Scan barcode
A review by skelleybean
The Waking Land by Callie Bates
2.0
When Elanna's father tries to unseat the king of Eren and is caught, the king takes Elanna as his captive, and raises her like a daughter in his palace. After fourteen years in the palace, Elanna is 19 years old and ready to leave the city to study botany in a far away land. However, when the king is mysterious killed, his daughter accuses Elanna of the crime, using her family's tied to Caeris and the magic of the land. She is forced to flee the place she has learned to call home, and return to the home she can barely remember. The new queen declares war, and Elanna is forced to fight against the land she grew up on to protect the land of her people. Alongside her father, his men, the ancient peoples of the mountains, and secretive sorcerer, Elanna learns how to awaken powers deep within herself, powers that help her control the water, the animals, and the land she treads upon. With this new power, Elanna must bring the land together as one in order to bring the two warring countries-- and it's peoples-- together in the end.
I REALLY wanted to like this book-- the magical world that Bates has created is very interesting, combining aspects from 1800s British culture (fashion, interest in science and botany, the style of weapons used) with a brand new landscape. The first few chapters are great, as she catches you up on how Elanna became the prisoner of the king, and what has been happening in life since then. The action picks up quickly as well, with the king being murdered within the first few chapters. However, the action quickly gets bogged down with talk about the different cities and countries, every single nobleman, past king, etc. that has ever been part of the world. While I understand that world building is important, this quickly became very confusing, and quite a few of the information is never used or picked back up again. It reached a point where I couldn't bother trying to remember who went with what city/nation, and just learned the names of the 15+ characters that were important to the story.
Along with the history weighing the story down. Elanna herself is a real drag. While her powers are really cool, she as a character is rather blah-- every other page is her thinking about whether she made the right decision, and complaining about how making decisions is terrible and she just wants things to be easy. "Oh no, I have to fight for this nation I have no ties to against people that I have grown up around for years.... Oh wait it's not that big a deal." "Oh no, I have to meet my dad after fourteen years and I've been taught that he is a terrible person so I don't want to see him... oh wait it's fine he's a good guy." She also has a paper thin relationship with the only other magic-user in story, a man who she meets once and decides she doesn't like, then goes on a two day horse-riding trip with him and then is suddenly in love with him. Their relationship has no time to grow, it's just a matter of "Oh, I don't like him... oh wait I do." It comes out of the blue, so their feelings don't feel authentic, and that carries through the bulk of their relationship.
All in all, I wanted to like this book, but there is so much information thrown at you, along with a main character that isn't all that likable, that the book falls flat and becomes kind of a slog to get through. I might read the second one, partly because the book focuses on her lover and not her, but if he's as wishy washy and boring as her, then it might be a waste....
I REALLY wanted to like this book-- the magical world that Bates has created is very interesting, combining aspects from 1800s British culture (fashion, interest in science and botany, the style of weapons used) with a brand new landscape. The first few chapters are great, as she catches you up on how Elanna became the prisoner of the king, and what has been happening in life since then. The action picks up quickly as well, with the king being murdered within the first few chapters. However, the action quickly gets bogged down with talk about the different cities and countries, every single nobleman, past king, etc. that has ever been part of the world. While I understand that world building is important, this quickly became very confusing, and quite a few of the information is never used or picked back up again. It reached a point where I couldn't bother trying to remember who went with what city/nation, and just learned the names of the 15+ characters that were important to the story.
Along with the history weighing the story down. Elanna herself is a real drag. While her powers are really cool, she as a character is rather blah-- every other page is her thinking about whether she made the right decision, and complaining about how making decisions is terrible and she just wants things to be easy. "Oh no, I have to fight for this nation I have no ties to against people that I have grown up around for years.... Oh wait it's not that big a deal." "Oh no, I have to meet my dad after fourteen years and I've been taught that he is a terrible person so I don't want to see him... oh wait it's fine he's a good guy." She also has a paper thin relationship with the only other magic-user in story, a man who she meets once and decides she doesn't like, then goes on a two day horse-riding trip with him and then is suddenly in love with him. Their relationship has no time to grow, it's just a matter of "Oh, I don't like him... oh wait I do." It comes out of the blue, so their feelings don't feel authentic, and that carries through the bulk of their relationship.
All in all, I wanted to like this book, but there is so much information thrown at you, along with a main character that isn't all that likable, that the book falls flat and becomes kind of a slog to get through. I might read the second one, partly because the book focuses on her lover and not her, but if he's as wishy washy and boring as her, then it might be a waste....