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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
[2.5 Stars] This duology should have just been a standalone. There are probably 400 pages of fluff that could have been removed between the two books, and then it would have been great. Only the last 100 pages or so of this volume we're actually interesting to me. The ended was alright, so at least I'm satisfied with that.
This was a hard book to rate (and a very slow book to read!)
The author's prose is very pedestrian and slow and she often has a terrible sense of when extra detail is needed and when it isn't. The characters are very broadly drawn and the world-building is exceedingly simplistic.
The good characters are a little bit more than cutouts--they do think for themselves and are often doing things they aren't very happy about. The evil characters are ridiculous, mustachio-twirling villains...
She creates a somewhat interesting dynamic in describing a colonial society dominated by a small magic-using caste, but also forcing the rulers of the caste to do weather-magic which is quite painful and harmful to them. However, she doesn't explore the ramifications of this sort of society much at all.
What did work was turning the "chosen one" narrative on it's head by making the prophesied character a total thuggish pain in the ass. (Of course, this also made the book harder to like.) The real protagonist of the book is the woman who is supposed to support him...except that in the end she (of course) falls in love with him and also plays no real part in the resolution of the crisis.
Bad book. Won't be reading anything else by her.
Reader on the audio version did a great job.
The author's prose is very pedestrian and slow and she often has a terrible sense of when extra detail is needed and when it isn't. The characters are very broadly drawn and the world-building is exceedingly simplistic.
The good characters are a little bit more than cutouts--they do think for themselves and are often doing things they aren't very happy about. The evil characters are ridiculous, mustachio-twirling villains...
She creates a somewhat interesting dynamic in describing a colonial society dominated by a small magic-using caste, but also forcing the rulers of the caste to do weather-magic which is quite painful and harmful to them. However, she doesn't explore the ramifications of this sort of society much at all.
What did work was turning the "chosen one" narrative on it's head by making the prophesied character a total thuggish pain in the ass. (Of course, this also made the book harder to like.) The real protagonist of the book is the woman who is supposed to support him...except that in the end she (of course) falls in love with him and also plays no real part in the resolution of the crisis.
Bad book. Won't be reading anything else by her.
Reader on the audio version did a great job.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Not as strong as the first book but still a pretty good read. The kingdom is reeling from the sudden death of the royal family that occurred at the end of book 1. Chaos follows, and at the end Asher finally faces the evil he was prophesied to face. The author didn't try to stretch this out to a trilogy and as a result this book is action packed, and a quick read in spite of its length. The only thing I disliked was the hella awkward romance between Asher and Dathne.
adventurous
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character