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A review by rg9400
The Book That Broke the World by Mark Lawrence
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I enjoyed this book, and I think the way the story manages to unfold in such a twisty way, where small nuggets from book 1 become relevant suddenly and the way the sequence of events tie so neatly together is pretty impressive. The book also increases the darkness quite a bit without feeling like it loses sight of the emotional core at the heart of everything. I loved the setting, I loved the epigraphs a ton again, there are plenty of great quotes, a very original concept and execution of the concept, and the ability to continue to surprise me in terms of direction. And I still find myself very engaged with the material. So I still really did like it, even though I had a few more issues compared to book 1.
I did struggle with some aspects this time around. The first is probably a fault of mine, but having not reread book 1 prior to this, I found myself struggling to remember characters or events or the chronology of everything, unsure of whether or not I forgot something or it was something that the first book didn't explain to me. Even now, I don't think I have everything really straight in my head. Second, I struggled with some of the thematic work in this book. Namely. I found the mythological conflict to not be as clear as in book 1. Like I get the thematic underpinnings, but I found the way various characters aligned to each philosophy to be a bit clunky. I don't know, it just didn't feel as strong as the way the first book linked this idea of cyclical violence into the character and plot developments. Thirdly, there was a bit of a middle book syndrome to it, mainly because it felt like a lot of arcs were left unresolved. I predicted the big "twists" with this book very early on, and the unanswered questions were left for book 3, so it wasn't as satisfying with the reveals compared to book 1.
I did struggle with some aspects this time around. The first is probably a fault of mine, but having not reread book 1 prior to this, I found myself struggling to remember characters or events or the chronology of everything, unsure of whether or not I forgot something or it was something that the first book didn't explain to me. Even now, I don't think I have everything really straight in my head. Second, I struggled with some of the thematic work in this book. Namely. I found the mythological conflict to not be as clear as in book 1. Like I get the thematic underpinnings, but I found the way various characters aligned to each philosophy to be a bit clunky. I don't know, it just didn't feel as strong as the way the first book linked this idea of cyclical violence into the character and plot developments. Thirdly, there was a bit of a middle book syndrome to it, mainly because it felt like a lot of arcs were left unresolved. I predicted the big "twists" with this book very early on, and the unanswered questions were left for book 3, so it wasn't as satisfying with the reveals compared to book 1.
Regardless of my issues, I still really enjoyed this book and am very much looking forward to book 3.