Scan barcode
A review by saracat
The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg
4.0
I first want to thank NetGalley for giving me access to this ARC.
There are several common approaches to introducing readers to new worlds and universes: learning about the world through the eyes of someone who also doesn't know about the world, explicit explanations especially at the beginning, and discovery as we simply experience the world. Lemberg adopts the last of these for their book. And while you can tell that the universe is well developed beyond what we experience in this book, there are times when the reader has to stay very focused to keep up with all the intricacies of what, why and how things are happening. And yet, there are also simple points that are repeated several times and thus they begin to feel redundant. That being said, the concepts and ideas of this story are so beautiful and poignant, that the issues mentioned are often easy to overlook.
The two main characters feel well developed and have many dimensions to them. However, there are times that their actions seem to be a bit awkward because it feels as if the actions were chosen not because they were most natural for the characters, but because it helped move the plot forward. Even though this is the case at times, each scene taken alone paints such wonderful pictures of another world which I would love to visit again.
Since I read the ARC version, I am very hopeful that the few points that keep me from giving it a 5 star now will be improved so that I can later change it to a 5 star.
There are several common approaches to introducing readers to new worlds and universes: learning about the world through the eyes of someone who also doesn't know about the world, explicit explanations especially at the beginning, and discovery as we simply experience the world. Lemberg adopts the last of these for their book. And while you can tell that the universe is well developed beyond what we experience in this book, there are times when the reader has to stay very focused to keep up with all the intricacies of what, why and how things are happening. And yet, there are also simple points that are repeated several times and thus they begin to feel redundant. That being said, the concepts and ideas of this story are so beautiful and poignant, that the issues mentioned are often easy to overlook.
The two main characters feel well developed and have many dimensions to them. However, there are times that their actions seem to be a bit awkward because it feels as if the actions were chosen not because they were most natural for the characters, but because it helped move the plot forward. Even though this is the case at times, each scene taken alone paints such wonderful pictures of another world which I would love to visit again.
Since I read the ARC version, I am very hopeful that the few points that keep me from giving it a 5 star now will be improved so that I can later change it to a 5 star.