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daijoboy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
joshuaray's review against another edition
5.0
If you enjoyed The Silmarillion, The Wheel of Time Series (especially The Eye of the World and The Great Hunt), and/or The Chronicles of Narnia, here's another series you'll love. In fact, it seems a direct step in the heritage connecting Tolkien and Lewis to later writers like Jordan.
Loved it and excited to read the sequels.
Loved it and excited to read the sequels.
dwimblim's review against another edition
2.0
This book wasn't long but took me a few weeks to get through because it was hard to make myself sit down and read it. Didn't really like the plot or characters.
eyim's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Really? Was that ending really necessary? Other than that it's easy to see where Lev Grossman got his inspiration for The Magicians.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
aportablemagic's review against another edition
The accents/voices were SO terrible 😞
michi_26's review against another edition
To much political talk and information was given while co tinuing with story and world buulilding. Some flashbacks/backs ground ground knowledge were mentioned at odd times, making it difficult to follow. Couldn't get into it. Tried 2 times
writings_of_a_reader's review against another edition
3.0
Five men and women find themselves flung into the magical land of Fionavar, First of all Worlds. They have been called there by the mage Loren Silvercloak, and quickly find themselves drawn into the complex tapestry of events. For Kim, Paul, Kevin, Jennifer and Dave all have their own part to play in the coming battle against the forces of evil led by the fallen god Rakoth Maugrim and his dark hordes.
I've heard a lot of good things about Guy Gavriel Kay's books, so I was really hoping I would love reading this. I have to say that I was a bit disappointed in this one. First off I need to mention that this is a portal type fantasy and I don't read a lot of those. I feel like that idea has been done a lot and it for some reason, in general, doesn't interest me, but I went into this with an open mind, and maybe too high expectations because of all the good things I had heard over the years from numerous friends about this author. Everyone talks about his poetic writing style, but aside from the beginning, it didn't really do much for me. Whether this is a plus or a minus I guess depends on what type of writing you enjoy.
As far as the overall story goes, I was a little surprised at the matter-of-fact way these five men and women went into this strange and alien world. I felt like most of them accepted it way too easily, and didn't hesitate enough over this journey they were about to take. There were other times as well that I felt like things were just a little too easily accepted. In general, I had a hard time connecting with the characters, and I feel like there was a lack of development for most of them. The overall tone of the book wasn't dark at all and I appreciated that, but I never felt like any of the characters were in any real danger. At least not until I got to the really dark thing that happens to one of the female characters near the end of the book, and because it didn't match the tone of the rest of the book, it felt out of place to me.
Another aspect of the book that I wasn't crazy about, and have just been struggling with in general lately is the whole predetermined thing that happens in fantasy a lot. Like Wheel of Time, these people are stuck in circumstances that they can't escape because they are who they are. I was ok with it in Wheel of Time, but I've become tired of it and I would much rather a story where people are in control of their own destinies. This book had several similarities to both Wheel of Time and Lord of the Rings. This was a story that included so many fantasy tropes I've seen before, although I know it was written way back before most of the other fantasy books I've read were even written. For that reason I can give it a bit of a pass on those things.
I did enjoy parts of the story enough to give it three stars. I found Dave and Kim's parts in particular to be rather compelling, along with the parts about the tree, but unfortunately I found this overall to not be as exciting or beautiful as I wanted it to be, and so I'm content to move on and not continue with the other two books. At this time I am undecided on whether I will try any other books by this author, but I think if someone tried to convince me to I might.
On a side note- I really love the cover of this book, or at least this version of it. There have been several over the years.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader.
I've heard a lot of good things about Guy Gavriel Kay's books, so I was really hoping I would love reading this. I have to say that I was a bit disappointed in this one. First off I need to mention that this is a portal type fantasy and I don't read a lot of those. I feel like that idea has been done a lot and it for some reason, in general, doesn't interest me, but I went into this with an open mind, and maybe too high expectations because of all the good things I had heard over the years from numerous friends about this author. Everyone talks about his poetic writing style, but aside from the beginning, it didn't really do much for me. Whether this is a plus or a minus I guess depends on what type of writing you enjoy.
As far as the overall story goes, I was a little surprised at the matter-of-fact way these five men and women went into this strange and alien world. I felt like most of them accepted it way too easily, and didn't hesitate enough over this journey they were about to take. There were other times as well that I felt like things were just a little too easily accepted. In general, I had a hard time connecting with the characters, and I feel like there was a lack of development for most of them. The overall tone of the book wasn't dark at all and I appreciated that, but I never felt like any of the characters were in any real danger. At least not until I got to the really dark thing that happens to one of the female characters near the end of the book, and because it didn't match the tone of the rest of the book, it felt out of place to me.
Another aspect of the book that I wasn't crazy about, and have just been struggling with in general lately is the whole predetermined thing that happens in fantasy a lot. Like Wheel of Time, these people are stuck in circumstances that they can't escape because they are who they are. I was ok with it in Wheel of Time, but I've become tired of it and I would much rather a story where people are in control of their own destinies. This book had several similarities to both Wheel of Time and Lord of the Rings. This was a story that included so many fantasy tropes I've seen before, although I know it was written way back before most of the other fantasy books I've read were even written. For that reason I can give it a bit of a pass on those things.
I did enjoy parts of the story enough to give it three stars. I found Dave and Kim's parts in particular to be rather compelling, along with the parts about the tree, but unfortunately I found this overall to not be as exciting or beautiful as I wanted it to be, and so I'm content to move on and not continue with the other two books. At this time I am undecided on whether I will try any other books by this author, but I think if someone tried to convince me to I might.
On a side note- I really love the cover of this book, or at least this version of it. There have been several over the years.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader.
bookpanther's review against another edition
1.0
1.5 stars. This book is really fucking bad. The only aspect that I enjoyed was the lush writing. The plot, characters, and world-building were lackluster and often left me questioning the logic behind certain parts. The character development was especially unbalanced, with Paul getting the most and Jennifer getting absolutely nothing. And Diarmuid, for fucks sake. Is he supposed to be a likable character? Because, he is the most obnoxious piece-of-shit of a character I have ever come across in a book. I haven't read much GGK, but this wasn't my first, so I was pretty surprised about how this one turned out. I have the omnibus version, so I'll probably still continue on with the series eventually. Hopefully, the next one will be better.
grumpymonday's review against another edition
I didn't really vibe with it. Utter lack of any surprise or questioning what is happening to the protagonists was a very very strange way of writing the characters. Also maybe for me a bit too overdone prose. Will need to see if I will retry at some point.
wafflesaregreat's review against another edition
3.5
I have been avoiding this book for a while, even though it is by one of my favorite authors. Portal fantasy just doesn't do a lot for me, and reading the first few chapters reinforces that. That being said, once they arrived in Fionavar and the plot there started I really enjoyed it. You can see the heavy Tolkien influence, but that kind of added to it for me. Looking forwaed to the next two!