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A review by kevinscorner
Dreams of the Dying by Nicolas Lietzau
4.0
“𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭, 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘭.”
Dreams of the Dying by Nicolas Lietzau is a thick (and hefty) book and starts off with a lot of set up. I am not familiar with the Enderal games it is based on, so I went in completely uninitiated. It introduces us to Jespar and a small cast of characters. It also sets up Kilay, a powder keg of an empire on the brink of war between the poor & disenfranchised and the rich & powerful few, reflecting real life problems. The book serves up some commentary without actually firmly standing on one side, leaving readers to make their own judgement.
Jespar is an ex-mercenary struggling with PTSD and a loosening grip on reality. He accepts a job from the merchant king of Kilay and becomes embroiled in a sociopolitical conspiracy that could lead to civil war.
Jespar is a charming protagonist that is prone to having random philosophical discussions (with modern concepts). He is brilliant and strong, but trauma from his mysterious past and painful memories and nightmares are plaguing even his wakeful hours, leading to impaired judgement and rash decisions that make him an unreliable and unstable narrator.
My favorite part of the book is right as it approaches part two onwards. This second part really ramps up the action and delivers a wholly satisfying climax to the mystery that was set up. The built-up tension and its eventual release kept me at the edge of my seat. As the plot unraveled, we see the brilliance of the scheme, the machinations behind the conspiracy, and the dramatic conclusion as things come to a head. It was spectacular actually. The ending though felt like it undermined much of the progress the characters made in service of setting up a sequel.
I received a copy of this book as part of a book tour.
Dreams of the Dying by Nicolas Lietzau is a thick (and hefty) book and starts off with a lot of set up. I am not familiar with the Enderal games it is based on, so I went in completely uninitiated. It introduces us to Jespar and a small cast of characters. It also sets up Kilay, a powder keg of an empire on the brink of war between the poor & disenfranchised and the rich & powerful few, reflecting real life problems. The book serves up some commentary without actually firmly standing on one side, leaving readers to make their own judgement.
Jespar is an ex-mercenary struggling with PTSD and a loosening grip on reality. He accepts a job from the merchant king of Kilay and becomes embroiled in a sociopolitical conspiracy that could lead to civil war.
Jespar is a charming protagonist that is prone to having random philosophical discussions (with modern concepts). He is brilliant and strong, but trauma from his mysterious past and painful memories and nightmares are plaguing even his wakeful hours, leading to impaired judgement and rash decisions that make him an unreliable and unstable narrator.
My favorite part of the book is right as it approaches part two onwards. This second part really ramps up the action and delivers a wholly satisfying climax to the mystery that was set up. The built-up tension and its eventual release kept me at the edge of my seat. As the plot unraveled, we see the brilliance of the scheme, the machinations behind the conspiracy, and the dramatic conclusion as things come to a head. It was spectacular actually. The ending though felt like it undermined much of the progress the characters made in service of setting up a sequel.
I received a copy of this book as part of a book tour.