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A review by teirhan
Wheel of the Infinite by Martha Wells
4.0
I had this recommended to me in a Reddit thread when I talked about how much I enjoyed Curse of Chalion. It has a lovely dynamic between the two main characters and the story was engaging. I've wanted to read this book since I finished Martha Wells' The Fall of Ile-Rien but never got around to reading it, but I'm glad I did.
There are a few minor complaints which keep it from being a five star book. The book felt like it dragged a bit in the first third, with a lot of place-setting instead of getting the characters into the city of Duvalpore and into the main plot line. It can be difficult to build a world in the course of a single novel, and a lot of this place-setting was probably necessary to have the later plot developments make sense, but it still felt like it dragged.
I did enjoy learning about Maskelle and Rian and I also enjoyed that their pasts weren't some big mystery revealed in fits and starts. Sometimes that's nice, but in a single novel you don't really have space for it! Maskelle, especially, is more than seven years removed from the trauma of her past life: long enough to, I hope, have come to terms with some of it and begun healing. Her willingness to speak about it to Rian is plausible and a good character beat.
The ending was a little over-sped and vague. I wish the sequence of events was described a little more clearly. There is some ambiguity as to why things happen which felt out-of-place, bu maybe that's the point since it touches on, essentially, an ineffable and inhuman spirit.
Overall, a lot of fun. If you want a character driven, self-contained novel which is a fairly speedy read, this is a great place to start.
There are a few minor complaints which keep it from being a five star book. The book felt like it dragged a bit in the first third, with a lot of place-setting instead of getting the characters into the city of Duvalpore and into the main plot line. It can be difficult to build a world in the course of a single novel, and a lot of this place-setting was probably necessary to have the later plot developments make sense, but it still felt like it dragged.
I did enjoy learning about Maskelle and Rian and I also enjoyed that their pasts weren't some big mystery revealed in fits and starts. Sometimes that's nice, but in a single novel you don't really have space for it! Maskelle, especially, is more than seven years removed from the trauma of her past life: long enough to, I hope, have come to terms with some of it and begun healing. Her willingness to speak about it to Rian is plausible and a good character beat.
The ending was a little over-sped and vague. I wish the sequence of events was described a little more clearly. There is some ambiguity as to why things happen which felt out-of-place, bu maybe that's the point since it touches on, essentially, an ineffable and inhuman spirit.
Overall, a lot of fun. If you want a character driven, self-contained novel which is a fairly speedy read, this is a great place to start.