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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Read about 100 pages and nothing really happened. Main character of Simon wasn’t interesting either.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I read on goodreads that people said this was a “Slow burn" but at times this was a slow crawl down a very long road, in the dark, with nothing to guide you out of the swamp you've ended up wading in.
This book took me, what felt like approximately 74 years to finish, it just goes on and on and on.
If you’re after fast-paced action, look elsewhere. If you enjoy encyclopedic lore dumps and a protagonist who spends most of the plot confused and bumping into the storyline, welcome aboard.
Simon, our so-called hero, is... there. He’s present. A thoroughly beige main character. Hard to care much about him, though I will grudgingly admit that one line in chapter 42 genuinely made me laugh out loud (you’ll know it when get there, pure gold amidst the porridge).
That said, I do have to hand it to Tad Williams, the worldbuilding is dense. And by the end, you realise that the slow, lore-heavy groundwork actually does pay off in some satisfying ways. There’s a sense of grandeur you only get from epic fantasy that takes its sweet time.
However. The dreams. Oh god, the dreams. I lost count of how many times Simon conveniently “had a vision” to push the plot forward.
A respectable epic, but one that demands patience, caffeine, and a group of fellow buddy readers. I liked it enough to keep going with the series… eventually.
3.5 /5
Really enjoyed the story so far... but the pace !!!!
Very little happens (Action Wise) until about 90%.
The Book is almost purely setting up for the next books in the series I presume.
The book is VERY heavy on cast and they are introduced endlessly.
All in all a solid book.
p.s. You can really see the influence it has had for Game of Thrones. Sometimes it is shockingly obvious which parts GOT has used.
Really enjoyed the story so far... but the pace !!!!
Very little happens (Action Wise) until about 90%.
The Book is almost purely setting up for the next books in the series I presume.
The book is VERY heavy on cast and they are introduced endlessly.
All in all a solid book.
p.s. You can really see the influence it has had for Game of Thrones. Sometimes it is shockingly obvious which parts GOT has used.
I tried. I made it about 400 pages, but I just could not care what happened to any of the characters. I only kept it up so long because this book was a gift and some of the endorsements on the back were impressive. But I quit.
adventurous
slow-paced
I don't know why I expected this book to be much more difficult to read, but the writing style was very easy to get through. There were a lot of characters and sadly besides the main ones and a couple of side characters, none of them really shone through (and in fact I had to consult the appendix to remind myself who was who), but I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
adventurous
slow-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated