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A review by enbyglitch
Fate of the Fallen by Kel Kade
3.0
This book tries to do a lot of unique and interesting things, but falls flat more often than it succeeds.
The Good:
-Characters are self-consistent and fairly realistic
-Female characters actively drive the plot forward
-(The premise of this novel) works well enough
-Seeing the gods in the background was surprisingly interesting, reminded me of 'The Color of Magic' and Greek/Norse mythology. Also a nice method of skipping travel.
The Bad:
-The book starts with one frame narrative and never returns to it, then adds another in the form of the gods. I guess the goal will be to return to the former at the end of the series? But I was really disappointed that we didn't get more insight there, and it just seems sloppy to double dip like that.
-Just STOP having Aaslo talk out loud to Matthias, when it is so clear to the reader that mental communication would be entirely functional. It would be fun if it happened 2-3 times in the book, but after the twentieth or so the mistaken bits of conversation were utterly annoying.
-For the conceit of being a story where the chosen one dies immediately, Aaslo spends this book acting like more of a chosen one than just about any I have read about.
The Ugly:
-I listened to the audiobook, and I was really turned off by the performance of Peck, Mory, and most of the women. I don't recall having the same reaction to the narrator's performance of Name of the Wind, but some of the characters' voices ranged from cringeworthy to offensive.
-There are just so many threads dangling at the end of this book that I would be surprised if even half are picked up again. This book could have been at least 3-4 hours shorter and conveyed the same general plot.
The Good:
-Characters are self-consistent and fairly realistic
-Female characters actively drive the plot forward
-(The premise of this novel) works well enough
-Seeing the gods in the background was surprisingly interesting, reminded me of 'The Color of Magic' and Greek/Norse mythology. Also a nice method of skipping travel.
The Bad:
-The book starts with one frame narrative and never returns to it, then adds another in the form of the gods. I guess the goal will be to return to the former at the end of the series? But I was really disappointed that we didn't get more insight there, and it just seems sloppy to double dip like that.
-Just STOP having Aaslo talk out loud to Matthias, when it is so clear to the reader that mental communication would be entirely functional. It would be fun if it happened 2-3 times in the book, but after the twentieth or so the mistaken bits of conversation were utterly annoying.
-For the conceit of being a story where the chosen one dies immediately, Aaslo spends this book acting like more of a chosen one than just about any I have read about.
The Ugly:
-I listened to the audiobook, and I was really turned off by the performance of Peck, Mory, and most of the women. I don't recall having the same reaction to the narrator's performance of Name of the Wind, but some of the characters' voices ranged from cringeworthy to offensive.
-There are just so many threads dangling at the end of this book that I would be surprised if even half are picked up again. This book could have been at least 3-4 hours shorter and conveyed the same general plot.