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evafantasy's review
3.0
⭐⭐⭐
Honestly lile the beginning, the prose is quite good and I was curious to see where this was going. The plot as a whole was quite good too.
However, as the story went on I just couldn't connect with the main character. This guy is so selfish, gets people killed because of his ambition and somehow we're supposed to root for him ? Like all he wants is magic. He's always like 'oh no, I didn't get enough magic' then messes up some people's lives, fails again and keeps going. And for someone who's supposed to be quite smart, he's so stupid it's incredible. The change from his smartness at the beginning to the way he just looses his wits as the story keeps going had me perplexed. Foolish decisions upon foolish decisions. I guess I shouldn't be surprised as it's his name after all.
The romance we got towards the middle end was soooo tasteless omg it made me roll my eyes a few times. The only use this female character had was to advance MC's powers and to defend him against other people rightfully not trusting him.
So it was quite well written, but as a character reader first, not for me.
Honestly lile the beginning, the prose is quite good and I was curious to see where this was going. The plot as a whole was quite good too.
However, as the story went on I just couldn't connect with the main character. This guy is so selfish, gets people killed because of his ambition and somehow we're supposed to root for him ? Like all he wants is magic. He's always like 'oh no, I didn't get enough magic' then messes up some people's lives, fails again and keeps going. And for someone who's supposed to be quite smart, he's so stupid it's incredible. The change from his smartness at the beginning to the way he just looses his wits as the story keeps going had me perplexed. Foolish decisions upon foolish decisions. I guess I shouldn't be surprised as it's his name after all.
The romance we got towards the middle end was soooo tasteless omg it made me roll my eyes a few times. The only use this female character had was to advance MC's powers and to defend him against other people rightfully not trusting him.
So it was quite well written, but as a character reader first, not for me.
mithrandir24601's review
adventurous
emotional
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
3.5
andriaerin's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
jerby76's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
tdowney's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Maybe working for the brutal colonisers who invaded your homeland isn't what it's cracked up to be. This guy has the standard mummy and daddy issues but also the lesser seen granny issues. You're bound to be messed up if your name is basically Dumb B*tch [Foolish Cur]
millennialbookreview's review against another edition
4.0
The Hand of the Sun King is an engaging fantasy novel. It has a good plot, a great world and an intriguing magic system. While the character development and some of the pacing needed a little bit of work, the novel on the whole was enjoyable. The plot twists were executed very well and the climax is one of the best I’ve read in a debut fantasy novel in a long time. I look forward to the next novel in the series, without a doubt. I’d recommend this book to fantasy fans who are looking for a coming-of-age story that’s a mix between modern fantasy and more classic fantasy.
My full review can be found here
My full review can be found here
libbybruten's review
challenging
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
3.0