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A review by lucybbookstuff
The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is undoubtedly a masterwork of historical fantasy. But I do have to express that I'm a bit disappointed - only because I was promised by practically everyone that this is one of the best books of the series. But I ended up having to drag myself through it, and I find that I liked book 1 more.
The first half of this was very slow, but I enjoyed a lot of the character work, the kids especially. The second half was faster plot-wise, but I can't say I really enjoyed it much. 🫠It was a lot of battle scenes, which don't do much for me, and a LOT of intricate descriptions of feats of engineering. I came to view this book as a kind of love letter to engineering.
And don't get me wrong, I find it all so impressive. I appreciate Liu's intelligence and I can feel how much fun he must have had nerding out over his creations. It's just not my thing, and I feel that these excessive descriptions bogged the book down. I think it at least needed illustrations to accompany all of it. I might have enjoyed these passages more with visuals.
All of that said, I love this world and I do really like the characters and Liu's writing. The very ending of this has intrigued me enough to continue. But I'm going to start taking my sweet. damn. time. finishing this series. No more trying to get them done in certain amounts of time. Making sure I got this book finished in July certainly didn't help my enjoyment. That works for me with some books, but apparently not these.
The first half of this was very slow, but I enjoyed a lot of the character work, the kids especially. The second half was faster plot-wise, but I can't say I really enjoyed it much. 🫠It was a lot of battle scenes, which don't do much for me, and a LOT of intricate descriptions of feats of engineering. I came to view this book as a kind of love letter to engineering.
And don't get me wrong, I find it all so impressive. I appreciate Liu's intelligence and I can feel how much fun he must have had nerding out over his creations. It's just not my thing, and I feel that these excessive descriptions bogged the book down. I think it at least needed illustrations to accompany all of it. I might have enjoyed these passages more with visuals.
All of that said, I love this world and I do really like the characters and Liu's writing. The very ending of this has intrigued me enough to continue. But I'm going to start taking my sweet. damn. time. finishing this series. No more trying to get them done in certain amounts of time. Making sure I got this book finished in July certainly didn't help my enjoyment. That works for me with some books, but apparently not these.