Reviews - Rotherweird | The StoryGraph

381 reviews for:

Rotherweird

Andrew Caldecott

3.46 AVERAGE

kriswasp's review against another edition

1.0

adventurous lighthearted mysterious slow-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

katy_bee's review against another edition

2.0

This was ok for me. I enjoyed the initial set up. The overall book was quite long and the pacing and character focus felt a bit unbalanced. There are a lot of characters to keep track of. There were a few chapters focused on the "actress" and she was introduced very early but her involvement in the plot and with other characters was minimal and her story petered out. I didn't feel interested in her or Rodney. Meanwhile Valourhands and Ferenson actually felt much more significant by the end but seemed to come out of nowhere. I guess you don't need to follow all characters from start to finish but it felt clunky.

The unfolding of the plot also felt clunky to me, there were some potential "mysteries" that unfolded without a big reveal but also without being clear from the start. A few other bits of plot weren't particularly clear to me and I felt a bit unsatisfied that some of the magic just "was" and there was some Deus ex machina that didn't grab me.

I won't be reading the rest of the series but at least this one came to a fairly defined conclusion.

ryn_reads's review

3.25

adventurous funny mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

ameliaskywalker's review against another edition

3.0

At first slow and confusing and silly, but it then developed into a surprisingly complicated, dense and interesting narrative. One star minus because I felt the ending was a little bit unsatisfying.

annieb123's review against another edition

4.0

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Rotherweird is the first book in a series by Andrew Caldecott. Originally released in 2017, this re-release from Hatchette on their Jo Fletcher imprint was published 4th July. It's a substantial read, 480 pages, and available in hardcover. Other editions are available in other formats. The illustrations by Sasha Laika are brooding and atmospheric and suit the narrative very well. The typesetting is masterful; a work of art.

Over a week after finishing this book and I'm still at a loss how to review it (that almost never happens). It's got so many characteristics from so many disparate genres that it defies a cubbyhole characterization. It's not an alternate timeline fantasy, but it has elements thereof. It's not a YA novel, there are definitely elements which are more mature. It's not dystopian, but it is brooding. The character and place names are whimsical, to say the least...much more Dickensian than Dickens would've ever dared to be.

I -hate- to compare books to other books but whilst reading, this gave me distinct Gormenghast vibes with some Terribly Serious Darkness thrown in along with a dash of Harry Potter and a little typesetting help from Miss Peregrine. It's not derivative of any of the above, Caldecott brings his own expertise to the writing, and it is very well written. If forced, I'd say it's the very elaborate end product of a thought experiment which started out as 'what would happen to a population after 550 years of nearly complete isolation from the outside world'.

It's a fantasy, and well written, and I enjoyed reading it and I'm going to read the rest of the (currently extant) trilogy.

Four stars. Worth a look for people who enjoy weird/dark/niche/intelligent character driven fantasy.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes