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blodeuedd's review
3.0
Tsarist "Russia" fell and an empire was divided. One is ruled by a "dragon", one kingdom seems to be mostly Swedes, oh and Finn! And the rest eh, something. It was a mix of things.
Guy gets kidnapped and is told he is to rule as the dragon, and then he starts to change. Ohhh. I liked Gavril, clueless kid who tried to be nice. His mother had spirit too.
The bad guy, I do not know why he is bad, maybe cos he is Swedish? HA, burn. Sorry.
Lots of political intrigues, a bitchy woman just cos women are bitchy. A princess in distress. A maid that is shown to be more. Oh and those dragon powers, I need to know more.
I gave up the first time, but this time I finished, and it was decent. I got it for free and I have book 2 also, so will continue. Cos that stupid boy, ugh, maybe save that for later! He just doomed his kingdom
Guy gets kidnapped and is told he is to rule as the dragon, and then he starts to change. Ohhh. I liked Gavril, clueless kid who tried to be nice. His mother had spirit too.
The bad guy, I do not know why he is bad, maybe cos he is Swedish? HA, burn. Sorry.
Lots of political intrigues, a bitchy woman just cos women are bitchy. A princess in distress. A maid that is shown to be more. Oh and those dragon powers, I need to know more.
I gave up the first time, but this time I finished, and it was decent. I got it for free and I have book 2 also, so will continue. Cos that stupid boy, ugh, maybe save that for later! He just doomed his kingdom
subgirl's review against another edition
4.0
Took me several tries to get into this one. It's not bad. Couldn't tell you more than that.
lysandercadoc's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this despite the slow start. I had several questions and none were honestly truly answered but enough events and dialog occurred i could infer my answers. I've very curious to see how this story plays out for 3 more books. Kind concerns me because how this book left off I don't think there is enough for this long of a series but my husband loves this series so I'm giving it the benifit of the doubt.
ljstrain28's review against another edition
2.0
There was something about this book that was not for me. Sometimes it felt almost trite, but the story was good overall. I'm not sure, it just didn't grab me the way I expected it to.
lyrrael's review against another edition
3.0
Gavril has no idea what he’s up against. In one day, he goes from being a talented, but commonly born peasant with little knowledge of his parentage painting (and falling in love with) the local nobleman’s daughter, to being kidnapped and told his father’s not only the king of a foreign country, but that he’s dead and Gavril’s the heir to a monstrous legacy. Not exactly a good day, but it gets worse from there.
Lord of Snow and Shadows is really a book about being a victim of fate; not only being a victim, either, but railing against fate and trying to make the choices that aren’t easy, even when other people would give in considering the odds against them. It’s not only Gavril that faces these incredible circumstances, but also his mother, the nobleman’s daughter, and even a serving girl in Gavril’s castle. Most of these people live up to that challenge and come out the other side stronger and better people for it, despite the fact that easy exits are provided for them along the way and they are provided with every motivation to quit.
I was really looking forward to this book for a couple of really foolish reasons – but every girl can be a little foolish once in a while without hurting anything. I really liked this cover. From the standpoint of looking at this cover, it just looked like an amazing book, and I was excited about it.
The second reason is that this book is billed as epic fantasy, and honestly, I really don’t feel like it lives up to this standard; epic fantasy tends to have elaborate plots and sweeping story arcs, but this book was far too straightforward to fit into that category. I really think it was unfair to class this as epic fantasy. If it had been categorized as regular fantasy, just a normal story, I wouldn’t have had such a sour taste in my mouth at the end of it. I also feel like the plot was a little neglected at times, considering that it could have been so much better, in favor of rushing off to do one thing or another. Considering that I also think that the characters were neglected, I sort of want to blame an overzealous editor who wanted to keep the book small. This could have been done in a much better way.
This is not to say that the book isn’t interesting. Having it in a Tsarist Russian setting was unique and gave it a flavor not unlike Paula Volsky’s A Wolf in Winter, a book I very much did enjoy and does indeed deserve to be categorized as epic fantasy, but with a writing style that is much more like Mercedes Lackey and Robin Hobb.
All in all, I’m slightly disappointed. It was a good read and I enjoyed it for that, and I definitely enjoyed Ash’s approach toward her characters and their methods of dealing with the hands they were dealt, but I wouldn’t feel like I’d broken my heart if I sold the book to a used bookstore. I will definitely not be reading the follow-up novels.
Lord of Snow and Shadows is really a book about being a victim of fate; not only being a victim, either, but railing against fate and trying to make the choices that aren’t easy, even when other people would give in considering the odds against them. It’s not only Gavril that faces these incredible circumstances, but also his mother, the nobleman’s daughter, and even a serving girl in Gavril’s castle. Most of these people live up to that challenge and come out the other side stronger and better people for it, despite the fact that easy exits are provided for them along the way and they are provided with every motivation to quit.
I was really looking forward to this book for a couple of really foolish reasons – but every girl can be a little foolish once in a while without hurting anything. I really liked this cover. From the standpoint of looking at this cover, it just looked like an amazing book, and I was excited about it.
The second reason is that this book is billed as epic fantasy, and honestly, I really don’t feel like it lives up to this standard; epic fantasy tends to have elaborate plots and sweeping story arcs, but this book was far too straightforward to fit into that category. I really think it was unfair to class this as epic fantasy. If it had been categorized as regular fantasy, just a normal story, I wouldn’t have had such a sour taste in my mouth at the end of it. I also feel like the plot was a little neglected at times, considering that it could have been so much better, in favor of rushing off to do one thing or another. Considering that I also think that the characters were neglected, I sort of want to blame an overzealous editor who wanted to keep the book small. This could have been done in a much better way.
This is not to say that the book isn’t interesting. Having it in a Tsarist Russian setting was unique and gave it a flavor not unlike Paula Volsky’s A Wolf in Winter, a book I very much did enjoy and does indeed deserve to be categorized as epic fantasy, but with a writing style that is much more like Mercedes Lackey and Robin Hobb.
All in all, I’m slightly disappointed. It was a good read and I enjoyed it for that, and I definitely enjoyed Ash’s approach toward her characters and their methods of dealing with the hands they were dealt, but I wouldn’t feel like I’d broken my heart if I sold the book to a used bookstore. I will definitely not be reading the follow-up novels.
mrssoule's review against another edition
3.0
The whole time I was reading this I wondered if I'd have liked it better when I was younger. I couldn't connect with any of the characters.
wafflesplat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
i really enjoy the uniqueness of this book, and it’s a really good story. I’ve read it 3 times, possibly 4. Mainly because i always plan to read part 2, then years go by and i decide “i’m finally going to finish the series”, so i read book 1 again to refresh my memory, and the same thing happens. But it is so good i dont mind repeating it.
cjdawn236's review
2.0
My husband has been begging me to read this book for months and I finally gave in. It wasn't terrible. It has an interesting premise, blending the ideas of Dracula and dragons, and setting it within a Russian-style culture as opposed to the traditional European fantasy. However, some elements felt a little too modern for this type of fantasy (such as the use of "carbines"). And overall the story just felt about as cold as the landscape where most of it takes place - I didn't really feel invested in the plot or the characters.