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4.35 AVERAGE
4.35 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
tense
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:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
This is my third book in the series (counting The Fall novella) and I love the world building continues to pay off. There's major character development from first meeting Calan, Dann, Rist and friends, but more importantly, there's a plan of action and nothing seems to be written just to add words to the page. My only minor compliant is the long list of characters, reading on Kindle made it difficult to remember who everyone was by checking in the back.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In book two of his fantasy epic, Ryan Cahill continues the adventure of Calen, the Draleid, the Dragonrider, to... well, what is it? Save the world, I guess?
This book is an improvement to its predecessor in some departments. It's noticeable that Cahill works on his writing and hones his skills. Dialogs come more naturally and lost their casual, overly witty vibe, the prose in general is more smooth than before. What I still dislike about his writing is that he tries too hard to make his books quoteable which turns out corny at times.
The plot is good, on a surface level. It's predictable but I enjoy this kind of classic fantasy adventure. Problems appear with plot progression and pacing. Some passages are drawn out for way too long - the protagonist spends a quarter of the book walking through a tunnel for example. And sometimes he struggles to get his characters where he needs them for the story to progress which results in clumsy twists and turns that don't feel authentic.
The greatest weakness though, and ultimately what stops this book from earning more than three stars, are the characters. No one really stands out. Not from the various 'good guys', not even Calen as protagonist is particularly interesting. Neither antagonists, the 'generic evil empire' is missing a charismatic villain you can latch onto, and the Uraks as his version of Orcs are bland and boring.
What is most important - there is not nearly enough motivation to antagonize said evil empire, apart from a personal vendetta. The author tells us that those over there are evil, but does not convince us - or me at least. This story is missing an agenda that makes us root for the chosen hero, which is a huge dealbreaker for me if you choose to write this kind of book.
This isn't worse than Of Blood & Fire despite me rating it half a star lower; but as second book to an epic fantasy adventure, I tend to increase my expectations to critical aspects like characters and plot progression.
I hope that Of War & Ruin will turn this into a more believeable 'chosen hero' epic.
This book is an improvement to its predecessor in some departments. It's noticeable that Cahill works on his writing and hones his skills. Dialogs come more naturally and lost their casual, overly witty vibe, the prose in general is more smooth than before. What I still dislike about his writing is that he tries too hard to make his books quoteable which turns out corny at times.
The plot is good, on a surface level. It's predictable but I enjoy this kind of classic fantasy adventure. Problems appear with plot progression and pacing. Some passages are drawn out for way too long - the protagonist spends a quarter of the book walking through a tunnel for example. And sometimes he struggles to get his characters where he needs them for the story to progress which results in clumsy twists and turns that don't feel authentic.
The greatest weakness though, and ultimately what stops this book from earning more than three stars, are the characters. No one really stands out. Not from the various 'good guys', not even Calen as protagonist is particularly interesting. Neither antagonists, the 'generic evil empire' is missing a charismatic villain you can latch onto, and the Uraks as his version of Orcs are bland and boring.
What is most important - there is not nearly enough motivation to antagonize said evil empire, apart from a personal vendetta. The author tells us that those over there are evil, but does not convince us - or me at least. This story is missing an agenda that makes us root for the chosen hero, which is a huge dealbreaker for me if you choose to write this kind of book.
This isn't worse than Of Blood & Fire despite me rating it half a star lower; but as second book to an epic fantasy adventure, I tend to increase my expectations to critical aspects like characters and plot progression.
I hope that Of War & Ruin will turn this into a more believeable 'chosen hero' epic.
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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:
Yes