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4.29 AVERAGE
4.29 AVERAGE
I usually am not into epic fantasies that much. I dont usually have the patience to follow a lot of characters but this was just the right amount for me in every aspect. Loved it.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So, I enjoyed reading this book most of the way through. Then I just wanted it to be over. It felt like a long journey and no part was especially exciting or boring.
Perhaps because I listened to the audiobook, I had a hard time remembering who was who. Every time a character returned, I had to wait for Vaelin to recall the memorable thing about that person. This was especially a problem at the very end when a few people were referred to without their names.
Another thing that bothered me was the shifting in time. In the framing story, Vaelin would refer to something and then the main story would shift to one point. Then it'd randomly go back further with little indication that it had shifted again. This also may have be less of a problem if I wasn't listening to the book.
That being said, I did enjoy the book and intend to finish the series. I need to decide whether it's worth rereading this book first - on paper, of course.
Perhaps because I listened to the audiobook, I had a hard time remembering who was who. Every time a character returned, I had to wait for Vaelin to recall the memorable thing about that person. This was especially a problem at the very end when a few people were referred to without their names.
Another thing that bothered me was the shifting in time. In the framing story, Vaelin would refer to something and then the main story would shift to one point. Then it'd randomly go back further with little indication that it had shifted again. This also may have be less of a problem if I wasn't listening to the book.
That being said, I did enjoy the book and intend to finish the series. I need to decide whether it's worth rereading this book first - on paper, of course.
The voice in this book was enough to pull me through. Also, there were no blatant "look at how much power he has!" moments, which made me happy. I'd like to continue the series, but I'm not going to binge them.
I debated on the right word to use to describe what I loved most about this book. In the end, I decided on REALISM. Some might call it gritty. Whatever you call it, I love Ryan's writing style. His use of language is among the most enjoyable I've ever read. I actually liked Ryan's style better than Rothfuss, who I felt was amazing. I felt like I was right there with the characters, experiencing their emotions, thinking their thoughts, struggling with their choices, etc. 5 stars for that more than anything. The pacing was a bit hit and miss for me; for the most part the story progressed quite nicely with the right level of pacing. However, the last few chapters seemed oddly out of place with the rest of the book. It's as if the publisher told him to change things up and he scrambled to incorporate their input or something similar.
Final thoughts, THOROUGHLY enjoyed this book and highly recommend to fans of Gemmell and Rothfuss. I will certainly be reading Ryan's other books.
For readers who like to know the content they're getting into like myself: very minimal sexual content and what's there is generic and kid-friendly, in my opinion. Violence can be a bit brutal but nothing feels overly graphic. Does contain some language but it's sparse and definitely the exception.
Final thoughts, THOROUGHLY enjoyed this book and highly recommend to fans of Gemmell and Rothfuss. I will certainly be reading Ryan's other books.
For readers who like to know the content they're getting into like myself: very minimal sexual content and what's there is generic and kid-friendly, in my opinion. Violence can be a bit brutal but nothing feels overly graphic. Does contain some language but it's sparse and definitely the exception.
"He had seen men drunk before but never on blood.
I make it a point of not reading books that I don't think I will like, but sometimes I like books more than I expect to like them. This is one of those. I expected it to be a lot darker than I like to read, and it was dark, but it was also well written and had so many underlying tones of hope and goodness that it kept the darkness from being overpowering.
Vaelin was a really likable character, which surprised me somewhat. For no real reason either. I enjoyed his progression from beginning to end. From a young child and on into adulthood, his story is never easy. He does some terrible things along the way--he's definitely not an innocent man, but he's also good in a lot of ways and I loved that about him.
A majority of the other characters were also likable. My favorites were Nortah and Frentis, though neither of them appeared as much as I would have liked, particularly near the end.
While I did really enjoy this novel a lot, I don't know that I will continue with the series. I've heard so many negative things about the following installments, particularly the final one, and I don't want to ruin how much I liked this one. In a few months I will reevaluate and see if I have changed my mind on that. I won't have time to pick it up before then anyway.
A traditional coming of age story embedded in a frame story with untrustworthy narrative voice.
A bit of magic, humans only, shallow descriptions of different cultures, some very unbelievable bits of setting (e.g. half of the boys dying during education, really?), some wrong facts (e.g. sharp swords to cut through... plate mail?): This is not the greatest piece of world building that you've ever read, and it is missing the sense of wonder.
Some might like the direct prose without lyric ambitions (disregarding some songs with "rhyme or I'll kill you"), but I missed at least a bit finesse in it.
I found the tension arc to be sagging due to many narrative fillers. I think the novel could be written in half the size without missing anything.
The story raises many questions about the motivation of the characters or introduces changes too abruptly. E.g. Vaelin goes on the long hunt to punish Nortah; it seems to me that there would be no trial but instant death penalty; instead, Vaelin meets his brother and somehow decides to throw away his former conviction and order and save Nortah. I'd think these changes need proper motivation. Instead, they mostly came without forewarning, like so many actions: Deus ex machina is one of the most prominent literary figures in this novel - whenever some things turn bad for the hero, there will turn up a mystical wolf to save him. Or his counterparts are just too dumb to do the right thing.
This novel is ok, you might even like it. But it doesn't deserve the hype built around it, trying to shove it in the same league of works like Tigana, Name of the Wind, Word of Radiance, Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings.
A bit of magic, humans only, shallow descriptions of different cultures, some very unbelievable bits of setting (e.g. half of the boys dying during education, really?), some wrong facts (e.g. sharp swords to cut through... plate mail?): This is not the greatest piece of world building that you've ever read, and it is missing the sense of wonder.
Some might like the direct prose without lyric ambitions (disregarding some songs with "rhyme or I'll kill you"), but I missed at least a bit finesse in it.
I found the tension arc to be sagging due to many narrative fillers. I think the novel could be written in half the size without missing anything.
The story raises many questions about the motivation of the characters or introduces changes too abruptly. E.g. Vaelin goes on the long hunt to punish Nortah; it seems to me that there would be no trial but instant death penalty; instead, Vaelin meets his brother and somehow decides to throw away his former conviction and order and save Nortah. I'd think these changes need proper motivation. Instead, they mostly came without forewarning, like so many actions: Deus ex machina is one of the most prominent literary figures in this novel - whenever some things turn bad for the hero, there will turn up a mystical wolf to save him. Or his counterparts are just too dumb to do the right thing.
This novel is ok, you might even like it. But it doesn't deserve the hype built around it, trying to shove it in the same league of works like Tigana, Name of the Wind, Word of Radiance, Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings.
I enjoyed reading this book but it didn’t blow my socks off. The plot follows a typical fantasy vein: the development and training of a young man into a great warrior through a set of tests and challenges accompanied by a number of loyal companions.
I liked the religious aspect in the book, the different orders and the mystery surrounding a secretive seventh one; while it is not an original concept I think Ryan did a good job in describing the different skills and goals. The “blood song” gift is a bit puzzling, it serves different purposes, lie detector and warning system, communication between similarly gifted individuals, a gut feeling but also a weapon. Vaelin is strong, dutiful and loyal to a fault, perhaps too perfect to be completely credible.
In general, I found that the women are weakly portrayed; there is some very chaste romance, Valelin’s mother had potential but her character is not well developed; sadly two-dimensional female characters is often a fault of the genre.
The narration is not always fluid, I was left confused by the author jumping forwards and backwards a couple of times; however despite being a long book I was never bored. The twist at the end did not wow me. If it was meant to entice me onto reading the next book, it failed and if fact it put me off a bit.
On the other hand, there are a number of characters that I would like to hear more about: Erlin, Sella, Nortah, Caenis, princess Lyrna and of course I’d like to know the identity of “the one who waits”, so I might read the second book in the series but at present there are other books that I’d like to read first.
I liked the religious aspect in the book, the different orders and the mystery surrounding a secretive seventh one; while it is not an original concept I think Ryan did a good job in describing the different skills and goals. The “blood song” gift is a bit puzzling, it serves different purposes, lie detector and warning system, communication between similarly gifted individuals, a gut feeling but also a weapon. Vaelin is strong, dutiful and loyal to a fault, perhaps too perfect to be completely credible.
In general, I found that the women are weakly portrayed; there is some very chaste romance, Valelin’s mother had potential but her character is not well developed; sadly two-dimensional female characters is often a fault of the genre.
The narration is not always fluid, I was left confused by the author jumping forwards and backwards a couple of times; however despite being a long book I was never bored. The twist at the end did not wow me. If it was meant to entice me onto reading the next book, it failed and if fact it put me off a bit.
On the other hand, there are a number of characters that I would like to hear more about: Erlin, Sella, Nortah, Caenis, princess Lyrna and of course I’d like to know the identity of “the one who waits”, so I might read the second book in the series but at present there are other books that I’d like to read first.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated