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kjjohnson 's review for:
Steel Crow Saga
by Paul Krueger
Closer to a 3.5?
I generally liked this book, and it contained a lot of specific things that I liked as well. But the execution/writing style didn't really jive with me all the time.
Liked: The characters, in general. There were four primary characters who were all very different from each other, all had significant flaws and strengths, and all were compelling to different degrees. I found Tala the most compelling, personally (she felt the most real to me), but I didn't dislike any of the characters by the end.
The two different forms of pacting, and how differently they're seen by different factions. How Xiulan's sister was almost certainly going to be a better choice as ruler than Xiulan. The And finally, the entire post-war (but with still-simmering tensions and a ton of history) setting. I also thought the romance(s?) were decent. And the implications and ethics of pacting your brother and stealing pacts were interesting.
Disliked: Some of the author's writing tics drove me crazy. Like the way he drove home characters' qualities incessantly. For example, it seemed like every chapter people talked about how much Xiulan or Jimuro talked. Like, we get it already. Similarly, there were an absurd number of references to an obvious in-universe Sherlock Holmes knock-off. The first few times I kind of rolled my eyes and went along with it, but it kept happening over and over. This was honestly my biggest issue with the book; the really repetitive show-not-tell about the characters' qualities.
Also, I was increasingly irritated with how obviously the nations in the book were based on real countries on Earth. Even down to tea ceremonies, eating bulgogi, and naming conventions. If he wanted to make something based on Asian cultures, I didn't get the point of just changing the names of the kingdoms while they were obviously supposed to represent Japan, China, etc.
So in conclusion, it was a pretty good book that I liked in theory more than I did in actuality because of the execution of the writing and some of the author's choices.
I generally liked this book, and it contained a lot of specific things that I liked as well. But the execution/writing style didn't really jive with me all the time.
Liked: The characters, in general. There were four primary characters who were all very different from each other, all had significant flaws and strengths, and all were compelling to different degrees. I found Tala the most compelling, personally (she felt the most real to me), but I didn't dislike any of the characters by the end.
The two different forms of pacting, and how differently they're seen by different factions. How Xiulan's sister was almost certainly going to be a better choice as ruler than Xiulan. The And finally, the entire post-war (but with still-simmering tensions and a ton of history) setting. I also thought the romance(s?) were decent. And the implications and ethics of pacting your brother and stealing pacts were interesting.
Disliked: Some of the author's writing tics drove me crazy. Like the way he drove home characters' qualities incessantly. For example, it seemed like every chapter people talked about how much Xiulan or Jimuro talked. Like, we get it already. Similarly, there were an absurd number of references to an obvious in-universe Sherlock Holmes knock-off. The first few times I kind of rolled my eyes and went along with it, but it kept happening over and over. This was honestly my biggest issue with the book; the really repetitive show-not-tell about the characters' qualities.
Also, I was increasingly irritated with how obviously the nations in the book were based on real countries on Earth. Even down to tea ceremonies, eating bulgogi, and naming conventions. If he wanted to make something based on Asian cultures, I didn't get the point of just changing the names of the kingdoms while they were obviously supposed to represent Japan, China, etc.
So in conclusion, it was a pretty good book that I liked in theory more than I did in actuality because of the execution of the writing and some of the author's choices.