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A review by obr
Hero at the Fall by Alwyn Hamilton
3.0
My feelings are really mixed. On the one hand, this is a really readable magical fantasy adventure that does it's job of rounding off the trilogy with big battles and dramatic turns. On the other... Darn, these characters are just as dull as when they started. And the drama has a habit of being conveniently resolved. And the ending was alright but just felt... lacking.
I liked the story. I liked the darkness, the danger of unknown magic and Djinni legends, the relentless pace that kept up throughout. I like that it's a really easy to read style. What I didn't like was the feeling that there was just a hurry to wrap up the story with a nice little bow and tuck away any inconvenient loose threads.
The story was what mattered here, the characters involved in it less so. I just felt that the relationships (whether friendly or romantic) were a bit under-cooked and flat. Everyone went through the motions, but I didn't see anything that made it feel real. So Jin and Amani make YA-friendly steamy eyes at each other (the usual fire/burning metaphors is about as close to "romance" as this series gets). So some named characters die. So why do I feel like saying so what? I thought that by now I'd have grown to care about them, that they'd have grown and changed as characters... But beyond Amani's insistence that she's not the same girl who left Dustwalk, I didn't see much development. I was disappointed when characters died, but that's about it. Some characters seemed to vanish off the radar for the most part (Delilah, Leyla), with others like Izz and Maz getting more name-drops but still just being bit-part players. Even the bad guys got sidelined - the Sultan exited stage left and never came back.
Maybe my problem was that, like the first book, this story was all Amani, all the time. And she's annoyingly wed to diving in and making a bad situation worse, knowingly so. And that's annoying.
There are little plot points that felt so unfulfilling. The how-to-cheat-death situations that just suddenly sort themselves out. Characters who were just tossed aside: Leyla, the harem/Hidden House girls, the Albish and Gallen... Lots of people and events alluded to by the ending chapter, but came across as an afterthought.
TL;DR: It's good, but also a bit flat. Read for an epic story, not an epic romance. Read because you want Middle Eastern inspired fantasy magic and lore twisted up with political maneuverings. It's pretty, but it's not deep, and this finale felt like a rush to tell the end of the story ASAP.
I liked the story. I liked the darkness, the danger of unknown magic and Djinni legends, the relentless pace that kept up throughout. I like that it's a really easy to read style. What I didn't like was the feeling that there was just a hurry to wrap up the story with a nice little bow and tuck away any inconvenient loose threads.
The story was what mattered here, the characters involved in it less so. I just felt that the relationships (whether friendly or romantic) were a bit under-cooked and flat. Everyone went through the motions, but I didn't see anything that made it feel real. So Jin and Amani make YA-friendly steamy eyes at each other (the usual fire/burning metaphors is about as close to "romance" as this series gets). So some named characters die. So why do I feel like saying so what? I thought that by now I'd have grown to care about them, that they'd have grown and changed as characters... But beyond Amani's insistence that she's not the same girl who left Dustwalk, I didn't see much development. I was disappointed when characters died, but that's about it. Some characters seemed to vanish off the radar for the most part (Delilah, Leyla
Spoiler
who after the second book's revelations, felt criminally neglectedMaybe my problem was that, like the first book, this story was all Amani, all the time. And she's annoyingly wed to diving in and making a bad situation worse, knowingly so. And that's annoying.
There are little plot points that felt so unfulfilling. The how-to-cheat-death situations that just suddenly sort themselves out. Characters who were just tossed aside: Leyla, the harem/Hidden House girls, the Albish and Gallen... Lots of people and events alluded to by the ending chapter, but came across as an afterthought.
Spoiler
Am I the only one really bothered by the Shazad trapped in the dark beneath Eremot red herring? I kept expecting some Destroyer of Worlds subplot to be pulled out of the hat, especially after Amani gives the kiss of protection to Shazad. But that epilogue ending effectively neuters it for even being some spin off or sequel. Who was it laughing in the darkness? I guess we'll never know. Not to mention Zaahir the meddler who deligts in tormenting Amani and then just... goes away even after his plans had obviously gone awry. Not like he'd try to make more terrible events for the Miraji, right? Nah.TL;DR: It's good, but also a bit flat. Read for an epic story, not an epic romance. Read because you want Middle Eastern inspired fantasy magic and lore twisted up with political maneuverings. It's pretty, but it's not deep, and this finale felt like a rush to tell the end of the story ASAP.