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jiati's review
5.0
An incredible debut novel. A must-read for Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson fans.
kitvaria_sarene's review
4.0
I don't remember how I found this book, but I didn't realise it was indie published until yesterday (when I had read, or rather listened to about 85% of it). With some indies you will notice soon that they haven't seen an editor yet, but this one could easily have come from a big trad publisher.
It is a solid epic fantasy, that has quite some of the normal fantasy tropes - just enough to make you feel at home, but also has some new things - so it doesn't feel like a carbon copy of other books.
I really enjoyed the characters, whom we meet as children (Reign is 9 years old at the start) and get to see grow up thought the first 1/3 of the book. I loved watching them grow and changed over time. My only gripe was that the good guys are too good and the bad guys too bad for my personal liking. I want a bit of grey area too - though I think that'll come true in book two.
I liked the world and the magic within the world! It didn't feel like I was fed infodumps, but I got enough knowledge to firmly settle me into the story. It was easy to understand, and yet not something I read often before.
The prose was fluent and didn't really stand out. I think some of the dialogue would have felt a bit stilted if it wasn't for the amazing narration by Kramer, but all in all I really enjoyed it.
There were quite some action scenes - some felt a bit like from an anime or a Jacky Chan movie - but in the good way. It never got boring, and I could vividly imagine it.
I thought some parts could have been a bit shorter, so I'll give the whole book 4 stars, and I'll be sure to continue the series!
It is a solid epic fantasy, that has quite some of the normal fantasy tropes - just enough to make you feel at home, but also has some new things - so it doesn't feel like a carbon copy of other books.
I really enjoyed the characters, whom we meet as children (Reign is 9 years old at the start) and get to see grow up thought the first 1/3 of the book. I loved watching them grow and changed over time. My only gripe was that the good guys are too good and the bad guys too bad for my personal liking. I want a bit of grey area too - though I think that'll come true in book two.
I liked the world and the magic within the world! It didn't feel like I was fed infodumps, but I got enough knowledge to firmly settle me into the story. It was easy to understand, and yet not something I read often before.
The prose was fluent and didn't really stand out. I think some of the dialogue would have felt a bit stilted if it wasn't for the amazing narration by Kramer, but all in all I really enjoyed it.
There were quite some action scenes - some felt a bit like from an anime or a Jacky Chan movie - but in the good way. It never got boring, and I could vividly imagine it.
I thought some parts could have been a bit shorter, so I'll give the whole book 4 stars, and I'll be sure to continue the series!
wimerek's review against another edition
5.0
What I enjoyed:
-This book had a feel I don't often associate with fantasy and that is "epic". The character development, plot, and world-building were first-rate and truly made it an epic fantasy novel for me.
-The characters were well fleshed out, even minor characters and antagonists. There were a lot of them and careful time was dedicated to them in an almost Robert Jordan kind of way.
-Magic system was really unique and fascinating, something that's getting harder and harder to do with all the creative minds out there. There's something amazing about the detail and logic behind a Brandon Sanderson magic system that allows the reader to imagine how it could be used in multiple ways. Also, the mystery and surrealistic nature of Glen Cook's magic systems can't possibly be simply explained but are still a blast to read. Circle of Reign was right about in the middle, a la Robert Jordan, where some elements are explained but others are mysterious and left to wonder.
What I didn't enjoy:
-Some parts of the book did drag, where less interesting characters were prominent or the plot hung on a little too long. I think the book could have been cut back a little bit and been just as good, if not better.
-Some settings were hard to understand because there wasn't a lot of descriptive detail. Also, there were simply too many complex but similar names which made it hard to follow.
All in all, a book I thoroughly enjoyed which resulted in a 5-star rating from me. Something I don't give out often.
-This book had a feel I don't often associate with fantasy and that is "epic". The character development, plot, and world-building were first-rate and truly made it an epic fantasy novel for me.
-The characters were well fleshed out, even minor characters and antagonists. There were a lot of them and careful time was dedicated to them in an almost Robert Jordan kind of way.
-Magic system was really unique and fascinating, something that's getting harder and harder to do with all the creative minds out there. There's something amazing about the detail and logic behind a Brandon Sanderson magic system that allows the reader to imagine how it could be used in multiple ways. Also, the mystery and surrealistic nature of Glen Cook's magic systems can't possibly be simply explained but are still a blast to read. Circle of Reign was right about in the middle, a la Robert Jordan, where some elements are explained but others are mysterious and left to wonder.
What I didn't enjoy:
-Some parts of the book did drag, where less interesting characters were prominent or the plot hung on a little too long. I think the book could have been cut back a little bit and been just as good, if not better.
-Some settings were hard to understand because there wasn't a lot of descriptive detail. Also, there were simply too many complex but similar names which made it hard to follow.
All in all, a book I thoroughly enjoyed which resulted in a 5-star rating from me. Something I don't give out often.
milesenglish's review against another edition
5.0
This book had some good ideas, and a couple of great scenes, but too much of it was just a chore to read and it just didn't come together for me. Jacob Cooper really likes to write scenes where the POV character is getting murdered. He really REALLY seems to love it. Sure, it was powerful the first couple times, but after about the 12th time a uninteresting side character gets knocked off for no reason I started to get a little tired of it.
The author does the thing that seems to be popular in fantasy now, where they are constantly jumping between characters and weaving side plots in and out. Or at least, he tries to. The great thing about when it's done successfully is the point when everything starts to come together and it all makes sense. That moment never comes with Circle of Reign. Instead when I got to the end I just got a little offended that all the little slice-of-terrible-life chapters were just as pointless and nonsensical as they seemed.
The magic system is the worst kind of fantasy magic. It does exactly what's convenient for the plot at the time. Bringing an entire forest back from the dead? No sweat! Bringing one person back from the dead? That's a suicide spell.
And the history lessons. Oh man the history lessons. Throughout the entire book, until the least chapter they don't let up. "Hum de dum I'm just going through my normal life, and I just happen to be thinking about the history of my people. Let's go on and on about that for a while. Ok the chapter is ending now I'm being murdered! I'm sad that I'm dying!" <-- literally 3/4 of the book, I wish I was exaggerating.
And the broken promises. The author spends half the book setting up an ultimate showdown with this certain bad guy, but it never happens. Ok, I get it, maybe a later book. But he set it up in this book, and it feels like a broken promise that the final battle in this book is just a bunch of randoms who show up out of nowhere.
I liked the main characters enough that I do kind of want to see what happens to them. But the thought of slogging through all the other crap really puts me on the fence. We'll see.
The author does the thing that seems to be popular in fantasy now, where they are constantly jumping between characters and weaving side plots in and out. Or at least, he tries to. The great thing about when it's done successfully is the point when everything starts to come together and it all makes sense. That moment never comes with Circle of Reign. Instead when I got to the end I just got a little offended that all the little slice-of-terrible-life chapters were just as pointless and nonsensical as they seemed.
The magic system is the worst kind of fantasy magic. It does exactly what's convenient for the plot at the time. Bringing an entire forest back from the dead? No sweat! Bringing one person back from the dead? That's a suicide spell.
And the history lessons. Oh man the history lessons. Throughout the entire book, until the least chapter they don't let up. "Hum de dum I'm just going through my normal life, and I just happen to be thinking about the history of my people. Let's go on and on about that for a while. Ok the chapter is ending now I'm being murdered! I'm sad that I'm dying!" <-- literally 3/4 of the book, I wish I was exaggerating.
And the broken promises. The author spends half the book setting up an ultimate showdown with this certain bad guy, but it never happens. Ok, I get it, maybe a later book. But he set it up in this book, and it feels like a broken promise that the final battle in this book is just a bunch of randoms who show up out of nowhere.
I liked the main characters enough that I do kind of want to see what happens to them. But the thought of slogging through all the other crap really puts me on the fence. We'll see.
wimerek's review
5.0
What I enjoyed:
-This book had a feel I don't often associate with fantasy and that is "epic". The character development, plot, and world-building were first-rate and truly made it an epic fantasy novel for me.
-The characters were well fleshed out, even minor characters and antagonists. There were a lot of them and careful time was dedicated to them in an almost Robert Jordan kind of way.
-Magic system was really unique and fascinating, something that's getting harder and harder to do with all the creative minds out there. There's something amazing about the detail and logic behind a Brandon Sanderson magic system that allows the reader to imagine how it could be used in multiple ways. Also, the mystery and surrealistic nature of Glen Cook's magic systems can't possibly be simply explained but are still a blast to read. Circle of Reign was right about in the middle, a la Robert Jordan, where some elements are explained but others are mysterious and left to wonder.
What I didn't enjoy:
-Some parts of the book did drag, where less interesting characters were prominent or the plot hung on a little too long. I think the book could have been cut back a little bit and been just as good, if not better.
-Some settings were hard to understand because there wasn't a lot of descriptive detail. Also, there were simply too many complex but similar names which made it hard to follow.
All in all, a book I thoroughly enjoyed which resulted in a 5-star rating from me. Something I don't give out often.
-This book had a feel I don't often associate with fantasy and that is "epic". The character development, plot, and world-building were first-rate and truly made it an epic fantasy novel for me.
-The characters were well fleshed out, even minor characters and antagonists. There were a lot of them and careful time was dedicated to them in an almost Robert Jordan kind of way.
-Magic system was really unique and fascinating, something that's getting harder and harder to do with all the creative minds out there. There's something amazing about the detail and logic behind a Brandon Sanderson magic system that allows the reader to imagine how it could be used in multiple ways. Also, the mystery and surrealistic nature of Glen Cook's magic systems can't possibly be simply explained but are still a blast to read. Circle of Reign was right about in the middle, a la Robert Jordan, where some elements are explained but others are mysterious and left to wonder.
What I didn't enjoy:
-Some parts of the book did drag, where less interesting characters were prominent or the plot hung on a little too long. I think the book could have been cut back a little bit and been just as good, if not better.
-Some settings were hard to understand because there wasn't a lot of descriptive detail. Also, there were simply too many complex but similar names which made it hard to follow.
All in all, a book I thoroughly enjoyed which resulted in a 5-star rating from me. Something I don't give out often.
jacattack13's review against another edition
5.0
I haven't read a good fantasy novel in awhile and this one hit the spot! I was sucked into the world of Valeira in the first chapter! I loved the different POVs, very Game of Thrones esque but different. All the characters were well developed and even though the plot was a little predictable I thoroughly enjoyed it. I needed to know what happened next and I couldn't put the book down. The description of the world was amazing! I felt like I could picture it in my head. The only issue I had were the multiple races. There were so many and I got lost trying to keep track of who was who and what happened in the past. I'm hoping when reading the Altar of Influence that I will get the chance to learn more about the different races. I look forward to reading more about Reign and all the characters. The next book can't come fast enough!
I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
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