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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
4.5 stars
The world beyond Ashk’lan, which only a few days before had beckoned so brightly, now seemed a dark place, filled with treachery and confusion, death and disappointment.
This book has sat in my physical TBR pile at home for well over two years now and I could kick myself for not reading it sooner. The one good thing is that the trilogy is complete so at least I don’t have to wait to read the rest. And, even better, it looks like the author is returning to this world with a new trilogy so, yay! Because I freaking loved this book. I just recently read another fantasy book that featured young protagonists and while I liked it overall, it just didn’t quite measure up. But this, this is the book I wanted that other book to be.
To start with, it begins with a prologue whose significance wasn’t apparent to me until the last few chapters of the book. It certainly sets the tone, though. The story all boils down to the shaping of the future of the Annurian Empire. Its Emperor, Sanlitun, looks to do this through the specialized training of his three children. For the past eight years, his sons, Kaden (the heir) and Valyn, have been training far from their palace home. Kaden at a monastery with a dwindling monk population learning the disciplines of the mind and emotions. Valyn, the youngest child, has been training to become a Kettral, the lands most formidable and elite fighting force. And Adare, who has remained at home receiving instruction on the finer points of palace intrigue at her father’s knee. But there are other forces who want a different future for the empire and they seek to enforce it through treachery and violence.
Resist faith. Resist trust. Believe only in what you touch with your hands. The rest is error and air.
The story is told through the three POVs of the Emperor’s children, though Adare gets the least amount of page time. I think she only gets something like five or six chapters in the whole book...which is a shame since she’s located where the traitorous forces strike first. Hopefully she’ll get more attention in the next book. The ending certainly opens the door to a lot of interesting possibilities. It’s rare for me to like all the POV characters in a multi-POV story but that’s exactly what happened here. Adare, Kaden, and Valyn were all likable and easy to root for. They are all smart and capable but they’re not above making mistakes of judgement . They often show the proof of their youth and inexperience and yet still somehow avoid the “annoying brat” pitfalls into which their genre peers often fall. So refreshing!
The story captivated me from the beginning. I enjoyed reading about Kaden’s training with the monks even though, like him, I didn’t fully appreciate its utility at first. Don’t let the monks fool you, the training is harsh. In real life a lot of what is done to Kaden, and all the other acolytes for that matter, would be deserving of a report to Child Protective Services. And Valyn’s training is even harsher...but at least he’ll get to ride on huge birds once his training is complete. There are also several entertaining secondary characters around Valyn who I hope to see more of in subsequent books. As I mentioned, there’s not a lot of Adare in this book but there are still some important things happening in her POV chapters. And her final chapter? Stuff is coming, that’s all I have to say.
As the danger starts to close in around the three siblings, the tension really starts to amp up. Each sibling faces his or her own dark moment and comes away with a firmer measure of themself. Those last few chapters were really suspenseful. The solid character development and twisty turns made sure that I stayed riveted from start to finish. Adare, Kaden, and Valyn may have their backs against a wall but I can’t wait to see what they do next.
When you’ve only got one choice, you can bitch and moan, or you can draw your blade and start swinging.
The world beyond Ashk’lan, which only a few days before had beckoned so brightly, now seemed a dark place, filled with treachery and confusion, death and disappointment.
This book has sat in my physical TBR pile at home for well over two years now and I could kick myself for not reading it sooner. The one good thing is that the trilogy is complete so at least I don’t have to wait to read the rest. And, even better, it looks like the author is returning to this world with a new trilogy so, yay! Because I freaking loved this book. I just recently read another fantasy book that featured young protagonists and while I liked it overall, it just didn’t quite measure up. But this, this is the book I wanted that other book to be.
To start with, it begins with a prologue whose significance wasn’t apparent to me until the last few chapters of the book. It certainly sets the tone, though. The story all boils down to the shaping of the future of the Annurian Empire. Its Emperor, Sanlitun, looks to do this through the specialized training of his three children. For the past eight years, his sons, Kaden (the heir) and Valyn, have been training far from their palace home. Kaden at a monastery with a dwindling monk population learning the disciplines of the mind and emotions. Valyn, the youngest child, has been training to become a Kettral, the lands most formidable and elite fighting force. And Adare, who has remained at home receiving instruction on the finer points of palace intrigue at her father’s knee. But there are other forces who want a different future for the empire and they seek to enforce it through treachery and violence.
Resist faith. Resist trust. Believe only in what you touch with your hands. The rest is error and air.
The story is told through the three POVs of the Emperor’s children, though Adare gets the least amount of page time. I think she only gets something like five or six chapters in the whole book...which is a shame since she’s located where the traitorous forces strike first. Hopefully she’ll get more attention in the next book. The ending certainly opens the door to a lot of interesting possibilities. It’s rare for me to like all the POV characters in a multi-POV story but that’s exactly what happened here. Adare, Kaden, and Valyn were all likable and easy to root for. They are all smart and capable but they’re not above making mistakes of judgement . They often show the proof of their youth and inexperience and yet still somehow avoid the “annoying brat” pitfalls into which their genre peers often fall. So refreshing!
The story captivated me from the beginning. I enjoyed reading about Kaden’s training with the monks even though, like him, I didn’t fully appreciate its utility at first. Don’t let the monks fool you, the training is harsh. In real life a lot of what is done to Kaden, and all the other acolytes for that matter, would be deserving of a report to Child Protective Services. And Valyn’s training is even harsher...but at least he’ll get to ride on huge birds once his training is complete. There are also several entertaining secondary characters around Valyn who I hope to see more of in subsequent books. As I mentioned, there’s not a lot of Adare in this book but there are still some important things happening in her POV chapters. And her final chapter? Stuff is coming, that’s all I have to say.
As the danger starts to close in around the three siblings, the tension really starts to amp up. Each sibling faces his or her own dark moment and comes away with a firmer measure of themself. Those last few chapters were really suspenseful. The solid character development and twisty turns made sure that I stayed riveted from start to finish. Adare, Kaden, and Valyn may have their backs against a wall but I can’t wait to see what they do next.
When you’ve only got one choice, you can bitch and moan, or you can draw your blade and start swinging.
This is a 2013 debut and it shows, especially after having read Skullsworn, a more recent work from the same author. It has some problems, and I'd argue it's longer than it needed to be. I might have given this book three starts, but to be honest that one less star would have been a matter of personal preference with some of the themes, and that would be unfair on the writer. So, there, four stars. I liked the story and the characters, and I'm excited to keep reading.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
Bloody Hell, could it have taken longer to get to the point? Or to have anyone at least pretend they were the least bit intelligent?
If these kids are supposed to be the saviors of this empire, they are pretty poor specimens for heroes. Fine, fine, if they have to be young and stupid, so be it. But not even their advisers seem to be helpful, at least they could be getting some good advise or anything that's not cryptic and complicated.
It took way too long to get this story started and the characters were just lucky, there was no real decisions that saved them, they just happened to survive and happened to get magic powers and happened to do nothing useful.
Moving on, though I don't know to what, apparently my choices need some reviewing.
If these kids are supposed to be the saviors of this empire, they are pretty poor specimens for heroes. Fine, fine, if they have to be young and stupid, so be it. But not even their advisers seem to be helpful, at least they could be getting some good advise or anything that's not cryptic and complicated.
It took way too long to get this story started and the characters were just lucky, there was no real decisions that saved them, they just happened to survive and happened to get magic powers and happened to do nothing useful.
Moving on, though I don't know to what, apparently my choices need some reviewing.
Read about 46% and it just felt like nothing was happening. I didn’t care about the characters or their individual story lines. It felt like no progress was being made
Brian Staveley's debut is fantastic and I think Brian is one of the most well rounded fantasy authors currently working. He is good at everything: prose, world building, character building, and plotting. If you have any interest in mysterious monks or fantasy Black Ops units that ride on giant hawks than you'll enjoy this book. If you enjoy excellent fantasy writing, as in the quality of the prose and the character development, than you'll enjoy this book. Read it.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Kaden il fratello "Monaco Shin" eredita il trono, Valyn l'altro fratello, comandante delle Forze Speciali "Kettral", lo protegge da un complotto mentre in patria, Adara la sorella, Ministra dell'Impero Anunniano , vendica l assassinio del loro padre
Il Fratello "Monaco Shin" eredita il trono, l'altro fratello, comandante delle Forze Speciali "Kettral", lo protegge da un complotto mentre in patria la sorella, Ministra dell'Impero, vendica l assassinio del loro padre
2017 review:
I'm not gonna lie, I mostly bought this book because of the beautiful (in my opinion) cover. Unfortunately, the cover ended up being the best part about this book. But I did end up giving it three stars, so it was an okay book. The writing was okay, the plot was okay, the characters were okay. It dragged a lot in the middle, when both Kaden and Valyn just had endless training sessions over and over again.
I also think Adare should've had more chapters (she had so few compared to her brothers!), it would've been really interesting to see her manoveur her way around the court after her father's death, and maybe the author could've given us more hints about how deep the conspiracy against her family is.
If the next book in the series is cheap I'll probably read it, if not I probably won't.
I'm not gonna lie, I mostly bought this book because of the beautiful (in my opinion) cover. Unfortunately, the cover ended up being the best part about this book. But I did end up giving it three stars, so it was an okay book. The writing was okay, the plot was okay, the characters were okay. It dragged a lot in the middle, when both Kaden and Valyn just had endless training sessions over and over again.
I also think Adare should've had more chapters (she had so few compared to her brothers!), it would've been really interesting to see her manoveur her way around the court after her father's death, and maybe the author could've given us more hints about how deep the conspiracy against her family is.
If the next book in the series is cheap I'll probably read it, if not I probably won't.
READING PROGRESS
January 9, 2017 – Started Reading
January 9, 2017 – Shelved
January 13, 2017 –
page 103 21.46%
page 103 21.46%
January 14, 2017 –
page 164 34.17% "I wish Adare was in the book more. Her and Kaden are my favorite characters. Not a fan of Valyn so far."
page 164 34.17% "I wish Adare was in the book more. Her and Kaden are my favorite characters. Not a fan of Valyn so far."
January 16, 2017 –
page 219 45.63%
page 219 45.63%
January 17, 2017 –
page 309 64.38%
page 309 64.38%
January 20, 2017 – Finished Reading