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jimber101's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
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? It's complicated
5.0
marvin_wowbagger's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 Stars. Although FOC doesn't break any new ground, Butcher's talent at crafting both good characters and excellent pacing made this book a fun read.
ml3barr's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Not a bad start to a series. I couldn't help but think that the creatures that give the humans their powers are slaves, but according to Brandon Sanderson, they're based off Pokemon, so they really are slaves. Also gave me an idea for my own fantasy books though (not the slaves bit). There was already a betrayal that didn't hit that hard because we have no context, so maybe it'll hurt more later. Didn't get more context so it was otherwise a solid start to a fantasy series
thejestess's review against another edition
3.0
I think if I had found this in high school I would have enjoyed it a lot more/it would have a higher rating. Some parts of it were very neat! Some parts of it made me make faces. On the whole I appreciated the variety of characters and relationships we got, but I think I would've been well-served by a cheat sheet of who was who at first, especially for the similar sounding names!
lilac_rose's review against another edition
Just became a slog to pick up. When I started to loath reading time I knew it was a dnf.
storydude's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
mastersal's review against another edition
4.0
I’ve always thought I would start my journey with Mr. Butcher with the Dresden Files but I’ve had this book (well, the entire series) for years, so I finally decided to bit the bullet and just read it. I thought I should get to books on my shelves. Imagine - what a shocker!
So the premise of the book was explained to me as “Pokemon magic set in a Roman world”. The book is definitely an adventure novel through and through with some loving homage to classic fantasy tropes. Tropes which I have missed to be honest so it was a treat to see them being used unironically here. For example, we have our farm boy saving the work here (well his village / province). Tavi is a literal shepherd in this series - it made me smile a lot whenever he came on page.
I will say that the book is a little more dark than the Pokemon comparison makes it out to be. There is definite assault on page and some difficult depictions of violence that I was not expecting. The world that Mr. Butcher creates is definitely misogynistic and cruel with the presence of slavery. This is consistent with his historical inspiration so perhaps the surprise was just mine.
Not all of his depictions are particularly nuanced - like calling the Marat savages all the time or having the violence towards women be highly sexualized - but I didn’t think it was an issue either. Difficult to read but not condoned and firmly in character POV. The female villains are especially quite tropey which I found irksome for my tastes.
I will say that probably the biggest disappointment in the premise was the Furies themselves. There are nowhere as cute as Pokemon which I was expecting. In fact the action hardly gives these Furies much character or page time. Think of them as a semi-sentient magic system. I was reminded of Mercedes Lackey’s Elemental Masters series (which I remember being a better book imho but I need to go back and restart that series).
The romance writing in the book veers to quite cheesy which is a shame. There are lines like: “Odiana turned adoring eyes to Aldrick” . She sleeps in his lap and purrs like a kitten. She closes her eyes in pleasure when his fingers brush her mouth.
So the premise of the book was explained to me as “Pokemon magic set in a Roman world”. The book is definitely an adventure novel through and through with some loving homage to classic fantasy tropes. Tropes which I have missed to be honest so it was a treat to see them being used unironically here. For example, we have our farm boy saving the work here (well his village / province). Tavi is a literal shepherd in this series - it made me smile a lot whenever he came on page.
I will say that the book is a little more dark than the Pokemon comparison makes it out to be. There is definite assault on page and some difficult depictions of violence that I was not expecting. The world that Mr. Butcher creates is definitely misogynistic and cruel with the presence of slavery. This is consistent with his historical inspiration so perhaps the surprise was just mine.
Not all of his depictions are particularly nuanced - like calling the Marat savages all the time or having the violence towards women be highly sexualized - but I didn’t think it was an issue either. Difficult to read but not condoned and firmly in character POV. The female villains are especially quite tropey which I found irksome for my tastes.
I will say that probably the biggest disappointment in the premise was the Furies themselves. There are nowhere as cute as Pokemon which I was expecting. In fact the action hardly gives these Furies much character or page time. Think of them as a semi-sentient magic system. I was reminded of Mercedes Lackey’s Elemental Masters series (which I remember being a better book imho but I need to go back and restart that series).
The romance writing in the book veers to quite cheesy which is a shame. There are lines like: “Odiana turned adoring eyes to Aldrick” . She sleeps in his lap and purrs like a kitten. She closes her eyes in pleasure when his fingers brush her mouth.