this was a long ass meandering mess that could have been half the length and it would've been much more interesting to read.
also hooray for the typicthis was a long ass meandering mess that could have been half the length and it would've been much more interesting to read.
also hooray for the typical mass sex scenes where their orgasms are just so hUgE that they're literally ejaculating magic... smh.
but also like LITERALLY NOTHING HAPPENED. and this was 800 pages.
like I get this is mass attempting to write adult epic fantasy but just no. the characters, despite some of them being v v old all act like a bunch of angsty horny teenagers where they spend most of the book engaged in banter that it neither engaging or funny. it's a waste of space imo.
Ended up enjoying this a bit more than I expected. The way it was written was slightly jarring at first but it ended up settling nicely and I liked itEnded up enjoying this a bit more than I expected. The way it was written was slightly jarring at first but it ended up settling nicely and I liked it....more
It was certainly an interesting play, however, I thought the structure of it was a sort of everywhere. Admittedly, I haven't seen the play and I wouldIt was certainly an interesting play, however, I thought the structure of it was a sort of everywhere. Admittedly, I haven't seen the play and I wouldn't know how it would actually play out on the stage. Overall, it was still enjoyable enough with many clear prominent themes that were explored well....more
Ehh, I don't know how to feel about this one to be honest. I really loved book 1 when I read it last year, yet this book just did not really do it forEhh, I don't know how to feel about this one to be honest. I really loved book 1 when I read it last year, yet this book just did not really do it for me. It was fine, mostly engaging and had some good character work. At the same time, it was really slow and it felt like to me that a lot of it was filler material and really feel that it could have been one hundred pages shorter. Also, there was a lack of tension or excitement for me, even in the most high stakes scenes, which highlights that I did not care enough about the characters nor their actions nearly enough. By the end of the novel, I was largely just waiting for it to be end. Ultimately, cool sci-fi stuff, but was just far too long-winded. ...more
I quite enjoyed this! The world building and characters were all really interesting. I also think it’s the first time I’ve actually seen a polyamorousI quite enjoyed this! The world building and characters were all really interesting. I also think it’s the first time I’ve actually seen a polyamorous relationship in a novel before and I thought that was handled really well and I liked that. It certainly discussed a lot of important relevant themes like gender roles and even the role of the media in society to a certain extent and how that manipulates people. 8/10...more
My thanks to the author Wick Welker for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Oooo, this was absolutely solid. There are a lot of fabulous things My thanks to the author Wick Welker for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Oooo, this was absolutely solid. There are a lot of fabulous things in this incredibly long book, and it is an incredibly long book - where its length does not make it any less enjoyable. It features a broad yet highly fascinating cast of well-developed and fully realised characters. The world building in this was also very detailed and intricate and featured a lot of things that I genuinely enjoyed and that I believed were constructed very well. That being said, I didn’t find this book to be perfect, I do have a few slight criticisms that depending on the type of reader that you are, could be very minor, which they largely were for me, hence the full shining five stars.
Now, I seriously had a blast of a time following each of these characters around, from Miree, to Beetro, to Ribcage. They were all unique individuals and had very distinct personas that clearly made them separate characters. It was very easy to tell who was speaking or whose POV it was from, due to the clearly differing nature and wide range of personalities that Welker has crafted here, and that is to be commended. Some characters, like Ribcage was both incredibly fun, but also frustratingly annoying to read about, and that’s a positive thing as there was so much soul and work put into each character that makes me as the reader experience a wide range of emotions with each character.
Now, my one slight critique, which won’t be an issue for many is that during the middle portion I did think that it dragged slightly. There was a lot of travelling, which I understand is what this book is about, and that’s totally fair ¬— a lot did happen during the travelling, and I certainly had a good time, especially the parts involving the Reticulum. That being said, it was like a couple dozen pages bit long for me? Naturally, this is all subjective, but in my opinion, it some scenes didn’t add a heap to the overarching story, although I may be wrong and be corrected in future instalments
Just generally regarding the plot, I did like it a lot. A heap happened in this novel, most of it highly enjoyable. Again, I did think it could have moved forward slightly faster during times, however I did think the start set up the rest of this story incredibly well, and there was quite a banger of an ending. I did like at how this was concluded while also clearly setting up the events of the next novel. I usually do prefer a more definite ending, yet certainly did not mind what occurred here at all.
Welker’s prose and writing is actually quite nice. It can get technical at times with a lot space and science-y jargon, which is a preference thing. I didn’t mind it much, other readers might mind it more. Other than that, it does flow really well and is not all that present which I like. The worse thing for me when reading books for the story and not the prose is that when the writing is either so flowery you can’t help but notice it, or so dry that it is just terrible, and I thought that this book’s prose achieved a good balance between the two which I appreciated.
Also, the worldbuilding in this was actually superb. There’s loads of detail and depth, whilst not being too much to remember. It was a, incredibly immersive world and there was a lot that made it different from other sci-fantasy novels, so that was great. There are such a wide array of cultures and identities in this world that I really enjoyed and cannot wait to explore more of.
Ultimately, I really liked this and despite a few slight flaws I had with it, I would highly recommend it and thought that this was a killer tale. 9/10...more
So, I was enticed with the description, and I actually first saw this book talked about over on BookTwitter. It looked like an interesting fantasy novSo, I was enticed with the description, and I actually first saw this book talked about over on BookTwitter. It looked like an interesting fantasy novel, but despite the content in this book, I found myself to be really bored when I didn’t expect to. For a novel over five hundred pages, I feel that surprisingly little happens in it and while there was some decent character development and characterisation, I didn’t love the characters. Well in truth, the characters in this book are the sort of characters I generally don’t like reading about, especially when one of them has incredibly rapey thoughts that frankly just isn’t for me.
Much of this book consists of a lot of travelling where it is really feels quite repetitive, because let’s all be real, not everyone can craft worlds like Tolkien and so the unfortunately, the travelling segments in this book simply was not very interesting to read about. I did wish things were more interesting, but it was a lot of moving around, sleeping about and encountering some troubles along the way that ultimately had little to no consequence. yay! The plot just boring in my view, and I get the sense that people may not read this book for the plot, which is totally fair - though like I haven’t read enough smut to know what is considered good smut, so uhh yeah. Although like surely there are better books to read than a five hundred page plus fantasy novel for smut. I’m just saying.
The characters were interesting individuals that I personally failed to vibe with, especially Maddek. I can see lots of people loving him and there were some good moments towards the end, where he did grow significantly as a character in a way that was well thought out, so that was good. It’s like sorta why this is a two star and not a one. I did find Yvenne do be a decent character, I liked her background story, characterisation and development well enough. Just for some reason, whether it was due to the writing or otherwise, I failed to connect with them properly and for that reason I never felt fully immersed in this book, which was a shame.
The prose was fine, I didn’t find it was anything to gush about, but it certainly wasn’t bad and there were some good lines in there. Again, it just failed to immerse me into this world and story and for that I felt this level of disconnect that made me enjoy this novel less.
Now, maybe I didn’t pay attention enough, but I thought that the worldbuilding and lore was quite sparse? Like we learn of things, people and some events, but it honestly felt somewhat like a typical medievalesque fantasy world with nothing that made it stand out in any form. I just didn’t really picture much or see what this world made it unique from other fantasy novels. And like secondary worlds don’t always have to be unique for me really, but rather just well built up, and I felt this novel lacked in some areas for me.
Anyway, if you’re here for the smut, I totally understand, but realise that this is lacking in proper plot or worldbuilding, with some decent character work. 4/10...more
“Keep fighting, and I swear that before it consumes us, we’ll burn our pain to ash in the fires of vengeance.”
The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter, t“Keep fighting, and I swear that before it consumes us, we’ll burn our pain to ash in the fires of vengeance.”
The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter, the second novel in The Burning series was a delightful and wonderful novel. It was riveting, fast paced and action packed the entire way through. It is actually really nice to see a fantasy novel that is just five hundred pages yet manages to pack in so much. Fantasy novels, as much as I love them, have a real tendency to drag and I think it is fantastic that the plot, alongside the solid character work just doesn’t stop here. The story is always moving in some form, and I really enjoyed that here. Granted, that will not be everyone, but I was really pleased with the pacing here.
This is a novel that was really quite dark in nature, there were a lot of heavy themes, and it brims in brutality so I would say that it is certainly grimdark. There’s a lot of death, destruction and fighting. It is genuinely a brutal and devastating novel filled with so much pain, hurt and anger which I believe was truly reflected in this story, the way it was told and the way the characters were presented.
I found Tau to be a really gripping protagonist to follow. He is so full of rage and his urge for vengeance that it is all consuming for him, and as the reader, I really felt that. It is actually almost exhausting following a character like Tau due to that, but I think it makes the novel all the more engaging and satisfying to read because of that. There wasn’t any side character that I found as compelling as Tau to read about, but I think it makes sense considering how much focus in on Tau. I will say that there were many in Tau’s scale that were highly interesting to read about.
One good thing was that there was a much greater focus on female characters is this novel compared to The Rage of Dragons, which was one of my issues with that novel. The women here play a much more prominent role, and I think from this one novel is that Winter’s female characters are good. They are perfectly well constructed - would like perhaps like a bit more depth, yes absolutely, but it was a huge improvement from book 1. I still don’t really buy the romance that much between Tau and another character(keeping spoilers out of this), it does feel pretty forced, but I do like the two characters, so I guess we’ll have to see how that goes in book 3.
“Nobles granted themselves a humanity that they did not extend to people like him, and because of that, they thought little of ruining or even ending a Lesser’s life.”
This book is full to the brim with action sequences - there are tons of duels, set piece battles and the like. The fight scenes in this are engaging and it cannot be understated how good Winter is at writing battle sequences. The one slight caveat for me with this was that it could get somewhat repetitive and while it is always tense and superbly thought out, there are a lot of them. So, while I do love Winter’s fight scenes, I also do think that he could have cut them down by a few as action scenes are often just event after event, even if they are enjoyable to read.
Look, despite small minor complaints from me, this was fabulous, and I loved it a lot. It was a solid 4.5 stars, which I am rounding up to a five because I am loving Winter’s work so far and I am extremely excited for book 3. 9/10...more
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