I feel so conflicted about this book. I really wanted to like it, but I just couldn't. I feel like this book would appeal to people who like their fanI feel so conflicted about this book. I really wanted to like it, but I just couldn't. I feel like this book would appeal to people who like their fantasy very soft, mellow and slow - like a giant pink marshmallow. I'm not the type of person who demands fast-paced action from books, far from it, but I need at least something to keep me interested while reading, and I found nothing in this book.
The setup is strange. We're told how humans have taken over this world, destroyed the forests, built their citites etc. Then we're immediately saddled with a bunch of human characters and their political problems that we know nothing about. Am I supposed to care about these people or something? They can all go drown in the ocean for all I care.
The characters are boring. I don't even have anything to say about the humans, none of them stood out to me. Arafel seems like an interesting character at first, but we're never shown the different aspects of her personality that she's supposed to have. She's just...flat. And lonely. So lonely. All the time. Which is sad at first, but gets old after a while.
The book drags and feels repetitive. This book is so slow, I couldn't believe how long it felt. The prose is a little strange and often difficult to get through. I sometimes had to re-read sentences several times. The story...nothing happens. The same things are discussed over and over again, it gets seriously tiresome. At first, the parts with Arafel kept me reading, but after a while those became repetitive as well and I stopped.
The mood in the book is lovely though and I did like how the elves were portrayed. In the end, I feel like this book needed an editor's axe to chop it into a better shape, because as it is, I simply can't get through it. Possibly should have merged the first and second books together and then hacked them down into one book. Disappointed. Sigh.
Definitely a good read for fans of gentle classic fantasy and Tolkien, who have more patientce than myself....more
This book was quite remarkable. The writing alone kept me reading. The prose is silky smooth and beautiful, reminiscent of the great classics like DicThis book was quite remarkable. The writing alone kept me reading. The prose is silky smooth and beautiful, reminiscent of the great classics like Dickens, with a mild sprinkle of clever humour throughout. It has an interesting mixture of Victorian England and supernatural, fairytale elements. I think the book is worth reading for the writing alone, but as a whole, I had many complaints about it.
Firstly, the story is too sprawling, and at times seemingly confused about the direction it wants to take. Some parts towards the middle of the book could have been easily removed, because they didn't really add anything to the overall picture. I couldn't help but feel that the book was padded with too much unnecessary information, however between those drawn-out parts, there were some scenes that were truly remarkable and memorable. I particularly enjoyed the part about madness, it was vivid and powerful.
Secondly, there was so little character development. The characters remain static through the entire book and even though some terrible things happen to them, they fail to have a strong effect on their personality or trigger some kind of growth. For the most part, we leave them as the same people they were in the beginning.
Thirdly, many things were not explained. The magic system for example. I was waiting patiently for an explanation and none arrived. Why is magic back? Why can these certain people use it and others can't? What are the limits? How did Strange actually learn magic? Why couldn't he accomplish some very simple things if magic seemed like it had no limits? What is this world like exactly? If you expect answers to those questions, as any reader would, I expect, you will not get any. I'm serious, answers will not be provided! A bit of guesswork to train the reader's imagination is fine, but if you literally give no explanations whatsoever, it just makes me scratch my head in bewilderment. In the end, it felt like the author simply hadn't put much thought into these important questions. Which actually brings me to another complaint.
Time skipping. Several times, the story cuts off and resumes much later. All of those times were very interesting moments, where I was looking forward to what happened next, but instead...the story got conveniently fast forwarded. That to me, is lazy writing, because the author just used it as a simple trick to avoid writing some parts that would have been complicated and would have had to shed some light on those questions that were never answered. Instead, we skip those interesting parts and go on to others that were quite monotonous at times.
Overall, I think this book is worth the time spent, if you enjoy English classics or Victorian England in general, but don't expect something that will blow you out of the water. Don't expect cutting edge drama or action, savor it slowly and I think you will have an enjoyable time with it....more
Great writing, medieval fantasy that's dark and realistic without resorting to extreme violence. Main focus on the character depth. The overall feelinGreat writing, medieval fantasy that's dark and realistic without resorting to extreme violence. Main focus on the character depth. The overall feeling of hopelessness and depression was too much for me, don't want to keep reading....more
Old-school fantasy on crack. Complete with sexism and a super manly man guy dude. This book's size makes it excellent for propping up rickety chairs aOld-school fantasy on crack. Complete with sexism and a super manly man guy dude. This book's size makes it excellent for propping up rickety chairs and tables. I wouldn't recommend actually reading it....more
It's really difficult to describe why I didn't like this book. Having thought about it, I think this series started out strong and spiraled into prediIt's really difficult to describe why I didn't like this book. Having thought about it, I think this series started out strong and spiraled into predictability. The things that happen in this book are so...convenient. There's no other way to describe it. Everything gets resolved, the story gets tied up with a large pink bow and tadaa. I think what first kept me going with this series was the realism. It felt like there were no easy answers. Except now there are? Also, I was sick of the love triangle. Sick of it the moment it started, even more sick of it after like 2 books. I think the story would have been better told as a trilogy. This book really dragged. Some parts were messy, I was skipping pages and it felt like a chore to finish. The ending was like....huh? Overall, I don't think I will remember this series in six months.
(view spoiler)[WTH was the part with Selden getting rescued? His brother was like "Hey bro, nice to see you again, you look rough!", like no kidding??? You didn't even bother looking for him!! Also, the dragons are such massive douchebags. I still haven't figured out if the reader is actually supposed to care about any of them, because I sure as hell didn't care one bit if they all dropped into the river. (hide spoiler)]...more
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