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spellvexit7's reviews
144 reviews
Paradise-1 by David Wellington
Did not finish book. Stopped at 50%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 50%.
This book started promisingly, and despite the number of pages it was a quick read. My interest rapidly waned after the protagonists had resolved their first big crisis -- the boarding of the colony ship and ensuing "action" felt forced and derivative to me, and seemed like more of a platform for the author to create gross or scary imagery than to provide a truly unnerving experience organically from the situation. I started skimming sentences, then paragraphs, then called it about halfway through.
Then again, I'm not a big horror fan in general, so it's quite possible this just wasn't the book for me. My kind of book that might be labeled as horror would be something more like Jeff Vandermeer's Annihilation.
Then again, I'm not a big horror fan in general, so it's quite possible this just wasn't the book for me. My kind of book that might be labeled as horror would be something more like Jeff Vandermeer's Annihilation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Cannibalism
Exile by R.A. Salvatore
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.75
Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Homeland by R.A. Salvatore
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
A friend of mine loaned me this book to read, and I had mixed feelings. The prose was a bit simplistic and the characters rather melodramatic, from the virtuous characters lamenting to themselves in pained soliloquys to the virtual moustache-twirling of the many, many evil characters. It also reads as fan fiction, with references to both the places and game elements of D&D. It is a tale very much aimed at D&D fans.
That being said, I thought the world building was quite good. The Drow society was a ruthless, paranoid, backstabbing world, full of dangers within and without, but the mechanics and power structure were well established. The Drow females exulted in their power and cruelty, and their exaggerated villainy was actually pretty humorous at times. I don't know if Salvatore quite intended them to be more caricature than character, but he did it well.
I'm never considered myself a full on D&D nerd, but in my life I've played countless D&D-adjacent properties. This was an interesting back story to the Drow I've heard so much about, and I was glad to have read about them. I'm also equally glad to depart their world; in the long run I honestly don't understand how their miserable society survives with so much backstabbing, rivalry, and constant external threats.
That being said, I thought the world building was quite good. The Drow society was a ruthless, paranoid, backstabbing world, full of dangers within and without, but the mechanics and power structure were well established. The Drow females exulted in their power and cruelty, and their exaggerated villainy was actually pretty humorous at times. I don't know if Salvatore quite intended them to be more caricature than character, but he did it well.
I'm never considered myself a full on D&D nerd, but in my life I've played countless D&D-adjacent properties. This was an interesting back story to the Drow I've heard so much about, and I was glad to have read about them. I'm also equally glad to depart their world; in the long run I honestly don't understand how their miserable society survives with so much backstabbing, rivalry, and constant external threats.