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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
- None of the characters felt real - all very 2 dimensional
- World building was lacking
- Felt like lots of different fantasy elements were just thrown together to try and create some kind of epic fantasy and it just fell flat
SECOND READ
Hngndjshjd this time I took my time and omg its better than I remember it being
Hngndjshjd this time I took my time and omg its better than I remember it being
DNF at page 227. I can't do this.
The world-building and magic system are super interesting, but also confusing. Too many names that sound similar, I always had to double-check.
My biggest problems were the treatment of women in this world. They have no rights, for the first 150 pages or so the only female characters are a 15-year-old sex slave and her brothel owner who was a slave once too and hated it, but for some reason, she still owns slaves herself now???? And an old woman who is some sort of immortal elf-fantasy creature.
There is always described how some women wear clothes that barely cover anything, even some sort of assassin only wears some belts over her boobs???? That's completely ridiculous and impractical.
A rich man just has a bunch of naked women in his pool for decoration.
And all those adults wanting to sleep with a 16-year-old. And it's completely normalised? Those characters are not even painted as creeps or wrong? In this world, you are considering a full adult at 16, but in my opinion, that's still not okay.
I wanted to like this, obviously because it has dragons, but even the dragons could not help here.
The world-building and magic system are super interesting, but also confusing. Too many names that sound similar, I always had to double-check.
My biggest problems were the treatment of women in this world. They have no rights, for the first 150 pages or so the only female characters are a 15-year-old sex slave and her brothel owner who was a slave once too and hated it, but for some reason, she still owns slaves herself now???? And an old woman who is some sort of immortal elf-fantasy creature.
There is always described how some women wear clothes that barely cover anything, even some sort of assassin only wears some belts over her boobs???? That's completely ridiculous and impractical.
A rich man just has a bunch of naked women in his pool for decoration.
And all those adults wanting to sleep with a 16-year-old. And it's completely normalised? Those characters are not even painted as creeps or wrong? In this world, you are considering a full adult at 16, but in my opinion, that's still not okay.
I wanted to like this, obviously because it has dragons, but even the dragons could not help here.
this book is so big in scope, the world is so well conceived and constructed, and the storytelling is extremely good. as others have noted, not sure the time division was necessary, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment. audio was definitely the way to go, the three narrators are all great and it helped me keep the timelines straight in my mind. this could have acted as a standalone but i'm glad there's more.
3.75⭐️
This was actually pretty good but the different stories/POVs every other chapter (what was the reason??) plus having to keep track of 20 characters that each have at least 1 other past life.. made it overly complicated imo.
I highly recommend the audiobook, not sure I could have finished without it, great voice acting!
This was actually pretty good but the different stories/POVs every other chapter (what was the reason??) plus having to keep track of 20 characters that each have at least 1 other past life.. made it overly complicated imo.
I highly recommend the audiobook, not sure I could have finished without it, great voice acting!
This was a great book and I was super into it until it just kept going and I lost interest. Suddenly I had no idea what was happening and couldn't force it. I'll definitely come back to it-it's just not what I need right now.
I've never been a fan of complicated narrations schemes like this one of someone recording with footnotes two other people telling a story in alternating versions that were not chronological. It also made it hard to keep track of all the characters, especially as many had multiple names and histories, and that their relations to each other were key plot points so there couldn't be clear family trees. Definitely some interesting plot drama, but not worth the days it took to read.
4.5⭐/5
The Ruin of Kings is a powerful first book. There are lots of things to learn and apprehend. The worldbuilding is so complete !
The first thing you need to know is that there are two storyline : both are about the main character and set in the past (recent and further past), and told by the MC himself and his jailor.
If you accept to feel a bit confused at first, you'll spend a great time. I couldn't put my mind to rest while reading it. The cast of character was great, and there were high stakes, like really high ones.
There are demons, sorcerers, immortals, dragons, magic crystals, body swaping, thieves, and a fight against evil. A powerful combo right ?
I'm so happy to finally have the courage to read it. I spent a great time, I just need to buy the sequel soon, or I'll start to forget some info haha
The Ruin of Kings is a powerful first book. There are lots of things to learn and apprehend. The worldbuilding is so complete !
The first thing you need to know is that there are two storyline : both are about the main character and set in the past (recent and further past), and told by the MC himself and his jailor.
If you accept to feel a bit confused at first, you'll spend a great time. I couldn't put my mind to rest while reading it. The cast of character was great, and there were high stakes, like really high ones.
There are demons, sorcerers, immortals, dragons, magic crystals, body swaping, thieves, and a fight against evil. A powerful combo right ?
I'm so happy to finally have the courage to read it. I spent a great time, I just need to buy the sequel soon, or I'll start to forget some info haha
