queenkath32's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Death
metaphorosis's review against another edition
2.0
2 stars - Metaphorosis Reviews
Lizelle, who recently dumped a noble (but kept his jewelry), meets by seeming chance with a quiet priest and a dashing, eye-patched adventurer. Together, they set out to bring the Goddess back - even if it means the end of all life.
I first encountered Will Shetterly through the Liavek shared world series. Those books, if they built on the success of Thieves World, were fun, clever, and well written. I sought out books by many of the Liavek authors, and many of them (e.g., Steven Brust) had a fair degree of success. Eventually I picked up this Will Shetterly book as well, published shortly before the first Liavek book.
If the above plot summary seems a bit formulaic, that's unfortunately correct. Shetterly can't seem to make up his mind between a sly parody of fantasy tropes, and an all-in commitment to those same tropes, with a dash of D&D thrown in. The result is novel with light humour that is almost entirely predictable. Every character plays true to expectations. There are funny points, but they're not enough to counterbalance the leaden certainty of the plot points. The light tone also stands in the way of any real sympathy for the characters; there are a few moments of empathy here and there, but largely it's an observational read.
All in all, this book is a missed opportunity by a writer who apparently just couldn't make up his mind what it was about.
Lizelle, who recently dumped a noble (but kept his jewelry), meets by seeming chance with a quiet priest and a dashing, eye-patched adventurer. Together, they set out to bring the Goddess back - even if it means the end of all life.
I first encountered Will Shetterly through the Liavek shared world series. Those books, if they built on the success of Thieves World, were fun, clever, and well written. I sought out books by many of the Liavek authors, and many of them (e.g., Steven Brust) had a fair degree of success. Eventually I picked up this Will Shetterly book as well, published shortly before the first Liavek book.
If the above plot summary seems a bit formulaic, that's unfortunately correct. Shetterly can't seem to make up his mind between a sly parody of fantasy tropes, and an all-in commitment to those same tropes, with a dash of D&D thrown in. The result is novel with light humour that is almost entirely predictable. Every character plays true to expectations. There are funny points, but they're not enough to counterbalance the leaden certainty of the plot points. The light tone also stands in the way of any real sympathy for the characters; there are a few moments of empathy here and there, but largely it's an observational read.
All in all, this book is a missed opportunity by a writer who apparently just couldn't make up his mind what it was about.
mindsplinters's review
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
2.0
Sword and sorcery with world-ending stakes. The concept is unusual and promising but the characters never quite fill themselves out. Still a fun and fast read.
More...