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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
The edition I have - not listed here - is an audiobook read by John Telfer.
Old fashioned fantasy novel adventure with traces of Zelazny’s Amber books in its tarot deck of immortal sociopaths. I particularly enjoyed the strands of the story that involved animal-human hybrids, but it’s also just nice to get away from the dewy-eyed earnestness of much contemporary fantasy.
Good story, indifferent prose. The narrator is so good he lends all the colour the text is missing.
Old fashioned fantasy novel adventure with traces of Zelazny’s Amber books in its tarot deck of immortal sociopaths. I particularly enjoyed the strands of the story that involved animal-human hybrids, but it’s also just nice to get away from the dewy-eyed earnestness of much contemporary fantasy.
Good story, indifferent prose. The narrator is so good he lends all the colour the text is missing.
I really wanted to like this but its just not for me
I liked the premise of this book, and the book did show some promise with one or two interesting characters or situations (such as the marriage of the female protagonist). However, the few nice ideas were stretched over too many pages. What could have been an intriguing mystery was spoilt by allowing the reader access to Cayal's mind, and this mind was astoundingly young and unwise for an 8,000 years old person. By no means did I find him charming or was impressed by his intelligence, as Arkady clearly was. The arousal scent that his cell mate picked up from Arkady while she was still trying to prove him a liar was, frankly, the usual cheap stuff that always puts me off any romance novel - unfortunately, I wasn't aware it was one until she became stunned by his piercing blue eyes and started being described as 'unable to hide her beauty, no matter how hard she tried' (what a cliché!). I would have very much enjoyed a romance if Cayal had been an interesting, deep-thinking, three dimensional character. Unfortunately, he came across as a mindless bully, and I won't ever be comfortable with the 'beauty falls for the stupid arsehole' trope of the romance genre.
On a positive note, the audible narrator did a decent job.
On a positive note, the audible narrator did a decent job.
dark
emotional
sad
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
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
This ended up being another one of those books that I really wanted to like but ended up being disappointed. I think it's more of a not my cup of tea kind of thing. The premise is really interesting but for me personally I kept slogging through and the writing was just too dry for me. I didn't really care what happened to anyone, I just wanted something to HAPPEN. Perhaps if I'd stayed with the book it may have gotten better further but I did not have the patience to do so. bummer.
For such an interesting premise - immortals, magical powers, werewolf type creatures - this book was so fucking boring I am appalled I finished it. There is rape. Consistently. Everywhere. A race of people bred to be slaves, but they like being slaves, so it's okay. If they disobey commands they get killed. In the end, they're just animals, tbh.
The Immortal Prince himself is aggressively underwhelming in every single aspect. He's so boring. Bored. Eight thousand years old and he's just so bored. Nothing happens! He's done everything! Life is underwhelming! Someone once told him how to travel to different galaxies but he didn't pay any attention, but life is just so boring, he's seen it all, done it all. He spent twenty years having sex with slaves but he has better things to do than rape anyone.
The overall plot line isn't so much as unbelievable as just dull and blandly confusing. The character motivations make next to no sense. Just all of it. Awful. I hate it. Don't do it.
The Immortal Prince himself is aggressively underwhelming in every single aspect. He's so boring. Bored. Eight thousand years old and he's just so bored. Nothing happens! He's done everything! Life is underwhelming! Someone once told him how to travel to different galaxies but he didn't pay any attention, but life is just so boring, he's seen it all, done it all. He spent twenty years having sex with slaves but he has better things to do than rape anyone.
The overall plot line isn't so much as unbelievable as just dull and blandly confusing. The character motivations make next to no sense. Just all of it. Awful. I hate it. Don't do it.
This one is right smack in the middle because it had some really great things going for it and some things that I found really problematic.
So.
The Good:
Fallon's writing style is really easy to read, despite this being such a dense book. The worldbuilding and mythology are some of the strongest parts of the book--with her characters being enjoyable. Some you'll love, some you'll hate, but all tangled up with each other impressively by the end.
I predicted some of the plot twists, but thankfully Fallon's writing is such that it just made me feel clever for having guessed it instead of disappointed it was predictable. And there was at least one that completely caught me off guard--much to my delight!
The Bad:
This book is LONG. And not only that, it FEELS long. It was enjoyable to read while I was reading it, but difficult to pick back up after I'd set it down.
And oh my god do things move at an absolute snail's pace. I get why though, because with a story this intricate, a lot of groundwork has to be set. But it only starts to pay off around the 300-page mark. Which is tiring.
The Ugly:
Despite my genuine enjoyment of the characters, a lot of them fall into trope-y and stereotype-y categories, and it's not pretty. Arkady--whom I love and adore--is the "icy duchess" because she's hiding a history of sexual abuse; but of course her cold demeanour is thawed after one good lay from our anti-hero. Please.
Stellan is such a "tragic gay" that I almost can't stand it. If your fantasy is going to be so heteronormative, can you at least spare us the indignity of everyone being giant homophobes while you're at it? Besides, Jaxyn is the epitome of devious/scheming bisexual and I am just so exhausted.
So a middle of the road rating for this one. It has it's good points, it has some downright ugly bits, and the plot has literally just gotten started--this doesn't even pretend to stand on its own. I think my library has at least book 2, so I might continue, but it's not a super high priority.
So.
The Good:
Fallon's writing style is really easy to read, despite this being such a dense book. The worldbuilding and mythology are some of the strongest parts of the book--with her characters being enjoyable. Some you'll love, some you'll hate, but all tangled up with each other impressively by the end.
I predicted some of the plot twists, but thankfully Fallon's writing is such that it just made me feel clever for having guessed it instead of disappointed it was predictable. And there was at least one that completely caught me off guard--much to my delight!
The Bad:
This book is LONG. And not only that, it FEELS long. It was enjoyable to read while I was reading it, but difficult to pick back up after I'd set it down.
And oh my god do things move at an absolute snail's pace. I get why though, because with a story this intricate, a lot of groundwork has to be set. But it only starts to pay off around the 300-page mark. Which is tiring.
The Ugly:
Despite my genuine enjoyment of the characters, a lot of them fall into trope-y and stereotype-y categories, and it's not pretty. Arkady--whom I love and adore--is the "icy duchess" because she's hiding a history of sexual abuse; but of course her cold demeanour is thawed after one good lay from our anti-hero. Please.
Stellan is such a "tragic gay" that I almost can't stand it. If your fantasy is going to be so heteronormative, can you at least spare us the indignity of everyone being giant homophobes while you're at it? Besides, Jaxyn is the epitome of devious/scheming bisexual and I am just so exhausted.
So a middle of the road rating for this one. It has it's good points, it has some downright ugly bits, and the plot has literally just gotten started--this doesn't even pretend to stand on its own. I think my library has at least book 2, so I might continue, but it's not a super high priority.
I picked up THE IMMORTAL PRINCE at an independent bookstore (Sundance Books in my hometown of Reno, NV) in a concerted effort to try a book from a female fantasy author of whom I had never heard.
Overall, I consider the experiment a success. This isn't an amazing book, but it's enjoyable. The characters are solid and fun to read about, as is the plot. It's a good book to use for taking a break from heavier stuff and settling in to relax.
Arkady Desean, the main character, is my favorite. She's smart and strong, but not perfect, and emphatically makes her own decisions--though the result is not always positive. I also enjoyed Cayal as a character, though I did not entirely buy everything about the depiction of his immortality. The secondary characters like Warlock, Stellan, Jaxyn, and Declan were well-written for the lesser amount of page time they saw. Though the plot buildup was slow, it paid off in the end and is good at wrapping the reader into the larger story.
The main drawbacks, for me, were the writing itself and the way immortality is portrayed. Apparently, just using "he said/she said" for the dialogue was simply not good enough for this author. Everyone offers or argues or insists, and everyone seems to shrug a lot when having "casual" conversations (I once counted four shrugs in the same two-paragraph conversation).
I am often frustrated by how immortal characters are portrayed, so perhaps I am especially picky on this, but the immortals in this series just didn't seem...right. I don't expect immortals to be constantly spouting wisdom or incomprehensible perspective at all times, but I really think showing them as ordinary people is just BORING. WHY are we fascinated with them if they really are just regular people who can't die? If they start out as regular, that's one thing, but their immortality SHOULD set them apart from those of us subject to time. To bring up an example I enjoyed--though I disliked the book as a whole--I prefer something like what is seen in N.K. Jemisin's THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS.
I don't regret reading this book, but I'm not sure I know of many folks--even fantasy fans--that I could recommend it to. I would tentatively read further into this series at this point.
Overall, I consider the experiment a success. This isn't an amazing book, but it's enjoyable. The characters are solid and fun to read about, as is the plot. It's a good book to use for taking a break from heavier stuff and settling in to relax.
Arkady Desean, the main character, is my favorite. She's smart and strong, but not perfect, and emphatically makes her own decisions--though the result is not always positive. I also enjoyed Cayal as a character, though I did not entirely buy everything about the depiction of his immortality. The secondary characters like Warlock, Stellan, Jaxyn, and Declan were well-written for the lesser amount of page time they saw. Though the plot buildup was slow, it paid off in the end and is good at wrapping the reader into the larger story.
The main drawbacks, for me, were the writing itself and the way immortality is portrayed. Apparently, just using "he said/she said" for the dialogue was simply not good enough for this author. Everyone offers or argues or insists, and everyone seems to shrug a lot when having "casual" conversations (I once counted four shrugs in the same two-paragraph conversation).
I am often frustrated by how immortal characters are portrayed, so perhaps I am especially picky on this, but the immortals in this series just didn't seem...right. I don't expect immortals to be constantly spouting wisdom or incomprehensible perspective at all times, but I really think showing them as ordinary people is just BORING. WHY are we fascinated with them if they really are just regular people who can't die? If they start out as regular, that's one thing, but their immortality SHOULD set them apart from those of us subject to time. To bring up an example I enjoyed--though I disliked the book as a whole--I prefer something like what is seen in N.K. Jemisin's THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS.
I don't regret reading this book, but I'm not sure I know of many folks--even fantasy fans--that I could recommend it to. I would tentatively read further into this series at this point.