have them quietly murdered, and rewrite people's memories to make their countrymen think the heroes had died in the war?Certain plotlines do end without a real resolution, so it's easy to imagine they'll get picked up again in the sequel. Perhaps some of my complaints will also be addressed, and with the author's extra experience, the overall read will be smoother. I'm hoping so.
dustinderefield's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
3.5
cwt88's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
myjourneywithbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
mels_reading_rook's review against another edition
4.0
Trigger Warnings: Body Horror; Gore; Cannibalism
I really enjoyed the story, and I really enjoyed trying to puzzle out the plot's main mystery. The ending few chapters were fantastic, and the reveals and twists were great! However, the epilogue made me super uncomfortable, and while it recontextualized earlier events, it was a bit of a dampener on the ending's high for me.
I really enjoyed the story, and I really enjoyed trying to puzzle out the plot's main mystery. The ending few chapters were fantastic, and the reveals and twists were great! However, the epilogue made me super uncomfortable, and while it recontextualized earlier events, it was a bit of a dampener on the ending's high for me.