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sophia_aumueller's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Body horror
Minor: Animal death, Fatphobia, and Pregnancy
avsdhpn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
My criticisms of the book were twofold. The perspective of the story would almost change mid paragraph at times, so at one moment the narrative could be being told from one character, then suddenly switch to another. This led to a little confusion in some parts, especially when reading too fast, leading to having to re-read entire paragraphs.
Secondly, and I find this to happen often in high-fantasy, the book gets overly detailed or overly wordy, leading to sections that just drag on and on needlessly. Some details felt somewhat extraneous, contributing little to the plot overall. Albeit with six other books in the series, these details may eventually be visited later. Essentially, this book could have used another round of editing.
The main appeal of the book is the sexuality diversity, specifically in the deuteragonist Seregil. Admittedly I haven't read a wide variety of high fantasy novels, but for a book written in 1996, a period just coming out of the AIDS crisis and conservative era of Reagan/Bush and into the mid 1990s of the Clinton era, Seregil is a breath of fresh queer air. As far as I am aware, as a queer character he isn't written in the stereotypical fashion of being overly flamboyant, selfish, or waifish. He checks all the boxes of the archetypical fantasy rogue with cunning and agency outside of his sexuality. His sexuality is hinted at, but never explicitly the focus of his journey, with occasional references to his queerness in passing. This strikes a good balance at providing queer representation beyond being a walking talking rainbow flag of angst without also delving into the Dumbledore effect of his sexuality being an after thought.
For queer readers familiar with shipping culture, the relationship with Alec and Seregil should also be a treat, as it is very much a blooming "will they, won't they" story so far.
Graphic: Body horror and Gore
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Homophobia and Sexual assault
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Much of the story is Seregil introducing Alec to people and places. The reader is constantly in Alec's position in terms of information, as Seregil is pretty cagey about most things. He has a lot of secrets and is good at keeping them. I like the group who eventually emerge as the main point-of-view characters in addition to Alec and Seregil.
A lot of the worldbuilding is in the form of stories exchanged on the road, and explanations to Alec as he's being introduced to new situations (usually but not only with Seregil doing the explaining). For as much as Alec is being bombarded with new people, places, and information, for the reader each individual explanation is very low stakes. You don't need to remember everything Seregil said in order to understand the general flow of the story. I love books driven by banter, exploration, and heists, so this was a perfect balance for me.
One little thing which was frustrating is that a pair of shady characters are described in terms of their large size and relative lack of intelligence in ways that seemed designed to make it clear that they weren't the masterminds of the nefarious acts they were involved in. Since few other characters were described in terms of body type, it stood out as unusual in addition to being fatphobic and ableist.
I didn't have much of a sense of where the story was headed until about halfway through. The story begins when Seregil and Alec, strangers to one another, are both imprisoned and Seregil breaks them both out. They begin by traveling in the general direction of Seregil's home, but along the way Seregil becomes ill and Alec has to get them the rest of the way while trying to keep Seregil alive. Once they arrive, Alec becomes immersed in Seregil's world of magic and cons as Seregil continues his education. The focus of the story is on the relationships between the characters, with any one activity feeling incidental much of the time. Along they way they start tryin to get to the bottom of a murderous political conspiracy which falsely implicates Seregil, trying to find the true perpetrators and clear Seregil's name.
I had a great time reading this and intend to continue with the series. Because of the slow pacing, a lot of my favorite things are mid- or late-book spoilers. The world and characters clearly have a lot more to offer and I'm excited to see where things will go from here.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Homophobia, Infertility, Sexism, Vomit, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Child death, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, Excrement, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
areaderheart's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Torture
Moderate: Animal death, Suicide, and Xenophobia
Minor: Homophobia and Miscarriage
Need some time to decide on the rating, leaning between a 4.25 to 4.5 stars. I highly enjoyed my time reading this book, it was entertaining and I loved all the characters. Plus I'm def intrigued and excited to pick up the next book sometime soon.teaful's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Body horror and Stalking
queerbones's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Torture, and Xenophobia
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide