Scan barcode
A review by kitsuneheart
Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor
3.0
This book straddles the definition of sequel and prequel, and is very much mostly about setting up the conflict of the final book in the series. We get to know a bit more about the backstory of several characters, here: Hatter Madigan, Homburg Molly, Redd Heart, and even Bibwit Harte. We also see a bit more of the other nearby Kingdoms, and I have to admit, it's been several years since I read book 1, so I was kind of confused, not having recalled there even being other Kingdoms. And, to be honest, they feel like they're only there so Redd can have a place to gather an army without Alyss just running into a section of her own territory and taking her down. Damn foreign relations....
Our main characters aren't all that interesting, either. Redd is pure evil, Alyss is pure good. Alyss, being good royalty, is of course attracted to a morally upright but lineage unsuited soldier, and of course they'll get together, in the end. The other main villain we added is a total misogynist in a world run by women, and while I am very much a feminist, coding someone as evil is such a simple way feels cheap. A little more subtlety by the author would have been nice.... About the only interesting conflict we get here relates to Homburg Molly, and that's resolved so fast it's annoying.
Overall, which the author did do a lot to try and take the Carroll books and flesh them out into a more compelling storyline, it's just not a very interesting world. I am certainly going to finish the series, and do hope book 3 is a bit more compelling, but the "plot twists" in this book were pretty well expected, so there was no part of the book that really had me pausing in my audiobook listening and going "oh!" It was more like "yeah, okay." I dearly hope the conclusion gives me a few moments of at least an eyebrow raise.
Our main characters aren't all that interesting, either. Redd is pure evil, Alyss is pure good. Alyss, being good royalty, is of course attracted to a morally upright but lineage unsuited soldier, and of course they'll get together, in the end. The other main villain we added is a total misogynist in a world run by women, and while I am very much a feminist, coding someone as evil is such a simple way feels cheap. A little more subtlety by the author would have been nice.... About the only interesting conflict we get here relates to Homburg Molly, and that's resolved so fast it's annoying.
Overall, which the author did do a lot to try and take the Carroll books and flesh them out into a more compelling storyline, it's just not a very interesting world. I am certainly going to finish the series, and do hope book 3 is a bit more compelling, but the "plot twists" in this book were pretty well expected, so there was no part of the book that really had me pausing in my audiobook listening and going "oh!" It was more like "yeah, okay." I dearly hope the conclusion gives me a few moments of at least an eyebrow raise.