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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
Providence of Fire veers away markedly from The Emperor's Blades and that is a great improvement. Emperor's Blades was more traditional fantasy, old wine in new bottle but Providence of Fire is extremely willing to shake the status quo and push characters into markedly new uncomfortable territory. Given how little time Adare got in book 1, she is front & center here striking her own path, making her own bold decisions (if at times suicidal) and compromising when situations turn against her. However the easy pace that marked book 1 is lacking with some stretches where you just have to soldier on.
This is one of those uncommon times when the sophomore effort is better than the first. This is definitely not a filler book. Where to begin?
I know I like a book/series when I actually care about the fates of most of the characters, when I'm emotionally invested (hello, Ned Stark). I read this immediately after finishing The Emperor's Blades, and I've gone through a roller coaster of emotions for the 3 kids. I thought Valyn was cool, kick-ass, until he became hot-headed fool. Kaden was meek and naive - until he started using his skills and Daes dae'maring his way into Annurian politics. These 2 books felt like WoT-lite. Especially when we come to Adare. Adare reminded me so much of WoT's Elayne - and I hated Elayne. She's in way over her head. She panics, becomes hysterical, and makes the worst decisions. I want her to get bitch-slapped by Annick and/or Triste so badly.
Everyone tries to control their lives, but there are bigger things in play. Everyone's a pawn in the hands of major and lesser gods.
When is book 3 coming out?!
P.S. And all that 'Kent-kissing reminded me of the braid-tugging in WoT. :D
I know I like a book/series when I actually care about the fates of most of the characters, when I'm emotionally invested (hello, Ned Stark). I read this immediately after finishing The Emperor's Blades, and I've gone through a roller coaster of emotions for the 3 kids. I thought Valyn was cool, kick-ass, until he became hot-headed fool. Kaden was meek and naive - until he started using his skills and Daes dae'maring his way into Annurian politics. These 2 books felt like WoT-lite. Especially when we come to Adare. Adare reminded me so much of WoT's Elayne - and I hated Elayne. She's in way over her head. She panics, becomes hysterical, and makes the worst decisions. I want her to get bitch-slapped by Annick and/or Triste so badly.
Everyone tries to control their lives, but there are bigger things in play. Everyone's a pawn in the hands of major and lesser gods.
When is book 3 coming out?!
P.S. And all that 'Kent-kissing reminded me of the braid-tugging in WoT. :D
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a little bit better than the first book but I think the pacing is still kinda slow.
Adare's storyline is quite strong, but this girl have some questionable decisions And Oshi, Nira, and Fulton makes her story more interesting.
Kaden once again has the most interesting storyline due to the mystery surrounding Triste, the Csestriim, and the Ishien.
Meanwhile, Valyn is Valyn, still surrounded by the conspiracy, between the opposing teams, and it gets a little bit boring . . . sometimes.
Aside from the siblings' POV, he have Gwenna's and I got to say that hers is better than Valyn's. And her character improved a lot in this book, but I'm hoping to see more of Annick but sadly she's still the quiet one and still good with her bow and arrows.
Adare's storyline is quite strong, but this girl have some questionable decisions
Spoiler
especially when he stabbed Valyn because she persists that they badly need il Tornja.Kaden once again has the most interesting storyline due to the mystery surrounding Triste, the Csestriim, and the Ishien.
Meanwhile, Valyn is Valyn, still surrounded by the conspiracy, between the opposing teams, and it gets a little bit boring . . . sometimes.
Spoiler
And flier Laith just fucking dies, like he didn't go with a bang. He just says oh I'm going to join the battle, then after a few paragraph he dies. I know he was weakened by an arrow by an "ally" and shows the reality of battles, but still it's quite saddening for me.Aside from the siblings' POV, he have Gwenna's and I got to say that hers is better than Valyn's. And her character improved a lot in this book, but I'm hoping to see more of Annick but sadly she's still the quiet one and still good with her bow and arrows.
I switched between the audiobook and ebook because I found it was taking me too long to read.
Overall the book was ok but I have a few mixed feelings about it:
1. First, it was wayy too long. The writing was great but the pacing was somewhat inconsistent; the first half was too stretched out and it felt like the plot kept dragging on, and when things did get exciting they felt very rushed and the book ended too abruptly.
2. Unfortunately The Providence of Fire had second-book syndrome. It seemed like the book existed purely as a bridge to book three because the plot focused more on world-building and revealed a lot of interesting details about the religion/gods .
3. The secondary characters definitely saved this book. I couldn't believe how much I disliked the three main characters considering how much I was rooting for them in book one.
So while it seems like there are more cons than pros, I did enjoy The Providence of Fire but it didn't live up to my expectations after reading The Emperor's Blades.
Overall the book was ok but I have a few mixed feelings about it:
1. First, it was wayy too long. The writing was great but the pacing was somewhat inconsistent; the first half was too stretched out and it felt like the plot kept dragging on, and when things did get exciting they felt very rushed and the book ended too abruptly.
2. Unfortunately The Providence of Fire had second-book syndrome. It seemed like the book existed purely as a bridge to book three because the plot focused more on world-building and revealed a lot of interesting details about the religion/gods .
3. The secondary characters definitely saved this book. I couldn't believe how much I disliked the three main characters considering how much I was rooting for them in book one.
So while it seems like there are more cons than pros, I did enjoy The Providence of Fire but it didn't live up to my expectations after reading The Emperor's Blades.
IDK why but I am not captivated by this series as much as I thought I was ? Its nice but its also so plainly mediocre and with the pile of TBR that I need to read, this series has painstakingly low chances of being completed anytime soon :(
2.5 stars - Really disappointed in this sequel, since I loved the first book in the series. Kaden, Valyn, and Adare all had unique perspectives and journeys in book 1 and I was looking forward to them teaming up to defeat their common enemies. Unfortunately the siblings' character development quickly unravels, and they continue to be at odds with each other because of shitty communication skills and poor decision-making. This drama felt unnecessary and unrewarding. Unlike other readers, I didn't particularly like Gwenna (the other POV) or any of the side characters either, possibly because I had forgotten their motivations/plotlines. Additionally, while I was intrigued by the magical and spiritual systems set in place in book 1, especially the Csestriim and the leaches, this book added in a plethora of gods who also had absurd amounts of power and were just hanging around masquerading as humans. Worse, all the key villains are actually gods, which just made me feel like all of the characters' struggles were pointless as everything is just a giant dei ex machina. I probably won't finish the series since I have no confidence from the reviews that these issues will be resolved.
Tried twice. I just couldn't finish it. I couldn't bring myself to care about any of the three siblings. World was mildly interesting but I wasn't able to get past the characters.