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A review by winterscape
The Path of Anger by Antoine Rouaud
4.0
A bit of a meander, but it gets there in the end! With a big twist in the middle that turns the whole book on its head, a layered unveilling with skillful use of flashbacks, political intrigue, and strong relationships between characters, The Path of Anger is a great entry into the fantasy assassin mix.
My biggest complaint is that while it is very character driven, with a lot of big personalities and plot points resting around who is who, I think it would have benefitted from more moments between characters, to really let their relationships breathe and feel more realistic.
The relationship between Frog and Wader is at the centre of the story, but the heartfelt and relationship-developing moments between them are too few, eschewed instead for battle scenes, politics, and mostly glossed over until the end. I wanted the father-son talks, the small moments to sink my teeth into the ups and downs of their relationship, for that feeling of love and care to develop over time. It was there, in pieces, and reaches satisfying heights at the end that did bring tears to my eyes, but it could have been so much more emotionally gripping.
I give it four stars and recommend it to people looking for a nice change of pace from traditionally formatted fantasy stories.
My biggest complaint is that while it is very character driven, with a lot of big personalities and plot points resting around who is who, I think it would have benefitted from more moments between characters, to really let their relationships breathe and feel more realistic.
The relationship between Frog and Wader is at the centre of the story, but the heartfelt and relationship-developing moments between them are too few, eschewed instead for battle scenes, politics, and mostly glossed over until the end. I wanted the father-son talks, the small moments to sink my teeth into the ups and downs of their relationship, for that feeling of love and care to develop over time. It was there, in pieces, and reaches satisfying heights at the end that did bring tears to my eyes, but it could have been so much more emotionally gripping.
I give it four stars and recommend it to people looking for a nice change of pace from traditionally formatted fantasy stories.