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A review by vaxildidi
Priest by Matthew Colville
3.0
I liked this book a lot, I'm not going to write a very lengthy review of it
but things that worked: quick introduction into the world and trusting the reader to be able to understand "this is a fantasy universe with Magic and Monsters, and Priests can recite prayers that have magical connotations" without spending 1,000s of pages setting up the lore and history of the unvierse. It's just "This is a world with magic. The Woods are dangerous because Fae and Celestials control them. Humans, Dwarves, and Halflings are all people in this world. Got it? Good." Another thing that I very much enjoyed is the believeablility and humanness of Heden, the main character. He has a very Detective Murtaugh "I'm too old for this shit" vibe about him that can be grating at times but is otherwise enjoyable
What doesn't work: As much as I like just being dropped into the fantasy land and being expected to know whats going on, this is very much written for people who have a base understanding of Dungeons and Dragons and how the mechanics of that world work (Priests and Druids being magic, Halflings being thieves, bards being cunning sources of information etc). If I had read this a year ago without ever having played a game, I could see myself getting upset about certain aspects. The dialogue, especially between The Green Order and Heden is very circular, and doesn't exactly go anywhere.
(SPOILER ALERT) My biggest beef with this book is, in my opinion, the best, and most fleshed out character is just dumped with about a quarter of the book remaining and I wanted more of them.
but things that worked: quick introduction into the world and trusting the reader to be able to understand "this is a fantasy universe with Magic and Monsters, and Priests can recite prayers that have magical connotations" without spending 1,000s of pages setting up the lore and history of the unvierse. It's just "This is a world with magic. The Woods are dangerous because Fae and Celestials control them. Humans, Dwarves, and Halflings are all people in this world. Got it? Good." Another thing that I very much enjoyed is the believeablility and humanness of Heden, the main character. He has a very Detective Murtaugh "I'm too old for this shit" vibe about him that can be grating at times but is otherwise enjoyable
What doesn't work: As much as I like just being dropped into the fantasy land and being expected to know whats going on, this is very much written for people who have a base understanding of Dungeons and Dragons and how the mechanics of that world work (Priests and Druids being magic, Halflings being thieves, bards being cunning sources of information etc). If I had read this a year ago without ever having played a game, I could see myself getting upset about certain aspects. The dialogue, especially between The Green Order and Heden is very circular, and doesn't exactly go anywhere.
(SPOILER ALERT) My biggest beef with this book is, in my opinion, the best, and most fleshed out character is just dumped with about a quarter of the book remaining and I wanted more of them.