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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
As always, OSC is a brilliant world builder and story teller. However, I think he is struggling with having teenage protagonists rather than children or adults. There is far too much emphasis on the sexual desires of teenagers and it flattens the character development. In addition, having a story that talks so much about sexuality gives him too much space to layer in his distaste for premarital sex and homosexuality.
I quite enjoy how he ties several different religions together - Egyptian and Norse mythologies don't usually seem compatible. Most of the adult characters are as nuanced and complex secondary characters as one could hope for. I will read the 3rd book when it comes out, to see how OSC decides to wrap up the adventure. I just hope he doesn't resort to true love saving everything and the princess gets to marry her prince.
Spoiler
I mean, come on, Set (Satan) only has a chance to enter his body via sex? The one gay character (Frostinch) is tertiary and an ambitious idiot?I quite enjoy how he ties several different religions together - Egyptian and Norse mythologies don't usually seem compatible. Most of the adult characters are as nuanced and complex secondary characters as one could hope for. I will read the 3rd book when it comes out, to see how OSC decides to wrap up the adventure. I just hope he doesn't resort to true love saving everything and the princess gets to marry her prince.
While I find the story interesting, I can't say that the writing style is my favorite. There are sections (especially group dialog) that I found tiresome to read because there was something cumbersome & circulatory about the writing. I'll finish the series but I am curious about where this all leads and what the conclusion will bring but I won't be hurrying to read any of his other books.
Real 👏 life 👏 women 👏 do 👏 not 👏 constantly 👏 reference 👏 their 👏 cleavage
The ending, while surprising to me, made the book worth reading.
I finished it. That's the best I can say for this book. The first one had some problems, but the idea of the mages and the old gods was interesting enough to go ahead and read the second book.. unfortunately the problems in the first book are just amplified in the second book.
The characters only exist to be plot tools, and it's obvious. There are no unique voices in this novel, everyone just sounds the same. The dialogue is weird- I don't know any teenagers who talk the way he wrote them to. But I could bear the strange dialogue choices and the protagonist being annoyingly perfect until the author took a sharp turn into "all teen girls are sluts who want to have a god's babies" territory. Not even just being horny teenagers, but specifically to be impregnated. It's ridiculous. Who is this book even for?
The weird turn into babymaking land was accompanied by Card weaving his religious ideas into the text as well. We get it, you're a Mormon (and it's plain in most of his books) but the heavy-handedness of this one was hard to overlook.
I'm any case, I will only read the final book for the purposes of hate-reading, at this point.
The characters only exist to be plot tools, and it's obvious. There are no unique voices in this novel, everyone just sounds the same. The dialogue is weird- I don't know any teenagers who talk the way he wrote them to. But I could bear the strange dialogue choices and the protagonist being annoyingly perfect until the author took a sharp turn into "all teen girls are sluts who want to have a god's babies" territory. Not even just being horny teenagers, but specifically to be impregnated. It's ridiculous. Who is this book even for?
The weird turn into babymaking land was accompanied by Card weaving his religious ideas into the text as well. We get it, you're a Mormon (and it's plain in most of his books) but the heavy-handedness of this one was hard to overlook.
I'm any case, I will only read the final book for the purposes of hate-reading, at this point.
Yeah, nah. I don't know what I expected from Orson Scott Card, but these audiobooks were on my library's Overdrive and I thought the premise sounded pretty fun. I actually enjoyed the first one, mostly, but I did not finish this one. It was...ok, but gradually became more weird and anti-woman as it went on. Then all of a sudden the protagonist had a train of thought where he came to the realisation that all women are manipulative and out to control men and get their own way. I was done, I learnt my lesson.
This book is obviously written by a Mormon. The worlds in the books are terribly creative but the characters and plot line are extremely unimaginative.
Every female character is weak and thier only desires are procreation according to the author. And the author is talking about teenagers here.
Christianity shows up right when you wonder if there is a point to this whole book and then dominates the plot.
Sex, sex, underage sex, sex??, yes - always sex.
Not written for adults but not something I'd be okay with my teenager reading.
Every female character is weak and thier only desires are procreation according to the author. And the author is talking about teenagers here.
Christianity shows up right when you wonder if there is a point to this whole book and then dominates the plot.
Sex, sex, underage sex, sex??, yes - always sex.
Not written for adults but not something I'd be okay with my teenager reading.
4 stars. Pretty exciting. I love the tie-in to Egyptian Mythology.
Danny doesn't seem too frazzled despite dealing with so much. He has to balance familial expectations and feelings, friends, betrayals, impending war, the Bel Mage, school, track, etc. but he feels and acts the same as he does when without all of these issues. I just wish he were a little more "human."
The whole love/in love/girl bit. Is that a God thing? Everyone's feelings are just so sudden and deep, even Danny's.
I could not care less about Anonoei and her children. She is the ultimate schemer.
I really like Hermia and hope that she can be redeemed. It'd be a shame if she were faking camaraderie this whole time.
Spoiler
Some things that bother me:Danny doesn't seem too frazzled despite dealing with so much. He has to balance familial expectations and feelings, friends, betrayals, impending war, the Bel Mage, school, track, etc. but he feels and acts the same as he does when without all of these issues. I just wish he were a little more "human."
The whole love/in love/girl bit. Is that a God thing? Everyone's feelings are just so sudden and deep, even Danny's.
I could not care less about Anonoei and her children. She is the ultimate schemer.
I really like Hermia and hope that she can be redeemed. It'd be a shame if she were faking camaraderie this whole time.
This one, and the first, have some neat ideas and possibilities but just not the level of what to expect from Card. I was actually bored at points and found myself skimming to reach the end. There is a good bit of over explanation at times.