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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Four Books In And Still As Good As The First
With everything going on this installment took me longer than I expected to get through but it was worth it. Peppers continues to show a rather deep understanding of the human condition and through it he has been able to craft characters and build a world that continues to be interesting. The world that's crafted in this series doesn't fall on the trap of having the characters grow in power to match the evil that they face. If anything they end up more bruised and battered on every level and their struggles are harder because of it. Make no mistake, this is a dark series and it's filled with characters that don't follow a black and white moral code but it's the very human aspects of these characters that have kept me coming back. That and a desire to see Kevlane defeated so Peppers has succeeded in creating a villain that's horrible enough that I'm emotionally invested in his demise. Usually I just want to watch the protagonists succeed but in this series I actually want to see the bad guy get his due.
With everything going on this installment took me longer than I expected to get through but it was worth it. Peppers continues to show a rather deep understanding of the human condition and through it he has been able to craft characters and build a world that continues to be interesting. The world that's crafted in this series doesn't fall on the trap of having the characters grow in power to match the evil that they face. If anything they end up more bruised and battered on every level and their struggles are harder because of it. Make no mistake, this is a dark series and it's filled with characters that don't follow a black and white moral code but it's the very human aspects of these characters that have kept me coming back. That and a desire to see Kevlane defeated so Peppers has succeeded in creating a villain that's horrible enough that I'm emotionally invested in his demise. Usually I just want to watch the protagonists succeed but in this series I actually want to see the bad guy get his due.
Another 5* story
Very smooth enjoyable read. Great story, great characters, very well written, wish it was bit longer! looking forward to the next book
Very smooth enjoyable read. Great story, great characters, very well written, wish it was bit longer! looking forward to the next book
A Sellsword's Valor is one of those books that has a lot going for it, but still ends up being somewhat disappointing due to the lack of real narrative or progress. A lot happened in the previous two books, whereas this seems to be a filler story that could have been a novella. Yes, there's character building and world-building, particularly with regards to Kevlane's monstrous creations, but there isn't a lot more than that.
Both Aaron and Adina go on their own possibly suicidal quests - one for information and one for the sake of the Kingdom she lost. Adina's narrative was fairly bland until the final showdown and that's over in the blink of an eye. Aaron's was definitely more interesting - we meet some new characters and are re-acquainted with others we haven't seen in a few books. The Virtues are expanded once more and Aaron tries to find out the truth behind Belgarin’s strange behaviour.
I suppose one of the largest issues is that whilst Aaron and his allies are in the dark, the reader isn't. So three hundred odd pages of him going on an information gathering quest when we already have all the pertinent information seemed like overkill and a half. There is nothing discovered by Aaron that we don't already know.
That said, the characters are once more fantastically drawn; old, new and re-acquaintances. There are a couple of one off chapters grabbing onto minor bit-players that actually really drew me in and added to the tension of the setting. And the settings - particularly that of Baresh - are also excellently drawn. The tension felt by the populace and the fear and wrongness oozing out of the city was palpable.
So, this is a hard one. It's well-written, the characters are strong and the settings are well imagined. It just... doesn't really have a purpose. I really do think this would have been better as a novella rather than a full novel.
Both Aaron and Adina go on their own possibly suicidal quests - one for information and one for the sake of the Kingdom she lost. Adina's narrative was fairly bland until the final showdown and that's over in the blink of an eye. Aaron's was definitely more interesting - we meet some new characters and are re-acquainted with others we haven't seen in a few books. The Virtues are expanded once more and Aaron tries to find out the truth behind Belgarin’s strange behaviour.
I suppose one of the largest issues is that whilst Aaron and his allies are in the dark, the reader isn't. So three hundred odd pages of him going on an information gathering quest when we already have all the pertinent information seemed like overkill and a half. There is nothing discovered by Aaron that we don't already know.
That said, the characters are once more fantastically drawn; old, new and re-acquaintances. There are a couple of one off chapters grabbing onto minor bit-players that actually really drew me in and added to the tension of the setting. And the settings - particularly that of Baresh - are also excellently drawn. The tension felt by the populace and the fear and wrongness oozing out of the city was palpable.
So, this is a hard one. It's well-written, the characters are strong and the settings are well imagined. It just... doesn't really have a purpose. I really do think this would have been better as a novella rather than a full novel.