Reviews with content warning for Animal death - Hall of Smoke

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Hall of Smoke by H.M. Long

6 reviews

walkie_check's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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anntharai's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

5.0

From start to finish I was hooked. I love the vividness of the characters and the harrowing plot. I feel the rage and the grief, the writing is that good.

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bookwisp's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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

Hessa is an Eangi, a warrior priestess to the war goddess Eang, able to turn her enemies to dust with a scream. Exiled for refusing to kill a traveller at her Goddess’ command, she survives the slaughter of her people. Broken, alone, adrift, Hessa is charged to atone for her weakness and must hunt down the man she spared. But the New Gods are dying, the Old Gods are rising, and, when all is through, nothing shall be as it was.

A Viking-inspired fantasy, Hall of Smoke feels new and fresh. Slow-paced (though not without some excellent combat scenes), introspective, and character driven, it’s a novel that is exactly as long as it needs to be. Lucy Holland nails it when she describes it as ‘a book about what it means to have your deepest illusions shattered and still scrape together the courage to begin again’.

Though I guessed some of the broader strokes, I found the plot extremely compelling. The gods are real – and they’ve got their own problems, flaws, and agendas.

I can’t really explain why this book has resonated with me as much as it has, but I think it’s got a lot to do with our protagonist. Hessa is a wonderful lead. Her grief and loneliness cut deep but it doesn’t drain her compassion; she listens, she learns, and, although she gets lost from time to time, she finds her own way forward. What would otherwise be a simple tale of revenge and redemption is, instead, an emotionally charged journey towards a new truth and a new identity. I liked this a lot and I'll be scooping the sequel as soon as possible.

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forthesanityof1's review

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adventurous inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-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

4.5

Absolutely gorgeous debut! Loved every second of it. The premise was so interesting and, for once, Booktok did not let me down. Magic and gods and traitors and this wonderful thread woven through tight, fast-paced events and narration. I loved Hessa and her conflicts within herself and with others. She is a divine warrior but so painfully human in so many ways, it was delightful to see her journey. I loved the world building and the way the gods were introduced as they came. Some moments needed a bit more clarity, but nothing major and nothing that took me out of the story. I loved this idea of a faith that one loves and relishes in through community and power and love becoming a collar/shackle (literally) and how one may deal with that. Hessa's struggle with her faith and her ultimate rejection of it in the face of the truth was so perfectly done. I thought, if anything, the ending was a bit rushed. I would have liked one scene immediately post-epic climax to allow this real idea of change to drop from this lofty ideal into a tangible thing, but that's being nitpicky. I can't wait to see where this author takes it next!

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samusc's review

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adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

This is fantasy at its absolute best.

H. M. Long, in her debut, has perfected the balance between writing intense battle scenes and tender human moments (braiding hair).

The scene at Oulden’s feet was phenomenal and the moment that solidified this as a 5 star read to me.

Long has created distinct pantheons of Gods that are warring with each other, while the people that worship them are also in combat. The magic system is unique and immersive. The Gods are all intimidating, and Hessa’s interactions with them kept me reading on into the night.

Throughout Hessa’s journey, she encountered many friends and foes, while navigating a brutal natural environment, as well as the trauma of losing most of her kin. These characters are multifaceted, and Ogam has one of the best character arcs I’ve seen in recent fantasy.

The conclusion is incredibly satisfying, and not rushed, the last act taking up I think 80/400 pages.

I love the tagline of Hall of Smoke, To Err is Divine, and how this epic is built upon the impact of the decisions we make.

I’d recommend this to longtime fans and newcomers of fantasy alike, and especially fellow AC: Valhalla players.

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onceuponabookcase's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I received this eProof for free from Titan Books via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Hall of Smoke by H. M. Long sounded right up my street when I first heard about it. A war between old gods and new gods? Sign me right up! But while I was gripped while reading, I finished with mixed feelings.

I found Hall of Smoke a little hard going at first. It starts off where Hessa has already failed to kill the traveller she was ordered to by her goddess, Eang. She's at her shrine up on the mountainside, several hours walk from her town, attempting to atone for failing her. And within a matter of pages, her town is attacked, but Hessa is too far away to make any difference. When she finally gets there, she finds her people have been massacred. We're thrown right into the deep end from the very beginning. There's no time for us to get emotionally involved, to feel attached to any of the characters. That's it, done, they're dead.

But at the same time, because it starts right away, we're not really given the opportunity to learn about the people of this world, who they are, what the politics is. We know the Agatti live north on the Eangen, they've never got on, and the Agatti raid Eangen towns a couple of times a year, but nothing ever like this. But we know nothing more at that point. We do get flashback chapters where Hessa thinks back to when she was younger, which gives us some context as to who the Eangen and Eangi are, but it just felt disjointed. And with other groups of people, we find out about them as we go, and it can get confusing when you don't yet understand yet why Hessa is reacting to them the way she is. I feel like there should have been a prologue or something, or the story should have started earlier, to give us some background as to who all the players are and what their politics is, who they worship, the various alliances and enmity between the gods, and the general history of the world as the Eangen people know it. I just had so many questions for the first quarter of the book, and really considered just putting it down. I was confused, and I didn't have time to get emotionally involved, so I also didn't care. The only thing that kept me reading was the fact that the story does move very quickly.

At first, this added to the confusion; between one page and the next, Hessa is on the other side of the world. Granted, she's unconcious for most of the journey, but it was startling. She was just in one situation, and now she's in a completely different situation. But this actually worked in the book's favour. After that first quarter, I had a fair handle on who all the different countries were peopled by and what their poltics was and who they worshipped. Otherwise, we just as much in the dark as Hessa. Hessa is struggling to reach her goddess, who is normally pretty responsive, other gods are in hiding, and other creatures are awakening, and Hessa doesn't have a clue what's happening. She's just lost her people, and is railing through grief, but she doesn't have time to deal with what she is feeling. She has to try and find the traveller and kill him to atone and to earn back her place in the High Halls after she dies, but the world is in chaos at the same time. While it isn't always action, action, action, something is always happening, and it's very fast paced. I still wasn't emotionally involved, and I hadn't connected to Hessa, but the mystery was intriguing. At every turn, you're never sure who Hessa should trust, what the truth is, or what's actually happening, and with Eang becoming more and more difficult to get ahold of, Hessa is lost at sea. It became really gripping, the more questions that crop up, the few answers we get.

I have to say I loved the worldbuilding. It's a very intriguing world, with gods that are very much a part of their worshipers' lives, and I was reminded of Greek mythology, as the ew gods had defeated the old gods, and were now in power, much like the Greek gods fighting the Titans. But there are secrets and lies and things kept hidden, and not everything is as it seems. There are so many layers, and they unfold layer by layer as the story progresses. I was desperate to know what the truth was of this world, of the people, and it's history.

So for the most part, I enjoyed Hall of Smoke. I was intrigued and gripped, and loved how quickly it moved, never letting the story lull. But I never really cared about any of the characters. While this book has a conclusion, and we get all the answers, there is meant to be a sequel, and I'd definitely be up for reading it, so that shows you how my feelings changed towards the book. But I definitely feel like the beginning could use some work, and give the reader some time to get emotionally involved, because I still never really cared about the characters. Hall of Smoke is overall enjoyable, but it could definitely have been better.

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