barb4ry1's review against another edition
4.0
The Fall expands Townsend’s alternate universe where science has become a religion and people see God as a great experimenter. Rowena Downshire is one of The Nine - current test subjects of the God who assesses all creation based on their behavior. The problem? No one knows the criteria of the evaluation. Also, scholars assume all nine subjects are human, but why wouldn’t the creator inspect all creation?
In The Fall both Aigamuxa (lethal eye-heeled creatures) and Lanyani (sentient, mobile, and murderous trees) get their POV chapters. We get an insight into their cultures and aspirations. Where The Nine portrayed Aigamuxa as heartless monsters, The Fall casts a sympathetic eye on them and their society helping readers to understand them better. It turns out they differ from each other, and, as humans, have varied personalities, beliefs, and emotions. They don’t lack intelligence, but their society emphasizes strength and violence rather than careful planning and philosophy. That’s why Aigamuxa fall victim to cunning Lanyani who make them pawns in their plan to purge humanity and show the Creator that they are above judgment.
Lanyani don’t resemble the conventional high fantasy arboreal creatures like Dryads or Ents. Their bodies and ways of communicating are alien. Their outlook on the world has nothing in common with our perception of the natural order. I applaud Townsend for creating such terrifying but also relatable (in a way) creatures. They play the role of villains, but it’s not that simple. Nothing in The Fall is that simple or one-dimensional. Even Bishop Metteron’s machinations and nefarious schemes may have a valid cause.
Speaking of the creatures, magnify The Fall’s cover and look at it. A thing of beauty. Adam S. Doyle did a spectacular job in his presentation of The Fall’s characters and setting. The book takes us to new regions of the world, to Nippon where we can observe a Shogunate, logicians in actions, and clockwork constructs serving people. A well-rounded cast of secondary characters is diverse and include a non-binary character who plays an important role in tightening the plot.
Rowena, the Alchemist and Anselm play a key role in the story, but other characters introduced in The Nine (Haadiyaa Gammon, Philip Chalmers, Beatrice Earnshaw, Clara Downshire) get strong developments as well. To simplify it, our main characters travel with Chalmers to Grand Library in Nippon (a steampunk Japan of sorts) to decipher its mysteries, while Gammon and her team try to make sense of Lanyani’s schemes. Both arcs are emotional and surprising.
Comparing sequels to original stories is unfair but also inevitable. I always expect the sequel to top the previous entry in the series and get pumped before reading it. When things don’t develop the way I wanted, they annoy me. Where The Nine grabbed my attention from the first page, I needed more time to get invested in The Fall. The book suffers from pacing issues caused by intricate, but sometimes too detailed, world-building. As impressive as this world is, I felt there was too much informations to process. My other gripe with the story concerns Rowena. I loved her in The Nine, but couldn’t relate to her in The Fall most of the time. She’s still herself, a tough street-rat with a foul mouth, but she lost some of her charm. What else? Well, we get some pieces of information that set the table for the things yet to come. Don’t expect everything will serve something immediately or to have all questions answered.
But these are just minor complaints. When things finally start to come together, and stakes grow you can’t help but admire a complex intrigue. Also, the ending. The Fall finishes with a nasty, but also exciting cliffhanger that made me crave book three. I’m desperately hoping that this book sells well enough to ensure that full series (Townsend planned Thieves of Fate as a trilogy) will be published according to plan, without a single day of delay. This story must be told. I need to know what happens next.
So, if you like deadly politics tangled up in scientific research and religion, steampunk settings with clockwork technology, and imaginative world-building, do yourself a favor and read Thieves of Fate. It’s gorgeously written, unique and clever.
In The Fall both Aigamuxa (lethal eye-heeled creatures) and Lanyani (sentient, mobile, and murderous trees) get their POV chapters. We get an insight into their cultures and aspirations. Where The Nine portrayed Aigamuxa as heartless monsters, The Fall casts a sympathetic eye on them and their society helping readers to understand them better. It turns out they differ from each other, and, as humans, have varied personalities, beliefs, and emotions. They don’t lack intelligence, but their society emphasizes strength and violence rather than careful planning and philosophy. That’s why Aigamuxa fall victim to cunning Lanyani who make them pawns in their plan to purge humanity and show the Creator that they are above judgment.
Lanyani don’t resemble the conventional high fantasy arboreal creatures like Dryads or Ents. Their bodies and ways of communicating are alien. Their outlook on the world has nothing in common with our perception of the natural order. I applaud Townsend for creating such terrifying but also relatable (in a way) creatures. They play the role of villains, but it’s not that simple. Nothing in The Fall is that simple or one-dimensional. Even Bishop Metteron’s machinations and nefarious schemes may have a valid cause.
Speaking of the creatures, magnify The Fall’s cover and look at it. A thing of beauty. Adam S. Doyle did a spectacular job in his presentation of The Fall’s characters and setting. The book takes us to new regions of the world, to Nippon where we can observe a Shogunate, logicians in actions, and clockwork constructs serving people. A well-rounded cast of secondary characters is diverse and include a non-binary character who plays an important role in tightening the plot.
Rowena, the Alchemist and Anselm play a key role in the story, but other characters introduced in The Nine (Haadiyaa Gammon, Philip Chalmers, Beatrice Earnshaw, Clara Downshire) get strong developments as well. To simplify it, our main characters travel with Chalmers to Grand Library in Nippon (a steampunk Japan of sorts) to decipher its mysteries, while Gammon and her team try to make sense of Lanyani’s schemes. Both arcs are emotional and surprising.
Comparing sequels to original stories is unfair but also inevitable. I always expect the sequel to top the previous entry in the series and get pumped before reading it. When things don’t develop the way I wanted, they annoy me. Where The Nine grabbed my attention from the first page, I needed more time to get invested in The Fall. The book suffers from pacing issues caused by intricate, but sometimes too detailed, world-building. As impressive as this world is, I felt there was too much informations to process. My other gripe with the story concerns Rowena. I loved her in The Nine, but couldn’t relate to her in The Fall most of the time. She’s still herself, a tough street-rat with a foul mouth, but she lost some of her charm. What else? Well, we get some pieces of information that set the table for the things yet to come. Don’t expect everything will serve something immediately or to have all questions answered.
But these are just minor complaints. When things finally start to come together, and stakes grow you can’t help but admire a complex intrigue. Also, the ending. The Fall finishes with a nasty, but also exciting cliffhanger that made me crave book three. I’m desperately hoping that this book sells well enough to ensure that full series (Townsend planned Thieves of Fate as a trilogy) will be published according to plan, without a single day of delay. This story must be told. I need to know what happens next.
So, if you like deadly politics tangled up in scientific research and religion, steampunk settings with clockwork technology, and imaginative world-building, do yourself a favor and read Thieves of Fate. It’s gorgeously written, unique and clever.
dionysius07's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
badmc's review against another edition
3.0
New tangles appear in the story of God's experiment. All the races are hunting the ones chosen for His great experiments, and our protagonists go to the other end of the world in search for answers.
I enjoyed coming back to the world, and our characters. I also enjoyed this alternate world's Japan, as well as some new worldbuilding. Alas, this book also has one of the worst cases of 'second book syndrome'- it introduced a load of new characters, lore, and started a bunch of plot lines. All the action was in the last 100 pages, which were great, but too little too late. I sure do hope the trilogy will be finisued because I think it's one of the most fresh I've read in years. It's bursting with ideas and I would like to see them explored.
I enjoyed coming back to the world, and our characters. I also enjoyed this alternate world's Japan, as well as some new worldbuilding. Alas, this book also has one of the worst cases of 'second book syndrome'- it introduced a load of new characters, lore, and started a bunch of plot lines. All the action was in the last 100 pages, which were great, but too little too late. I sure do hope the trilogy will be finisued because I think it's one of the most fresh I've read in years. It's bursting with ideas and I would like to see them explored.
bulbasaurusthe7th's review against another edition
1.0
Quit 20% in. I am not making any progress with this book and it kills me. Something is lost, the events just move so slowly and the ridiculous, blabber-y prose makes it feel even worse. There are brilliant ideas about the wold building and NONE of that is going anywhere here.
On the other hand we get new, fucking frustratingly UWU SPESHÜL characters, like Jane Arai, who is super magical amazing healing genius and just acts like a Tumblr girl. And of course we have to pretend that women who never met each other instantly love each other because that's how women work. Jane's instant appreciation for Bess and her supposed amazing skills is such typical YA bullshit it make me roll my eyes.
20% in and no Chalmers. Okay then.
On the other hand we get new, fucking frustratingly UWU SPESHÜL characters, like Jane Arai, who is super magical amazing healing genius and just acts like a Tumblr girl. And of course we have to pretend that women who never met each other instantly love each other because that's how women work. Jane's instant appreciation for Bess and her supposed amazing skills is such typical YA bullshit it make me roll my eyes.
20% in and no Chalmers. Okay then.
cindyc's review against another edition
4.0
Originally posted on https://midnightbluebookreview.com/2019/03/15/the-fall-thieves-of-fate-2-tracy-townsend/
The first book in the Thieves of Fate series, The Nine, was one of my favourite reads in 2018. The concept intrigued me and the writing and world building were beautiful and captivating. No surprise then that The Fall got bumped up to the top of my to-be-read pile as soon as I received it. The Fall has a lot of the elements that I thoroughly enjoyed in the first book, but it does have a mild version of middle-book-syndrome.
I’d like to elaborate on that first. Some of the plot points don’t have a clear end goal yet and it feels like a lot of things have been set in motion without anything actually moving along at an appropriate pace. Rowena, Old Bear, Anselm and Chalmers get hired by a rich couple to go and investigate the Amenuensis Library in the Grand Library in Nippon. The Amenuensis Library holds all the previous versions of the book that changed our protagonists’ lives in The Nine. Meanwhile the Lanyani and the Aigamuxa are planning to eradicate all humans to reclaim the world for themselves.
Aside from some spots of action now and then, there is a lot of filling that only gives us morsels of information. I’m sure these morsels will be important towards the end of this series, but it is just not quite enough to make this book flow as well as The Nine did. The Lanyani’s plot shifts some allegiances, but again it seems like just a set-up for what is yet to come. The one storyline that did excite me was Clara Downshire’s, Rowena’s mum. I’m fascinated by her abilities and what this will mean for the rest of the story.
But, that being said, I feel that the writing style and the world- and character building makes up for all of it. I absolutely love this world and I’m now definitely emotionally invested in all of the character’s lives.
This book also gave me a better understanding of the world in these books and what the history is behind the religion/science cross-over. It has now become very clear to me that this is either a distant future or an alternate version of our world. Every little bit of history that is familiar gave me a little “aha!” moment. I wasn’t entirely sure after the first book, though it is hinted at. It was quite exciting to have some confirmation of that in The Fall.
The relationship between Rowena and the Old Bear has grown significantly since the start of the first book. They make a very heart-warming pair. I even grew to like Chalmers a bit more in this book!
I also was very happy to see a gender neutral character with “they/them” pronouns appear. It doesn’t happen very often in books and I thought it was brilliant. I’m looking forward to learn a bit more about this character and what they can offer to lift the veil of mystery over the Nine.
The Fall doesn’t quite top the first book for me, but it is so well written and has such intriguing world building that I gladly kept reading on. It has enough going for it to overcome the slower pace and keep me interested in the continuation of the story.
The first book in the Thieves of Fate series, The Nine, was one of my favourite reads in 2018. The concept intrigued me and the writing and world building were beautiful and captivating. No surprise then that The Fall got bumped up to the top of my to-be-read pile as soon as I received it. The Fall has a lot of the elements that I thoroughly enjoyed in the first book, but it does have a mild version of middle-book-syndrome.
I’d like to elaborate on that first. Some of the plot points don’t have a clear end goal yet and it feels like a lot of things have been set in motion without anything actually moving along at an appropriate pace. Rowena, Old Bear, Anselm and Chalmers get hired by a rich couple to go and investigate the Amenuensis Library in the Grand Library in Nippon. The Amenuensis Library holds all the previous versions of the book that changed our protagonists’ lives in The Nine. Meanwhile the Lanyani and the Aigamuxa are planning to eradicate all humans to reclaim the world for themselves.
Aside from some spots of action now and then, there is a lot of filling that only gives us morsels of information. I’m sure these morsels will be important towards the end of this series, but it is just not quite enough to make this book flow as well as The Nine did. The Lanyani’s plot shifts some allegiances, but again it seems like just a set-up for what is yet to come. The one storyline that did excite me was Clara Downshire’s, Rowena’s mum. I’m fascinated by her abilities and what this will mean for the rest of the story.
But, that being said, I feel that the writing style and the world- and character building makes up for all of it. I absolutely love this world and I’m now definitely emotionally invested in all of the character’s lives.
This book also gave me a better understanding of the world in these books and what the history is behind the religion/science cross-over. It has now become very clear to me that this is either a distant future or an alternate version of our world. Every little bit of history that is familiar gave me a little “aha!” moment. I wasn’t entirely sure after the first book, though it is hinted at. It was quite exciting to have some confirmation of that in The Fall.
The relationship between Rowena and the Old Bear has grown significantly since the start of the first book. They make a very heart-warming pair. I even grew to like Chalmers a bit more in this book!
I also was very happy to see a gender neutral character with “they/them” pronouns appear. It doesn’t happen very often in books and I thought it was brilliant. I’m looking forward to learn a bit more about this character and what they can offer to lift the veil of mystery over the Nine.
The Fall doesn’t quite top the first book for me, but it is so well written and has such intriguing world building that I gladly kept reading on. It has enough going for it to overcome the slower pace and keep me interested in the continuation of the story.
speculativebecky's review against another edition
5.0
The Fall by Tracy Townsend is the second book in her Thieves of Fate trilogy, following up on The Nine, which was one of my favorite reads of 2018. Thieves of Fate is a unique fantasy series about a found family of criminals and misfits set in a world where science and religion are inextricably tied. There’s a ton packed into these books: numerous POV characters, complex worldbuilding, strange magic, and three sentient races cohabiting and conflicting. In The Fall I loved learning more about Townsend’s take on the lanyani (mobile tree people) and aigamuxa (like ogres but with the eyes on the bottoms of their feet, see the image on the cover), and their history, culture, and ambitions. The Fall feels extra sprawling, even compared to The Nine, but I’m liable to blame my lacking memory of The Nine’s finer details on the two and a half years since reading it rather than them being insufficiently foreshadowed. The complex worldbuilding in the series has some fantastic payoffs in The Fall’s climax and I absolutely loved how all the details came together. I recommend this series to fans of think-y fantasy, adventure and intrigue, and a cast of characters ready to steal your heart.
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