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jadom's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.0
stthais's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
caitibeth's review against another edition
3.0
The good in this book:
* Determined female protagonist
* Lots of political scheming and long-term plans within plans
* Non-human and human groups co-existing and working together
* Non-European fantasy setting (nonspecific East Asian influence)
The less good:
* Clunky writing, particularly in the opening; I nearly decided not to continue
* Protagonist is rather Mary-Sueish - she is minutes away from taking vows & forsaking the world, but instead becomes an improbable genius in a complicated honor system. Every single choice she makes turns out the way she wants it to.
* Abusive husband, with several very difficult-to-read scenes
* System of honor that means that the protagonist has no problem at all killing if anyone stands in her way, from slaves to husband
Mara is a Marmite character; if you like her and want to see her triumph, you will probably enjoy this book and its interesting worldbuilding. If you don't like her and find her golden touch to be galling, then you will probably dislike this book.
* Determined female protagonist
* Lots of political scheming and long-term plans within plans
* Non-human and human groups co-existing and working together
* Non-European fantasy setting (nonspecific East Asian influence)
The less good:
* Clunky writing, particularly in the opening; I nearly decided not to continue
* Protagonist is rather Mary-Sueish - she is minutes away from taking vows & forsaking the world, but instead becomes an improbable genius in a complicated honor system. Every single choice she makes turns out the way she wants it to.
* Abusive husband, with several very difficult-to-read scenes
* System of honor that means that the protagonist has no problem at all killing if anyone stands in her way, from slaves to husband
Mara is a Marmite character; if you like her and want to see her triumph, you will probably enjoy this book and its interesting worldbuilding. If you don't like her and find her golden touch to be galling, then you will probably dislike this book.
chippy1965's review against another edition
4.0
Mara is thrown in to the Great Game after her father and brother are killed. This series follows her plots to gain power and honour from those that stole it and revenge against those that caused the death of her loved ones. Feist builds a picture of an alternative world where politics and honour is a complex game played by the Lords whom have little love for each other only the power they can extract from each other.
Runs kind of in parallel with the rift war saga and makes reference to some of the characters and plot lines but no so much as you would have to have read them first.
Runs kind of in parallel with the rift war saga and makes reference to some of the characters and plot lines but no so much as you would have to have read them first.
arijitnag's review against another edition
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
olityr's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Good continuation of the Riftwar Cycle.
Reminds me a lot of Lord-Protector's Daughter by L.E. Moddesitte Jr., though that was written much later, so this is the original.
I'm interested to see if/how this trilogy connects to the original one.
Reminds me a lot of Lord-Protector's Daughter by L.E. Moddesitte Jr., though that was written much later, so this is the original.
I'm interested to see if/how this trilogy connects to the original one.
qjbrown96's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
rouge_red's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
4.5
What a joy of a book to read! Overall it was just so damned amusing, seeing Mara one-up all these naysayers and all her enemies. I'm only docking points because it seems like it was fairly easy for her to get to this point. So I hope going forward, someone is actually able to throw a spanner in the works.
thomas_hense's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
abinnh's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0