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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
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:
Complicated
Three and a half stars. More exploration and discovery, less whining ("less" does not mean "none"; there's still plenty to go around). Knocked down a star and a half because Hess is obnoxious and boring and extremely whiney, so I ended up skipping a lot of his sections.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
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
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The world at large finally hears of the events of Dragon Keeper and Dragon Haven, and so the gears are set in motion for all of the Shitty Men to converge on our relatively* happy group.
*relatively is the operative word in the sentence
I'd say this was faster paced than the first book in the quartet, since so many forces are mobilizing and converging as the setup for the final book. Again, however, it seems pretty clear that this was meant to be the first part of the second book in a duology. We don't get the culmination of Hobb's character building into the really hard-hitting big payoff character moments. All the same, I enjoyed the setup, and I look forward to them in the next book.
I really enjoyed the Elderlings lore in this one and I think I can see pieces of the puzzle coming together for the broader Realm of the Elderlings as a whole. Excited to see how things will play out in the final trilogy.
General Thoughts:
- Interesting to see how some internal politics in Chalced are going and I would LOVE to see the misogynistic culture get turned on its head. Curious to see how it will link into the Kelsingra/Rain Wilds component
- I wish we'd had some more development of the relationship between Sintara and Thymara. They seem to be in a strange stalemate, though now that Sintara can fly, that may change quite quickly. I'm still hopeful Sintara will learn to value and respect Thymara, though it's good to see Thymara learning to love herself a bit more at least
- Tats was giving some entitled "Nice Guy" energy towards the end and I reeeeeeally want better for him (and, more importantly, from him)
- Seriously nerve-wracking to see all the parties converging on Kelsingra. I'm glad to see Reyn and Malta get involved but I hope things turn out OK for Ephron. Those from Chalced are really getting desperate now and it seems likely things will get messy. May they resolve in a karmically satisfying way, especially for Hest.
- can SOMEONE help Selden?? I'm looking at you Tintaglia, why can't you sense him??? But hell yeah for leaving Icefyre behind and doing her own thing now
- also, fun to see the messenger bird discussion overlap a bit and get mentioned in the mainline story parts, I continue to be invested in Erek, Detozi, and Reynall (and Kim, get outta here)
*relatively is the operative word in the sentence
I'd say this was faster paced than the first book in the quartet, since so many forces are mobilizing and converging as the setup for the final book. Again, however, it seems pretty clear that this was meant to be the first part of the second book in a duology. We don't get the culmination of Hobb's character building into the really hard-hitting big payoff character moments. All the same, I enjoyed the setup, and I look forward to them in the next book.
I really enjoyed the Elderlings lore in this one and I think I can see pieces of the puzzle coming together for the broader Realm of the Elderlings as a whole. Excited to see how things will play out in the final trilogy.
General Thoughts:
- Interesting to see how some internal politics in Chalced are going and I would LOVE to see the misogynistic culture get turned on its head. Curious to see how it will link into the Kelsingra/Rain Wilds component
- I wish we'd had some more development of the relationship between Sintara and Thymara. They seem to be in a strange stalemate, though now that Sintara can fly, that may change quite quickly. I'm still hopeful Sintara will learn to value and respect Thymara, though it's good to see Thymara learning to love herself a bit more at least
- Tats was giving some entitled "Nice Guy" energy towards the end and I reeeeeeally want better for him (and, more importantly, from him)
- Seriously nerve-wracking to see all the parties converging on Kelsingra. I'm glad to see Reyn and Malta get involved but I hope things turn out OK for Ephron. Those from Chalced are really getting desperate now and it seems likely things will get messy. May they resolve in a karmically satisfying way, especially for Hest.
- can SOMEONE help Selden?? I'm looking at you Tintaglia, why can't you sense him??? But hell yeah for leaving Icefyre behind and doing her own thing now
- also, fun to see the messenger bird discussion overlap a bit and get mentioned in the mainline story parts, I continue to be invested in Erek, Detozi, and Reynall (and Kim, get outta here)
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
adventurous
tense
slow-paced