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ladyethyme's review against another edition
2.0
I normally love Lois, and read all her Vorkosigan books-But for some reason, I don’t know what happened… I guess all artists have work just doesn’t seem to be up to their standard. Normally she has very strong female characters, and at least decent male characters… But this one seems to have lost everything except a forced romance. Which I still don’t understand, considering one of the first things that the “hero“ tells the “heroine“ is that she should have just let somebody rape her because that would have been easier on everyone…seriously…??!!
There was absolutely none of her wry humor, her wit, her cleverness… It was extremely heavy handed, rather dull, and went on for several chapters more than it ought. To be perfectly honest I only finished it because it was one of her books and I felt obligated.
There was absolutely none of her wry humor, her wit, her cleverness… It was extremely heavy handed, rather dull, and went on for several chapters more than it ought. To be perfectly honest I only finished it because it was one of her books and I felt obligated.
lanica's review against another edition
3.0
Long...long...long...but good. 3.5 stars.
It just took too many words for the small (though wonderful) plot it encompassed. There were too many descriptions of place, of people, or emotions...etc.
The plot was wonderfully rich and complex, but it didn't even start to come together until well into the book. We first met each person, learned about them and their relationships then watched them get pulled into the plot. Once the first secret was revealed the story caught me up very quickly, but it was a hard thing to get that far into the book.
If you can get through the slow beginning it's worth reading to the end.
It just took too many words for the small (though wonderful) plot it encompassed. There were too many descriptions of place, of people, or emotions...etc.
The plot was wonderfully rich and complex, but it didn't even start to come together until well into the book. We first met each person, learned about them and their relationships then watched them get pulled into the plot. Once the first secret was revealed the story caught me up very quickly, but it was a hard thing to get that far into the book.
If you can get through the slow beginning it's worth reading to the end.
books_and_keys's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
lainec's review against another edition
adventurous
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
1.75
readingjag's review against another edition
2.0
Started this one, but it was just too slow to start and since it didn't have any of the characters from Chalion that I'd come to love I sort of abandoned it right away.
kbhenrickson's review
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I found this one a little harder to follow than the first two books in this series. In retrospect, it may have worked better as an eye-read than audiobook. I liked the narrator, but there were definitely points where I wasn't sure who was talking, or if someone was talking or just thinking to themselves. There is also more complicated political intrigue, though it did all come together for me in the end. I enjoyed the main characters, though I did want to shake some sense (or some optimism) into Ingrey at times. :-)
mary_soon_lee's review against another edition
3.0
This is the third volume in Bujold's World of the Five Gods series. I enjoyed it, but significantly less so than the preceding two books. I think I would need to read the book a second time--which I don't plan to do!--to sort out what made it less compelling, but it has something to do with Ingrey, the main character. While Ingrey was likable, he was not hugely so, and he seemed to lack clear goals that I could root for, perhaps because he himself was unsure of what was going on, and so was reacting to events more than shaping them.
the_mad_bird_diaries's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
jonathanpalfrey's review against another edition
5.0
I came to this book by a probably unusual route, first reading Bujold’s series of novellas starting with [b:Penric's Demon|25791216|Penric’s Demon (Penric and Desdemona, #1)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1436108514l/25791216._SX50_.jpg|45642232], set in the same world but in a later time period, and with a very different mood to them. Penric is young and has a sunny disposition, while Ingrey, the hero of this novel, is also young in years but seems middle-aged throughout: he’s dour, world-weary, mature, hard-bitten.
This is a gripping novel that’s hard to put down, with a variety of characters, a complex and interesting story, and a satisfactory conclusion. Although the sorcerers seen in the other stories are present, the emphasis here is on shamans, who use a darker source of magical power that is gradually dying out over the course of time.
The world of the Five Gods has the usual fantasy setting: a fictionalized version of our own world, with different countries and languages, and a mediæval pre-gunpowder level of technology, all carefully and vividly described in some detail.
This is chronologically the earliest story set in this world—about 150 years before [b:Penric's Demon|25791216|Penric’s Demon (Penric and Desdemona, #1)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1436108514l/25791216._SX50_.jpg|45642232], and about 250 years before [b:The Curse of Chalion|61886|The Curse of Chalion (World of the Five Gods, #1)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1322571773l/61886._SY75_.jpg|1129349]. So it might seem reasonable to read this one first, before the others. I don’t think the author particularly intends you to do that, but I don’t know of any reason why you shouldn’t.
Compared with the accompanying novels set in this world, [b:The Curse of Chalion|61886|The Curse of Chalion (World of the Five Gods, #1)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1322571773l/61886._SY75_.jpg|1129349] and [b:Paladin of Souls|61904|Paladin of Souls (World of the Five Gods, #2)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388350884l/61904._SY75_.jpg|819610], in some ways I like this one best; but its emphasis on shamans is a slight disadvantage. I seem to prefer reading about sorcerers, so it’s pleasant to encounter a sorcerer in this story, although unfortunately she has only a minor role and isn’t on stage much.
Although the ending is satisfactory in the way it brings the plot to a conclusion, and it’s not unhappy, it is nevertheless macabre, and not one of my favourite endings. However, it would be hard to change, because the rest of the book leads up to it. I’ve decided in the end that the rest of the book is worth five stars, and I can live with the ending.
I didn’t immediately warm to the characters of this story; but after repeated rereadings I’ve grown to like them. Ingrey is all over the story, it’s told from his point of view, but there’s a diverse array of other characters that are sufficiently well drawn to make an impression. Some of them are likeable and even amusing, although the story is mostly serious.
This is a gripping novel that’s hard to put down, with a variety of characters, a complex and interesting story, and a satisfactory conclusion. Although the sorcerers seen in the other stories are present, the emphasis here is on shamans, who use a darker source of magical power that is gradually dying out over the course of time.
The world of the Five Gods has the usual fantasy setting: a fictionalized version of our own world, with different countries and languages, and a mediæval pre-gunpowder level of technology, all carefully and vividly described in some detail.
This is chronologically the earliest story set in this world—about 150 years before [b:Penric's Demon|25791216|Penric’s Demon (Penric and Desdemona, #1)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1436108514l/25791216._SX50_.jpg|45642232], and about 250 years before [b:The Curse of Chalion|61886|The Curse of Chalion (World of the Five Gods, #1)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1322571773l/61886._SY75_.jpg|1129349]. So it might seem reasonable to read this one first, before the others. I don’t think the author particularly intends you to do that, but I don’t know of any reason why you shouldn’t.
Compared with the accompanying novels set in this world, [b:The Curse of Chalion|61886|The Curse of Chalion (World of the Five Gods, #1)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1322571773l/61886._SY75_.jpg|1129349] and [b:Paladin of Souls|61904|Paladin of Souls (World of the Five Gods, #2)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388350884l/61904._SY75_.jpg|819610], in some ways I like this one best; but its emphasis on shamans is a slight disadvantage. I seem to prefer reading about sorcerers, so it’s pleasant to encounter a sorcerer in this story, although unfortunately she has only a minor role and isn’t on stage much.
Although the ending is satisfactory in the way it brings the plot to a conclusion, and it’s not unhappy, it is nevertheless macabre, and not one of my favourite endings. However, it would be hard to change, because the rest of the book leads up to it. I’ve decided in the end that the rest of the book is worth five stars, and I can live with the ending.
I didn’t immediately warm to the characters of this story; but after repeated rereadings I’ve grown to like them. Ingrey is all over the story, it’s told from his point of view, but there’s a diverse array of other characters that are sufficiently well drawn to make an impression. Some of them are likeable and even amusing, although the story is mostly serious.
annecrisp's review against another edition
3.0
I listened this audiobook. I rounded up because I'm not sure if my boredom was due to the actual writing of the book or because of the narrator.