lizbethandthelifeinbetween's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-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
It's been such a long time since I've read a book in this series and I was putting it off in case it wasn't as good as I remember. Fortunately, I loved this! Very engaging, and I was reading in large chunks every time I sat down. I found the pacing a bit slow.
emiann2023's review against another edition
5.0
Definitely a treat to come back and revisit this world. Also fun to read about Cadvan before he met Maerad (and the dream!!). Seeing the events that shaped him and the people was a nice treat. Particularly Milana and Dorn. Do happy I hunted this book down!
nraucardon's review against another edition
5.0
I think Alison Croggan is an exceptional writer. I love how she writes, I love her characters, and I love her worlds.
snowkab's review against another edition
5.0
I'm the first to admit that Alison Croggon has a unusual writing style that doesn't appeal to everyone, and I do agree with the other reviewers that this could be a difficult book if you hadn't already read the main series. That being said, I loved it.
It was just right with the drama, and the angst, and the hope. I love the lyrical quality of her writing and her world-building. I loved the Books of Pellinor, and this book felt like coming home. That doesn't happen very often for me, so this was a real treat.
It was just right with the drama, and the angst, and the hope. I love the lyrical quality of her writing and her world-building. I loved the Books of Pellinor, and this book felt like coming home. That doesn't happen very often for me, so this was a real treat.
sauna_mc's review against another edition
4.0
Croggon is the best current High Fantasy author and deserves more recognition for her work. The Pellinor series is often compared to Tolkein, and although it's clear that his writings have influenced her style and worldbuilding, allegations or plagiarism the series has attracted are unfair and unfounded. The quest narrative has been existence since people started telling stories, and it's common knowledge that Tolkein himself drew on mythologies and social structures of Ancient Norse and Medieval European societies. Croggon reworks the classic fantasy tropes (chivalry, Good Vs Evil themes, quest narrative, unlikely hero) which Tolkein made popular to produce a tale that is ultimately richer and more accessible than The Lord of Rings.
The Bone Queen is an excellent introduction to the series, developing some of the key characters and setting up the events of the later books whilst still telling its own story. Well paced and unpredictable, it completely draws you into the world Croggon constructs. It's given me the bug to re-read the whole series again. Have yet to find another fantasy series that compares to this one.
The Bone Queen is an excellent introduction to the series, developing some of the key characters and setting up the events of the later books whilst still telling its own story. Well paced and unpredictable, it completely draws you into the world Croggon constructs. It's given me the bug to re-read the whole series again. Have yet to find another fantasy series that compares to this one.
hoperu's review against another edition
4.0
This is a prequel to the Pellinor series and concerns Cadvan and the rising of the Dark that is the main foe of that series. I really enjoyed returning to the world of the Bards, and seeing more of Cadvan, although I do miss Maerad (since this takes place about 50 years before she is born). I appreciate how Croggon works in details and people from the full series without seeming too obvious about it - there is a bit of retconning, mostly with the cosmology of the world, but otherwise, the world is the one we know already.
My quibble with other reviews and blurbs about the main series stands for this book: this world is often compared to that of Tolkien's, in what is supposed to be a compliment about its richness and complexity, and I guess that as much as any modern fantasy novel owes a debt to Tolkien, that is true. But I still argue, as I did in my review of The Naming, that such a comparison does a disservice to its originality and richness of the characters. If you like Tolkien, you will probably like this; if you don't like Tolkien, don't let that comparison scare you away.
You can probably read this without having read the series and not be too lost, although Cadvan and his backstory might not hold your interesting as much. As someone who has read and thoroughly enjoyed the other books, I was very happy with this addition.
My quibble with other reviews and blurbs about the main series stands for this book: this world is often compared to that of Tolkien's, in what is supposed to be a compliment about its richness and complexity, and I guess that as much as any modern fantasy novel owes a debt to Tolkien, that is true. But I still argue, as I did in my review of The Naming, that such a comparison does a disservice to its originality and richness of the characters. If you like Tolkien, you will probably like this; if you don't like Tolkien, don't let that comparison scare you away.
You can probably read this without having read the series and not be too lost, although Cadvan and his backstory might not hold your interesting as much. As someone who has read and thoroughly enjoyed the other books, I was very happy with this addition.
writeronherway's review against another edition
2.0
I was disappointed with this. The characters, concept, world and plot should have made this a book I couldn't put down. Unfortunately, you get about 3 pages of action and 10 chapters of telling each other what happened but first having dinner and a sleep or travelling to tell other people.
mororke's review against another edition
I began this book ten days ago. I really hoped I would be able to jump in with two feet and enjoy the story that sounded so excellent. I hate to admit that this is the second did not finish of the year, but I still want to explain why I didn’t finish the book.
The book begins with a letter from the author and explanation on how to pronounce some of the words of names and places. Once the actual book began, I was all ready to put it down for the night. I picked it back up the next day.
I understand needing to build the backstory to explain what is happening with Cadvan, but the descriptions are so wordy that I had to keep going back and re-reading entire paragraphs to see if I missed something. This wordiness made it difficult to move through. After ten days of struggling, I finally made it to 25% of the book and felt like the story hadn’t moved at all.
Perhaps I was not able to get into this book because it is a prequel and I haven’t read the rest of the series, but it isn’t for me. I’m sure for fans of the series it will be awesome to learn a bit more about where the overall story begins. For some one picking up the prequel first, it’s not my cup of tea.
Like my review? Read all of them at the-pink-moose.com
The book begins with a letter from the author and explanation on how to pronounce some of the words of names and places. Once the actual book began, I was all ready to put it down for the night. I picked it back up the next day.
I understand needing to build the backstory to explain what is happening with Cadvan, but the descriptions are so wordy that I had to keep going back and re-reading entire paragraphs to see if I missed something. This wordiness made it difficult to move through. After ten days of struggling, I finally made it to 25% of the book and felt like the story hadn’t moved at all.
Perhaps I was not able to get into this book because it is a prequel and I haven’t read the rest of the series, but it isn’t for me. I’m sure for fans of the series it will be awesome to learn a bit more about where the overall story begins. For some one picking up the prequel first, it’s not my cup of tea.
Like my review? Read all of them at the-pink-moose.com
missyansell's review against another edition
4.0
Tells the story of Cadvan after he's been exiled from all schools because he summoned the bone queen which killed his lover, and maimed his Rival Dernhill. Cadvan has gone to a small mining town in the middle of nowhere to be a cobbler. Dernhill arrives telling Cadvan that the Bone Queen may still be alive. Cadvan sees this as an opportunity to redeem himself in his own eyes.
flaviathebibliophile's review against another edition
3.0
Rating: 3.5 stars
Before I get into my review for The Bone Queen, I would first like to state that I have not read any of the Pellinor Series before this, or any other books by Alison Croggon for that matter. I went into reading this book with a blank slate, other than perhaps the constant comparison between Croggon and Tolkien that I kept coming across for some reason. I would also like to say that I love high fantasy, and have devoured a number of epic fantasy novels throughout my teen and adult years. And now that that’s out of the way, I shall begin my review.
The first thing I would like to say is that the comparison between Croggon and Tolkien (at least when it comes to The Bone Queen) may actually do some harm to Croggon and her series. Those who love Tolkien and his work (like myself) will find that although Croggon’s world is very detailed (regarding magic, landscape, culture, and lore), it does not quite compare to the complexity and detail of Tolkien’s universe. Croggon’s writing, while very good, also did not compare to Tolkien’s talent with the written word. Although many people complain that Tolkien put a lot of detail into his The Lord of the Rings series, and while I agree, I also found that I thoroughly enjoyed these details because I loved the world and wanted to absorb everything I possibly could about it. Tolkien’s writing is also a pure joy for me to read because the manner in which he combined his words into sentences is simply beautiful. On the other hand, those who dislike Tolkien might be scared off from Croggon’s books before they even read the first page. So, my point is that this comparison should not be made due to the harm it may cause The Pellinor series, and also in order to avoid any confusion.
As I mentioned, Croggon’s writing is very good, and while I can appreciate the skill with which she composes her sentences, I found that the manner in which The Bone Witch was narrated was not really for me. For those who will argue that this is due to the fact that this book is written in the third person, I would like to say that I prefer books written in the third person, and that this factor played no role in how I feel about this book. The Bone Queen definitely did not jump into action right away, and I found the tone to be melancholy and a little dry (which looking back now, makes sense, and is fitting considering the plot and subject matter). I understand why the book started where it did, but worry that some readers may not make it to the 100 page mark because of it.
The build up, and rising action in this book spans over approximately 300 pages which feature a lot of character self-reflection, a lot of contemplation, and a great amount of dialogue. While the dialogue is very well written, and there were definitely a few turns of phrase which I would consider gold nuggets, I found a lot of the dialogue to be unnecessary when it came to the main plot. When considering that this book is also about camaraderie and friendship, however, the dialogue and detailed interaction between characters makes sense, and is appreciated. Since I did not warm up to the characters all that much though, the friendship aspect didn’t hold much interest for me.
While this book contained a lot of detail when it came to locations (such as cities, or larger buildings) and characters’ contemplations, I found that I couldn’t really get a good feel for what the characters looked like. I also found that I did not really connect with any of the characters, or claim a character as my favourite. This may be due to the fact that I did not read the Pellinor Series prior to this prequel, and that one must have a previous connection to characters (as well as the world) in order to feel close to them. I still appreciate the amount of imagination, and originality that went into this book and feel that the fact that I did not read the Pellinor Series before this prequel may have a lot to do with the majority of my opinion about it. I may have to re-read The Bone Queen once I’ve read the main series in order to enjoy this prequel as it should be enjoyed.
I would definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy epic fantasy, but would also advise that they read The Bone Queen after having read the other Pellinor books first.
Before I get into my review for The Bone Queen, I would first like to state that I have not read any of the Pellinor Series before this, or any other books by Alison Croggon for that matter. I went into reading this book with a blank slate, other than perhaps the constant comparison between Croggon and Tolkien that I kept coming across for some reason. I would also like to say that I love high fantasy, and have devoured a number of epic fantasy novels throughout my teen and adult years. And now that that’s out of the way, I shall begin my review.
The first thing I would like to say is that the comparison between Croggon and Tolkien (at least when it comes to The Bone Queen) may actually do some harm to Croggon and her series. Those who love Tolkien and his work (like myself) will find that although Croggon’s world is very detailed (regarding magic, landscape, culture, and lore), it does not quite compare to the complexity and detail of Tolkien’s universe. Croggon’s writing, while very good, also did not compare to Tolkien’s talent with the written word. Although many people complain that Tolkien put a lot of detail into his The Lord of the Rings series, and while I agree, I also found that I thoroughly enjoyed these details because I loved the world and wanted to absorb everything I possibly could about it. Tolkien’s writing is also a pure joy for me to read because the manner in which he combined his words into sentences is simply beautiful. On the other hand, those who dislike Tolkien might be scared off from Croggon’s books before they even read the first page. So, my point is that this comparison should not be made due to the harm it may cause The Pellinor series, and also in order to avoid any confusion.
As I mentioned, Croggon’s writing is very good, and while I can appreciate the skill with which she composes her sentences, I found that the manner in which The Bone Witch was narrated was not really for me. For those who will argue that this is due to the fact that this book is written in the third person, I would like to say that I prefer books written in the third person, and that this factor played no role in how I feel about this book. The Bone Queen definitely did not jump into action right away, and I found the tone to be melancholy and a little dry (which looking back now, makes sense, and is fitting considering the plot and subject matter). I understand why the book started where it did, but worry that some readers may not make it to the 100 page mark because of it.
The build up, and rising action in this book spans over approximately 300 pages which feature a lot of character self-reflection, a lot of contemplation, and a great amount of dialogue. While the dialogue is very well written, and there were definitely a few turns of phrase which I would consider gold nuggets, I found a lot of the dialogue to be unnecessary when it came to the main plot. When considering that this book is also about camaraderie and friendship, however, the dialogue and detailed interaction between characters makes sense, and is appreciated. Since I did not warm up to the characters all that much though, the friendship aspect didn’t hold much interest for me.
While this book contained a lot of detail when it came to locations (such as cities, or larger buildings) and characters’ contemplations, I found that I couldn’t really get a good feel for what the characters looked like. I also found that I did not really connect with any of the characters, or claim a character as my favourite. This may be due to the fact that I did not read the Pellinor Series prior to this prequel, and that one must have a previous connection to characters (as well as the world) in order to feel close to them. I still appreciate the amount of imagination, and originality that went into this book and feel that the fact that I did not read the Pellinor Series before this prequel may have a lot to do with the majority of my opinion about it. I may have to re-read The Bone Queen once I’ve read the main series in order to enjoy this prequel as it should be enjoyed.
I would definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy epic fantasy, but would also advise that they read The Bone Queen after having read the other Pellinor books first.