laz92's review
5.0
Absolutely immersive, magical, vicious storytelling. Delivers on every promise. The third book is a break from the first two in some ways, and there’s a lot of harsh loss, but this series has a great cyclical nature that’s really rewarding to read. Cannot recommend enough, especially if you like naval-themed series with a matriarchal twist. 100 stars
undeadted1019's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- 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
5.0
debchan's review against another edition
5.0
wow. an absolute banger if i could give this book more stars i absolutely would.
this book takes place about a year after the last book ended. meas has been taken prisoner and is being tortured to reveal the secret of raising the sea dragons.
meanwhile, joron has been searching for meas over the past year, and has taken on the name the black pirate. pretty cool if you ask me. but he's also dying of the keyshan's rot. not as cool. (poor guy)
there really isn't a lot to say without spoilers but just wow was this book a good read (get it? lol)
i was so skeptical of barker called it a "legend" in the first book. when joron first said he never realized he would be pulled into this grand tale, i was like "yeah right that's a little far-reaching, it can't be that grand of a tale." boy was i wrong. this is the literal definition of an epic saga.
not only was the plot on a grand scale but so was the character development. now, if i thought joron's transformation in book 1 was immense and book 2 heartbreaking, book 3 ripped me to shreds. literally the part where someone tells him he's lost his father, his leg, his dinyl, and his shipwife i had to pause and collect myself. in book 1 he has hope that meas can lead him and the tide child to greater things. in book 2 he learns how to deal with loss and if he can shape himself to be a better person on his own. and in book 3 barker really tests joron to his limits. i feel like i should have seen it coming based on girton's own journey in the wounded kingdom series but? like? insane. girton and joron need to sit down and have a therapy session.
now on to more spoilery stuff:
concerning meas. anyways, that was hard to write.
concerning joron. i don't know where to begin. how about the fact that i love his relationship with his crew? especially farys and cwell? i think i would die for cwell. joron got darker in this book, known for his ruthlessness and ability to destroy anything in his path. it made him change into something alien to the reader, but even so what i love about joron freakin twiner is that to his core he is such a good person and one who no matter what tries his hardest to be better than his old self. and if he is slipping? then he must channel the black pirate to do whatever it will take to get his rock, meas, back..
garryia:. she's one weird and funny lady.
the gullaime: love them. except madorra because gross. i won't say too much except that they are one of my favorite fantasy creatures ever. especially the tide child's gullaime.
other characters. spoilers ahead. wow. anyways i feel like i've run out of the capacity to rant about this book and the amazing characters.
callbacks:
just old characters coming back from the previous books really made me happy. i love how things tie together.
this series exceeded my expectations. the worldbuilding is amazing. the gender hierarchy, with childbirth cementing your spot in society was such an interesting take and i truly enjoyed it. the characters were amazing; i loved to love the protagonists and i loved to hate the antagonists. even some of the "badder" characters had amazing character arcs. the legend may be more a quieter one but it is the kind of tale that i love reading. barker is a truly gifted storyteller and i cannot wait to either re-read all his book again or devour whatever new book he releases.
this book takes place about a year after the last book ended. meas has been taken prisoner and is being tortured to reveal the secret of raising the sea dragons.
meanwhile, joron has been searching for meas over the past year, and has taken on the name the black pirate. pretty cool if you ask me. but he's also dying of the keyshan's rot. not as cool. (poor guy)
there really isn't a lot to say without spoilers but just wow was this book a good read (get it? lol)
i was so skeptical of barker called it a "legend" in the first book. when joron first said he never realized he would be pulled into this grand tale, i was like "yeah right that's a little far-reaching, it can't be that grand of a tale." boy was i wrong. this is the literal definition of an epic saga.
not only was the plot on a grand scale but so was the character development. now, if i thought joron's transformation in book 1 was immense and book 2 heartbreaking, book 3 ripped me to shreds. literally the part where someone tells him he's lost his father, his leg, his dinyl, and his shipwife i had to pause and collect myself. in book 1 he has hope that meas can lead him and the tide child to greater things. in book 2 he learns how to deal with loss and if he can shape himself to be a better person on his own. and in book 3 barker really tests joron to his limits. i feel like i should have seen it coming based on girton's own journey in the wounded kingdom series but? like? insane. girton and joron need to sit down and have a therapy session.
now on to more spoilery stuff:
concerning meas
Spoiler
the comparison between her and merela from the wounded kingdom. i feel like i'm constantly lining up the two series up side by side because they're both amazing trilogies by an equally amazing author. when the rumors of joron being meas' child started to pop up, i didn't really like it but then it reminded me of girton and merela's relationship being parental and childlike and i was like i'm gonna scream. both women being the best at what they do, mentoring someone who is shunned by society by their disability and later on their capacity for causing pain. not at how barker titled the last chapter to make us think meas would die. but no! she didn't die and i am so glad of that! out of literally every other character dying, she is lucky meas. and if she died, i feel like so too would the legend. she had to survive. and joron knew that.concerning joron. i don't know where to begin. how about the fact that i love his relationship with his crew? especially farys and cwell? i think i would die for cwell. joron got darker in this book, known for his ruthlessness and ability to destroy anything in his path. it made him change into something alien to the reader, but even so what i love about joron freakin twiner is that to his core he is such a good person and one who no matter what tries his hardest to be better than his old self. and if he is slipping? then he must channel the black pirate to do whatever it will take to get his rock, meas, back.
Spoiler
and am i absolutely despairing that he sacrificed himself? maybe. yes. definitely yes. i don't know how to love a character more than joron twiner. it's wild. but it's also fitting. i could feel his death coming (or maybe that's what i like to tell myself) from the moment when he sat in indyl karrad's office in book 1 and foretold his part in this great legend. unfortunately i will NEVER get over his death. really. remembering his life before meas to becoming a somewhat respected crewmember to dinyl (omg i might combust) to loosing everything to becoming a fiersome pirate to sacrificing himself. that is some character arc ughhhhhgarryia:
Spoiler
i love barker's use of seemingly completely ordinary people turning out to be the most powerful people in that world. i should have seen it coming when girton was the only one who saw the god of death walking around and helping him. especially when garryia somehow knew everything and was literally the person who ran the HAGSBOWER? who would have thought she was the literal hag. i was close to pointing her out as a bad writing device because somehow she knew everything and i thought it was just to keep the plot going. but of course not. barker is insanely clever. writing her as the hag should have been obvious but it wasn't and that is one of my favorite parts of the whole storythe gullaime: love them. except madorra because gross. i won't say too much except that they are one of my favorite fantasy creatures ever. especially the tide child's gullaime.
other characters. spoilers ahead.
Spoiler
the amount of deaths is wild to me. again, should have known from the wounded kingdom and even the previous bone ship books that everyone is fair game, especially the main character JORON TWINER?!?!? anyways. loved narza. would have liked more interaction between her and cwell because assassin friends? love it. but mevans dying? joron being forced to kill mevans? i don't think i will ever forget that. mevans was one of my favorite characters. not only that, but the parallels. mevans saved joron from gueste and now she forced joron to kill mevans. don't know how to feel about that. solemn muffaz's death was just so sudden? probably my only complaint with the book. i understand his motivations which were so sad but he didn't HAVE to die. my consolation is that barlay remained alive in the end. she's an absolute boss with that oar.callbacks:
just old characters coming back from the previous books really made me happy. i love how things tie together.
Spoiler
barnt was nasty and i was fine with his death. gueste makes my blood boil and her death was satisfying. tassar i barely remembered from book 1, but let's be honest, the amount of times his oiled chest was referenced and his good looks? plus his loyalty to thirteenbern must be commended!! so yeah i was a little disappointed he died but that's ok. the tribute to shorn? love it. i may have lost it when brekir died off screen like dinyl in book 2. the power that woman holds. we really do love it. also the other shipwives who were just so brave and gave up their lives for the tide child made me want to retreat into my cabin like meas and scream. she didn't scream but i wanted to. yes i don't fault narza for her betrayal because i admire how she would really do anything for meas, like that loyalty was so powerful. finally, at the end i really did like thirteenbern. i don't think i truly hated her either. she was a strong pillar who was power hungry but who had to force her love for meas down to keep that power. was it wrong? yes. but their consolation at the end was also just *clenches fist* heartbreaking. i hate karrad and gueste and nothing could change that. their motivations? probably valid. the gender equality karrad was pushing for may be reasonable. but also just reading all these capable women doing cool pirate-y things was epic. and especially on the gullaime side with the gender differences. makes sense, sorry karrad.this series exceeded my expectations. the worldbuilding is amazing. the gender hierarchy, with childbirth cementing your spot in society was such an interesting take and i truly enjoyed it. the characters were amazing; i loved to love the protagonists and i loved to hate the antagonists. even some of the "badder" characters had amazing character arcs. the legend may be more a quieter one but it is the kind of tale that i love reading. barker is a truly gifted storyteller and i cannot wait to either re-read all his book again or devour whatever new book he releases.
cosmicality's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
jax426nd's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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
4.5
I am not ok... my initial thoughts are 4.5 stars. The only criticism I really have is the same I would have for all three books. When Barker decides the story is done, the story is done. Full stop. The resolution is there, but it's very abrupt.
catbooking's review against another edition
2.0
This review was written during some severe sleep deprivation, so it may not make sense. I wanted to note my thoughts before they overgrew with moss and will reserve the right to edit in the future, which I normally try to avoid. :)
I am not entirely sure how I feel about this series. The first book was great, with an interesting and unique world and casual references to serious complex issues. But as I kept reading and more details of the world were revealed, so were made apparent the tears and sloppy stitching in the fabric of the world building.
It would have been possible to overlook the incongruities in how the world functioned if the emotional impact was strong. Alas, many of the big reveals in the book left me feeling disconnected, either because I foresaw them and thus the shock was lacking or they felt pointless and had no impact on the characters of the direction of the story. How many times can the main characters be betrayed before it becomes expected and boring? How many times can the named characters die in a tragic manner before everyone becomes indifferent to the loss? It is especially difficult to find the will to care if the betrayals and the deaths do not impact the narrative beyond the increasingly frequent laments about the unfairness of it all from the characters themselves.
I cannot leave this review without mentioning 'The Hawkeye initiative'. It would be wrong to ignore the embroidered crotches and oiled chests. About half way through book two I started wondering if the author seriously thought that was how men would be objectified in a matriarchal society or if it was meant to be a cheeky joke. I feel it is one rather than the other, but I would like to know for sure. I would also like to know why there were virtually no physical signs of affection on anyone's part. Lovers or friends, no one touches anyone unless it is for a direct assist and even then it is a big deal to make physical contact.
I don't know if I am willing to pick up author's other books. If I had stopped at book one I would have said unquestionably that I wanted more. Now, I am not so sure, especially since I bounced off his other series. I hate to leave this at a 'meh' but I guess we will see.
I am not entirely sure how I feel about this series. The first book was great, with an interesting and unique world and casual references to serious complex issues. But as I kept reading and more details of the world were revealed, so were made apparent the tears and sloppy stitching in the fabric of the world building.
It would have been possible to overlook the incongruities in how the world functioned if the emotional impact was strong. Alas, many of the big reveals in the book left me feeling disconnected, either because I foresaw them and thus the shock was lacking or they felt pointless and had no impact on the characters of the direction of the story. How many times can the main characters be betrayed before it becomes expected and boring? How many times can the named characters die in a tragic manner before everyone becomes indifferent to the loss? It is especially difficult to find the will to care if the betrayals and the deaths do not impact the narrative beyond the increasingly frequent laments about the unfairness of it all from the characters themselves.
I cannot leave this review without mentioning 'The Hawkeye initiative'. It would be wrong to ignore the embroidered crotches and oiled chests. About half way through book two I started wondering if the author seriously thought that was how men would be objectified in a matriarchal society or if it was meant to be a cheeky joke. I feel it is one rather than the other, but I would like to know for sure. I would also like to know why there were virtually no physical signs of affection on anyone's part. Lovers or friends, no one touches anyone unless it is for a direct assist and even then it is a big deal to make physical contact.
I don't know if I am willing to pick up author's other books. If I had stopped at book one I would have said unquestionably that I wanted more. Now, I am not so sure, especially since I bounced off his other series. I hate to leave this at a 'meh' but I guess we will see.
emilyd_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- 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
5.0
spacebornfew's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
jackb's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
5.0
I wasn't ready for it to end. The whole trilogy is the best fantasy I've read in a while. The last book gave it a perfect send off. I loved everything about it.