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lvl52_grant's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Honestly, was kind of disappointed with this one. The main character is touted as a tactical genius, but he hardly ever does anything, and loses one of the two military engagements that take place. I read that the magic was cool, but it felt rather basic, and the black powder magic that's the star attraction is basically just cocaine that makes you shoot guns better. All the characters felt bland, I can't tell you any identifying characteristic of any of them besides 2 that have substance abuse problems.
The thing that really got me though was some glaring editing issues. The biggest one was when a character got injured, and woke up afterwards. No specific bodypart was described, and it said that he "touched the bandage, and it flared with pain". I reread the whole section, and there was no mention of his injuries being treated, or of any bandage and it just sucked me right out of the immersion.
All in all, just a big let down. This book has circled around the edge of my attention for years and I'm just disappointed my high expectations weren't met.
The thing that really got me though was some glaring editing issues. The biggest one was when a character got injured, and woke up afterwards. No specific bodypart was described, and it said that he "touched the bandage, and it flared with pain". I reread the whole section, and there was no mention of his injuries being treated, or of any bandage and it just sucked me right out of the immersion.
All in all, just a big let down. This book has circled around the edge of my attention for years and I'm just disappointed my high expectations weren't met.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Alcoholism and Drug abuse
embee007's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
Not for me for the reasons described below; but I will still suggest it to others.
Who I would suggest this for: anyone who's interested in reading about a Revolution, from the beginning, if the idea of "Flintlock Fantasy" piques your interest, Manly Men Fighting & Stuff.
I was bamboozled by a pretty special edition...This is on me - trusting the pretty book, & not looking at reviews beforehand.
(I am ending this after just testing positive for Covid tonight, but I wasn't sick when I started the book & I had the same complaints then...)
Firstly: Representation of female characters. I've read books without any female characters that were done well, & I didn't have any issues. But when there is representation of female characters I want them to be done well, I want them well-developed (not just their chests), & I don't want them all treated horribly (unless everyone is being treated horribly - all is fair in grimdark). If the book is starting to look like a Misogyny Manifesto, then it'll quickly turn into a hate read for me. This book did not tick off any of the good boxes for me. All the women are seen as weak, even the powerful sorcerer, they're bitches, they're stupid. The one woman who is probably more powerful than 90% of the characters, is constantly dismissed because she's mute & in one scene she's ogled then immediately dismissed because, "she was a servant, an uneducated savage." There's one female POV that's thrown in at random, & cleaning & taking care of a kid (not hers) are repeatedly said to be more important than her own life. Slight spoiler:She toys with the idea of revenge, but she's not into it.
Secondly: I still don't entirely understand the magic system, even though I would love to. I tried explaining it to a friend last night, or what I understood of it, & he just kept repeating, "What?!" In disbelief.
Thirdly: I followed along in the text with the audio, & I'm giving the audio 2 1/2 stars as well. The narrator used wildly different voices for a lot of the side characters, but almost all of the main characters had very similar voices, & the narration would often switch midchapter, sometimes multiple times per chapter. Towards the end, I was more listening than reading bc I cared about how the book ended, but not about how the rest of the series goes on, & I had repeated issues of having to go back in the narration, or looking back at the text to figure out wtf was happening, who was speaking, which narrator we were following & when did we suddenly switch.
Who I would suggest this for: anyone who's interested in reading about a Revolution, from the beginning, if the idea of "Flintlock Fantasy" piques your interest, Manly Men Fighting & Stuff.
I was bamboozled by a pretty special edition...This is on me - trusting the pretty book, & not looking at reviews beforehand.
(I am ending this after just testing positive for Covid tonight, but I wasn't sick when I started the book & I had the same complaints then...)
Firstly: Representation of female characters. I've read books without any female characters that were done well, & I didn't have any issues. But when there is representation of female characters I want them to be done well, I want them well-developed (not just their chests), & I don't want them all treated horribly (unless everyone is being treated horribly - all is fair in grimdark). If the book is starting to look like a Misogyny Manifesto, then it'll quickly turn into a hate read for me. This book did not tick off any of the good boxes for me. All the women are seen as weak, even the powerful sorcerer, they're bitches, they're stupid. The one woman who is probably more powerful than 90% of the characters, is constantly dismissed because she's mute & in one scene she's ogled then immediately dismissed because, "she was a servant, an uneducated savage." There's one female POV that's thrown in at random, & cleaning & taking care of a kid (not hers) are repeatedly said to be more important than her own life. Slight spoiler:
Secondly: I still don't entirely understand the magic system, even though I would love to. I tried explaining it to a friend last night, or what I understood of it, & he just kept repeating, "What?!" In disbelief.
Thirdly: I followed along in the text with the audio, & I'm giving the audio 2 1/2 stars as well. The narrator used wildly different voices for a lot of the side characters, but almost all of the main characters had very similar voices, & the narration would often switch midchapter, sometimes multiple times per chapter. Towards the end, I was more listening than reading bc I cared about how the book ended, but not about how the rest of the series goes on, & I had repeated issues of having to go back in the narration, or looking back at the text to figure out wtf was happening, who was speaking, which narrator we were following & when did we suddenly switch.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Murder, Sexual content, Infidelity, Addiction, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Sexism, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Mass/school shootings
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