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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really enjoy the way these are written - with footnotes that are an aside commentary. The format of this one, two people telling a story with asides, and a final conclusion, was really well done.
I cannot wait to read the next one!
I cannot wait to read the next one!
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
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:
Yes
I did not enjoy this installment as much as the first one. While I think this author has a real talent for coming up with interesting worldbuilding ideas, I struggled with the actual storytelling aspects in this book. I was fine with the focus switching to a different main cast/storyline, but I had a much more difficult time getting invested in this particular plot. While this is partially just because I found the characters and concepts less interesting, which is obviously more of a personal preference than a real critique, I think a major part of the issue was the way the story was told.
Generally, I think although the flaws of this book were similar to the flaws of the first one—major pacing issues and a focus on worldbuilding to the detriment of storytelling, both of which contribute to the ultimate sin of not feeling connected to the stakes (there were several big reveals and twists that were clearly very big deals to the characters, but left little emotional impact on me as a reader. Same with the general plotline of what they were trying to accomplish)—I was able to overlook those flaws in the first book because I was having a lot of fun. I can't really say the same for this one—for the most part. I did start to enjoy it more in the latter half.Maybe I just don't like Jorat? That was also where Janel's and Qown's stories diverged, which I think was for the better.
Despite all that, I am sufficiently hooked on the series. That ending definitely left me wanting more. The author clearly has a plan, and I'm excited to see how it all plays out.
Generally, I think although the flaws of this book were similar to the flaws of the first one—major pacing issues and a focus on worldbuilding to the detriment of storytelling, both of which contribute to the ultimate sin of not feeling connected to the stakes (there were several big reveals and twists that were clearly very big deals to the characters, but left little emotional impact on me as a reader. Same with the general plotline of what they were trying to accomplish)—I was able to overlook those flaws in the first book because I was having a lot of fun. I can't really say the same for this one—for the most part. I did start to enjoy it more in the latter half.
Despite all that, I am sufficiently hooked on the series. That ending definitely left me wanting more. The author clearly has a plan, and I'm excited to see how it all plays out.
2.5 stars.
I should've tabbed the important bits on my first read through. Then I wouldn't even have had to bother rereading this one. Alas, hindsight is 20/20.
I find the main character of this book insufferable. For this reread, I just read the current timeline's chapters and skipped her backstory because 1) nobody cares 2) the current timeline (and future books) recap everything you need to know.
I should've tabbed the important bits on my first read through. Then I wouldn't even have had to bother rereading this one. Alas, hindsight is 20/20.
I find the main character of this book insufferable. For this reread, I just read the current timeline's chapters and skipped her backstory because 1) nobody cares 2) the current timeline (and future books) recap everything you need to know.
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5 - Ok HEAR ME OUT I still really loved the world and the characters in this one - but not as much as the first one because it was practically a whole new set of characters and I wasn’t a huge fan of the back and forth storytelling as unique as it was. And I know this series is headed for polyamory (or I hope it is Haha) but I really didn’t like that the entire of book one built one relationship and this book barely mentioned it so it could focus on building two other different relationships- I’m really really excited for book 3-5 so I can see that come together, i just really didn’t enjoy the inbetween part of book 2 in all honesty - but I still love Kihrin with all my heart
Absolutely going to pick this back up, probably in a couple of weeks, but I want to read other things and my main reason for picking this up so fast was a concern I would forget the events of the first book but there's a very good recap at the start of this so imma wait until I am more interested in following these characters more.
The Name of All Things is the follow up to author Jenn Lyons’s The Ruin of Kings. Despite finding the previous entry in A Chorus of Dragons incredibly confusing, I still immediately wanted to pick up The Name of All Things. I found The Name of All Things to be a bit more straightforward than its predecessor, but surprisingly, I didn’t like this novel or how it was told quite as much. Though I was initially excited to find out more about main character Khirin’s love interest, Janel, I found I didn’t care much for her character in reality, nor did I enjoy the constant explanations about her culture.
The Name of All Things follows Janel Theranon and her followers on quite the adventure. At first I was really excited to meet the badass demon slayer that Khirin met in the afterlife, but I found I didn’t like her very much. Despite having supernatural strength, fire powers, and amazing battle abilities, I was surprised that I found her to be so bland. To me, Janel seems selfish, too trusting, proud, and impulsive to me. I also didn’t like how she was
In fact, it feels like Janel has more interaction with people that are not her lovers from past lives. I really enjoyed her strife ridden relationship with Relos Var. Honestly, the villainous and immortal Relos Var was the standout of The Name of All Things for me. I loved seeing how complex his machinations and motivations were, and how it affected not only Janel and Khirin, but the Gods and the rest of the world. It doesn’t hurt that Relos Var’s true form is a dragon either, and Lyons certainly does a great job giving him a draconic personality, scheming and merciless. I was beyond excited to see his true dragon form in this novel, let alone his brawl with another all-metal dragon. I’m even more excited to see what Relos Var is up to in the next entry of the series, The Memory of Souls.
I'm also hoping for a bit of a different storytelling method in the next entry. Though The Name of All Things definitely makes the narrative easier to follow than Ruin of Kings, which featured three different perspectives of the main character in different time periods, I really didn’t care for how this narrative was told. In The Name of All Things, Janel and her fellow traveler, Brother Qown, whom she inexplicably calls her best friend, take turns reading from his journal travel log to recount their journey to Khirin. Not only do I not understand how this man had any time to write anything down, with constant violent upheavals, kidnappings, and more, I quickly grew tired of the countless, “It’s your turn, I’m thirsty” or “I hate this part” remarks, which happen every single time Janel and Qown take turns reading from his journal.
Unlike the previous novel’s interesting way of storytelling, which I found I actually enjoyed, I really found The Name of All Things’s way of telling the story endlessly annoying. I think it felt forced, like the author wanted to keep her trademark unique storytelling forms at all costs, even if it didn’t work logically. It seems completely ludicrous that when a mythological beast underneath a lake is about to awaken and to lay waste to an entire city that the major players are just sitting around reading to each other. This is in comparison to other fantasy stories, like Patrick Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind, which make the act of a narrator telling a story to an outsider feel natural. Instead, having Khirin come to a meeting place only for them to read to him what happened to them felt very abnormal and manufactured to me.
The other thing that I didn’t care for was the constant reiterations of Jorat culture. In Jorat, which honestly reminds me so much of Game of Thrones’s Dothraki down to the hair styles that signify one’s station in society, gender is not to be confused with sex. Stallion or mare refers to a person’s role in society, not their sex. Janel considers herself a stallion, which as she explains to Khirin, means she’s essentially “a female man.” At first I was really intrigued and excited by this society and the way it tossed out our own society’s gender norms, allowing people to have so much freedom of choice and for women especially to be on equal footing as men. Unfortunately, so much page space was dedicated to this cultural practice, as well as its constructs of thudjae and idorra, that I felt like I was constantly being beaten over the head with it. I was able to grasp the gender roles the first time it was explained, so constantly reiterating them made me want to groan. I get it, Jorat culture is different and Janel is special. Her stallion station in society is not a problem for any of her many love interests, so I wish it would stop being revisited constantly.
I was much more interested in Jorat’s relationships with firebloods. I would have gladly traded in the constant diatribes about gender roles for more information on the society of firebloods, intelligent, powerful “not horses” with tiger stripes and a language of their own, that are full citizens with rights of their own. What is the fireblood society and hierarchy like? I wanted to know way more about their herds and how the Jorat people learned to communicate with these mythological creatures. Plus, the fact that Janel has a special bond with a fireblood, Arasgon, was very interesting to me. But we never learn how her friendship with him was formed except in passing remarks, which state that he has been by her side for a very long time. He feels like more of a sidekick and plot device than a legendary creature in his own right. I think it would’ve been more interesting if these firebloods played more of a role in Jorat culture, maybe helping to establish “mare” and “stallions” or something. Instead, I felt like the firebloods were quite underutilized in a society that supposedly completely revolves around horses.
At least readers were blessed with lots of dragons in this entry instead. There were also really cool depictions of lost, devious god-kings. I also absolutely adored seeing Tyentso as Emperor, even if she didn’t show up until the very end of the novel. Plus, Lyons’s great brand of humor is sprinkled the entire way through the novel, which is always entertaining. Khirin’s sarcastic comments are really what I live for, and I can only hope that the next novel is narrated by him. I also really did enjoy seeing events of The Ruin of Kings told from an outsider’s perspective, such as the breaking of the Stone of Shackles, even if the technique of telling it felt stilted to me. Though I didn’t like The Name of All Things as much as the first entry in A Chorus of Dragons, I am very excited to read the next entry in the series and to see how everything comes together!
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The Name of All Things follows Janel Theranon and her followers on quite the adventure. At first I was really excited to meet the badass demon slayer that Khirin met in the afterlife, but I found I didn’t like her very much. Despite having supernatural strength, fire powers, and amazing battle abilities, I was surprised that I found her to be so bland. To me, Janel seems selfish, too trusting, proud, and impulsive to me. I also didn’t like how she was
Spoiler
married to both Taereth and Khirin in past lives, setting up a cringey love triangle (should I instead call it a circle since they're all attracted to each other?) . This past life memories and resulting instant attraction to the new reincarnations just doesn’t do it for me, and seems like an excuse for characters to skip getting to know each other and developing a bond before feelings.“No,” said Relos Var. “Monster is such an easily digestible idea. Horrible, evil to its core, irredeemable. If I’m a monster, then anyone who opposes me is by logical deduction a hero, yes?” He leaned over. “It’s not that simple."
In fact, it feels like Janel has more interaction with people that are not her lovers from past lives. I really enjoyed her strife ridden relationship with Relos Var. Honestly, the villainous and immortal Relos Var was the standout of The Name of All Things for me. I loved seeing how complex his machinations and motivations were, and how it affected not only Janel and Khirin, but the Gods and the rest of the world. It doesn’t hurt that Relos Var’s true form is a dragon either, and Lyons certainly does a great job giving him a draconic personality, scheming and merciless. I was beyond excited to see his true dragon form in this novel, let alone his brawl with another all-metal dragon. I’m even more excited to see what Relos Var is up to in the next entry of the series, The Memory of Souls.
I'm also hoping for a bit of a different storytelling method in the next entry. Though The Name of All Things definitely makes the narrative easier to follow than Ruin of Kings, which featured three different perspectives of the main character in different time periods, I really didn’t care for how this narrative was told. In The Name of All Things, Janel and her fellow traveler, Brother Qown, whom she inexplicably calls her best friend, take turns reading from his journal travel log to recount their journey to Khirin. Not only do I not understand how this man had any time to write anything down, with constant violent upheavals, kidnappings, and more, I quickly grew tired of the countless, “It’s your turn, I’m thirsty” or “I hate this part” remarks, which happen every single time Janel and Qown take turns reading from his journal.
Unlike the previous novel’s interesting way of storytelling, which I found I actually enjoyed, I really found The Name of All Things’s way of telling the story endlessly annoying. I think it felt forced, like the author wanted to keep her trademark unique storytelling forms at all costs, even if it didn’t work logically. It seems completely ludicrous that when a mythological beast underneath a lake is about to awaken and to lay waste to an entire city that the major players are just sitting around reading to each other. This is in comparison to other fantasy stories, like Patrick Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind, which make the act of a narrator telling a story to an outsider feel natural. Instead, having Khirin come to a meeting place only for them to read to him what happened to them felt very abnormal and manufactured to me.
Her mouth twisted. “You’re conflating gender with sex. My sex—my body—is female, yes. But that’s not my gender. I’m a stallion. And stallion is how Joratese society defines our men. So you’re wrong; I’m most certainly not a woman.”
The other thing that I didn’t care for was the constant reiterations of Jorat culture. In Jorat, which honestly reminds me so much of Game of Thrones’s Dothraki down to the hair styles that signify one’s station in society, gender is not to be confused with sex. Stallion or mare refers to a person’s role in society, not their sex. Janel considers herself a stallion, which as she explains to Khirin, means she’s essentially “a female man.” At first I was really intrigued and excited by this society and the way it tossed out our own society’s gender norms, allowing people to have so much freedom of choice and for women especially to be on equal footing as men. Unfortunately, so much page space was dedicated to this cultural practice, as well as its constructs of thudjae and idorra, that I felt like I was constantly being beaten over the head with it. I was able to grasp the gender roles the first time it was explained, so constantly reiterating them made me want to groan. I get it, Jorat culture is different and Janel is special. Her stallion station in society is not a problem for any of her many love interests, so I wish it would stop being revisited constantly.
"In ancient times, the god-king Khorsal had chosen us to care for his favored children—his firebloods. When those same firebloods joined humans in overthrowing Khorsal, our relationship had strengthened. Every Joratese child learns to understand our four-hoofed kindred."
I was much more interested in Jorat’s relationships with firebloods. I would have gladly traded in the constant diatribes about gender roles for more information on the society of firebloods, intelligent, powerful “not horses” with tiger stripes and a language of their own, that are full citizens with rights of their own. What is the fireblood society and hierarchy like? I wanted to know way more about their herds and how the Jorat people learned to communicate with these mythological creatures. Plus, the fact that Janel has a special bond with a fireblood, Arasgon, was very interesting to me. But we never learn how her friendship with him was formed except in passing remarks, which state that he has been by her side for a very long time. He feels like more of a sidekick and plot device than a legendary creature in his own right. I think it would’ve been more interesting if these firebloods played more of a role in Jorat culture, maybe helping to establish “mare” and “stallions” or something. Instead, I felt like the firebloods were quite underutilized in a society that supposedly completely revolves around horses.
“Don’t pick a fight with someone who scares gods. Words to live by.”
At least readers were blessed with lots of dragons in this entry instead. There were also really cool depictions of lost, devious god-kings. I also absolutely adored seeing Tyentso as Emperor, even if she didn’t show up until the very end of the novel. Plus, Lyons’s great brand of humor is sprinkled the entire way through the novel, which is always entertaining. Khirin’s sarcastic comments are really what I live for, and I can only hope that the next novel is narrated by him. I also really did enjoy seeing events of The Ruin of Kings told from an outsider’s perspective, such as the breaking of the Stone of Shackles, even if the technique of telling it felt stilted to me. Though I didn’t like The Name of All Things as much as the first entry in A Chorus of Dragons, I am very excited to read the next entry in the series and to see how everything comes together!
bloggingwithdragons.com
My Book Review Policy
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