xta_07's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This is John Gwynne’s incredibly ambitions debut novel, and Oh Boy, this story was a doozy. The first half of it did feel a bit disjointed as Gwynne sets up everyone on the board. Plus he doesn’t do any hand-holding of any kind. You are dropped into the middle of a world, and you need to pay attention and strap in. Because once he gets going he doesn’t stop!
Bandits and Mythical creatures have started to awaken and harass our characters that live in the Banished lands. Heralding the prophesied god war. Essentially this will be a battle of good vs evil, and the characters we follow are beginning to choose what side they will end up on.
I actually enjoyed most of the beginning chapters in this book, I found Corban’s chapters almost cozy in a weird way. Plus no-one writes a battle scene quite like this author, once the action starts it doesn’t stop. I highly enjoyed this read, and I’m looking forward to continuing the series.
Bandits and Mythical creatures have started to awaken and harass our characters that live in the Banished lands. Heralding the prophesied god war. Essentially this will be a battle of good vs evil, and the characters we follow are beginning to choose what side they will end up on.
I actually enjoyed most of the beginning chapters in this book, I found Corban’s chapters almost cozy in a weird way. Plus no-one writes a battle scene quite like this author, once the action starts it doesn’t stop. I highly enjoyed this read, and I’m looking forward to continuing the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Animal death, and Violence
Moderate: War, Murder, and Child abuse
Minor: Alcoholism
surdiablo's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I did not enjoy this one as much as I hoped, which is unfortunate considering the majority of people who participated in a FatF read-along with me seem to have loved it. I couldn't connect with the prose and found the whole book a bit too plain and predictable overall. As usual, I will say what I liked first. I liked the action scenes well enough as it was immersive and easy enough to imagine. Bonding with Regardless of all the cons I will list soon, I enjoyed the overall story for the most part. It's the classic 'good vs evil' with a modern touch and the last quarter, especially the final 10 chapters is excellent, which makes me wanna read the next book soon enough. It's an ambitious attempt and definitely has potential to be something amazing.
As for things I didn't like, sadly there's plenty. The author constantly throws several character and location names at you from the beginning and inserts exposition dumps during conversations, which interfered with my immersion. There were way too many characters ( yes, I know that's normal in epic fantasies ) but none of them had any real depth, and those who did stay within their assigned archetype. They all felt like cardboard cutouts so whenever someone died or some major event happened, it fell flat as they lacked any weight or emotional impact. I know fast pacing can be fun but it felt jarring whenever a timeskip happened, and pacing still felt slow regardless of short chapters, since POVs kept switching one after another, ruining the momentum. Plus, you know there's not enough descriptions when you have no idea how any of the main characters even look ( Unless that's intentional for headcanon purposes). They all kinda sound the same too and I won't be able to tell if you ask me Is it Veradis or Kastell talking? from a dialogue scene without context. I also found the twists and turns highly telegraphed so ultimately, nothing really wowed or left an impression on me until the very end. It felt like the author was trying to make everything sound and feel 'epic', but it just didn't land for me due to the aforementioned issues. I know all of these may sound like minor problems and I would agree, except when combined with me not being able to connect with the writing style, they were detrimental enough to my overall enjoyment. I do get that it's a debut book ( hence it's rough around the edges ) and the remaining books might be better indeed, but I can't say I <b>liked</b> this book at all, so I am going with a 2.
Spoiler
animal companions was pretty wholesome and I love Storm.As for things I didn't like, sadly there's plenty. The author constantly throws several character and location names at you from the beginning and inserts exposition dumps during conversations, which interfered with my immersion. There were way too many characters ( yes, I know that's normal in epic fantasies ) but none of them had any real depth, and those who did stay within their assigned archetype. They all felt like cardboard cutouts so whenever someone died or some major event happened, it fell flat as they lacked any weight or emotional impact. I know fast pacing can be fun but it felt jarring whenever a timeskip happened, and pacing still felt slow regardless of short chapters, since POVs kept switching one after another, ruining the momentum. Plus, you know there's not enough descriptions when you have no idea how any of the main characters even look ( Unless that's intentional for headcanon purposes). They all kinda sound the same too and I won't be able to tell if you ask me Is it Veradis or Kastell talking? from a dialogue scene without context. I also found the twists and turns highly telegraphed so ultimately, nothing really wowed or left an impression on me until the very end. It felt like the author was trying to make everything sound and feel 'epic', but it just didn't land for me due to the aforementioned issues. I know all of these may sound like minor problems and I would agree, except when combined with me not being able to connect with the writing style, they were detrimental enough to my overall enjoyment. I do get that it's a debut book ( hence it's rough around the edges ) and the remaining books might be better indeed, but I can't say I <b>liked</b> this book at all, so I am going with a 2.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, War, and Violence
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Alcoholism and Physical abuse
arbitrary_convenience's review
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The only thing that makes this not a perfect 5/5 is that sometimes the descriptions are a bit tedious and you have to reread the same paragraph 10 times.
But it’s so exciting every time I pick it up. And I get so hype seeing what happens next.
But it’s so exciting every time I pick it up. And I get so hype seeing what happens next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Domestic abuse and Alcoholism
pandaplantain's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
All the characters were indistinguishable from each other. They all blended together in a big, beige stew. And there were so many damn many of them. I had such high hopes for this, but I didn’t enjoy it at all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
erikita's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Bullying, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Murder, and Death of parent
ocean_the_reader's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
It took a while for me to actually get invested in this one. But when I did, I didn't want to put it down. I'm very intrigued to see what everyone's roles end up being.
And I definitely don't trust those Vin Thalun people. They're up to something that seems will benefit only them and will cause a lot of damage.
And I definitely don't trust those Vin Thalun people. They're up to something that seems will benefit only them and will cause a lot of damage.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Grief, and Murder
kerttuli's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Animal death, Death, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Alcoholism, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping
Minor: Physical abuse, Child death, and Kidnapping
jaedia's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Toxic friendship, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexism, and War
Minor: Terminal illness, Child abuse, Confinement, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Self harm, and Torture
bookwisp's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This is a difficult review to write. On the one hand, this was a so-so read, despite Corban's coming-of-age story (I'm a sucker for those types of arcs). On the other, I've been left with the distinct sense that this first book in the quartet is very much intended to introduce the reader to the chessboard and for both sides to make their opening moves. I don't think it's supposed to have knocked my socks off, if that makes sense.
There are a lot of names and places to keep track of. I was extremely glad of the Kindle search and X-ray functions which helped me to keep track of characters and alliances. Even so, it was a bit of a struggle. Also, I do have some gripes about the overall lack of female characters (and some about the handling of the female characters we did get), but as I believe Cywen might play a bigger role in the second book, I'll (mostly) hold my peace on this one.
If I'm honest, I was mostly reading for Corban's POV. And yet?? I did get through all ~640 pages, so Gwynne's done something right. Overall, I can't say I was blown away, but there's something about the pacing and the plotting that has left me wanting to read on.
There are a lot of names and places to keep track of. I was extremely glad of the Kindle search and X-ray functions which helped me to keep track of characters and alliances. Even so, it was a bit of a struggle. Also, I do have some gripes about the overall lack of female characters (and some about the handling of the female characters we did get), but as I believe Cywen might play a bigger role in the second book, I'll (mostly) hold my peace on this one.
If I'm honest, I was mostly reading for Corban's POV. And yet?? I did get through all ~640 pages, so Gwynne's done something right. Overall, I can't say I was blown away, but there's something about the pacing and the plotting that has left me wanting to read on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Bullying
dogearedbooks's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying