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A review by elros451
Dreams of the Dying by Nicolas Lietzau
2.0
EDIT: this has gone down a lot upon thinking about it more, its probably more around 2-2.5 stars. The initial review is still below though.
3.5/5
The first and second half of this book really are two different things entirely. It made a slow climb from nearly DNF'd 2 stars to the rating it is now because the second half was so good.
The first half is bogged down by an insta-love, love triangle. In the second half that went away until it was actually relevant to the story for it to be there.
The first half had a bunch of navel-gazing discussion that seemed tacked on. In the second half they actually made sense to be there and were, again, relevant to what was happening.
The dialogue in the first half was horrible. I don't know if Lietzau suddenly was a better writer but the second half had much better conversations. (And fewer weird modern phrases was well. The phrase 'true that' does not fit in a fantasy book lmao.)
And after a couple of events the plot really just flew by the for the last 350 pages, with the last 100 being what I can only describe a 'rewarding trudge' through the head of the main character.
The character work with Jespar and 'The Man' really really do shine in this book. Watching both their stories/backstories unfold was really compelling. I couldn't help but wonder if I would have been connected to Jespar sooner if I had been given more of his backstory sooner as well. But that would be such a dramatic shift to the novel that it's impossible to tell. And as it stands, it turned out amazingly anyways.
And its also hard not to give the book mega points for worldbuilding when there are 100ish pages of drawings and extras in the back of the hardcover. The tropical archipelago setting was truly unique and wonderful throughout.
3.5/5
The first and second half of this book really are two different things entirely. It made a slow climb from nearly DNF'd 2 stars to the rating it is now because the second half was so good.
The first half is bogged down by an insta-love, love triangle. In the second half that went away until it was actually relevant to the story for it to be there.
The first half had a bunch of navel-gazing discussion that seemed tacked on. In the second half they actually made sense to be there and were, again, relevant to what was happening.
The dialogue in the first half was horrible. I don't know if Lietzau suddenly was a better writer but the second half had much better conversations. (And fewer weird modern phrases was well. The phrase 'true that' does not fit in a fantasy book lmao.)
And after a couple of events the plot really just flew by the for the last 350 pages, with the last 100 being what I can only describe a 'rewarding trudge' through the head of the main character.
The character work with Jespar and 'The Man' really really do shine in this book. Watching both their stories/backstories unfold was really compelling. I couldn't help but wonder if I would have been connected to Jespar sooner if I had been given more of his backstory sooner as well. But that would be such a dramatic shift to the novel that it's impossible to tell. And as it stands, it turned out amazingly anyways.
And its also hard not to give the book mega points for worldbuilding when there are 100ish pages of drawings and extras in the back of the hardcover. The tropical archipelago setting was truly unique and wonderful throughout.