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the_scrivener_named_bartleby's Reviews (139)
After the initial fight, the trial scene and further onwards is just denouement from the last two books. But it feels well deserved--while the action isn't as intense as those two, it is something of a lull period. Shan divides his 12 books in this series into individual trilogies, and this really does feel like a conclusion to a saga that we've been invested in for that whole time so a bit of a "breather" in this book is not the worst thing in the world. It's very chill.
One of the worst books I've ever read and something that honestly turned me off to the idea of reading accompanying novels to video games or franchises that aren't explicitly books in the first place. Sylvanas Windrunner is one of my favorite characters in fiction and this just rubbed out all nuance to her character, and whatever butchering of the character there isn't is just a big flashing advertisement begging the reader to buy the next expansion with the goblin/gnome sections. Nothing changes over the course of this story; it's one great big excuse to give Anduin the vaguest reason to stop being a goody two-shoes and actually engage in a battle for Azeroth.
Having never read a lot of DnD style books about a party of various weirdos with different skills and personalities, I think this is inadvertently what sparked that interest for me. The characters have a quest and this is where they embark on it for the rest of the series. We learn who is who and what's at stake, the interpersonal connections they have to the villain, and what happens if they succeed and fail. It's not Dune or Lord of the Rings (as far as length and complexity) but for middle school, it's pretty solid.
Re-introductions of old characters, some good solid twists, and some action. Darren having to go back to school was probably a solid choice to make the story more relatable for the target demographic.
Just a continuation of the oddball DnD party we had going since book 7, only they fight cops and a mob on top of their regular cast of enemies. The two major events at the end of this book are a complete shock if you've been invested since book one.
This and Book 4 are the best in the series. Shan is really good at writing stuff that has to do with rugged survivalism and finding food and shelter and in general just roughing it. This does delve more into the fantastical, though--weird creatures and monsters and dragons are in this one, before we head back into the realm of only the regular world plus vampires.
More reintroductions of old characters, more deaths of old beloved characters, and more hooks for the next in the series. It's down to a science now, sure, but that doesn't make it any less fun to engage with.
As satisfying a conclusion as there could be. To be honest, I never had as big of a tie to the first book in the series, so the massive callbacks to that one specifically didn't feel as deserved. The setting of Vampire Mountain is when we're fully entrenched in the setting, and the Cirque was just a tool for getting us there. Still, that's just personal taste. The book ends pleasantly enough and satisfyingly--no loose plot threads, the wicked are punished, the apocalypse gets averted through effort and clever trickery.
Is there such a thing as an "aggressively inspirational" book? It's not necessarily a bad piece of writing, it's just that it's what keeps this from being a five star book. Sometimes it just gets a little heavy-handed with its spirituality and messages. I would still recommend it, it is a very feel-good piece of literature but sometimes, every sentence tries its damnedest to load itself with aphorisms about life and happiness and how to to live to the fullest. It's so chock-full of that optimism that you almost become desensitized to it. All told, though, it's probably fine if you're feeling down and out and want a book to help change your life and perspective.
Strangely steampunk, without ever explicitly saying it was. It's a classic British tale of clever kids outwitting a cruel governess. The only flaw is that the ending is extremely contrived and ends on a bit too schmaltzy of a note, and all the stakes that harrowed the children throughout the book were non-existent in the first place. I like that the vicious wolves are juxtaposed with the adults who bring constant misfortune to the children, and that the title could be referring to them rather than the wolves which at some point are at least simple to understand in their motives and cruelty.