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kylieqrada's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Suicide, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Fatphobia, Vomit, and War
literarypenguin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was my first James Islington book and I was generally surprised by how interesting this book was! This is a great addition to the fantasy genre and I can't wait to read the sequel books in this series.
The main character of Vis was a very relatable and cool character to follow though at times I did think that things came too easy for him. Like I wasn't really worried about whether he would succeed in his missions or not, he always did end up winning in the end. His friends, I adored the friendship between Vis, Callidius, and Eidhin! It was super cool to see a friend group like this and good for Vis to have people that he could confide in. The mystery was easily the most intriguing part leaving me to wonder what purpose the Heirarchy truly served and why these students at the academy needed to participate in this event in the labyrinth. The ending I really didn't see coming and left me with more questions that I hope the next book will answer. Every different character was suspicious, not one of them could be trusted because you didn't know what their motives in all this were. The world was interesting and I found myself absorbed into this universe, the mixture of Greek culture and society with modern and magic technology was great. I thought that was a great move and made the book even better, wanting to know more about how this world functioned.
I can't wait to continue this series and really want to know what happens next! Especially after the ending, I really want to see where this goes!
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Fatphobia
blacksphinx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The positives: thank you, a Roman-inspired fantasy! I have no idea why there aren't a million epic fantasy door stoppers with Roman-flavored fantasy worlds, and this book makes great use of this current. I really enjoyed how our protagonist is constantly struggling against a tide of different conspiracies, political maneuvering, and thorny social situations tangled tightly together with no breathing room, despite the length of this book. I am surprised with how graceful it was able to juggle all these plot points, and knowing this isn't the author's first epic fantasy series gives me hope he can keep the delicate dance going all the way to the end. While it was never bad before that point, the story really comes into its own and starts blooming once Vis makes friends and has other non-hostile characters to bounce off of. I had to keep reading because I wanted to see how the puzzle pieces in play would slot together, and literally the last 5 pages of this book took my breath away
Yet... I think every epic fantasy book I've read so far this year has the same damn protagonist: talented, prideful teen boy with an anger management issue. It's so boring! I cannot believe Vis was able to keep his head down for the three and a half years between the fall of his country and the start of the book. He is hot headed to a fault and his actions constantly undercut the praise I kept hearing about how this book has "an actually intelligent protagonist who knows how to scheme."
And I can't help but notice the only meaningful resistance to the Oppressive Government is a bunch of terrorists who love slaughtering unarmed civilians, including children, because "everyone is complicit! (◡‿◡)". Can't help but notice the number of times the handful of female characters screw over our protagonist compared to the male ones.
But the mysteries this book set up intrigue me, despite the reservations I have about some of the tropes at play, it's not enough that I cannot in all consciousness stop myself from giving it 5 stars. I'm going to keep reading.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Slavery, Xenophobia, Vomit, Death of parent, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Suicide
There's no terrorism tag on StoryGraph? Although there are no guns, there is a scene wherebooksthatburn's review against another edition
The character's background is conveyed mostly through his thoughts, and at first I thought it was going to be gradually revealed in bits and pieces. Having made it a quarter of the way through the book before stopping, it doesn't really seem like more is forthcoming (at least not in time for it to feel meaningful).
The Will system is interesting, it's well-described and has some fascinating implications for the world. I appreciate how the exploitative nature of this power is combined with a colonialist empire. It's a synergy between the political and magical in a way that makes sense as to why things are as bad as they are for almost everyone in the system, with the magic and the exploitation feeding into each other in a horrible self-reinforcing loop.
Ultimately the pace was slow enough that it broke any sense of momentum that I had while reading, and I'm just not interested in finishing it.
Graphic: Confinement and Slavery
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Dementia, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death, Fatphobia, Suicide, Vomit, Death of parent, and Murder