whiterabbitslibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Animal death, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Trafficking
19minnie's review against another edition
3.0
Het vierde en voorlaatste boek uit de Verboden en Verbannen-serie van Clemens. En weer een mooi verhaal. Maar toch vond ik dit een beetje minder. Misschien wordt het toch een beetje teveel van het goede?
nyxshadow's review against another edition
4.0
cadeau ♥
http://www.nyx-shadow.com/2011/05/les-bannis-et-les-proscrits-t4-le.html
http://www.nyx-shadow.com/2011/05/les-bannis-et-les-proscrits-t4-le.html
katmarhan's review against another edition
4.0
9/10
A very strong installment in The Banned & the Banished series.
A very strong installment in The Banned & the Banished series.
joandamiens's review against another edition
4.0
3.5/5
Un tome plein de rebondissements, malgré un début un peu long... Les personnages sont toujours aussi intéressants, mais des intrigues et dénouements assez attendus. Bref, un volet relativement mitigé.
Un tome plein de rebondissements, malgré un début un peu long... Les personnages sont toujours aussi intéressants, mais des intrigues et dénouements assez attendus. Bref, un volet relativement mitigé.
not_a_wally's review against another edition
5.0
This is definitely my favorite of the books. So far. I have one left. Which is ominous considering how this one ends. A complaint about the writing (which goes for all the books in this series but, somehow, stands out more in this one): so much exposition! I mean, jesus. It's unreal how many info dumps there are in this series. It's one of my favorite series, but this shit makes me angry. A few exposition scenes are expected in any novel, especially ones in series that deal with multiple groups of characters in separate situations. But, and I am not kidding, there are at least 2-3 paragraphs of exposition/info dumping at the start of every chapter and chapter break. Yes. That's right. There are multiple paragraphs of exposition after almost every chapter break (Shitty Definition: when there's a shift in perspective [or something of that sort] within a chapter, usually indicated by a double space between blocks of text). So, if you took everything but the exposition out of this series, you would have enough text and enough information to basically understand the entire 5 book series. This, to me, is a problem. Show don't tell.
Moving on. Writing complaints aside, this book is awesome! Lots of action, lots of feels, lots of stress, (lots of stress), and lots of Tol'chuck being sad (less awesome). I hope he's happier in the next one. Joach's story makes me angry because it's so stressful, but not angry in a bad way. He deserves everything and is a precious cinnamon roll. Not being able to remember what happens next for him is stressful. (This series is really stressful, I don't know if I've mentioned)... Ah, oh, yes. The one thing I genuinely don't like about this one (apart from the horrendous overuse of info dumping) is Meepmorp. Gleepglop. Sneepsneep. Whatever the fuck the obvious Golem rip-off's name was! Shit, it was fucking stupid anyway. You can't do that. You can't take a character from a widely beloved classic fantasy, dumb him down, and stick him in your world like it isn't basically plagiarism. Not to mention that the land in which you introduced him was basically Mordor, volcanoes and all. There is being inspired by something and straight up ripping it off. And in this case, it was less inspired and more what were you thinking. Maybe I'm alone on this, but that's how I feel, so... end of review.
Moving on. Writing complaints aside, this book is awesome! Lots of action, lots of feels, lots of stress, (lots of stress), and lots of Tol'chuck being sad (less awesome). I hope he's happier in the next one. Joach's story makes me angry because it's so stressful, but not angry in a bad way. He deserves everything and is a precious cinnamon roll. Not being able to remember what happens next for him is stressful. (This series is really stressful, I don't know if I've mentioned)... Ah, oh, yes. The one thing I genuinely don't like about this one (apart from the horrendous overuse of info dumping) is Meepmorp. Gleepglop. Sneepsneep. Whatever the fuck the obvious Golem rip-off's name was! Shit, it was fucking stupid anyway. You can't do that. You can't take a character from a widely beloved classic fantasy, dumb him down, and stick him in your world like it isn't basically plagiarism. Not to mention that the land in which you introduced him was basically Mordor, volcanoes and all. There is being inspired by something and straight up ripping it off. And in this case, it was less inspired and more what were you thinking. Maybe I'm alone on this, but that's how I feel, so... end of review.
felyn's review against another edition
4.0
I was honestly expected a lot more characters to die in this book, given it's the penultimate title in the series! The outcome of all of the prophecies introduced throughout the beginning novels have reached their conclusions, and not one of them was in the way the characters (and sometimes I) thought they would. Definitely a good thing!
I'm excited to start listening to book 5.
I'm excited to start listening to book 5.
doriangraim's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
emzorzin3d's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
apostrophen's review
5.0
Reading the "Wit'ch" series, previously my only real frustration had been the proliferation of apostrophes (and perhaps ...should take note here that searching for "Witch Gate" doesn't give you any hits, only "Wit'ch Gate" does). Having just finished "Wit'ch Gate" in the space of two evenings, I must say that I've put the stuttering-effect of apostrophes aside, and will joyfully dive into this series again.
The cast of characters seemed swollen to capacity with the last book in the series, and you're in for a rough ride. Clemens has a real ability to make you care about characters, and then when those characters end up facing potential death, certain death, or outright suicide, you're gripping the book with frustration: you don't want them to die.
Elena takes a little bit of a back seat in this book, and that works out fine. The other characters, especially Elena's brother Joach, Kast, and Nee'lahn, shine forth in this book with a real aplomb. The story splits three-ways, and the following of one group up to a cliffhanger and then switching to another group is a style that will leave you twitching. All in all, this book is a truly enjoyable experience of fantasy.
Specific to the plotline, the group has to split three ways in order to tackle three of the four wiergate creatures of which they learned in the previous book. The story is sensible, the plot twists are unpredictable without being unplausible, and the magic at no time overpowers the characters or the story to the point of Deus Ex Machina. It doesn't matter how powerful the characters may be, it is not their power, but their soul or heart that matters. Solutions to previous plot conflicts are well thought out and always surprising (especially those in the case of the former-hero Kast, twisted to dark magics, and that of the Mogweed/Fardale shapeshifters trapped in one form).
Specifically, I find myself actually worried for some of the characters, and to manage that level of empathy for a character is a real skill indeed. I cannot find anything I found negative enough to mention, and as a result, a rare five stars from me. Grab this one - grab the whole series first - and sit down to a truly great story.
The cast of characters seemed swollen to capacity with the last book in the series, and you're in for a rough ride. Clemens has a real ability to make you care about characters, and then when those characters end up facing potential death, certain death, or outright suicide, you're gripping the book with frustration: you don't want them to die.
Elena takes a little bit of a back seat in this book, and that works out fine. The other characters, especially Elena's brother Joach, Kast, and Nee'lahn, shine forth in this book with a real aplomb. The story splits three-ways, and the following of one group up to a cliffhanger and then switching to another group is a style that will leave you twitching. All in all, this book is a truly enjoyable experience of fantasy.
Specific to the plotline, the group has to split three ways in order to tackle three of the four wiergate creatures of which they learned in the previous book. The story is sensible, the plot twists are unpredictable without being unplausible, and the magic at no time overpowers the characters or the story to the point of Deus Ex Machina. It doesn't matter how powerful the characters may be, it is not their power, but their soul or heart that matters. Solutions to previous plot conflicts are well thought out and always surprising (especially those in the case of the former-hero Kast, twisted to dark magics, and that of the Mogweed/Fardale shapeshifters trapped in one form).
Specifically, I find myself actually worried for some of the characters, and to manage that level of empathy for a character is a real skill indeed. I cannot find anything I found negative enough to mention, and as a result, a rare five stars from me. Grab this one - grab the whole series first - and sit down to a truly great story.