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kazmx's review
4.0
The book is in a way one of the best display of what the planes in a fantasy setting are, that been said it was actually hard reading through them because it felt more like a guide to outer planes than a novel at the middle of the novel. Salim is one character who is intriguing from the beginning of the book. Some characters were marvelous and quite a handful of them deserve their own stories to be told.
Lets breakdown the book, the story is a mix of a police drama and a redemption in a sword and sorcery setting the main character, Salim, is called to investigate the theft of a soul in a desert nation called Thuvia. His assistance is originally recruited by an angel of Pharasma, the goddess that judge souls in the afterlife. Once he arrives in the city where the crime ocurred, he meets High Priest Khoyar and the deceased daughter, Niela. And the whole story revolves on Salim and Niela looking for the criminals that took her father's soul.
In the introduction of the book there were two characters that were treated poorly in the way the were introduced. It seemed that the whole potential of Neila and Khoyar was left to the rest of the book since their first impressions lacked of imagination. But then there was the "enemies of her father" and the book redeemed itself. The crime lord and the half elf make some interesting profiles for the theft, but are quickly dropped, which is sad to say the least. They would make perfect enemies or unlikely allies.
The middle of the book is lost in the outer planes. This is where the book goes sideways. First the amulet that Salim carried seemed more like a Deus ex machinima than a god plot hook. Then the tour through the Axis, the Boneyard and the maelestrom felt exactly like that a tour and not a crime scene. And finally the abyss was completely unnecessary. I have to admit that the way the First World was handled was done beautifully. And the goddess there grab my attention once again.
In the end the last chapters of the book were exciting and well written. But I think the author dropped the ball on some chapters since the through out the whole plot the investigation seemed forced and made look Salim a lot less experienced than he should be. Dismissing the suspects way too easily and never considering other ones.
Lets breakdown the book, the story is a mix of a police drama and a redemption in a sword and sorcery setting the main character, Salim, is called to investigate the theft of a soul in a desert nation called Thuvia. His assistance is originally recruited by an angel of Pharasma, the goddess that judge souls in the afterlife. Once he arrives in the city where the crime ocurred, he meets High Priest Khoyar and the deceased daughter, Niela. And the whole story revolves on Salim and Niela looking for the criminals that took her father's soul.
In the introduction of the book there were two characters that were treated poorly in the way the were introduced. It seemed that the whole potential of Neila and Khoyar was left to the rest of the book since their first impressions lacked of imagination. But then there was the "enemies of her father" and the book redeemed itself. The crime lord and the half elf make some interesting profiles for the theft, but are quickly dropped, which is sad to say the least. They would make perfect enemies or unlikely allies.
The middle of the book is lost in the outer planes. This is where the book goes sideways. First the amulet that Salim carried seemed more like a Deus ex machinima than a god plot hook. Then the tour through the Axis, the Boneyard and the maelestrom felt exactly like that a tour and not a crime scene. And finally the abyss was completely unnecessary. I have to admit that the way the First World was handled was done beautifully. And the goddess there grab my attention once again.
In the end the last chapters of the book were exciting and well written. But I think the author dropped the ball on some chapters since the through out the whole plot the investigation seemed forced and made look Salim a lot less experienced than he should be. Dismissing the suspects way too easily and never considering other ones.
misakattack's review against another edition
4.0
A fun, light read. The two main characters had a surprising amount of depth to them, and the plot was incredibly engaging. Unfortunately, this plot was thrown off-balance by a couple chapters that were totally unnecessary, dragging the pace way down. Besides that weird drag in the middle, this book was a lot better than what I've come to expect from standard RPG-licensed books.
vittorioseg's review against another edition
1.0
I'm not having luck with the pathfinder novels. This is the third I read that honestly simply bored me.
I was wondering why I didn't like it and another reviewer got the nail about the casual sexism and its true. It's very juvenile, but more than that, there is honestly no sense of suspense in the story. You get spoon fed the mystery and the solution and is more like a travelogue to the outer planes than anything else. The character Salim was interesting because you can see how much being in a god thrall hurts him, how much as a "free man" it disgusts him to bow to the gods of golarion. He (and the author) misuse the word Atheist but maybe that's simply the in-world evolution of the phrase and when he explains why I honestly can see where he is coming from.
But the rest is weak. I honestly jumped from the middle to the book to the ending because it was so tedious, to see how it would end and... it was horrible. It was honestly underwhelming how banal and cheap the confrontation and resolution went and the last line between Salim and Ceyanan was so corny that I could only roll my eyes.
So yeah, juvenile sexist, ham-fisted romance and plot weak make a bad reading.
For me, the best part was the beginning when Salim was hunting the ghouls when it looked that it was about to be a terror story that drew me in.
Oh well, another one to go.
I was wondering why I didn't like it and another reviewer got the nail about the casual sexism and its true. It's very juvenile, but more than that, there is honestly no sense of suspense in the story. You get spoon fed the mystery and the solution and is more like a travelogue to the outer planes than anything else. The character Salim was interesting because you can see how much being in a god thrall hurts him, how much as a "free man" it disgusts him to bow to the gods of golarion. He (and the author) misuse the word Atheist but maybe that's simply the in-world evolution of the phrase and when he explains why I honestly can see where he is coming from.
But the rest is weak. I honestly jumped from the middle to the book to the ending because it was so tedious, to see how it would end and... it was horrible. It was honestly underwhelming how banal and cheap the confrontation and resolution went and the last line between Salim and Ceyanan was so corny that I could only roll my eyes.
So yeah, juvenile sexist, ham-fisted romance and plot weak make a bad reading.
For me, the best part was the beginning when Salim was hunting the ghouls when it looked that it was about to be a terror story that drew me in.
Oh well, another one to go.
daridae's review
3.0
Good writing and good characters but there wasn't anything complex about the story or anything that would make me want to go searching for more works such as this.
bhalpin's review
3.0
As did so many others, I scooped up the audiobook when it was free. Thanks, Paizo!
My bar for tie-in fiction is pretty low: is this going to entertain me without making me hate myself for reading it? I have tried reading tie-ins for a certain other popular tabletop RPG that did not clear that bar, but this one did--it's fun, fast-paced, entertaining, and the writing is good. It is not groundbreaking or anything like that, but it pretty much does what it sets out to do.
But...quibbles. Somewhat spoileriffic:
If you've got a friend who thinks RPGs and fantasy novels are wish-fulfillment fantasies for guys who have trouble with the ladies, do not give them this book if you want to change their minds. Salim is troubled and competent; Neila is sexy and feisty; you can guess what happens if you have ever read a book. Or been a 15-year-old boy.
For my taste, too many sense-of-wonder passages as our heroes voyage to this plane and that plane and this plane and that. The last trip, which does nothing for the book except to pad out a few pages before the climactic battle, was especially frustrating.
Still: was I entertained? Yeah, I was.
My bar for tie-in fiction is pretty low: is this going to entertain me without making me hate myself for reading it? I have tried reading tie-ins for a certain other popular tabletop RPG that did not clear that bar, but this one did--it's fun, fast-paced, entertaining, and the writing is good. It is not groundbreaking or anything like that, but it pretty much does what it sets out to do.
But...quibbles. Somewhat spoileriffic:
If you've got a friend who thinks RPGs and fantasy novels are wish-fulfillment fantasies for guys who have trouble with the ladies, do not give them this book if you want to change their minds. Salim is troubled and competent; Neila is sexy and feisty; you can guess what happens if you have ever read a book. Or been a 15-year-old boy.
For my taste, too many sense-of-wonder passages as our heroes voyage to this plane and that plane and this plane and that. The last trip, which does nothing for the book except to pad out a few pages before the climactic battle, was especially frustrating.
Still: was I entertained? Yeah, I was.
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