A review by ineffablebob
Wheel of the Infinite by Martha Wells

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed Wheel of the Infinite, but I have to admit I felt lost through much of it. There's a lot of things going on related to the structure of the world and spirits that live in it, and little of that made sense to me until the very end. Which means that something would happen and it would be a complete surprise: oh, puppets can be possessed? Had no idea. Maskelle can call animal spirits to attack her enemies in the spiritual plane? That's unexpected. It certainly kept things interesting, but it also meant I had no real investment in the plot...whatever was coming would be some weirdness that kept things moving, but not anything I had any chance of predicting.

Having said all that, the book still held my attention largely because I liked all the major characters. Maskelle is great, her boyfriend Rian too, and the supporting cast of wandering actors is often hilarious. I may not have understood what they were doing a lot of the time, but I sure liked observing how they got through it.