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marcusinacup 's review for:
The Coward
by Stephen Aryan
6.1/10
I picked up The Coward because I loved the idea of the premise. This idea of a kid left as the sole survivor of a heroic quest, being called up again as the danger comes back. And then that hero trying to run from what others would say is their duty. My first and biggest issue with this book comes from a disconnect between my view of how this would play out versus how it did. I do recognize that that is my fault entirely, but this is a subjective review anyway. I'll try to back up my opinions here either way.
The premise of the novel seems to tout itself as a character driven story with Kell Kressia at its center. But I didn't like much of his characterization. Kell is surely affected by his journey and all that he endured, but not nearly to the extent that I had assumed and hoped. I wanted a story of a deeply broken man, just barely getting by, with genuine terror at being asked to pick up his blade again. Instead, I felt Kell was more of a bitter and reluctant hero fueled a bit more by anger than fear. Further, it seems at about halfway that Kell accepts his quest wholeheartedly and no longer is hesitant or showing many, if any, signs of cowardice.
There's not too much more I'd like to say in this specific regard without getting into spoilers, so stay tuned for part two.
As for the rest of the book, I found the cast to be fine, I didn't hate any of these characters but didn't find myself forming much of an attachment to any either. Willow and her people, the Alfar, however, were fairly interesting. Overall, despite what I said above, I did enjoy this a bit, and I'd consider it better than the average book. A decent pick up, just don't get too far ahead of yourself and start to assume how it ought to go based on what you'd have liked.
*Spoilers ahead*
Okay, so as I said earlier, Kell Kressia did not seem to be the coward that I was led to believe he would be. Yes, he starts his journey with the intent to take the King's money and run to start a new life, but through his own thoughts, Kell seems to present more as selfish than as a coward. Kell does attempt to avoid his duty, but after being thwarted by Gerren twice, he simply gives in? I'm not convinced that the circumstances he was in made this quest unavoidable, and the change in character to confront the quest was not convincing. I think my problems mostly lie in the connotation of the word "coward." Perhaps you can argue that most of his early actions do brand Kell as a coward by the strict definition of the word. But for me, a coward would be someone deathly terrified of this danger and considering what he lived through, highly emotional about it. Yet Kell never breaks down in tears. He was a 17 year old boy, traumatized, now 27 with bandaids barely over these wounds, and when they should be reopened, Kell seems uncomfortable at best.
*Personal Journal ahead, feel free to skip*
This is my second attempt at reviewing what I've read this year. As of right now, I intend to keep it up. As I wrote just above this section, this is sort of my personal reflection of the review. A review of my review, I guess. I included a quote to start my first review, and it's something I think I'd like to do in these; but there wasn't a quote that made me feel like it was worth mentioning on its on. I did a brief search through the book, but admittedly, I didn't try too hard. I don't mean to be excessively harsh, and maybe it's not necessarily a bad thing; does every book need to have a standout quote? As for the rest of the review, it went off without a hitch. I think it's a little shorter than my first, which is what I'd prefer, so that's good. Though, that could simply be because I didn't enjoy this book as much as the one I read just before. Time will tell whether I'm getting more articulate and efficient with my words or if there's just a heavy correlation between my enjoyment and the length of my review.
I picked up The Coward because I loved the idea of the premise. This idea of a kid left as the sole survivor of a heroic quest, being called up again as the danger comes back. And then that hero trying to run from what others would say is their duty. My first and biggest issue with this book comes from a disconnect between my view of how this would play out versus how it did. I do recognize that that is my fault entirely, but this is a subjective review anyway. I'll try to back up my opinions here either way.
The premise of the novel seems to tout itself as a character driven story with Kell Kressia at its center. But I didn't like much of his characterization. Kell is surely affected by his journey and all that he endured, but not nearly to the extent that I had assumed and hoped. I wanted a story of a deeply broken man, just barely getting by, with genuine terror at being asked to pick up his blade again. Instead, I felt Kell was more of a bitter and reluctant hero fueled a bit more by anger than fear. Further, it seems at about halfway that Kell accepts his quest wholeheartedly and no longer is hesitant or showing many, if any, signs of cowardice.
There's not too much more I'd like to say in this specific regard without getting into spoilers, so stay tuned for part two.
As for the rest of the book, I found the cast to be fine, I didn't hate any of these characters but didn't find myself forming much of an attachment to any either. Willow and her people, the Alfar, however, were fairly interesting. Overall, despite what I said above, I did enjoy this a bit, and I'd consider it better than the average book. A decent pick up, just don't get too far ahead of yourself and start to assume how it ought to go based on what you'd have liked.
*Spoilers ahead*
Okay, so as I said earlier, Kell Kressia did not seem to be the coward that I was led to believe he would be. Yes, he starts his journey with the intent to take the King's money and run to start a new life, but through his own thoughts, Kell seems to present more as selfish than as a coward. Kell does attempt to avoid his duty, but after being thwarted by Gerren twice, he simply gives in? I'm not convinced that the circumstances he was in made this quest unavoidable, and the change in character to confront the quest was not convincing. I think my problems mostly lie in the connotation of the word "coward." Perhaps you can argue that most of his early actions do brand Kell as a coward by the strict definition of the word. But for me, a coward would be someone deathly terrified of this danger and considering what he lived through, highly emotional about it. Yet Kell never breaks down in tears. He was a 17 year old boy, traumatized, now 27 with bandaids barely over these wounds, and when they should be reopened, Kell seems uncomfortable at best.
*Personal Journal ahead, feel free to skip*
This is my second attempt at reviewing what I've read this year. As of right now, I intend to keep it up. As I wrote just above this section, this is sort of my personal reflection of the review. A review of my review, I guess. I included a quote to start my first review, and it's something I think I'd like to do in these; but there wasn't a quote that made me feel like it was worth mentioning on its on. I did a brief search through the book, but admittedly, I didn't try too hard. I don't mean to be excessively harsh, and maybe it's not necessarily a bad thing; does every book need to have a standout quote? As for the rest of the review, it went off without a hitch. I think it's a little shorter than my first, which is what I'd prefer, so that's good. Though, that could simply be because I didn't enjoy this book as much as the one I read just before. Time will tell whether I'm getting more articulate and efficient with my words or if there's just a heavy correlation between my enjoyment and the length of my review.