thereadingtrashqueen's review against another edition
3.0
I really wish I could give this book four stars, and the final third of the book definitely deserves them, but I just can’t. It was such a struggle to get through the first half, having to deal with completely new characters (who annoyed me so much- what’s up with the constant repitition in this book?) while the ones I grew attached to were pushed to the background. Even now, I feel more attached to the kobolds than the new characters; including Francesca, though she definitely grew on me. This is exactly why I’m hesitant to read the final part of the trilogy, even if I know I eventually will. I just can’t let it go unfinished. I just wish this book had focused more on the storyline we grew to care about from the POV of our beloved characters iso the new ones (I mean, we already had a whole new city to take in and a new kind of magic), and that it had dealt better with some big things throughout the book; for example at the very end I felt robbed of the goodbye a particular character deserved in my opinion. I do have to say there were some amazing plot twists in that final third, especially the one concerning the Savanna Walker, that had me flailing. All in all it’s definitely not a bad story, I just didn’t like the way it (the first half/beginning most of all) was set up.
rachelini's review against another edition
4.0
I like this series a lot. There's so much imagination going into what is a basic power play story at heart.
qdony's review against another edition
5.0
A part de A Dance With Dragons, que és l'únic jugador a la seva lliga, Spellbound ha estat el millor llibre de fantasia (no cifi) que he llegit aquest any, que no és dir poc. També ha estat una sorpresa perquè Spellwright, la primera part, no em va entusiasmar especialment. La progressió és espectacular.
rgreatreader's review against another edition
4.0
I really like the magic system of these books.
I had the oddest sense of deja vu the whole way through - I think I must have read it before because I remembered all the 'plot twists', even the one at the very end.
I had the oddest sense of deja vu the whole way through - I think I must have read it before because I remembered all the 'plot twists', even the one at the very end.
butterflywings's review against another edition
4.0
For both Spellwright and Spellbound I found that about 3/4 of the book was slow, ok, worth reading and all but nothing special, and the last 1/4 was really good and definitely recommendable.
In this book I took a definite liking to Nicdemus & Francesca's dialogue when it first appeared in the book, and every encounter after that was definitely worth the read, but I found Cyrus to be a somewhat boring character, and Nicodemus felt like such a one-dimensional character without Francesca that I almost started disliking him.
Despite this it is a worthwhile read, Blake Charlton creates a nice world that has great potential, and while the plot of this book felt a lot like "few days feel like few weeks" I do recommend it as a good read for fantasy, not as a great read though.
In this book I took a definite liking to Nicdemus & Francesca's dialogue when it first appeared in the book, and every encounter after that was definitely worth the read, but I found Cyrus to be a somewhat boring character, and Nicodemus felt like such a one-dimensional character without Francesca that I almost started disliking him.
Despite this it is a worthwhile read, Blake Charlton creates a nice world that has great potential, and while the plot of this book felt a lot like "few days feel like few weeks" I do recommend it as a good read for fantasy, not as a great read though.
vaderbird's review against another edition
2.0
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
eecee's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
First read October 2010, 3 stars. Reread August 2016, 4 stars.
Reread January 2022, 3.5 stars.
2022
Enjoyed
Reread January 2022, 3.5 stars.
2022
Enjoyed
- The unusual magic system
- The history and world building, but would have liked more of it
- The gargoyles and the way they interact with the world were a fantastic invention
- The complex relationships and motivations of the characters
- Nicodemus' internal struggle about how to feel about his disability
- The plot twists towards the end.
Didn't like
- The extended extended epilogue after the Spindle bridge fight
- How long it took to get to the meat of the story
- There were so few examples of text in spells - it was all tell not show. I wanted more clever word play so we could understand what they were doing when they cast spells. Eg. Show us examples of what text said and how changing it could open a door or whatever.
- I think the characters were supposed to feel like they developed through the story - especially Nicodemus - but it feels like they just got new information and this didn't change them at all (baring the epilogue bit which rushes through so much content so quickly I'm not counting it). Nicodemus is still having the same internal struggle about how to feel about his disability at the end that he was having at the start.
Spoiler
The book feels confused about whether it's arguing that dyslexia/cacography is a limitation or not. There are suggestions that it isn't, but they're halfhearted and it feels like the author doesn't really buy into it. I'm really hoping the next book has Nicodemus find a way to be strong and powerful even without being able to spell (outside of the Chthonic languages) rather than just have him get his spelling back. So many fantasy books try to have a character with disability then magically fix them (like John's intellectual disability in this book).
2016
I enjoyed this much more the second time around. The magic system of course is genius, as is pointed out in many other reviews. I really enjoyed all the clever word play and uniqueness of the system.
Spoilers ahead.
I thought the section of the book after the fight in the Spindle Bridge read like a very extended epilogue. It was hard to get engaged with this section because it felt like the book should have finished at the Spindle Bridge fight and this was just tacked onto the end to make the jump to the next book easier.
weedleeedle's review against another edition
4.0
I really like the philosophy that goes on in this series, the balance between order and chaos and the importance of both. I remembered a lot more about this book from when I read it ages ago than the first book, and so I really caught a lot of the foreshadowing that gave the book a new, different sort of excitement, knowing exactly what was coming and just how awesome it was going to be.
I think it's really cool how Charlton weaves his own medical knowledge into the story, too. It was actually kinda fun learning about how Francesca heals wounds and uses magic to do so.
Also the comedy in this book is FANTASTIC. I absolutely love the dripping sarcasm with some of the main characters, ESPECIALLY Francesca. Though I think her little love triangle may have kinda taken away from the focus of the book a little bit? Other than that, I loved it.
I think it's really cool how Charlton weaves his own medical knowledge into the story, too. It was actually kinda fun learning about how Francesca heals wounds and uses magic to do so.
Also the comedy in this book is FANTASTIC. I absolutely love the dripping sarcasm with some of the main characters, ESPECIALLY Francesca. Though I think her little love triangle may have kinda taken away from the focus of the book a little bit? Other than that, I loved it.
mikeyreadsbooks's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75