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A review by lizbethandthelifeinbetween
In the Serpent's Wake by Rachel Hartman
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
This book failed to capture me and keep me interested, making it hard to get through. I felt no desire to pick it up and read it most of the time, and when i did, it was usually motivated by a feeling of needing to finishing the book.
There was something about Hartman's writing style that never truly worked for me in "Seraphina" and "Shadow Scale". The matter-of-fact nature and academic tone helped to build a world from Seraphina's point of view, as being half-dragon (they have their own word for it, and while I never questioned it before, the amount of new worlds for things we already say started to feel more tedious than interesting world-building in this novel) made her much more of a clinical thinker. This does not work for Tess, who is human.
Beyond the writing and style, what bugged me the most was the lack of adventure in the sea-faring, world-exploring novel. I know the author is capable of thrilling adventure; I was enthralled with "Tess of the Road". This book spent too much time on politics which was not explored enough in the first three books. That meant that where we were being promised a thrilling sea-faring novel, we spent a lot of time on the politics of the matter, with locations we don't care about and have never visited and have no emotional connection with beyond what the characters are learning about in the books.
Reading this after Kristin Cashore's "Seasparrow" was not helpful, as these books have a lot of similar ideas and themes, but Cashore's was executed so much better (Go read that book instead if you're interested in "In the Serpant's Wake" it's written as a stand-alone so you don't need to catch up on the entire series!). The stakes of the political conflicts were something that anyone could care about, as they mirrored issues I'm sure most have been exposed to before. In addition, they did not overshadow the adventure and survival aspects of the story. Both books have a long ship journey. Both have queens who the main character is loyal to having to deal with political issues. One managed to make the ship a character in its own right, the other could have been taking place in a grey-walled room.
There was something about Hartman's writing style that never truly worked for me in "Seraphina" and "Shadow Scale". The matter-of-fact nature and academic tone helped to build a world from Seraphina's point of view, as being half-dragon (they have their own word for it, and while I never questioned it before, the amount of new worlds for things we already say started to feel more tedious than interesting world-building in this novel) made her much more of a clinical thinker. This does not work for Tess, who is human.
Beyond the writing and style, what bugged me the most was the lack of adventure in the sea-faring, world-exploring novel. I know the author is capable of thrilling adventure; I was enthralled with "Tess of the Road". This book spent too much time on politics which was not explored enough in the first three books. That meant that where we were being promised a thrilling sea-faring novel, we spent a lot of time on the politics of the matter, with locations we don't care about and have never visited and have no emotional connection with beyond what the characters are learning about in the books.
Reading this after Kristin Cashore's "Seasparrow" was not helpful, as these books have a lot of similar ideas and themes, but Cashore's was executed so much better (Go read that book instead if you're interested in "In the Serpant's Wake" it's written as a stand-alone so you don't need to catch up on the entire series!). The stakes of the political conflicts were something that anyone could care about, as they mirrored issues I'm sure most have been exposed to before. In addition, they did not overshadow the adventure and survival aspects of the story. Both books have a long ship journey. Both have queens who the main character is loyal to having to deal with political issues. One managed to make the ship a character in its own right, the other could have been taking place in a grey-walled room.