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cdonegan's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Racism, and Xenophobia
Minor: Homophobia and Rape
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Grief, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Blood, Classism, Murder, Terminal illness, Misogyny, Violence, Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Sexism
Minor: Miscarriage, Alcohol, Homophobia, Incest, Pedophilia, War, and Infertility
misty_kb's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death
Moderate: Child abuse and Death of parent
Minor: Homophobia
birdofalltrades's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Violence, Bullying, Classism, Grief, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Murder, Blood, and Sexism
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual assault, and Alcoholism
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, and Infertility
welgan's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
Spoiler-free review
This book is not perfect, but it's a favorite for me.
It had the driest beginning I've seen in a long time and some pacing issues at the end (it felt a tad bit rushed), but its atmosphere is so engaging and its characters are so attaching it won its place in my heart.
It begins on a dozen pages of a naming convention guide in the world (very dry even if you're a lover of the preface on Hobbits in LOTR, but also very necessary) and a full glossary. Then the first few pages were not really good. I felt disconnected from the main character (I felt he lacked internal voice and emotion and some relationships weren't as obvious as is should be. But mind you, this only applies to the very first pages : the incredible thing is that the book manages to become better almost instantly after and I could'nt put it down.
It is a story about friendship and being a kind person. It is also a story about a neglected young man who unexpectedly becomes emperor, and I don't know how but it manages to make court intrigues feel COSY. I don't like court intrigues. With a plot like this, I wouldn't even have read it. But the reason I did was because I found it on "coy fantasy" book lists. I don't think it fits in the genre exactly, but it is low-fantasy, and for whatever miracle the author managed to create, it feels cosy. I think it's mostly because the main character, Maia, has a such a heart-warming voice and because some of the secondary characters feel right and kind. The book talks about dark themes, and events are not at all cosy, but the narration manages to keep this overall feeling and to never make me feel anxious while reading. It was amazing and I will read it again.
Also, in the end, I appreciate that there's no romance plot : it is not what the book whishes to tell, and by telling its story, it focused on building other relationships that were very meaningful. This point is a major strnegth of the book to me and a main reason why I loved it so much.
Special mention to the soft wordbuilding, it was well done, and original. There is no more than we need to know, but it feels like a real world with fleshed out society.
Another special mention to Osmin Ceredin and her most wonderful letter, I love it, it's amazing and it made go from "wary of this character" to "rooting inconditionally for this character" instantly.
My personnal regrets are, first, that there are a lot of names and I would have prefered a more precise index of the characters (who they are for the other characters, what faction they are part of) rather than a glossary. Second, I've just read a few books with societies who fully integrated some or several queer progressive aspects, and coming back to a world where the general idea among the elite is "women are for childbearing and homosexuals should be ashamed" feels sad. However, it serves the theme of changing things while having power (the women rights theme being a minor subplot).
This book is not perfect, but it's a favorite for me.
It had the driest beginning I've seen in a long time and some pacing issues at the end (it felt a tad bit rushed), but its atmosphere is so engaging and its characters are so attaching it won its place in my heart.
It begins on a dozen pages of a naming convention guide in the world (very dry even if you're a lover of the preface on Hobbits in LOTR, but also very necessary) and a full glossary. Then the first few pages were not really good. I felt disconnected from the main character (I felt he lacked internal voice and emotion and some relationships weren't as obvious as is should be. But mind you, this only applies to the very first pages : the incredible thing is that the book manages to become better almost instantly after and I could'nt put it down.
It is a story about friendship and being a kind person. It is also a story about a neglected young man who unexpectedly becomes emperor, and I don't know how but it manages to make court intrigues feel COSY. I don't like court intrigues. With a plot like this, I wouldn't even have read it. But the reason I did was because I found it on "coy fantasy" book lists. I don't think it fits in the genre exactly, but it is low-fantasy, and for whatever miracle the author managed to create, it feels cosy. I think it's mostly because the main character, Maia, has a such a heart-warming voice and because some of the secondary characters feel right and kind. The book talks about dark themes, and events are not at all cosy, but the narration manages to keep this overall feeling and to never make me feel anxious while reading. It was amazing and I will read it again.
Also, in the end, I appreciate that there's no romance plot : it is not what the book whishes to tell, and by telling its story, it focused on building other relationships that were very meaningful. This point is a major strnegth of the book to me and a main reason why I loved it so much.
Special mention to the soft wordbuilding, it was well done, and original. There is no more than we need to know, but it feels like a real world with fleshed out society.
Another special mention to Osmin Ceredin and her most wonderful letter, I love it, it's amazing and it made go from "wary of this character" to "rooting inconditionally for this character" instantly.
My personnal regrets are, first, that there are a lot of names and I would have prefered a more precise index of the characters (who they are for the other characters, what faction they are part of) rather than a glossary. Second, I've just read a few books with societies who fully integrated some or several queer progressive aspects, and coming back to a world where the general idea among the elite is "women are for childbearing and homosexuals should be ashamed" feels sad. However, it serves the theme of changing things while having power (the women rights theme being a minor subplot).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicide, Child abuse, and Death of parent
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Homophobia, Miscarriage, and Murder
emcat591's review
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
There is next to no plot in this book. The plot can be boiled down to court intrigue, miffed feelings, and a public works project. Until around 60%, that is, when something very action-y suddenly happens, and then it goes back to the way it was before. That said, if you enjoy books with a lot of internal monologue and conversations between characters, I don't think it will bother you much.
I liked this book, but I did have several issues with it. The names are long and unpronounceable; ignore the pronunciation advice given and just plow through, butchering as you see fit, because there are so many that you will drive yourself crazy otherwise. Additionally, the large volume of long and confusing names made it somewhat hard to keep them straight. If something wasn't mentioned for a while, I found myself struggling to remember what it was without context clues.
On top of that, there is a significant amount of very clunky formal language - thee's and thou's, etc. It is most present in the beginning, but never fully goes away.
My biggest issue, though, was the way that hurt feelings would suddenly pop up in conversations and then disappear. Maybe it was just going over my head, but sometimes emotions seemed to come out of nowhere. In one example, Maia is glaring at Csevet in one paragraph and then laughing with him on the next page. I didn't really get that and found it off-putting and confusing when characters would have strong emotional reactions seemingly at random.
Somewhat related is the issue that a lot of the characters kind of blurred together. Don't get me started on the various Lords of the Corazhas, but besides that, there were certain characters that Maia apparently had an emotional attachment to without me realizing it. Dazhis comes to mind - Maia mentions that he liked Dazhis after something unfortunate happens, and it came as a surprise to me because I didn't remember that being mentioned or indicated at all.
Slightly spoiler-y nitpicks:
The whole thing about the emperor not being able to have friends seemed arbitrary and forced, as Maia himself realized in the end, and the sabotage plot moved too slow without enough advancements and then basically got solved in a letter. I don't know.
The book ends on a hopeful note, which was nice. Overall, it was not my favorite. I found myself wishing that I was reading a book where stuff happened and was somewhat reluctant to pick it up each night, but once I settled in and started reading, I was engaged and it was enjoyable enough.
I liked this book, but I did have several issues with it. The names are long and unpronounceable; ignore the pronunciation advice given and just plow through, butchering as you see fit, because there are so many that you will drive yourself crazy otherwise. Additionally, the large volume of long and confusing names made it somewhat hard to keep them straight. If something wasn't mentioned for a while, I found myself struggling to remember what it was without context clues.
On top of that, there is a significant amount of very clunky formal language - thee's and thou's, etc. It is most present in the beginning, but never fully goes away.
My biggest issue, though, was the way that hurt feelings would suddenly pop up in conversations and then disappear. Maybe it was just going over my head, but sometimes emotions seemed to come out of nowhere. In one example, Maia is glaring at Csevet in one paragraph and then laughing with him on the next page. I didn't really get that and found it off-putting and confusing when characters would have strong emotional reactions seemingly at random.
Somewhat related is the issue that a lot of the characters kind of blurred together. Don't get me started on the various Lords of the Corazhas, but besides that, there were certain characters that Maia apparently had an emotional attachment to without me realizing it. Dazhis comes to mind - Maia mentions that he liked Dazhis after something unfortunate happens, and it came as a surprise to me because I didn't remember that being mentioned or indicated at all.
Slightly spoiler-y nitpicks:
The book ends on a hopeful note, which was nice. Overall, it was not my favorite. I found myself wishing that I was reading a book where stuff happened and was somewhat reluctant to pick it up each night, but once I settled in and started reading, I was engaged and it was enjoyable enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Suicide
Moderate: Homophobia and Racism
hybridtulips's review
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Truly the fantasy court drama of my dreams. Cannot recommend this book enough!
I'm usually not a huge fan of steampunk, but the theme is light enough and handled well enough for me to actually enjoy it. A first time for everything!
I'm usually not a huge fan of steampunk, but the theme is light enough and handled well enough for me to actually enjoy it. A first time for everything!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Suicide, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Racism, Alcoholism, Violence, Death, Child abuse, Terminal illness, and Misogyny
Minor: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Homophobia, War, and Infertility
The while book is themed around moderate to mild racism towards (darker skinned) goblins within the (lighter skinned) elven society, externally from other characters, and internalized by the main character.k_bb's review
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
This was quite laborious to read and overall I’m not sure it was worth the labour. The use of language was frustrating, although I became accustomed to it after some time. The names and honorifics were so cumbersome to read that it actually impeded the flow of the narrative. I found the political scenes tiresome, especially because politics was actually dealt with quite superficially at the end of the day. I felt the characters were flat and the commentary insipid. I love fantasy and read this because it was recommended as “cozy fantasy”, but perhaps this is just not the type of fantasy I enjoy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Minor: Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Homophobia
localcryptid's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I think there is a specific audience for this book, but unfortunately it wasn't me.
The writing itself was a big drawback. The shift between plain English and more archaic English (thee, thou, willst, etc) felt forced and a bit jarring. I think the intent was to demonstrate a level of formality and ritual, but it didn't feel particularly well executed. It maybe would have worked a bit better if we had had more time with Maia before he was taken to the main court.
The characters also feel immensely underdeveloped. Maia is the narrative focus, and unfortunately this means that none of the other characters get much time to develop. The antagonist stay antagonistic for exactly the reasons you expect them to. They feel very one-dimensional and boring. The singular betrayal of the mage is a bit of a suprise, but because it is also a suprise to Maia it doesn't really feel like a useful plot point. It would've been nice to see some of his dissatisfaction foreshadowed. But his betrayal just kind of comes out of left field, is unsuccessful, he kills himself, and we get a lot of filler discussion of people being unhappy with the betrayal but that doesn't do much to really develop the character relationships. . The supporting characters continue to like Maia for the same reasons they start off liking Maia. Some of them get a small vignette to explain why they like Maia, but there are very few characters that switch from disliking Maia to liking him. At best you will see a shift from ambivalent to care. It feels like a failure of political intrigue.
There are several plot points that feel, at best, dissappointing in the way they are treated. Spoilers for discussion of the plot, discussion of suicide, and discussion of homophobia. Firstly, I particularly I hated the way that ritual suicide came into play in the plot. It's not a topic I care for under any circumstance, but when the mage who betrays Maia is forced to commit suicide they way he is disucssed after death is upsetting. Prior to killing himself he asks Maia to witness the event because he has no one else. The scene itself was graphic, but worse is the cleric who says he was exaggerating when he said he had no one left. It feels like an unnecessary jab at people who commit suicide. That may feel like an unkind assumption and a bit of a reach, but considering the way the singular gay relationship is handled I stand by that reading of it. Which brings me to my second big nit-pick: homophobia. It feels as though we are supposed to see Maia as benevolent for continuing to work with a gay man despite viewing his sexuality as "unnatural love" because the gay man acknowledged the relationship was wrong and chose to leave the church. Distasteful as it is, I could perhaps excuse that description in something written in 2004. In 2014? What was the point, unless it was something the author genuinely believes? Neither of these things felt necessary for larger story. It's dissappointing so say the least that the author felt it necessary to include them.
The big "twist" of the novel is also dissappointing in that the first time it happens it's shocking. Unexpected! Exciting! And then it happens again. And then it happens *a third time*. And it doesn't feel shocking or unexpected or exciting anymore. It just feels like a waiting game to see if we get to make it to the end of the book before the another antagonist tries for another round of the same plot point.
In all, I had friends who were excited about the book, loved the characters, and loved the plot, but for me there were just too many small issues that piled up and never let me enjoy it. I was dissappoined in the book and I was dissappointed in not being able to join my peers in enjoying it.
The writing itself was a big drawback. The shift between plain English and more archaic English (thee, thou, willst, etc) felt forced and a bit jarring. I think the intent was to demonstrate a level of formality and ritual, but it didn't feel particularly well executed. It maybe would have worked a bit better if we had had more time with Maia before he was taken to the main court.
The characters also feel immensely underdeveloped. Maia is the narrative focus, and unfortunately this means that none of the other characters get much time to develop. The antagonist stay antagonistic for exactly the reasons you expect them to. They feel very one-dimensional and boring.
There are several plot points that feel, at best, dissappointing in the way they are treated. Spoilers for discussion of the plot, discussion of suicide, and discussion of homophobia.
The big "twist" of the novel is also dissappointing in that the first time it happens it's shocking. Unexpected! Exciting! And then it happens again. And then it happens *a third time*. And it doesn't feel shocking or unexpected or exciting anymore. It just feels like a waiting game to see if we get to make it to the end of the book before the another antagonist tries for another round of the same plot point.
In all, I had friends who were excited about the book, loved the characters, and loved the plot, but for me there were just too many small issues that piled up and never let me enjoy it. I was dissappoined in the book and I was dissappointed in not being able to join my peers in enjoying it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide and Xenophobia
Minor: Homophobia and Sexual harassment
Ritual suicidehamstringy's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This is the sort of book that, had I read it between the ages of 8 and 13, I would have imprinted on so hard.
It’s decidedly not perfect (it falls into the monarchist fantasy trap a lot), but I did really appreciate the core story of a boy choosing over and over again to be kind.
It’s decidedly not perfect (it falls into the monarchist fantasy trap a lot), but I did really appreciate the core story of a boy choosing over and over again to be kind.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Bullying, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse