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4.29 AVERAGE
4.29 AVERAGE
I finished the book. I go into details about some major dissappointments from the book, but the primary reason why I disliked it is the lack of fulfilled promises.
The beginning, a School arc, is strong and engaging. I was willing to forgive the main character's perfect and impeccable ability to do everything because I appreciated how the circumstances led him to each result. It never felt bare-assed, you know? Besides, this is epic fantasy, and how can you have an epic fantasy if the main character dies right away? Even in the least of Gary Stu cases, I know 90% of the time which characters will live and which are expendable. Even Game of Thrones reveals that.
But heavens, does the plot begin to kick mud in the back half. We hustle from warfront to warfront, names all blending together because of the insane number of "e"'s in each one, magical intrigue being greedily ear-marked for a later release. The consequences of each laborious war campaign are barely a paragraph's worth of prose. The Cumbraelin campaign was so close to being a game-changer but it was merely a 30 page stint into epic design before Vaelin returns to conformity, and literally abandons one of the most interesting character and plot moments in the damn book.
The relationship of father and son is not explored in the least, while at the same time being the fulcrum upon which the main character's actions and desires balance. We have to somehow relate with the main character's hatred for his father for 600 pages when the father is in the book for perhaps the first 20 pages. Even John Wick did it better. Revenge is earned, not expected!
I am most angered, however, by the total anti-climax of VAELIN AL SORNA, THE HOPE KILLER.
Spoiler
What a gargantuan dingleberry of a plot hook that dangles in the opening prelude. Joe Abercrombie's Logen Ninefingers is a named man as well, but its a rather modest name, isn't it? One could argue it describes him as less of a man. And yet Vaelin, the 21 year old super star, is the literal murderer of Hope incarnate. Vaelin's murder of hope is straight up dumb. It is so inane as to be comedic.
I really enjoyed this book. In a couple places, it felt a little long or a little ponderous, but my enjoyment didn't suffer for that. The characters were good, the mythos entertaining, and I'll certainly read the sequels.
fairly solid entry to the ‘boy becomes elite soldier through state-sanctioned child abuse and ~magic~ in a gritty fantasy setting’ canon.
the author has a deft hand with information reveals. he seeds information so the reader discovers things at the same time as his characters. and while the 'hero tells his tale to a scribe' trope is well-trodden there is a fun twist to it in this case.
but it's a book of two halves. the first half builds quite nicely with that coming-of-age story but then it's... all over the place, tbh. characters are summoned from implausible distance because they're needed for a scene. subplots are remembered and tied up almost by chance. plus, standard for the genre, the female characters leave a lot to be desired. there is one particularly egregious sexy lamp and the 'romance' plot had me fully scratching my head.
not terrible, but looking at the reviews of the rest of the series I might take a miss.
the author has a deft hand with information reveals. he seeds information so the reader discovers things at the same time as his characters. and while the 'hero tells his tale to a scribe' trope is well-trodden there is a fun twist to it in this case.
but it's a book of two halves. the first half builds quite nicely with that coming-of-age story but then it's... all over the place, tbh. characters are summoned from implausible distance because they're needed for a scene. subplots are remembered and tied up almost by chance. plus, standard for the genre, the female characters leave a lot to be desired. there is one particularly egregious sexy lamp and the 'romance' plot had me fully scratching my head.
not terrible, but looking at the reviews of the rest of the series I might take a miss.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
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
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Listened/read with Whispersync
I wasn’t the biggest fan of the narrator’s soft spoken voice, it felt like I was listening to a meditation track at times. A lot of his voices were very similar, both male and female.
The book did start off pretty slow, but the world and character building and development that it did made it worth while once the story picked up.
The last 75 pages or so were absolutely incredible, and make you want to jump straight into book 2 to continue the story!
I wasn’t the biggest fan of the narrator’s soft spoken voice, it felt like I was listening to a meditation track at times. A lot of his voices were very similar, both male and female.
The book did start off pretty slow, but the world and character building and development that it did made it worth while once the story picked up.
The last 75 pages or so were absolutely incredible, and make you want to jump straight into book 2 to continue the story!
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's gritty, dark, violent fantasy tinged with some supernatural and chosen one vibes. Much of the book follows a group of kids training and becoming traumatized to be effective fighters later. As such, this book doesn't provide much unless you seek blood-soaked battles and agonized internal conflicts. If you enjoy grim battle fantasy and watching characters face trials and develop into maturity, there's plenty here to enjoy. Without the former, I would suggest you read something more Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb.