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anna_m_k's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
A fun and bad but good, but bad book about the undead, dishonored Knight of Solmania Soth and his attempted escape from Barovia. He plays a battle of wits and wills against Count Strahd and has the somewhat reluctant help of a Vistani woman named Magda and the eager help of a were-badger cannibal dwarf named Azrael.
It starts a little slow, delving first into Soth's place in the world of Krynn - the world of the Dungeons & Dragons tie-in novels - and then the details of how he gets transported to Barovia. He's an interesting character, and quite right in his assertions that, "I forged my own doom. I am the cause of my damnation". Which is very fascinating, and I would love to see more stories with characters revolving around this idea.
It starts a little slow, delving first into Soth's place in the world of Krynn - the world of the Dungeons & Dragons tie-in novels - and then the details of how he gets transported to Barovia. He's an interesting character, and quite right in his assertions that, "I forged my own doom. I am the cause of my damnation". Which is very fascinating, and I would love to see more stories with characters revolving around this idea.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore
Moderate: Ableism and Racism
Minor: Cannibalism, Misogyny, and Physical abuse
The racism tag is mostly about who the Vistani are and how they are treated. The Vistani are Romani, but the book (pub. in 1991) only uses g*psy and relies heavily on racist stereotypes about the Romani. Additionally, the ableism mostly comes in when creatures that are supposed to be disgusting are described as being hunchbacks and that that is supposed to be part of the horror.
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