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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
Here's the deal. I like fantasy, but my mind usually wanders during the overdescription or silly songs (see Rings, Lord of the) or it leaves me feeling as though I've lost all faith in humanity (see Thrones, Game of). With Anna Steffl's Seeking Solace, I get the best of fantasy combined with tight story telling, thorough world building, compelling characters, witty dialogue, and a prose so graceful I can't help but be jealous.
Many moons ago there was a Reckoning, and the Easternland still hasn't fully recovered. Now all hell's about to break loose courtesy of one twisted villain and some brand new baby dragons (or draedens in this case). Arvana is a Solacian (think nun) with a relic, and she needs a hero (cue Pat Benetar) The obvious choice is Chane Lerouge. He's a prince, after all. Meanwhile, Captain Degarius is piecing together that something is amiss, and he has a magic sword (no, not that kind....or does he?) that may mean Chane Lerouge isn't such a forgone conclusion.
To make matters more complicated, Arvana has the feels for Chane, but she's sworn devotion to the Maker. Chane's feels are mutual, and he isn't a man who knows how to take no for an answer. Then to make matters even worse, the sovereign is a nasty piece of work with a master plan that could spell disaster for them all.
If I had to pinpoint one thing about this book that surprised me, I would have to say that both the repartee and the inner musings of the characters remind me of all of the charm of old black and white movies. Don't let those noble sensibilities fool you, though. This novel has bite. The sovereign and his minions are capable of all sorts of villainy, and Steffl's heroes are flawed. But, hey, all the better to root for them.
Now, to twiddle my thumbs and wait for book 2.
Many moons ago there was a Reckoning, and the Easternland still hasn't fully recovered. Now all hell's about to break loose courtesy of one twisted villain and some brand new baby dragons (or draedens in this case). Arvana is a Solacian (think nun) with a relic, and she needs a hero (cue Pat Benetar) The obvious choice is Chane Lerouge. He's a prince, after all. Meanwhile, Captain Degarius is piecing together that something is amiss, and he has a magic sword (no, not that kind....or does he?) that may mean Chane Lerouge isn't such a forgone conclusion.
To make matters more complicated, Arvana has the feels for Chane, but she's sworn devotion to the Maker. Chane's feels are mutual, and he isn't a man who knows how to take no for an answer. Then to make matters even worse, the sovereign is a nasty piece of work with a master plan that could spell disaster for them all.
If I had to pinpoint one thing about this book that surprised me, I would have to say that both the repartee and the inner musings of the characters remind me of all of the charm of old black and white movies. Don't let those noble sensibilities fool you, though. This novel has bite. The sovereign and his minions are capable of all sorts of villainy, and Steffl's heroes are flawed. But, hey, all the better to root for them.
Now, to twiddle my thumbs and wait for book 2.
Rating: 3
I won a copy of this book for an honest review. This will never effect how I like or rate a book.
It took me awhile but I think I finally figured out what this book needed. It needed to be longer. I praise it for fitting in as much as it did with how short it was but it needed more.
I suppose I'll start with the good: Really nice cover; but then I can't help but be attracted to a book with a sword on its cover, it's a bit of a weakness of mine. ;) Since it was such a short book it was an easy and fast read. Now for what I considered the best part of the book, and that's Degarius. Every time that the book went back to him and his group I was happy. He was interesting and I also enjoyed reading about many of the men that he traveled with as well. Something was always happening and really just overall Degarius was the most likeable out of the three main characters.
Now we're getting to the problem I had with the book. Degarius was the best part. Any time that we went over to one of the other two plots I found myself just wanting to get back to Degarius. The reason why?
Well it certainly didn't start off that way but the more it went on the less fleshed out the characters got. Likely because there wasn't time to do so. Really Degarius wasn't even that fleshed out, just his story line was the most interesting. I never believed in the romance because there was really no time to show it developing. One moment Lerouge is seeing Arvana play the kithara and the next apparently weeks have went by and they go out horse riding just for him to admit his love for her.
Wait. What? Was there some instant love when he heard her play that I missed? Or was it something in all those weeks that we didn't get to see? Either way it was badly rushed and I never believed in it. Which isn't too bad of an offense. Hey, I read lots of YA, so when it comes to the rushed romance you just got to learn to let things go and try to enjoy the rest of the story.
That's just the problem though. While Degarius's story was moving Arvana's and Lerouge's felt like it was going nowhere. It felt like it was on repeat after awhile and I couldn't help but roll my eyes just waiting for something different to happen. Oh but it most certainly does near the end, some might say and yes I'll give you that. Something does happen with that. So here's a question for those that have read it, so minor spoiler here. How am I suppose to like Lerouge after this? Since for me I really don't see how I could. Maybe the second book will surprise me on this issue if I ever get around to reading it but till then I'm unconvinced.
So what of the third plot line that the story would go to? Well honestly, while reading anything about Alenius or his group I always just for some reason felt confused. Of course now after I've finished reading the book it's all coming together more in my mind of what was going on, well to some extent. Some things are still unclear in my opinion. So anytime I had to read their parts I always ended up a bit unsure of what I just read and really I'm still not sure why. Others that have given this book five or four stars didn't seem to have any trouble so I really don't know why I had any. If I had to hazard a guess though on it I'd have to say it's probably because there really was no world building. I felt like I was thrown in and just expected to know all there was about this world without really any explanation.
So, even though I did enjoy one of the story lines this book for me comes out at a 2.5 or a 3. The book had an interesting plot and some good characters but my enjoyment was only so high when reading it. Maybe if the story had been told from jut Degarius's point of view I might have liked it better but really I feel that if the characters would of had more time and been more fleshed out, the world explored and built up a bit more, I would of got more enjoyment from this book. It was by no means a bad book but it could of been better. I'd recommend it to those that read lots of fantasy, this will be a nice quick and easy read for many. A nice summer read. :)
I won a copy of this book for an honest review. This will never effect how I like or rate a book.
It took me awhile but I think I finally figured out what this book needed. It needed to be longer. I praise it for fitting in as much as it did with how short it was but it needed more.
I suppose I'll start with the good: Really nice cover; but then I can't help but be attracted to a book with a sword on its cover, it's a bit of a weakness of mine. ;) Since it was such a short book it was an easy and fast read. Now for what I considered the best part of the book, and that's Degarius. Every time that the book went back to him and his group I was happy. He was interesting and I also enjoyed reading about many of the men that he traveled with as well. Something was always happening and really just overall Degarius was the most likeable out of the three main characters.
Now we're getting to the problem I had with the book. Degarius was the best part. Any time that we went over to one of the other two plots I found myself just wanting to get back to Degarius. The reason why?
Well it certainly didn't start off that way but the more it went on the less fleshed out the characters got. Likely because there wasn't time to do so. Really Degarius wasn't even that fleshed out, just his story line was the most interesting. I never believed in the romance because there was really no time to show it developing. One moment Lerouge is seeing Arvana play the kithara and the next apparently weeks have went by and they go out horse riding just for him to admit his love for her.
Wait. What? Was there some instant love when he heard her play that I missed? Or was it something in all those weeks that we didn't get to see? Either way it was badly rushed and I never believed in it. Which isn't too bad of an offense. Hey, I read lots of YA, so when it comes to the rushed romance you just got to learn to let things go and try to enjoy the rest of the story.
That's just the problem though. While Degarius's story was moving Arvana's and Lerouge's felt like it was going nowhere. It felt like it was on repeat after awhile and I couldn't help but roll my eyes just waiting for something different to happen. Oh but it most certainly does near the end, some might say and yes I'll give you that. Something does happen with that. So here's a question for those that have read it, so minor spoiler here. How am I suppose to like Lerouge after this? Since for me I really don't see how I could. Maybe the second book will surprise me on this issue if I ever get around to reading it but till then I'm unconvinced.
So what of the third plot line that the story would go to? Well honestly, while reading anything about Alenius or his group I always just for some reason felt confused. Of course now after I've finished reading the book it's all coming together more in my mind of what was going on, well to some extent. Some things are still unclear in my opinion. So anytime I had to read their parts I always ended up a bit unsure of what I just read and really I'm still not sure why. Others that have given this book five or four stars didn't seem to have any trouble so I really don't know why I had any. If I had to hazard a guess though on it I'd have to say it's probably because there really was no world building. I felt like I was thrown in and just expected to know all there was about this world without really any explanation.
So, even though I did enjoy one of the story lines this book for me comes out at a 2.5 or a 3. The book had an interesting plot and some good characters but my enjoyment was only so high when reading it. Maybe if the story had been told from jut Degarius's point of view I might have liked it better but really I feel that if the characters would of had more time and been more fleshed out, the world explored and built up a bit more, I would of got more enjoyment from this book. It was by no means a bad book but it could of been better. I'd recommend it to those that read lots of fantasy, this will be a nice quick and easy read for many. A nice summer read. :)