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A review by sonice
The Price of Spring by Daniel Abraham
5.0
5.0 stars. I realize that I’ve mostly repeated myself in reviewing the previous 3 books, so I’ll try to be a little more thorough here – since this is the last book and all.
I fail to remember either an individual book OR any series of books where the characters were all so understandable. Like, there really are (almost) no actual bad guys here. Everyone is doing the best they can, making decisions that they believe are for the greater good, and a lot of the conflict is simply based on differences of opinion. This last instalment is again a wonderful example of this. Two people taking two very different approaches to solve the same problem. Who’s to say one is better than the other? Even the characters themselves admit to making mistakes along the way, to not always having taken the right path. Because of this, the plot feels so real. No moustache twirling villains or “Lawful Good” heroes, just people doing the best they can, in the best way they know how. Fucking BRAVO to the author. This was an absolute masterpiece in this regard; some of the best plotting and character work I’ve ever seen.
The magic system at work here was also a breath of fresh air. I love both hard and soft systems, fireballs and Warrens and Allomancy and all that stuff, but what was fairly unique about this was the way that the magic bites back. It’s incredibly dangerous to even attempt to use it, and once you do it correctly it requires a lifetime of struggle and focus to not fuck it up. Again, this opens up all kinds of room to explore what it means to be a magic user (in this series, a Poet). Another layer stacked on to the already wonderful character work that adds even more dimension to our main cast. Loved it.
I don’t think I’ve mentioned this yet, but the structure of these books – covering the entire lives of the main cast, at 4 different stages of life, from young to old – was also super cool. Most books will have character growth, but here we literally get a lifetime of it.
I could go on and on, but I really think you just have to read it to see what I’m getting at. If you enjoy slow burn, thoughtful, emotionally evocative, well paced books that are light on action and heavy on intrigue and drama, this series is an absolute MUST.
I fail to remember either an individual book OR any series of books where the characters were all so understandable. Like, there really are (almost) no actual bad guys here. Everyone is doing the best they can, making decisions that they believe are for the greater good, and a lot of the conflict is simply based on differences of opinion. This last instalment is again a wonderful example of this. Two people taking two very different approaches to solve the same problem. Who’s to say one is better than the other? Even the characters themselves admit to making mistakes along the way, to not always having taken the right path. Because of this, the plot feels so real. No moustache twirling villains or “Lawful Good” heroes, just people doing the best they can, in the best way they know how. Fucking BRAVO to the author. This was an absolute masterpiece in this regard; some of the best plotting and character work I’ve ever seen.
The magic system at work here was also a breath of fresh air. I love both hard and soft systems, fireballs and Warrens and Allomancy and all that stuff, but what was fairly unique about this was the way that the magic bites back. It’s incredibly dangerous to even attempt to use it, and once you do it correctly it requires a lifetime of struggle and focus to not fuck it up. Again, this opens up all kinds of room to explore what it means to be a magic user (in this series, a Poet). Another layer stacked on to the already wonderful character work that adds even more dimension to our main cast. Loved it.
I don’t think I’ve mentioned this yet, but the structure of these books – covering the entire lives of the main cast, at 4 different stages of life, from young to old – was also super cool. Most books will have character growth, but here we literally get a lifetime of it.
I could go on and on, but I really think you just have to read it to see what I’m getting at. If you enjoy slow burn, thoughtful, emotionally evocative, well paced books that are light on action and heavy on intrigue and drama, this series is an absolute MUST.