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A review by pradoll
The Earth Dwellers by David Estes
5.0
A disappointing end to two very good book series, but nonetheless it was an ok read.
The joining of both worlds felt very rushed and too sweet with many unrealistic interactions that bogged down the parts between the more usual and genuine interactions. And with so many preventable and sad situations it seemed like most of the main characters went from being fleshed out and 3D to flat characters whose only role was to be a single trait, like Siena in Fire Country. She originally was a flat character whose only trait was that she disliked herself and didn't want to take action, but eventually she started making her own decisions and only then was the book readable for me, but for some characters it started to go in the opposite direction in this book with progressively flatter people.
There were also many parts that would have been better off left untouched. Some people may like the very definitive end with all loose ends tied up, but sometimes such a comprehensive ending is even more unsatisfying than one that leaves you hanging because there is no imagining a better outcome; it is told to you and that is the end with no possibility of your idealized outcome ever being true.
Honestly, I think all of these problems could have been fixed with a longer book that took time to acquaint the two completely different worlds and instead of brute forcing a victory would have taken time to actually come up with a plan that didn't sacrifice people every 10 words and force characters to make every decision based on one emotion or motive.
The joining of both worlds felt very rushed and too sweet with many unrealistic interactions that bogged down the parts between the more usual and genuine interactions. And with so many preventable and sad situations it seemed like most of the main characters went from being fleshed out and 3D to flat characters whose only role was to be a single trait, like Siena in Fire Country. She originally was a flat character whose only trait was that she disliked herself and didn't want to take action, but eventually she started making her own decisions and only then was the book readable for me, but for some characters it started to go in the opposite direction in this book with progressively flatter people.
There were also many parts that would have been better off left untouched. Some people may like the very definitive end with all loose ends tied up, but sometimes such a comprehensive ending is even more unsatisfying than one that leaves you hanging because there is no imagining a better outcome; it is told to you and that is the end with no possibility of your idealized outcome ever being true.
Honestly, I think all of these problems could have been fixed with a longer book that took time to acquaint the two completely different worlds and instead of brute forcing a victory would have taken time to actually come up with a plan that didn't sacrifice people every 10 words and force characters to make every decision based on one emotion or motive.