jeanmercini's review
4.0
So, first of all, I should make it clear that I received an ebook copy of this from the publishers.
Anyway, to the book itself:
Endless starts from the perspective of John, an Englishman who wakes up one afternoon and finds out everybody is dead…on the whole planet. Things get weirder when he starts to feel like he is being hunted . At the same time, we also get to know Ceria, who lives in Crescent (another planet). She is a member of the Resistance against the villain and an escapee from the brutal persecution he promotes against the Primitives (which are basically magic-like people). In this other planet, we get to know Manvedian as well, who is supposedly also a member of the Resistance (but right in his first chapter shows his allegiances are rather shaky) and who is trying to find Ceria while she's on the run.
Though Bone’s writing is not especially remarkable, it is quite good when compared to most of the fantasy books written these days. Characterization is also a good point in this work: except for the villain (“the half-man”), all characters seem to have their own personalities and (confused) motivations, being grayer than usual (Manvedian is especially a well developed character). As for creativity, it is the interplay of long-used and some new, original ideas from both SF and Fantasy. The book did keep me interested, and despite the sometimes long chapters, it was a nice read. Plus, though it is a series, it did not end in a cliffhanger :) For all that, I gave it 3.5 stars.
Note: One thing kept bothering my annoying self: the eyes of the people from Crescent. They’re just like Earth-human eyes; and yet their sun is younger and brighter than ours, and the environment’s got different shades for rocks, etc. That kept me wondering…
Anyway, to the book itself:
Endless starts from the perspective of John, an Englishman who wakes up one afternoon and finds out everybody is dead…on the whole planet. Things get weirder when he starts to feel like he is being hunted
Spoiler
and when he eventually faces a being of light and ends up in another planetThough Bone’s writing is not especially remarkable, it is quite good when compared to most of the fantasy books written these days. Characterization is also a good point in this work: except for the villain (“the half-man”), all characters seem to have their own personalities and (confused) motivations, being grayer than usual (Manvedian is especially a well developed character). As for creativity, it is the interplay of long-used and some new, original ideas from both SF and Fantasy. The book did keep me interested, and despite the sometimes long chapters, it was a nice read. Plus, though it is a series, it did not end in a cliffhanger :) For all that, I gave it 3.5 stars.
Note: One thing kept bothering my annoying self: the eyes of the people from Crescent. They’re just like Earth-human eyes; and yet their sun is younger and brighter than ours, and the environment’s got different shades for rocks, etc. That kept me wondering…
si0bhan's review
4.0
I received this in e-book from Astro Impossible Books after entering a competition to win a paperback copy. So I would like to start with a thank you to those guys.
Following on from that, I will move onto an actual review.
If I’m completely honest this book isn’t quite a four stars. It is almost there but it is missing out ever so slightly. However, it is so close that I feel terribly mean giving it a three star review. I’m more than aware that at times I’m too nice when it comes with giving books four stars, but in this case it really did deserve to be rounded up.
If nothing else, the world building requires me to round up to a four stars. The creation of this new world is brilliant. Sometimes authors fall short when creating whole new worlds, but such is not the case in Endless. We’re given so many details – everything from the necessary details of how the creatures of the world, and the world itself, looks to being given interesting myths and historical details. The world is wonderful, beautifully created and easy to fall in love with.
What lost it for me, sadly, is the fact that I really couldn’t bring myself to connect with any of the characters. Everything was too black-and-white. The shade of grey – really, there was only one – was obvious from the get go, and even then you knew where things were reading on that front. I feel as though the characterisation let me down a little bit. If I’d been able to connect more I’m sure I would have given it the whole four stars rather than making that little note of how it just missed out.
Overall an interesting read – even if there were a handful of moments in which I felt as though the pace needed to be increased. If nothing else, I’m curious as to what comes next for this world.
Following on from that, I will move onto an actual review.
If I’m completely honest this book isn’t quite a four stars. It is almost there but it is missing out ever so slightly. However, it is so close that I feel terribly mean giving it a three star review. I’m more than aware that at times I’m too nice when it comes with giving books four stars, but in this case it really did deserve to be rounded up.
If nothing else, the world building requires me to round up to a four stars. The creation of this new world is brilliant. Sometimes authors fall short when creating whole new worlds, but such is not the case in Endless. We’re given so many details – everything from the necessary details of how the creatures of the world, and the world itself, looks to being given interesting myths and historical details. The world is wonderful, beautifully created and easy to fall in love with.
What lost it for me, sadly, is the fact that I really couldn’t bring myself to connect with any of the characters. Everything was too black-and-white. The shade of grey – really, there was only one – was obvious from the get go, and even then you knew where things were reading on that front. I feel as though the characterisation let me down a little bit. If I’d been able to connect more I’m sure I would have given it the whole four stars rather than making that little note of how it just missed out.
Overall an interesting read – even if there were a handful of moments in which I felt as though the pace needed to be increased. If nothing else, I’m curious as to what comes next for this world.
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