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sipping_tea_with_ghosts's reviews
54 reviews
Pine by Francine Toon
1.0
If this book is supposed to be eerie and thrilling, I suppose whoever wrote that on the cover lives in fear of whenever they have to go grocery shopping at night. No, this story is the exact opposite of thrilling. Thrills promise at least some form of consistent or occasional adrenaline pumping pace, but this 300+ page story is slower than a snail dying on a salt factory floor. The proper pairing of words for this novel is mundane and overwritten.
Every chapter in this story is about 80% description and bout-less exposition, 15% tangents and clumsy metaphors, and perhaps if you're lucky, you'll have the other 5% be dedicated to plot progression. I understand that you need to set things up for pay offs later, but you need to remember to actually pay it off and not go on another tangent.
The characters had the possibility of having interesting growth through these unsettling circumstances but the rather patronizing repetition of their flaws and struggles as well as jarring tonal and setting shifts breaks any hope of that happening. Examples being that Niall, one of the main characters is a drunk. Did you not catch it the first time? No worries, you'll be reminded of it in some fashion in almost every single chapter he's in. Even a recovering alcoholic like King doesn't hammer that into your skull that hard, even in stories where that's the focus. Example of the tone shift is when something bad happens to Lauren such as getting bullied or seeing blood leak in the house, instead of focusing on it or telling her dad about it, the plot just shifts to her sitting on a couch watching jeopardy as if nothing happened. Regardless of her character, that makes no sense. No one ever mentions what happened the previous night when something odd or supernatural occurs and just go on like there's nothing to be concerned about.
If you estimated this novel to be 100,000 words, you could take out every sentence dedicated to the central mystery and only add up to 2,000 at most.
It's not "atmospheric" writing, it's filler and nothing more.
I was drawn in by the cover and the premise and what I'm left with is another disappointing read, with a mystery mostly relegated to the very end, literally dumped on you within the last 20 pages.
No twist, no surprise, just left pining for anything else.
Every chapter in this story is about 80% description and bout-less exposition, 15% tangents and clumsy metaphors, and perhaps if you're lucky, you'll have the other 5% be dedicated to plot progression. I understand that you need to set things up for pay offs later, but you need to remember to actually pay it off and not go on another tangent.
The characters had the possibility of having interesting growth through these unsettling circumstances but the rather patronizing repetition of their flaws and struggles as well as jarring tonal and setting shifts breaks any hope of that happening. Examples being that Niall, one of the main characters is a drunk. Did you not catch it the first time? No worries, you'll be reminded of it in some fashion in almost every single chapter he's in. Even a recovering alcoholic like King doesn't hammer that into your skull that hard, even in stories where that's the focus. Example of the tone shift is when something bad happens to Lauren such as getting bullied or seeing blood leak in the house, instead of focusing on it or telling her dad about it, the plot just shifts to her sitting on a couch watching jeopardy as if nothing happened. Regardless of her character, that makes no sense. No one ever mentions what happened the previous night when something odd or supernatural occurs and just go on like there's nothing to be concerned about.
If you estimated this novel to be 100,000 words, you could take out every sentence dedicated to the central mystery and only add up to 2,000 at most.
It's not "atmospheric" writing, it's filler and nothing more.
I was drawn in by the cover and the premise and what I'm left with is another disappointing read, with a mystery mostly relegated to the very end, literally dumped on you within the last 20 pages.
No twist, no surprise, just left pining for anything else.
The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter
5.0
"Game of Thrones meets Gladiator" is a very fitting description for this book, an extremely promising and impressive debut from a new author. A well paced tale of revenge with enough context through political divide and extensive background lore to make a fully realized setting with the possibility for expansion in later books. The numerous fights, battles and descriptions of war tactics are all fleshed out without being overly indulgent in gory details or coming across as the sword and shield's equivalent to "gun porn".
The most satisfying part of this whole story was seeing the development of the main character, and if you're a sucker for protagonists who can beat the odds through witty tactics but also be a master of the sword, then you will love Tau as a main character. Even if there might be an occasion or two of you not agreeing with how he's handling things, you'll understand his struggle enough to at least still want to be along for the ride.
The ending is suspenseful and intriguing, leaving off on a grand note for the sequel coming out later this year. The story is self contained enough that you won't be asking where 17 different plot lines are going, but there are one or two elements left unresolved for the sequel, which is fine.
Only possible negatives to highlight is that this book has a LOT of fighting in it, practically a fight scene every other chapter, which might get exhausting to read for some. Like mentioned before, they're not poorly written so I didn't mind them (in fact, most of them are very well done), but it can be a pace breaker for some when they don't feel the plot is progressing enough.
The other negative is the abundance of terms you might need to consult the glossary for. Though compared to some other authors like James Islington, you won't have to jump into this section too often, the terms and lore words are used often enough to get the reader immersed and used to them fairly quickly.
Overall, a great debut with an interesting world inspired by atypical sources in the crowded fantasy genre with enough humor, valor and tragedy to keep one engaged.
Blood will show.
The most satisfying part of this whole story was seeing the development of the main character, and if you're a sucker for protagonists who can beat the odds through witty tactics but also be a master of the sword, then you will love Tau as a main character. Even if there might be an occasion or two of you not agreeing with how he's handling things, you'll understand his struggle enough to at least still want to be along for the ride.
The ending is suspenseful and intriguing, leaving off on a grand note for the sequel coming out later this year. The story is self contained enough that you won't be asking where 17 different plot lines are going, but there are one or two elements left unresolved for the sequel, which is fine.
Only possible negatives to highlight is that this book has a LOT of fighting in it, practically a fight scene every other chapter, which might get exhausting to read for some. Like mentioned before, they're not poorly written so I didn't mind them (in fact, most of them are very well done), but it can be a pace breaker for some when they don't feel the plot is progressing enough.
The other negative is the abundance of terms you might need to consult the glossary for. Though compared to some other authors like James Islington, you won't have to jump into this section too often, the terms and lore words are used often enough to get the reader immersed and used to them fairly quickly.
Overall, a great debut with an interesting world inspired by atypical sources in the crowded fantasy genre with enough humor, valor and tragedy to keep one engaged.
Blood will show.
A Blight of Blackwings by Kevin Hearne
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
As much as I rather enjoyed Plague of Giants, I unfortunately can't say I enjoyed its followup nearly as much. The strengths of the first entry are still here: the world building is interesting and diverse, there are some real gut punches in self-contained war stories, and a good amount of the characters are fun to follow around.
My problems start with overall character development of some of the key players such as Dervan and Fintan, and how their supposed chances to grow were thrown onto completely different characters instead. Dervan went through a lot in the first book, learning a lot about the world outside of Survivor's Field, and having to come to grips with what happened to his beloved. One could reasonably say he had enough exposure in the first book, but with how he's the central narrator (or at least the guy writing down the thoughts of the main voice), its a little distracting how sterile he comes across compared to everyone else. There are some nice moments with him but they get lost in an avalanche of other character highlights and superfluous romance plots told by Fintan.
Also if you're expecting a bit of a recap since your read of the first entry was quite a ways back, you're not getting it. You might be like me and be confused for a little while on who ____ is and why them getting _____ was a big deal. The character glossary up front is far too barren and lacking in information for a cast this large.
Second issue is the amount of time dedicated to the previously said unneeded romance plots and secondary characters. When we're delving into the struggles of Abhi, Olet, Gondel, Koesha and otherwise, I'm having a great time. When the narrative decides to focus on the Sixth Kenning children such as Hamina and her rogue's gallery of juveniles, I roll my eyes and honestly skim most of the sections. These sections highlight an overly verbose writing style, dedicating paragraphs to describe a child's thinking and their ghost hand grip on philosophy of power. One chapter literally read like it was half Viva la Revolution and half fart jokes.
I only highlight these negatives so profusely because they regrettably take up a fair amount of the book. I should've finished this book much sooner than I did (took about 4 months I think). It starts really strong and then falls into a ditch for about 150 pages. The climax finally picks things back up and then the ending comes and goes like a fart in the wind.
Like I said before, there's still really good stuff here and I might pick up Hearne's Hounded series in the future because of it. You just have to get through a fair amount of doldrums to get to those awe inspiring world views and heartbreaking losses of life.
My problems start with overall character development of some of the key players such as Dervan and Fintan, and how their supposed chances to grow were thrown onto completely different characters instead. Dervan went through a lot in the first book, learning a lot about the world outside of Survivor's Field, and having to come to grips with what happened to his beloved. One could reasonably say he had enough exposure in the first book, but with how he's the central narrator (or at least the guy writing down the thoughts of the main voice), its a little distracting how sterile he comes across compared to everyone else. There are some nice moments with him but they get lost in an avalanche of other character highlights and superfluous romance plots told by Fintan.
Also if you're expecting a bit of a recap since your read of the first entry was quite a ways back, you're not getting it. You might be like me and be confused for a little while on who ____ is and why them getting _____ was a big deal. The character glossary up front is far too barren and lacking in information for a cast this large.
Second issue is the amount of time dedicated to the previously said unneeded romance plots and secondary characters. When we're delving into the struggles of Abhi, Olet, Gondel, Koesha and otherwise, I'm having a great time. When the narrative decides to focus on the Sixth Kenning children such as Hamina and her rogue's gallery of juveniles, I roll my eyes and honestly skim most of the sections. These sections highlight an overly verbose writing style, dedicating paragraphs to describe a child's thinking and their ghost hand grip on philosophy of power. One chapter literally read like it was half Viva la Revolution and half fart jokes.
I only highlight these negatives so profusely because they regrettably take up a fair amount of the book. I should've finished this book much sooner than I did (took about 4 months I think). It starts really strong and then falls into a ditch for about 150 pages. The climax finally picks things back up and then the ending comes and goes like a fart in the wind.
Like I said before, there's still really good stuff here and I might pick up Hearne's Hounded series in the future because of it. You just have to get through a fair amount of doldrums to get to those awe inspiring world views and heartbreaking losses of life.
Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence
4.0
To paraphrase Brent Weeks, many authors these days are afraid to give their characters flaws or make them even slightly unsympathetic. If you've read Mark Lawrence's more (in)famous trilogy, The Broken Empire, you're more than aware that he's not afraid to make the narrator an utter bastard, the would-be antagonist in almost any other story. We had the sadomasochistic Jorg in that trilogy, and now we have the cowardly and selfish Jalan in this one. If the author wasn't so good at keeping you connected to the characters through the commonplace bits of development and introspection, following such people could be an unpleasant slog. The consistent first person POV / narration is strong throughout however, making you have to connect to these characters. God forbid, you might relate to them a little bit.
Anyways, Jalan ends up as a reluctant adventurer, bound by a strange curse with a northern warrior known as Snorri, basically the brawn to his occasionally present brains. The story throughout has good pacing and plenty of humor, avoiding the dire depths that some of the genre can dwell on these days. I feel like Mark balances the light-hearted humor and character banter well with the dark developments and dower atmosphere that the Grimdark genre is synonymous with. (Which fits Broken Empire more than this trilogy so far)
That being said, the story does have a little bit of padding towards the last third of the book. Important revelations are made but they're buried underneath some overly verbose sections, lacking the machine gun pace that King / Emperor of Thorns had.
Hell, the ending just kind of happens, it felt kind of slapdash on the whole wrapping up part because so much was focused on the erratic bits of fighting, the equivalent of a bunch of jump cuts in a movie.
Overall, a very promising start to what will likely be another awesome series. All I'm hoping for is an even better sequel, since the quality in King of Thorns over Prince of Thorns was such a pleasant surprise for me.
Now to answer a few questions for Broken Empire and new readers alike:
Do you need to read The Broken Empire to understand this story? No. The worldbuilding fills in everything you need to know, even if some details are found in other books from both series.
Does reading the previous trilogy enhance the experience of reading this one? Yes, in often hilarious ways once you hear familiar names. For me, I was often screaming "Oh, ______. That son of a-"
Should I finish Broken Empire if I'm already some ways in before coming to this one?
Anyways, Jalan ends up as a reluctant adventurer, bound by a strange curse with a northern warrior known as Snorri, basically the brawn to his occasionally present brains. The story throughout has good pacing and plenty of humor, avoiding the dire depths that some of the genre can dwell on these days. I feel like Mark balances the light-hearted humor and character banter well with the dark developments and dower atmosphere that the Grimdark genre is synonymous with. (Which fits Broken Empire more than this trilogy so far)
That being said, the story does have a little bit of padding towards the last third of the book. Important revelations are made but they're buried underneath some overly verbose sections, lacking the machine gun pace that King / Emperor of Thorns had.
Hell, the ending just kind of happens, it felt kind of slapdash on the whole wrapping up part because so much was focused on the erratic bits of fighting, the equivalent of a bunch of jump cuts in a movie.
Overall, a very promising start to what will likely be another awesome series. All I'm hoping for is an even better sequel, since the quality in King of Thorns over Prince of Thorns was such a pleasant surprise for me.
Now to answer a few questions for Broken Empire and new readers alike:
Do you need to read The Broken Empire to understand this story? No. The worldbuilding fills in everything you need to know, even if some details are found in other books from both series.
Does reading the previous trilogy enhance the experience of reading this one? Yes, in often hilarious ways once you hear familiar names. For me, I was often screaming "Oh, ______. That son of a-"
Should I finish Broken Empire if I'm already some ways in before coming to this one?