mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
2.0
I really liked the first book in this series. And I wanted to like this the third book. But it generally just collapsed around its complexities and reached the point where I just didn't care to understand what was going on. Which is too bad - the characters are interesting and complex and the mythos had many possibilities. 2.5 of 5. But I'd probably still read the sequel.
cornosaurus's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
adamantium's review against another edition
3.0
I can't tell if it's a virtue that this was such a slow burn. By the end of this book, the entire premise is barely reconcilable with where we started. But I've been bored in so many places along the way that I think a book could have come out somewhere here.
For what it's worth, not super clear where things are at now, but the second half of this book went completely bonkers and I need to continue and see where we go from here.
I think that this series really strains credulity in three places:
1. Multiple people have set up wheels-within-wheels-within-wheels chessmaster gambits over decades that somehow went off exactly as planned despite the intercession of numerous literally unpredictable events/forces.
2. There are like 10 different nonverbal languages here of fairly intense nuance and subtlety, and they are used often enough that everyone involved should really realize that these are happening.
3. The Machtvolk go from underground, suppressed faith to having built schools and shrines (yes some were already there) and many new structures, etc. in what would seem to be what, a few months? A little more time could have passed here, honestly.
There are others. Scholes loves repeating words and phrases (lamps, stars, moonlight--you name it, it gutters), and hitting story beats over and over. (Vlad's story is important and also interminable. Petronus was interesting just about until he understood his dreams.)
All that said I can't put it down. What is even going on? Is this series actually delivering on nothing being as it seems?
For what it's worth, not super clear where things are at now, but the second half of this book went completely bonkers and I need to continue and see where we go from here.
I think that this series really strains credulity in three places:
1. Multiple people have set up wheels-within-wheels-within-wheels chessmaster gambits over decades that somehow went off exactly as planned despite the intercession of numerous literally unpredictable events/forces.
2. There are like 10 different nonverbal languages here of fairly intense nuance and subtlety, and they are used often enough that everyone involved should really realize that these are happening.
3. The Machtvolk go from underground, suppressed faith to having built schools and shrines (yes some were already there) and many new structures, etc. in what would seem to be what, a few months? A little more time could have passed here, honestly.
There are others. Scholes loves repeating words and phrases (lamps, stars, moonlight--you name it, it gutters), and hitting story beats over and over. (Vlad's story is important and also interminable. Petronus was interesting just about until he understood his dreams.)
All that said I can't put it down. What is even going on? Is this series actually delivering on nothing being as it seems?
bplache's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
wmhenrymorris's review against another edition
This novel sure rocks for the third (of five) in a series -- it is very, very satisfying and yet still tantalizes with the promise of more. Much more. You also get to like the characters more (at least I did) even as they begin to show cracks and wear and hidden powers and weaknesses. What's more it soon becomes clear that there are additional layers to the conspiracy that set the series off (with the unexpected destruction of the city Windwir) and additional players to consider. But above all, it's the writing -- crisp, elegant, richly featured -- that makes this series stand out. The novels just keep getting better. Let's hope that trend lasts, although all signs point to the strong possibility that it will.
vkemp's review
5.0
War is coming to the Named Lands. Rudolfo, his queen, Jin Li Tam and their son, Jakob are confronted at every turn by betrayals and difficulties. Winteria bar Mardic, queen of the Marsh Folk has been supplanted by her sister, Winteria the elder, who is preaching the gospel of Y’Zir and torturing people to bring them to her beliefs. Nebios Homeseeker is stranded in the Churning Wastes, besieged by blood-magicked scouts who fight him at every turn. He has found the Homeland and must get there by any means possible. The mechoservitors are now dreaming themselves. The Androfrancine order hides trying to understand the webs being woven throughout the Named Lands. Meanwhile, Vlad Li Tam is sailing the seas, searching for the Magician’s Ladder because it has been prophesized that he must find it for the light to remain in the world. The reader is now three volumes into the Psalms of Isaak, with at least two more volumes to come. This is world building at its best with each storyline plotted carefully and integrated into a vast spinning universe. I cannot wait to see how it all plays out.
bibliowarden's review
5.0
Woah! That was something! [a:Ken Scholes|1325446|Ken Scholes|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-M-50x66.jpg] seems to be one of those writers who can write a tale that just feels "right". This is epic fantasy of the highest order. If you have any interest in Fantasy you owe it to yourself to read the Psalms of Isaak books, as each has outdone the last. I'm not going to try to explain the plot. This is the third book in the series and it's just too complex to do justice. Just read them! I'm DYING for Requiem now. Thankfully, Scholes has been getting them out quickly.
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