Reviews

The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams

matfromthebooks's review against another edition

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4.0

La città di Ebora, un tempo sede di un rigoglioso e potente impero, è ormai l’ombra di sé stessa. Ridotta in rovina in seguito alla morte dell’Albero Dio, guida spirituale e origine di una linfa in grado di donare una vita immortale, è il rifugio di un popolo perduto, prossimo all’estinzione.
Tormalin rifiuta questa condizione, rifugge la rassegnazione della sua gente, e decide di lasciare la patria nel tentativo di trovare una cura, una possibilità di rivalsa. Ad accompagnarlo nella sua cerca, Vincenza de Grazon, esploratrice e studiosa degli Jure’lia, esseri venuti dal cielo, acerrimi nemici deli Eboriani.
 
Non desidero dilungarmi oltre nella presentazione della trama di The Ninth Rain, perché uno dei piaceri del libro è stato scoprirne gli elementi, inaspettati, un poco per volta: gli accenni delle prime pagine non lasciano intuire la portata di una vicenda che è in realtà ampia e complessa, costruita mediante un worldbuilding affascinante e ingegnoso, per molti versi originale.
Partiamo da un mondo dai caratteri medievaleggianti, ma poi ci apriamo a situazioni che sfiorano il fantascientifico, tra creature insettoidi, navi volanti e camminatori dei sogni.
 
Dotata di uno stile scorrevole e accessibile anche ai meno avvezzi alla lingua – se escludiamo alcune, rapide parentesi dedicate proprio alla generazione del mondo – Jen Williams architetta una storia dal ritmo sostenuto, con personaggi che la reggono degnamente. Dal guerriero redento alla ragazza dotata di un potere misterioso, fino al sicario ricattato e costretto a uccidere, alcune figure potranno apparire, di primo acchito, molto simili ad altre già viste, ma basterà poco per capire che, tra i pregi dell’autrice, vi è un’attenta caratterizzazione.
 
The Ninth Rain è una piacevole avventura, un viaggio curioso fatto di scoperte e dialoghi arguti e frizzanti, arricchito da un finale epico in grado di lasciare una curiosità enorme per ciò che potrà accadere nel secondo volume.

ninon_'s review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-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? N/A

4.75

lottie1803's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad 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

3.75

justjudyy's review against another edition

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5.0

This was an amazing beginning to a fantasy series.
The characters were amazingly fleshed out, the plot was interesting and just everything about it is so insanely unique in my opinion. It also has some interesting sci-fi-ish elements which I absolutely adore.

schnemelflie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

zaravive's review against another edition

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4.0

Put a pro-active intelligent woman in your books and I’m here for them. Especially if they are analytically minded, clear-headed and well…. grown-up (aka 30+). I connected to Vintage’s character from her first chapter and I wish this book were even more from her perspective. Maybe the next one is, which I am going to pick up right away. A feat not many book series have managed to evoke in me lately or recently. I love that feeling when I’m so immersed in a world/story that I want to know what’s going to happen next right now and cannot wait.

caitibeth's review against another edition

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Not sure why this one didn't really work for me. There are elements I adore (older lesbian archaeologist adventurer is, like, tailor-made for me, and I usually love stories that straddle the scifi/fantasy line), but for some reason they didn't make me love this one. I guess vampires are always a hard sell for me, and age-gap relationships, so vampire elves didn't appeal, nor did Tor/Noon.

But really the whole story left me cold, and I don't know why... I don't think it's necessarily the book's fault, as it's well-written and I can't lay my finger on an actual fault. No doubt others will enjoy it.

No official star rating from me (would be 2 stars personally). I'll leave the series to others.

tabularasa's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

teacupinmylap's review against another edition

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4.0

3.5
It started off so strong and cool! But story-wise it got quite weak at the end and I'm very unsure how to feel about the main cast...
Cool setting and world-building though

garrettcz's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0