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heatherllama's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
colt_allen1068's review
4.0
I really enjoyed the world that Donaldson created with this book. I am very interested in reading the subsequent books. However, if there is something negative to say it is about Price Bifalt' ability to take the point that he is the King's eldest son and beat it until it is dead. Repetition can be a good thing, but I don't think I am going to forget the main character's title that often.
craiglister's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
hanna3110's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
rusmo's review against another edition
2.0
As excited as I was to read a new fantasy series by Mr. Donaldson, I’m left wondering if I’ll continue on to the next book. This is not usually the case for me, but I was able to figure out a couple of the major plot points eons before the main character, and neither were very satisfying to witness played out. Short as this book is, its story may have been served better as a novella.
aimeespages's review against another edition
2.0
Not very well written. Like reading someone in the first year of a creative writing course.
metaphorosis's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews
Summary
Belleger and Amika have been at war for generations, using sorcerous powers each to decimate the other on the basis of a very old insult. Now, Belleger has gained the upper hand by developing rifles - but all its sorcerors have suddenly lost their power. The only road they see for success is to pursue the vague legend of a hidden library.
Review
Stephen Donaldson’s books, somewhat like K.J. Parker’s, have a great deal of similarity of tone and characterization. But where Donaldson’s worked well in – and was even the central conceit of – the Thomas Covenant series, his conflicted, unwilling characters have been less effective elsewhere. In this book, which is also fairly slight, at 200 pages, the characters are never really very well developed, and much of their action feels authorially dictated rather than organic. Rather than frustration at Covenant’s refusal to act, in this book, I found myself frustrated by the fact that Bifalt’s actions simply didn’t make much sense.
Covenant hasn’t lost his skill with words, though sometimes (as with ‘Decimates’, of which there appear to be fewer than ten, or a refusal to use any synonym for ‘wain’ over and over) he seems more obstinate than lyrical. The prose is strong, the concept and setting are interesting. It is only the characters that disappoint. Far too often, I felt that the characters’ actions were unreasonable, or senseless, or simplistic, or simply random. I discarded a fair portion of that feeling, since a part of the concept relies on key motives being unknown. But the remainder still stretched beyond what I felt I could accept. At one point, Bifalt, who has spent the whole book searching for the mysterious Seventh Decimate, completely ignores two others. The ending, particularly, didn’t fit with any of the rigid, unimaginative Bifalt we’d spent the book getting to know. The result felt very artificial and constructed.
Overall, an interesting entry, but not really satisfying. I’d like, someday, to see Donaldson lift himself out of the rut I think he’s created – as his short fiction and flashes in other books suggest he can. For the present, it’s a good book, and I could imagine reading a sequel, but it’s not high on my list.
The cover, by the way, while certainly interesting, has nothing at all to do with the contents of the book.
Summary
Belleger and Amika have been at war for generations, using sorcerous powers each to decimate the other on the basis of a very old insult. Now, Belleger has gained the upper hand by developing rifles - but all its sorcerors have suddenly lost their power. The only road they see for success is to pursue the vague legend of a hidden library.
Review
Stephen Donaldson’s books, somewhat like K.J. Parker’s, have a great deal of similarity of tone and characterization. But where Donaldson’s worked well in – and was even the central conceit of – the Thomas Covenant series, his conflicted, unwilling characters have been less effective elsewhere. In this book, which is also fairly slight, at 200 pages, the characters are never really very well developed, and much of their action feels authorially dictated rather than organic. Rather than frustration at Covenant’s refusal to act, in this book, I found myself frustrated by the fact that Bifalt’s actions simply didn’t make much sense.
Covenant hasn’t lost his skill with words, though sometimes (as with ‘Decimates’, of which there appear to be fewer than ten, or a refusal to use any synonym for ‘wain’ over and over) he seems more obstinate than lyrical. The prose is strong, the concept and setting are interesting. It is only the characters that disappoint. Far too often, I felt that the characters’ actions were unreasonable, or senseless, or simplistic, or simply random. I discarded a fair portion of that feeling, since a part of the concept relies on key motives being unknown. But the remainder still stretched beyond what I felt I could accept. At one point, Bifalt, who has spent the whole book searching for the mysterious Seventh Decimate, completely ignores two others. The ending, particularly, didn’t fit with any of the rigid, unimaginative Bifalt we’d spent the book getting to know. The result felt very artificial and constructed.
Overall, an interesting entry, but not really satisfying. I’d like, someday, to see Donaldson lift himself out of the rut I think he’s created – as his short fiction and flashes in other books suggest he can. For the present, it’s a good book, and I could imagine reading a sequel, but it’s not high on my list.
The cover, by the way, while certainly interesting, has nothing at all to do with the contents of the book.
zakkramer's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
mrsburg528's review against another edition
2.0
I was provided an ARC from Penguin Books and First to Read for my honest review. I tried to like this book as a fan of the Shanara chronicles and Terry Brooks. I was so confused about what was going on and who was who that I finally gave up. The description of the book did not match the story line. It's possible I never got that far, but it shouldn't have taken that long.
taisie22's review against another edition
5.0
Prince Bifalt of Belleger has long fought in the war his country has waged for many years against their neighbor Amika. Magisters use sorcery, waging fire, wind, pestilence, earthquake, drought, and lightning, the Six Decimates, from safe perches while men on either side die below them. The people are suffering from the long war, crops ruined and homes destroyed. Belleger's only advantage is the use of rifles which Amika doesn't have (though they need magic to forge the iron), but otherwise, their army seems in the ascendant when suddenly, all magic disappears. The cause is the Seventh Decimate.
Bifalt is sent with a company of men by his father the king to find a book that holds the secret of the Seventh Decimate. They hope to finally win the war or at least negate Amika's use of sorcery. Belleger is hemmed in on all sides by impassable boundaries, but Bifalt plans to cross an endless desert to find the Last Repository, the library that holds the book he needs.
Donaldson has long been one of my very favorite fantasy authors; Mordant's Need is possibly my favorite fantasy series, and the Thomas Covenant books also have pride of place on my bookshelf. The Great God's War series looks to be another very enjoyable series, and I look forward to the next books.
Prince Bifalt is an antihero without the sympathy the reader could dredge up for Thomas Covenant because of his leprosy. Bifalt is a warrior who hates magic without much understanding of it; he only knows what he sees of it in battle. He's stubborn, makes a lot of mistakes, and is focused only on destroying Amica and preserving his own country. His worldview is extremely limited at the beginning of the book, and as he proceeds on his quest, Bifalt finds it hard to expand his perspectives despite traveling and meeting new peoples. Most of the book I and many of the characters just want to shake him to wake him up, but he's mostly stubbornly stuck in his own views.
"Regardless of his stature, his significance or meaninglessness, he had to be who he was. He had no other choice. The scale of the world did not change what he had to do, or why he cared about it."
Very slowly he starts to learn:
"A man is not a man at all if he cannot enter and enjoy every chamber of himself."
I love the way Donaldson writes. I always learn new words and I greatly admire how he uses them in his stories. The names of the two countries, Belleger and Amika, derive from Latin words for war and friendship for example. It makes me wonder about Bifalt's view of the two countries; he's wrong about so much, and I suspect this is a hint that his view here is flawed also. The three Magisters at the Last Repository are men, one who is dumb, one deaf, and one who is blind. The symbolism harks back to the old proverb "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil". The Six Decimates have both evil and good sides though Bifalt is slow to see any positive.
I truly savor Donaldson's works, and there's a lot to think about in the Seventh Decimate. The various characters are interesting and the worldbuilding is excellent. War is brutal - the battles are called 'hells' - and there's always two sides to everything, much to Bifalt's dismay; he's determined to only see what benefits his father, the king, and his country. How can you not love a book with lines like this:
"Words could not contain his vehemence. Instead, he uttered them like splashes of blood from the cut of a blade."
Bifalt is sent with a company of men by his father the king to find a book that holds the secret of the Seventh Decimate. They hope to finally win the war or at least negate Amika's use of sorcery. Belleger is hemmed in on all sides by impassable boundaries, but Bifalt plans to cross an endless desert to find the Last Repository, the library that holds the book he needs.
Donaldson has long been one of my very favorite fantasy authors; Mordant's Need is possibly my favorite fantasy series, and the Thomas Covenant books also have pride of place on my bookshelf. The Great God's War series looks to be another very enjoyable series, and I look forward to the next books.
Prince Bifalt is an antihero without the sympathy the reader could dredge up for Thomas Covenant because of his leprosy. Bifalt is a warrior who hates magic without much understanding of it; he only knows what he sees of it in battle. He's stubborn, makes a lot of mistakes, and is focused only on destroying Amica and preserving his own country. His worldview is extremely limited at the beginning of the book, and as he proceeds on his quest, Bifalt finds it hard to expand his perspectives despite traveling and meeting new peoples. Most of the book I and many of the characters just want to shake him to wake him up, but he's mostly stubbornly stuck in his own views.
"Regardless of his stature, his significance or meaninglessness, he had to be who he was. He had no other choice. The scale of the world did not change what he had to do, or why he cared about it."
Very slowly he starts to learn:
"A man is not a man at all if he cannot enter and enjoy every chamber of himself."
I love the way Donaldson writes. I always learn new words and I greatly admire how he uses them in his stories. The names of the two countries, Belleger and Amika, derive from Latin words for war and friendship for example. It makes me wonder about Bifalt's view of the two countries; he's wrong about so much, and I suspect this is a hint that his view here is flawed also. The three Magisters at the Last Repository are men, one who is dumb, one deaf, and one who is blind. The symbolism harks back to the old proverb "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil". The Six Decimates have both evil and good sides though Bifalt is slow to see any positive.
I truly savor Donaldson's works, and there's a lot to think about in the Seventh Decimate. The various characters are interesting and the worldbuilding is excellent. War is brutal - the battles are called 'hells' - and there's always two sides to everything, much to Bifalt's dismay; he's determined to only see what benefits his father, the king, and his country. How can you not love a book with lines like this:
"Words could not contain his vehemence. Instead, he uttered them like splashes of blood from the cut of a blade."