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metaphorosis's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars - Metaphorosis Reviews
The cities of the Khaiem are without andats - the concepts-made-physical that can be controlled by poets and that gave the Empire its strength. The last andat, Sterile, took away the generative powers of the women of the Khaiem, and of the men of Galt. Now, Otah, reluctant Emperor of the Khaiem is trying to form a complex alliance with Galt. Maati, his one-time friend and poet, is trying to bind new andats. Their inevitable clash will bring both nations to their knees.
A Shadow in Summer, the first book of Daniel Abraham's Long Price Quartet, was one of the first e-books I read - a promotional PDF I picked up from Tor along with Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn. It took me a while to get around to reading Shadow, because, after all, who wants to read a PDF? (Something I wish publishers understood today.) Happily for me, and perhaps less so for Mr. Abraham, there was a discount bookstore near my house, and when I saw book two of the series available cheap, I finally took the plunge. I'm glad I did. That first book was the start of an excellent and innovative series that concludes with this book, The Price of Spring.
Shadow was an eye-opener in terms of tone, setting, and concept. While the elements weren't entirely novel, the combination certainly was. Much to my pleasure, Abraham's skill continued across the series. Every book had solid characters, beautiful writing, and intricate but clear plotting. The same is true of this closing volume.
I wish that Abraham had chosen a less traditional "men rule, women support" world for his series. In this final volume, he contracts Heinlein-Jordan syndrome, in which men are blind, and women are wise - but men still make the decisions. Luckily, it's a mild case, and there are also strong, self-willed women playing a part. Some of the gender-related crises feel manufactured, but can be accepted with a little effort.
Abraham ties up the ends of the story with a thoroughness that at times seems trite and slightly mechanical - things wrap around to their beginnings in a way that satisfies but also feels shallow. I didn't feel the depth of emotion that I expected to, and to some extent that's true of the entire book - it feels (somewhat ironically, given the use of steam engines as a theme) as if the series is running out of steam. There's enough here, however, to get us to the end successfully and without lagging.
This final book doesn't have quite the depth that it should have, though Abraham gives it a solid try. As the capstone to a truly excellent series, though, The Price of Spring is extremely strong, and well worth your time. I strongly recommend the series.
Abraham is known these days as the co-author of the Expanse series - the first book of which was unconvincing and overly complex. It's the Long Price Quartet that he should be known for instead. While it may not be easily convert to TV, Long Price is the kind of series that an author might hope to crown a career with. While not all of Abraham's books have turned out so well, this series is proof that he's a writer of extraordinary talent.
The cities of the Khaiem are without andats - the concepts-made-physical that can be controlled by poets and that gave the Empire its strength. The last andat, Sterile, took away the generative powers of the women of the Khaiem, and of the men of Galt. Now, Otah, reluctant Emperor of the Khaiem is trying to form a complex alliance with Galt. Maati, his one-time friend and poet, is trying to bind new andats. Their inevitable clash will bring both nations to their knees.
A Shadow in Summer, the first book of Daniel Abraham's Long Price Quartet, was one of the first e-books I read - a promotional PDF I picked up from Tor along with Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn. It took me a while to get around to reading Shadow, because, after all, who wants to read a PDF? (Something I wish publishers understood today.) Happily for me, and perhaps less so for Mr. Abraham, there was a discount bookstore near my house, and when I saw book two of the series available cheap, I finally took the plunge. I'm glad I did. That first book was the start of an excellent and innovative series that concludes with this book, The Price of Spring.
Shadow was an eye-opener in terms of tone, setting, and concept. While the elements weren't entirely novel, the combination certainly was. Much to my pleasure, Abraham's skill continued across the series. Every book had solid characters, beautiful writing, and intricate but clear plotting. The same is true of this closing volume.
I wish that Abraham had chosen a less traditional "men rule, women support" world for his series. In this final volume, he contracts Heinlein-Jordan syndrome, in which men are blind, and women are wise - but men still make the decisions. Luckily, it's a mild case, and there are also strong, self-willed women playing a part. Some of the gender-related crises feel manufactured, but can be accepted with a little effort.
Abraham ties up the ends of the story with a thoroughness that at times seems trite and slightly mechanical - things wrap around to their beginnings in a way that satisfies but also feels shallow. I didn't feel the depth of emotion that I expected to, and to some extent that's true of the entire book - it feels (somewhat ironically, given the use of steam engines as a theme) as if the series is running out of steam. There's enough here, however, to get us to the end successfully and without lagging.
This final book doesn't have quite the depth that it should have, though Abraham gives it a solid try. As the capstone to a truly excellent series, though, The Price of Spring is extremely strong, and well worth your time. I strongly recommend the series.
Abraham is known these days as the co-author of the Expanse series - the first book of which was unconvincing and overly complex. It's the Long Price Quartet that he should be known for instead. While it may not be easily convert to TV, Long Price is the kind of series that an author might hope to crown a career with. While not all of Abraham's books have turned out so well, this series is proof that he's a writer of extraordinary talent.
joabroda's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
This final book in the quartet was a fast, nerve racking roller coaster! I enjoyed the ride immensely.
Decades have passed since book # 1 and beloved characters have aged and changed with the years. It is not so often that a Fantasy writer can have me thinking so deeply about change and effect-not only in his fantasy world, but relating it all to my own real-life world. When a writer can move my emotions from joy, to despair to utter WTF-making me laugh, cry and scream No! not him, don't kill him! (until the punch in the arm comes from my husband)- Well, that's a damn good writer.
Things I have said in earlier reviews on this author: Such panache in writing style and creating interesting, complex characters, magic system and world.
If you enjoy high fantasy and have not sampled Daniel Abraham's solo work, I high recommend you read this series. If you don't like it, well then, I am sorry we just cannot be friends.
Decades have passed since book # 1 and beloved characters have aged and changed with the years. It is not so often that a Fantasy writer can have me thinking so deeply about change and effect-not only in his fantasy world, but relating it all to my own real-life world. When a writer can move my emotions from joy, to despair to utter WTF-making me laugh, cry and scream No! not him, don't kill him! (until the punch in the arm comes from my husband)- Well, that's a damn good writer.
Things I have said in earlier reviews on this author: Such panache in writing style and creating interesting, complex characters, magic system and world.
If you enjoy high fantasy and have not sampled Daniel Abraham's solo work, I high recommend you read this series. If you don't like it, well then, I am sorry we just cannot be friends.
terry93d's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
All things must end: novels and men alike. That which was planted from the first book comes to fruition here, the tree of consequence bearing bittersweet fruit. We have met Otah and Maati as teenagers, as adults in their prime, as middle-aged men, and now we greet them as old men, each of them doing their best to try and put the world back together, one as a synthesis of a new elements, the other a return to what the world was, each in his way mired in the past, yet demanded by necessity to march into the future. The children of previous books have become adults now, and they, too, look to the future.
Every book has been colored, to a greater or lesser degree, by melancholy. The previous books had multiple viewpoints alongside Otah and Maati; in this one, theirs are the only viewpoint perspectives. Here, closer to death than birth, loss has shaded the picture. Only at the end can you look back to the beginning, only in retrospect can a life lived forward be understood. And still, life keeps progressing, because nothing ever ends, really. It's intense reading, rendered in the same beautiful, careful prose that has marked the previous books.
If the novel works as a standalone—and every book of the quartet does—then the reader does themself a great disservice if they choose that path, because the full impact of the series can not be appreciated except as a whole. Speaking personally, this book is especially close to my heart, for it was the first fiction I'd ever read that made me cry. The Long Price Quartet is fiction whose impact is forever stamped upon the patterns of my heart.
Every book has been colored, to a greater or lesser degree, by melancholy. The previous books had multiple viewpoints alongside Otah and Maati; in this one, theirs are the only viewpoint perspectives. Here, closer to death than birth, loss has shaded the picture. Only at the end can you look back to the beginning, only in retrospect can a life lived forward be understood. And still, life keeps progressing, because nothing ever ends, really. It's intense reading, rendered in the same beautiful, careful prose that has marked the previous books.
If the novel works as a standalone—and every book of the quartet does—then the reader does themself a great disservice if they choose that path, because the full impact of the series can not be appreciated except as a whole. Speaking personally, this book is especially close to my heart, for it was the first fiction I'd ever read that made me cry. The Long Price Quartet is fiction whose impact is forever stamped upon the patterns of my heart.
bookaneer's review against another edition
3.0
I feel like I should love this book. I was ready to give it at least four stars.
But I couldn't. The amount of drawn-out self contemplation in this book was killing me. Maybe it is because I am not the type of person who thinks about the past alot, this constant remembering of other people felt grating and made the pacing too glacial.
It could have been a leaner book as well if there is less minutiae of court life in Otah's POV (we have plenty of those in previous books and we already know he hated them).
And Maati. Don't talk to me about Maati. His self pity took maybe 1/3 of the book and 90% of his POV. Tiring. The only POV I enjoyed was Eiah. Maybe I am just not emphatic enough, but I just don't like characters that wallow most of the time.
Having said those, I really loved the world. It is not your typical faux medieval sword and sorcery story. The magic is minimal and yet epically fatal. Strong, multifaceted female characters is another trait I totally applaud. Overall, I can definitely see that Daniel Abraham has grown a lot but he did already start from a very good spot.
While my ratings are not as high as The Dagger and the Coin series, this is still a highly recommended series for those who like to try something different, more contemplative and perennially slow-burn.
But I couldn't. The amount of drawn-out self contemplation in this book was killing me. Maybe it is because I am not the type of person who thinks about the past alot, this constant remembering of other people felt grating and made the pacing too glacial.
It could have been a leaner book as well if there is less minutiae of court life in Otah's POV (we have plenty of those in previous books and we already know he hated them).
And Maati. Don't talk to me about Maati. His self pity took maybe 1/3 of the book and 90% of his POV. Tiring. The only POV I enjoyed was Eiah. Maybe I am just not emphatic enough, but I just don't like characters that wallow most of the time.
Having said those, I really loved the world. It is not your typical faux medieval sword and sorcery story. The magic is minimal and yet epically fatal. Strong, multifaceted female characters is another trait I totally applaud. Overall, I can definitely see that Daniel Abraham has grown a lot but he did already start from a very good spot.
While my ratings are not as high as The Dagger and the Coin series, this is still a highly recommended series for those who like to try something different, more contemplative and perennially slow-burn.
katmarhan's review against another edition
5.0
10/10
[b:The Price of Spring|6065889|The Price of Spring (Long Price Quartet, #4)|Daniel Abraham|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388902656l/6065889._SY75_.jpg|6242207] exceeded my already high expectations. Good intentions with unintended or unimagined consequences, and all the prices paid—for old hurts, for words said and unsaid, for betrayals, for misunderstandings and misplaced affection, and for love. Always the price of love.
This book (and series) is peopled with characters who are wonderfully imperfect. They inspire love, fear, despair, disgust, wonder, respect, frustration, and satisfaction. They face heartbreaking choices and unbearable decisions. And they persevere. There were a number of relationships that drove the story, but the heart of it always seemed to come back to Otah and Maati. Love, trust, jealousy, betrayal—all played out between them and in their world.
A completely satisfying conclusion to an excellent series!
[b:The Price of Spring|6065889|The Price of Spring (Long Price Quartet, #4)|Daniel Abraham|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388902656l/6065889._SY75_.jpg|6242207] exceeded my already high expectations. Good intentions with unintended or unimagined consequences, and all the prices paid—for old hurts, for words said and unsaid, for betrayals, for misunderstandings and misplaced affection, and for love. Always the price of love.
This book (and series) is peopled with characters who are wonderfully imperfect. They inspire love, fear, despair, disgust, wonder, respect, frustration, and satisfaction. They face heartbreaking choices and unbearable decisions. And they persevere. There were a number of relationships that drove the story, but the heart of it always seemed to come back to Otah and Maati. Love, trust, jealousy, betrayal—all played out between them and in their world.
A completely satisfying conclusion to an excellent series!
bookish_wanderluster's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
5.0
rcollins1701's review against another edition
4.0
Abraham does many things very well here. Most notably, he makes you sympathize with the antagonists even as you hope they fail, and he draws the series to a close in a meaningful way that is both emotionally satisfying and devastating.
rdfalgout's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
5.0