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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
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
The Vordani empire keeps an army in Khandar just to install or maintain power over their chosen puppet monarch, and after the Khandar people revolt against the stupid and venal prince, the Vordani colonial army is sent in to break the revolution. Marcus d'Ivoire and Winter Ihrenglass both serve in the Vordani empire's colonial army. Marcus came to Khandar to accompany his old military academy friend, and has actually created a good life for himself. Winter is in Khandar because it's as far as she could get from the workhouse she escaped from, and no one here suspects she's a woman. They both assume their orders to restore the Khandar prince are impossible and they'll soon return to the Vordani empire. But then Count Colonel Janus bet Vhalnich sails in, takes control of the colonial army, and restarts a war everyone thought was over. Marcus and Winter each strategize to keep their respective forces alive while fumbling toward understanding of Janus's true purpose.
I really liked this for a few hundred pages, until I realized that Khandar was never going to be anything more than the coded-Middle-East ~exotic~ setting in which desert nomads ambush the heroes and practice a terrifying religion. (The Vordani empire has a terrifying religion of their own, equally blatantly coded Western European Christian.) The two Khandar characters I thought were view point main characters like Marcus and Winter actually aren't--they get 1-2 chapters in total and otherwise exist entirely in the background of the white Vordani characters' arcs. Even if I could put aside the uncomfortable feelings of colonialism and racism, I was frustrated with how Marcus was written. I think I was supposed to think he and Janus had this great beginning of a sort of Holmes&Watson friendship, but I was just endlessly frustrated with Marcus missing obvious things likeAdrecht being awful, every single one of Janus's plans, and Jen manipulating him and how the narrative kept telling me that Janus was super brilliant/inscrutable/impressive/smart/the best swordsman/so sophisticated/blah blah blah. After the first three hundred pages the only thing that kept me reading was Winter, who (unlike Marcus or Janus) we actually see be a good strategist and actually seems like a good person. In the end she gets magic! So that's cool.
I really liked this for a few hundred pages, until I realized that Khandar was never going to be anything more than the coded-Middle-East ~exotic~ setting in which desert nomads ambush the heroes and practice a terrifying religion. (The Vordani empire has a terrifying religion of their own, equally blatantly coded Western European Christian.) The two Khandar characters I thought were view point main characters like Marcus and Winter actually aren't--they get 1-2 chapters in total and otherwise exist entirely in the background of the white Vordani characters' arcs. Even if I could put aside the uncomfortable feelings of colonialism and racism, I was frustrated with how Marcus was written. I think I was supposed to think he and Janus had this great beginning of a sort of Holmes&Watson friendship, but I was just endlessly frustrated with Marcus missing obvious things like
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation
Minor: Rape
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really enjoyed how the book took us through this adventure through the viewpoints of two very different people. Especially when you could view the same event in very different ways.
Setting wise, there wasn't a bunch different in this world in comparison with the 1700s. Medicine involved chopping off limbs, military tactics involved standing in lines and firing at each other, major European like powers are colonizing other nations and the world is split between religious factions that control certain key world powers. Oh, and there are demons... but they don't have a big role in this story.
My biggest issue is that the fights are way too easy. They have a Sherlock-like commander who comes up with brilliant plans that lead them to constant victory. In may ways it felt like I was reading a story about someone playing a strategy game on easy and just wiping out the enemy. It would have been nice to have an antagonist which was the equal to the leader of the colonial forces.
Setting wise, there wasn't a bunch different in this world in comparison with the 1700s. Medicine involved chopping off limbs, military tactics involved standing in lines and firing at each other, major European like powers are colonizing other nations and the world is split between religious factions that control certain key world powers. Oh, and there are demons... but they don't have a big role in this story.
My biggest issue is that the fights are way too easy. They have a Sherlock-like commander who comes up with brilliant plans that lead them to constant victory. In may ways it felt like I was reading a story about someone playing a strategy game on easy and just wiping out the enemy. It would have been nice to have an antagonist which was the equal to the leader of the colonial forces.
The characters and their struggles are deeply sympathetic. The book is about an army but there's several prominent female characters, which I really enjoyed. The politics are interesting but colonialism used uncritically as a backdrop is a bit cringy/problematic, and making people gray instead of black doesn't really solve that. Some of the story was kind of predictable but not in an annoying way, because there's always a detail or two you didn't/couldn't guess. I did think the ending was a bit disappointing given how predictable it was, but I was excited about how things ended in terms of being the setup for the next book. At least I assume there's a next book. I'd definitely read it.
The only thing that really bugged me about this book is how amazing the Colonel is. Like he's young but he's a better doctor than doctors, he's a better tactician than officers, he's always paying attention to everything and is smart enough to see through anything, and he's also super pragmatic and creative, as well as nerdy about literally anything. I mean that just seems unlikely. To be fair his mistrust is definitely a flaw but otherwise he seems to be nigh on omniscient. Also Winter being in the middle of everything is a bit too coincidental but ah well.
I generally like competent people who try their best and there's a lot of them here. I got really sad for how things ended for the main male character though, he didn't deserve what happened. Especially after what happened with his friend earlier, that was sad too. I like how Winter asked to find "an old friend" at the end. The story of Winter and her friend was such a simple but harrowing story, I hope they will find out what happened.
The only thing that really bugged me about this book is how amazing the Colonel is. Like he's young but he's a better doctor than doctors, he's a better tactician than officers, he's always paying attention to everything and is smart enough to see through anything, and he's also super pragmatic and creative, as well as nerdy about literally anything. I mean that just seems unlikely. To be fair his mistrust is definitely a flaw but otherwise he seems to be nigh on omniscient. Also Winter being in the middle of everything is a bit too coincidental but ah well.
I generally like competent people who try their best and there's a lot of them here. I got really sad for how things ended for the main male character though, he didn't deserve what happened. Especially after what happened with his friend earlier, that was sad too. I like how Winter asked to find "an old friend" at the end. The story of Winter and her friend was such a simple but harrowing story, I hope they will find out what happened.
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The one word I can use to best describe this novel is; balanced.
I went into reading it with relatively low expectations...I usually find flintlock fantasy very weak or cliche' and was not a fan of McClellan's 'Powder Mage' series whatsoever. That being said, my expectations for 'The Thousand Names' were blown away.
Django Wexler does absolutely everything great in this novel. His writing is easily readable, yet not sophomoric. The pacing was excellent, not too quick and not too drawn-out. Characterization of the main protagonists was good, the action sequences very well done (Napoleonic tactics both realistic and detailed) and exciting. The plot was strong and certainly kept me interested. I also really enjoyed the "soft" magic system that was presented towards the end.
That being said, while Wexler does everything great, nothing here is revolutionary or excellent. The side characters in particular I felt were very weak and un-inspiring. Also, while the plot was strong, there were definitely a few predictable elements that I accurately predicted early on.
The middle section of the book is the weakest, but I would say that went on for only about 60-100 pages or so.
Overall I really enjoyed it and it was certainly a refreshing read. I will be continuing with this series!
I went into reading it with relatively low expectations...I usually find flintlock fantasy very weak or cliche' and was not a fan of McClellan's 'Powder Mage' series whatsoever. That being said, my expectations for 'The Thousand Names' were blown away.
Django Wexler does absolutely everything great in this novel. His writing is easily readable, yet not sophomoric. The pacing was excellent, not too quick and not too drawn-out. Characterization of the main protagonists was good, the action sequences very well done (Napoleonic tactics both realistic and detailed) and exciting. The plot was strong and certainly kept me interested. I also really enjoyed the "soft" magic system that was presented towards the end.
That being said, while Wexler does everything great, nothing here is revolutionary or excellent. The side characters in particular I felt were very weak and un-inspiring. Also, while the plot was strong, there were definitely a few predictable elements that I accurately predicted early on.
The middle section of the book is the weakest, but I would say that went on for only about 60-100 pages or so.
Overall I really enjoyed it and it was certainly a refreshing read. I will be continuing with this series!
A mixed bag of growing potential.
Hard to put down, confidently paced and perfectly sets up a great universe, characters and a compelling storyline.
The operative word here is Set Up. Only at the end is there any semblence of a plot or overarching narrative. The potential for future plots and adventure is staggering and ripe for further character growth. And thats mostly what saves this first book. The characters are compelling, giving weight to the military action and drama that wexler describes in lurid detail.
Although not the strongest opening chapter, The thousand Names is an astoundingly easy read thanks to its interesting characters and blunt and clear description of a military campaign that lacks any apparant plot at the outset.
Hard to put down, confidently paced and perfectly sets up a great universe, characters and a compelling storyline.
The operative word here is Set Up. Only at the end is there any semblence of a plot or overarching narrative. The potential for future plots and adventure is staggering and ripe for further character growth. And thats mostly what saves this first book. The characters are compelling, giving weight to the military action and drama that wexler describes in lurid detail.
Although not the strongest opening chapter, The thousand Names is an astoundingly easy read thanks to its interesting characters and blunt and clear description of a military campaign that lacks any apparant plot at the outset.
A good start to what promises to be a good series. The plot was pretty functional, structurally it was a military campaign that followed a simple pattern of success, success, close shave, success, step change, building tension, near collapse, reversal, final showdown. That being said, each military encounter was well written, no POV errors trying to narrate too much of the action, fog of war very active, no superhuman feats of combat. The writing could do with a bit of tuning up, but I think that will come with time for the writer, there were a few too many non/filler words that needed to be culled, one I particularly noticed was starting sentences with "actually, ". It didn't scan right. I appreciated the inclusion of a strong female POV in what could have been a serious sausage fest. In all, I'd recommend the book, particularly if you enjoy military fiction.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated