4.11 AVERAGE


So long
roxyc's profile picture

roxyc's review

4.0
adventurous medium-paced

Whenever people see how thick this book is, they can't help but crack jokes about needing a forklift to carry it around. It is quite thick and I'm not sure it really needed to be that long.

It seems that there's a lot more premonitions that happen to help things get done - a lot more than the other novels. Hmm. Sometimes it just seems a bit too convenient.

Also, I kind of got annoyed by the message left by Kasanda. I mean, if you know you don't have that much time to say what you need to say, but did you really have to explain (or make vague references to) why the laptop works after so long? Or offhandedly say stuff about eluding time a couple of times in her life? And after saying all that, wouldn't you know it, the computer shorts out just before Kasanda could say something important. *aggrieved sigh*

Gah. Despite all that, one reviewer (Choupette) said: "She's got us all by the balls [...:] because I just freaking want to know what happens at the end." It's so true.
alix87's profile picture

alix87's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH

DNF at 8.6%. I could not push myself to read it no matter how hard I tried
jlfw0498's profile picture

jlfw0498's review

4.0
adventurous challenging slow-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
kateyjay's profile picture

kateyjay's review

4.0
adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious 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

Verrry long (the US and the U.K. split it into two) but never a slog. Unlike the last book this jumps straight into the action and doesn't let up. Elspeth gets closer to the finish out her quest and deciphering the mysterious clues scattered around the Land.

you risked your life to save mine / i saved myself @!!!^&@^@@;@^@&@!!!!!@@!!

Did anyone else think this one was rushed into production before it was really ready? I know that's a little ridiculous of me to say, seeing as this book was ten years in the making, but seriously! At one stage Brydda is in two places at once, and some of the place names have been misspelled, and there are sentences with one too many the's and and's and a's. Either the publishers rushed it out, or Isobelle Carmody didn't have the most eagle-eyed of editors. Either way, it's not a good look.

Other than that, though, I'm both frustrated that we hardly got anywhere with regards to Elspeth's quest, and I really want to read the next book.