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Since I read the rest of them before I began reviewing, this might just as well serve as my review of the whole series. And the verdict is a resounding ‘Meh.’
Let’s start with the writing - it is serviceable but far from intricate or elegant. The fight scenes are well-written and described well enough not to be too disorienting. Credit where credit is due - the hand to hand combat is done very well.
The magic system is the real highlight of the world and books. It is always internally consistent and while it becomes ever more complex, it still builds logically on the information in the first books. The demons as antagonists are also very well done - a nice variation on an age-old motif.
The characters are a mixed bag honestly. The author managed to come up with a diverse cast with interesting relationships between them and very different motivations and goals and make them all very human, fallible and understandable, allowing us to empathize with every single one of them. And yet, I can’t help feeling that they would have been handled better by another author. They and their interactions lack a certain amount of depth. See, the author adds ‘nuance’ and shades of grey to the characters but he always paints with a huge brush and you see the strokes clearly.
The various difficult topics addressed in the series also fall under character interaction for me. Since this is a gritty fantasy in the vein of GRRM, we get all the violence and rape and prejudices, first and foremost racism, sexism and religious differences. These prejudices take center stage in the plotting. Again, brushstrokes the size of the Great Wall here. In my personal view, they are not handled egregiously awfully but they’re also not handled particularly well. Middling, more like.
The good part about the books is that we also get to see the better sides of humanity. There is a lot of heroism and love and most characters grow and develop for the better as they get to know more of life and the world. Some good people turn bad, bad people are redeemed and most of the characters have a skeleton or ten in their closet. One of the best character and plotting decisions I’d like to highlight here is the decision to not have the central conflict be about who is the real Deliverer since Arlen Bales doesn’t really care about that.
The ever-expanding cast of characters and the need to have several POVs is also the reason this book is so bloated. And it feels somewhat rushed in that every ounce of intended character development and plot is squeezed in. He doesn’t quite manage it, though. The plotting is also pretty predictable. There’s nothing unforeseen here and everything falls into place far too neatly.
Let’s start with the writing - it is serviceable but far from intricate or elegant. The fight scenes are well-written and described well enough not to be too disorienting. Credit where credit is due - the hand to hand combat is done very well.
The magic system is the real highlight of the world and books. It is always internally consistent and while it becomes ever more complex, it still builds logically on the information in the first books. The demons as antagonists are also very well done - a nice variation on an age-old motif.
The characters are a mixed bag honestly. The author managed to come up with a diverse cast with interesting relationships between them and very different motivations and goals and make them all very human, fallible and understandable, allowing us to empathize with every single one of them. And yet, I can’t help feeling that they would have been handled better by another author. They and their interactions lack a certain amount of depth. See, the author adds ‘nuance’ and shades of grey to the characters but he always paints with a huge brush and you see the strokes clearly.
The various difficult topics addressed in the series also fall under character interaction for me. Since this is a gritty fantasy in the vein of GRRM, we get all the violence and rape and prejudices, first and foremost racism, sexism and religious differences. These prejudices take center stage in the plotting. Again, brushstrokes the size of the Great Wall here. In my personal view, they are not handled egregiously awfully but they’re also not handled particularly well. Middling, more like.
The good part about the books is that we also get to see the better sides of humanity. There is a lot of heroism and love and most characters grow and develop for the better as they get to know more of life and the world. Some good people turn bad, bad people are redeemed and most of the characters have a skeleton or ten in their closet. One of the best character and plotting decisions I’d like to highlight here is the decision to not have the central conflict be about who is the real Deliverer since Arlen Bales doesn’t really care about that.
Spoiler
Unfortunately, the author undermines both the plot point and much of the characterization in this book, in an attempt to bring Jardir and Arlen closer together in their thinking and to sow generalized doubt. The ending Toast by Jardir particularly rankles since by then Arlen is very much Christlike, which I defeated as a choice since it cheapens his character.The ever-expanding cast of characters and the need to have several POVs is also the reason this book is so bloated. And it feels somewhat rushed in that every ounce of intended character development and plot is squeezed in. He doesn’t quite manage it, though