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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
So chaotic and so many characters and magic without any explanations.
I'm tempted to give this book two stars just out of principle. The title is irrelevant and the story is just... boring AF.
Update: I rarely do this, but I've spent quite a bit of time reflecting on this book, and I've come to the conclusion that I was, in fact, too generous in giving it a three-star rating... It deserved 2 stars, so I'm re-rating it down to two stars. It was a crap story and a waste of time that left me feeling like I didn't give a sh*t about a single character or any of the stakes involved for the world.
Update: I rarely do this, but I've spent quite a bit of time reflecting on this book, and I've come to the conclusion that I was, in fact, too generous in giving it a three-star rating... It deserved 2 stars, so I'm re-rating it down to two stars. It was a crap story and a waste of time that left me feeling like I didn't give a sh*t about a single character or any of the stakes involved for the world.
This is a re-read. I read the first 3 books in this series about 9 years ago and steadily became more unhappy with each book, so I stopped. I’m trying again because it’s such a beloved series and I don’t think I was in the right mindset back then. I’m happy to report I absolutely loved the first book. From Cotillion possessing Sorry to Rake turning into a dragon, this book is filled with awesome stuff.
Events/takeaways:
Paran has a bond with the Hounds. He rescued two of them from Rake’s sword. And maybe has Hound blood in him? Gave Oponn’s sword to Cotillion.
Tattersail got reborn to the Rhivi
Quick Ben was a high priest of Shadow
Crockus ditched the coin
Empress declared Dujek a traitor. His army and the Black Moranth will go south.
So many god damn things happen
Events/takeaways:
Paran has a bond with the Hounds. He rescued two of them from Rake’s sword. And maybe has Hound blood in him? Gave Oponn’s sword to Cotillion.
Tattersail got reborn to the Rhivi
Quick Ben was a high priest of Shadow
Crockus ditched the coin
Empress declared Dujek a traitor. His army and the Black Moranth will go south.
So many god damn things happen
My god this book was different to what other book I read. Especially at the beginning as you have no idea what's going on. But as the book gets further and further in, my enjoyment and understanding grew and grew. I'm sure this carry on as the 10 book series processes! I'm very much looking forward to them!
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Imaginative and rich world. Boring and disjointed story. It was confusing for the first 7 chapters but the confusion started to pay off in a fun way. After that I realized that not all of the confusion was in the mystery. A lot of the confusion is from literary issues like teleporting characters, people who know things just because the reader knows them, unclear motivations, and disappointing payoffs.
I guess in some way I think this was written to showcase futility. There’s a futility arc in the story and I think that a bunch of things don’t pay off or matter was an attempt to show futility along with the story. For me it is futile to read more of this series.
I guess in some way I think this was written to showcase futility. There’s a futility arc in the story and I think that a bunch of things don’t pay off or matter was an attempt to show futility along with the story. For me it is futile to read more of this series.
This was a tough read for me at first because the writing style is so much different that the other fantasy series I've read. However, once I got used to it I really enjoyed the story.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It's difficult to tell how good an introduction to the Malazan universe this is for a first time reader like me. There's certainly a lot of magic and gods and dragons knocking about. But much of the book seems to focus on the personal lives and interpersonal relationships of characters we're given little reason to care about but who may end up being important in later books. Who knows?
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No