Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's been a bit of a while since I've read a fantasy so delightfully gruesome!
This is the first novel I've read by R.A Salvatore, and from reading other reviews, I'm not sure if I would have found it a little more coherent/fully realised had I read some of the author's previous works. However, while I was a bit lost at the start (who are these people? Who's that? When is this? WhAT?), I soon got into it, though I still have a few questions...
Child of a Mad God follows a few different characters. Firstly, there is Talmadge, a good-hearted wilderness frontiersman who became kind of my touchstone for niceness in a book otherwise grim. I liked him well enough, and there was a moment or two where my heart absolutely bled for the poor soul.
Aoleyn is perhaps the most important character - a young woman who has grown up with the Usgar, a mountain tribe that are feared by all who know of them due to their brutality. The Usgar are the perpetrators of some real evil shit, including slavery, kidnap, rape, murder, and some torturous punishments. This book is not for the faint of heart! Much of the plot revolves around Aoleyn's growth as a character both in age and in her own mind, as she comes to learn about magic stemming from precious gems and crystals, as well as the ways of her people, which she struggles to accept.
Tay Aillig was my favourite character, however. I'm on a bit of a villain kick right now, and my goodness, he's a good one. Tay Aillig is a warrior of the Usgar tribe, soon promoted to Warlord, and his viciousness, lack of mercy, and quiet plotting made for a wholly enjoyable read. I came to fear his strength as much as Aoleyn (though I'm pretty certain I liked him a lot more than she did).
The world these characters inhabit is one filled with casual violence and danger. No one comes out of this novel clean, and I certainly recommend that you don't get overly attached to any characters, for Game of Thrones-y reasons. In terms of world building, however, it's clearly very well thought out and I enjoyed learning more about the various distinct peoples and cultures of this universe. Again, some prior knowledge of Salvatore may help, but I did fine after some initial confusion.
I also really enjoyed the magic system, which is based on gemstones. Some women of the Usgar tribe are able to sense power in these gemstones, and utilise this for their tribe. For example, malachite can be used to make the bearer levitate. And while the women of the Usgar are the bearers of these stones, the oppressive patriarchy of their tribe means they do so mostly at the behest of the men. This aspect of the Usgar was something I really enjoyed reading - not because I agree with this, of course, but because it made for some wonderful scenes with Aoleyn thinking this was really not acceptable.
The novel has a fair conclusion, yet has enough open ends to coax me into reading the next in the series. More Tay Aillig being a badass, please!
This is the first novel I've read by R.A Salvatore, and from reading other reviews, I'm not sure if I would have found it a little more coherent/fully realised had I read some of the author's previous works. However, while I was a bit lost at the start (who are these people? Who's that? When is this? WhAT?), I soon got into it, though I still have a few questions...
Child of a Mad God follows a few different characters. Firstly, there is Talmadge, a good-hearted wilderness frontiersman who became kind of my touchstone for niceness in a book otherwise grim. I liked him well enough, and there was a moment or two where my heart absolutely bled for the poor soul.
Aoleyn is perhaps the most important character - a young woman who has grown up with the Usgar, a mountain tribe that are feared by all who know of them due to their brutality. The Usgar are the perpetrators of some real evil shit, including slavery, kidnap, rape, murder, and some torturous punishments. This book is not for the faint of heart! Much of the plot revolves around Aoleyn's growth as a character both in age and in her own mind, as she comes to learn about magic stemming from precious gems and crystals, as well as the ways of her people, which she struggles to accept.
Tay Aillig was my favourite character, however. I'm on a bit of a villain kick right now, and my goodness, he's a good one. Tay Aillig is a warrior of the Usgar tribe, soon promoted to Warlord, and his viciousness, lack of mercy, and quiet plotting made for a wholly enjoyable read. I came to fear his strength as much as Aoleyn (though I'm pretty certain I liked him a lot more than she did).
The world these characters inhabit is one filled with casual violence and danger. No one comes out of this novel clean, and I certainly recommend that you don't get overly attached to any characters, for Game of Thrones-y reasons. In terms of world building, however, it's clearly very well thought out and I enjoyed learning more about the various distinct peoples and cultures of this universe. Again, some prior knowledge of Salvatore may help, but I did fine after some initial confusion.
I also really enjoyed the magic system, which is based on gemstones. Some women of the Usgar tribe are able to sense power in these gemstones, and utilise this for their tribe. For example, malachite can be used to make the bearer levitate. And while the women of the Usgar are the bearers of these stones, the oppressive patriarchy of their tribe means they do so mostly at the behest of the men. This aspect of the Usgar was something I really enjoyed reading - not because I agree with this, of course, but because it made for some wonderful scenes with Aoleyn thinking this was really not acceptable.
The novel has a fair conclusion, yet has enough open ends to coax me into reading the next in the series. More Tay Aillig being a badass, please!
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Writing this review has proven to be quite a challenge. That might seem odd given the four-star rating, but Child of a Mad God has left me with a lot of conflicting feelings. But isn't that in itself the mark of a good book?
First an foremost I feel I have a responsibility to issue a warning to potential readers. To anyone uncomfortable or sensitive to the issue of rape this book may not be for you. While the act is never really graphic or explicit in detail, it is common and reoccurring throughout the story. It is however not considered an acceptable act among the wider world of Corona in which the book it set, merely a fact of life among one small but barbaric and brutal tribe of people. As you may have guessed this is one of the reasons for my conflicting feelings toward the book. Generally, I will stop reading a book for using rape as a story device. In my experience it usually comes off as a lazy and completely unnecessary plot device used solely for the purpose of eliciting an extreme reaction from the readers to cover up for a substandard story. Salvatore is in no way a substandard storyteller. The man who created a legend in Forgotten Realms is a master of his craft. As always his work here is compelling and wonderfully written. Am I convinced that this book benefitted from the constant of the act? No. But I can say that I am able to mirror the revulsion that Aoelyn, the central character living among these people, feels towards her own tribe.
As noted above Child of a Mad God is set in Corona, which is the same world as Salvatore's popular DemonWars Saga. I myself have not read any of the books from that series and did not know that this one was in anyway connected to them when I started reading. In this book, we actually follow two separate stories. One follows young Aoelyn as she grows into a young woman in a brutal mountain tribe, and the other follows that of Talmadge a trader who makes his way through tribes along the lake resting beneath the mountain that Aoelyn's people call home. The two stories don't really converge until about the last five percent of the book. Every time the story shifted to Talmadge it became apparent to me that I was missing information about this world. The way people, places, and certain events were mentioned felt like it was assumed I already knew about it. Since I didn't and I didn't understand how any of it had any bearing on the story at hand I had a hard time connecting to Talmadge's tale. To be honest his portions were rather depressing, almost on the same level I found Game of Thrones to be, which I gave up on because I was so depressed.
At this point, I'm sure you are trying to figure out how in the world I came out with a four-star rating for this book. There are two main drivers for that. First, after finishing I must know what happens next. And not only next, but previously. I am so intrigued by the things I learned of Corona in this book that I need to know what happened before and am excited to know if it will in any way change my interpretation of and appreciation for Talmadge's part of this book. The magic system is fascinating and we really only get information from the Aoelyn's understanding/religious beliefs, but it is made clear from Talmadge's side of things that this power is not limited to the mountain tribe and their crystal god but is also known to monks belonging to the religion of the larger more "civilized" kingdom. So I find myself craving more information about the crystals and their true origins.
Second is Aoelyn, I truly enjoyed her character. Her ability even as a child to comprehend that just because she is raised to believe that the way her tribe works and treats others is right does not make it so gave me something to root for. It honestly baffled me how women with the ability to wield strong magic willingly sit back and let men beat them and treat them like dirt because it is somehow their god given right to do so. Aoelyn is young, rebellious and naive when it comes to the way of the world but she has a deep sense of right and wrong in spite of her upbringing. Once she is in a position to start taking action on those feelings she does so even in the face of certain death.
Child of a Mad God comes out in about a week and I do wholeheartedly recommend picking it up. If you haven't already you can spend your week of waiting for the release to read the other books set in the captivating world of Corona.
First an foremost I feel I have a responsibility to issue a warning to potential readers. To anyone uncomfortable or sensitive to the issue of rape this book may not be for you. While the act is never really graphic or explicit in detail, it is common and reoccurring throughout the story. It is however not considered an acceptable act among the wider world of Corona in which the book it set, merely a fact of life among one small but barbaric and brutal tribe of people. As you may have guessed this is one of the reasons for my conflicting feelings toward the book. Generally, I will stop reading a book for using rape as a story device. In my experience it usually comes off as a lazy and completely unnecessary plot device used solely for the purpose of eliciting an extreme reaction from the readers to cover up for a substandard story. Salvatore is in no way a substandard storyteller. The man who created a legend in Forgotten Realms is a master of his craft. As always his work here is compelling and wonderfully written. Am I convinced that this book benefitted from the constant of the act? No. But I can say that I am able to mirror the revulsion that Aoelyn, the central character living among these people, feels towards her own tribe.
As noted above Child of a Mad God is set in Corona, which is the same world as Salvatore's popular DemonWars Saga. I myself have not read any of the books from that series and did not know that this one was in anyway connected to them when I started reading. In this book, we actually follow two separate stories. One follows young Aoelyn as she grows into a young woman in a brutal mountain tribe, and the other follows that of Talmadge a trader who makes his way through tribes along the lake resting beneath the mountain that Aoelyn's people call home. The two stories don't really converge until about the last five percent of the book. Every time the story shifted to Talmadge it became apparent to me that I was missing information about this world. The way people, places, and certain events were mentioned felt like it was assumed I already knew about it. Since I didn't and I didn't understand how any of it had any bearing on the story at hand I had a hard time connecting to Talmadge's tale. To be honest his portions were rather depressing, almost on the same level I found Game of Thrones to be, which I gave up on because I was so depressed.
At this point, I'm sure you are trying to figure out how in the world I came out with a four-star rating for this book. There are two main drivers for that. First, after finishing I must know what happens next. And not only next, but previously. I am so intrigued by the things I learned of Corona in this book that I need to know what happened before and am excited to know if it will in any way change my interpretation of and appreciation for Talmadge's part of this book. The magic system is fascinating and we really only get information from the Aoelyn's understanding/religious beliefs, but it is made clear from Talmadge's side of things that this power is not limited to the mountain tribe and their crystal god but is also known to monks belonging to the religion of the larger more "civilized" kingdom. So I find myself craving more information about the crystals and their true origins.
Second is Aoelyn, I truly enjoyed her character. Her ability even as a child to comprehend that just because she is raised to believe that the way her tribe works and treats others is right does not make it so gave me something to root for. It honestly baffled me how women with the ability to wield strong magic willingly sit back and let men beat them and treat them like dirt because it is somehow their god given right to do so. Aoelyn is young, rebellious and naive when it comes to the way of the world but she has a deep sense of right and wrong in spite of her upbringing. Once she is in a position to start taking action on those feelings she does so even in the face of certain death.
Child of a Mad God comes out in about a week and I do wholeheartedly recommend picking it up. If you haven't already you can spend your week of waiting for the release to read the other books set in the captivating world of Corona.
I've heard it said before that R.A. Salvatore's writing is so so smooth. I started this book on the 30th, and read about 75 pages. I got up Friday the 31st and could not stop reading. I basically read the whole damn book in 1 day!
This was also not a light fluffy fantasy read. There is a (the actual word is slipping me right now) group of people who are basically brutal-their way of life is based on gender roles, raiding, raping, death, magic, etc. Every year they go down to the water's edge and pillage the river village and kill the men, rape the women, take the children for slaves. Thankfully that was not the main point of the story-but be warned it is there.
We do have a set up for a bad ass female protagonist and I am all for it, and excited to start book two.
This was also not a light fluffy fantasy read. There is a (the actual word is slipping me right now) group of people who are basically brutal-their way of life is based on gender roles, raiding, raping, death, magic, etc. Every year they go down to the water's edge and pillage the river village and kill the men, rape the women, take the children for slaves. Thankfully that was not the main point of the story-but be warned it is there.
We do have a set up for a bad ass female protagonist and I am all for it, and excited to start book two.
Once I started reading this, I realized that I had never finished the series about Elbryan and Jilseponie's son. I don't feel like I missed anything in this book but I think I'll have to re-read the first three Demon Wars books and continue from there.
Other than being a bit confused while reading the journal entries, I really enjoyed this one. It felt wonderful to read a R.A. Salvatore book again!
Other than being a bit confused while reading the journal entries, I really enjoyed this one. It felt wonderful to read a R.A. Salvatore book again!
From reading some of the other reviews of this book on Goodreads, it seems like this book is slightly polarizing for readers. People seem to either love it, or strongly dislike it. I really enjoyed it, however before I continue my review, I should mention that this is the first R.A Salvatore book that I have read. I have not read any of his Drizzit books set in The Forgotten Realms, or any of his other books set in this same land of Corona. While I'm sure reading his other books would enhance the experience of reading Child of a Mad God, I feel that it also stood strong on its own.
In Child of a Mad God, Salvatore creates a gritty, vivid world for readers to explore. The pacing feels just right, especially if like me, you enjoy books that allow you to travel with characters across decades. The two main characters in this book are Aoleyn, who we first meet as a three year old girl and member of the Usgar tribe and Talmadge (a personal favorite of mine) who we first meet as a 20-something trader with a troubled past.
In addition to the characters, another aspect of the book that intrigued me and held my interest was the system of magic. In the Usgar tribe, women are generally subjugated however, some of them have an affinity for using magic found in crystals, and can then join a group of witches, known as "The Coven." As she grows Aoleyn shows an affinity for the magic, but she is also a strong female character who does not want to conform to the strict, misogynistic rules of Usgar society. I will say that there are times when sexual abuse is used as a plot device, so be aware of that. That aside though, both main characters face many challenges and plot twists throughout the book and when I finished it, I picked up the sequel immediately so that I could keep travelling with these characters.
In sum, I give Child of a Mad God 4/5 stars. It kind of reminded me of Jean M. Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear, but with magic and mystical creatures. Haha. I recommend it for readers who are in the mood for a gritty, fantasy, with intriguing characters, a strong female lead, and an interesting and unique system of magic.
In Child of a Mad God, Salvatore creates a gritty, vivid world for readers to explore. The pacing feels just right, especially if like me, you enjoy books that allow you to travel with characters across decades. The two main characters in this book are Aoleyn, who we first meet as a three year old girl and member of the Usgar tribe and Talmadge (a personal favorite of mine) who we first meet as a 20-something trader with a troubled past.
In addition to the characters, another aspect of the book that intrigued me and held my interest was the system of magic. In the Usgar tribe, women are generally subjugated however, some of them have an affinity for using magic found in crystals, and can then join a group of witches, known as "The Coven." As she grows Aoleyn shows an affinity for the magic, but she is also a strong female character who does not want to conform to the strict, misogynistic rules of Usgar society. I will say that there are times when sexual abuse is used as a plot device, so be aware of that. That aside though, both main characters face many challenges and plot twists throughout the book and when I finished it, I picked up the sequel immediately so that I could keep travelling with these characters.
In sum, I give Child of a Mad God 4/5 stars. It kind of reminded me of Jean M. Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear, but with magic and mystical creatures. Haha. I recommend it for readers who are in the mood for a gritty, fantasy, with intriguing characters, a strong female lead, and an interesting and unique system of magic.
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated