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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
I like that this massive fantasy tome from debut author Jenn Lyons takes some stylistic risks, presenting much of its story as dual-timeline narratives interspersed with comments from a later narrator reviewing both accounts. But there's so much info-dumping early on, and so little justification for who is telling all this to whom and why. Even the bifurcated plot feels ultimately unmotivated, since there's never really any moment that would have been spoiled by a more straightforward chronology.
"Convoluted" seems like the best word for this novel, especially factoring in the massive cast and their frequent disguises via past lives, shape-shifting, memory-absorption, and body-swapping. It's hard keeping everything straight enough to actually care about any of the characters, and although I'd read other work by Lyons, I don't think I have it in me to stick with this particular series for its four forthcoming sequels.
"Convoluted" seems like the best word for this novel, especially factoring in the massive cast and their frequent disguises via past lives, shape-shifting, memory-absorption, and body-swapping. It's hard keeping everything straight enough to actually care about any of the characters, and although I'd read other work by Lyons, I don't think I have it in me to stick with this particular series for its four forthcoming sequels.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
That was quite a journey! There were many twists and turns and end somewhere I hadn't even realised existed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery
DNF.
Good writing, good world, good magic, interesting scenarios (if a little unoriginal -- gods, demons, dragons, ghosts, all feels kinda familiar). Seems a lot of people don't like the narration style (two narrators and a footnoter) and the complexity, but I was fine with that.
But I'm struggling to finish because ... well, I've heard it said a good book follows the LOCK principle: an interesting Lead character has Objectives that get them into Conflict and lead to a Knockout ending where they decisively succeed or fail. This book has none of those things, at least in the half or more I read.
Lead: The lead isn't that interesting because, despite being hyped up by everyone, he doesn't really do or even try to do much, at least for the first half or more of the book. He kinda just hangs out and gets in trouble for things he doesn't know about. Not only a "typical" chapter but almost "every" chapter from the book could be summed up as "Uncaring character with power over our hero infodumps on him, often while slapping him around." It got to the point where I'd semivoluntarily sigh or look away from the book when an older wiser character stopped the plot dead and the conversation turned into a lightly disguised encyclopedia entry on something of no dramatic interest to the lead character's current situation. I guess it's sort of "showing" and not "telling" to "show" a conversation where someone is told things, but it feels like a legalistic technicality. And the lead always just goes along with it, asking the practical but unemotional and abstract questions that prime the pump for more infodumping. It just feels like the author lightly sugaring the medicine.
Objective: The main character aimlessly drifts through his life, sarcastic, unhappy, powerless, hopeless, and goalless, not even seeing the possibility of anything worth going for, just taunting his captors while they punch him over and over again. Sometimes he has the goal of "get away somehow" but it seems distant and hopeless. And this happens in both timelines, so you know he hasn't grown by the time the second one starts.
Conflict: The book doesn't even really have this because the supposed protagonist is so aimless. He has "problems", namely that he's utterly powerless and pushed around and lectured by everyone he meets, but they just feel exhausting and pointless because they never seem to lead anywhere. His attempted solutions generally don't even come close to succeeding, and his captors/tutors laugh at him.
Knockout ending: At this rate I may not get there.
Good writing, good world, good magic, interesting scenarios (if a little unoriginal -- gods, demons, dragons, ghosts, all feels kinda familiar). Seems a lot of people don't like the narration style (two narrators and a footnoter) and the complexity, but I was fine with that.
But I'm struggling to finish because ... well, I've heard it said a good book follows the LOCK principle: an interesting Lead character has Objectives that get them into Conflict and lead to a Knockout ending where they decisively succeed or fail. This book has none of those things, at least in the half or more I read.
Lead: The lead isn't that interesting because, despite being hyped up by everyone, he doesn't really do or even try to do much, at least for the first half or more of the book. He kinda just hangs out and gets in trouble for things he doesn't know about. Not only a "typical" chapter but almost "every" chapter from the book could be summed up as "Uncaring character with power over our hero infodumps on him, often while slapping him around." It got to the point where I'd semivoluntarily sigh or look away from the book when an older wiser character stopped the plot dead and the conversation turned into a lightly disguised encyclopedia entry on something of no dramatic interest to the lead character's current situation. I guess it's sort of "showing" and not "telling" to "show" a conversation where someone is told things, but it feels like a legalistic technicality. And the lead always just goes along with it, asking the practical but unemotional and abstract questions that prime the pump for more infodumping. It just feels like the author lightly sugaring the medicine.
Objective: The main character aimlessly drifts through his life, sarcastic, unhappy, powerless, hopeless, and goalless, not even seeing the possibility of anything worth going for, just taunting his captors while they punch him over and over again. Sometimes he has the goal of "get away somehow" but it seems distant and hopeless. And this happens in both timelines, so you know he hasn't grown by the time the second one starts.
Conflict: The book doesn't even really have this because the supposed protagonist is so aimless. He has "problems", namely that he's utterly powerless and pushed around and lectured by everyone he meets, but they just feel exhausting and pointless because they never seem to lead anywhere. His attempted solutions generally don't even come close to succeeding, and his captors/tutors laugh at him.
Knockout ending: At this rate I may not get there.
This was really really good and the way it was told is so unique! I can't wait to read the rest of this series!
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was... interesting. I listened to the audiobook and while the narrators were excellent, they could not make up for the blundering story.
1 star for the world building, because I could tell just how much detail went into creating the world. But as for the story, ugh. No. It was too convoluted, too confusing, and honestly, just too boring. I felt no connection to any of the characters and the fact that some of them had 2-3 different names made it all the more confusing and annoying to figure out. It also didn't help that I zoned out a lot listening to this and probably missed a lot of information, but the story just couldn't hold my full attention.
I won't be back for the next one.
1 star for the world building, because I could tell just how much detail went into creating the world. But as for the story, ugh. No. It was too convoluted, too confusing, and honestly, just too boring. I felt no connection to any of the characters and the fact that some of them had 2-3 different names made it all the more confusing and annoying to figure out. It also didn't help that I zoned out a lot listening to this and probably missed a lot of information, but the story just couldn't hold my full attention.
I won't be back for the next one.