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fiveredhens's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
favorite quotes:
'It's revolting! Revolting and sinful, Mr Houvenaghel, to be utilising a building which was once a place of worship for such an immoral, inhuman and disgusting practice! Animals also feel, Mr Houvenaghel! They also have their dignity! It's a crime to set animal against animal for the amusement of the common folk in the name of profit!'
'Calm yourself, you pious fellow! And don't meddle in my private enterprise! In any case, no animal shall be baited today. Not a single one! Exclusively people!'
'Oh. Then I do beg your pardon.'
Your vision is a world where people are afraid to venture out after dark; not for fear of cut-throats, but off the guardians of public order. For, after all, the result of all great crackdowns on miscreants is always that the miscreants enter the ranks of the guardians of public order en masse.
'What do you think ought to add to the painting?'
'Draw huge, erect phalluses on the primitive hunters.'
'Will I get Ciri back?'
The answer was immediate.
'You will. Only to lose her at once. And to be clear: forever; irrevocably. Before it comes to that, you will lose everybody who accompanies you. You will lose one of your companions in the next few weeks, perhaps even days. Perhaps even hours.'
'Thank you.'
'I haven't finished yet. The direct effect of your interference in the grinding querns of the Purpose and the Plan will be the death of tens of thousands of people. Which, as a matter of fact, doesn't matter much, since soon after, tens of millions of people will lose their lives. The world as you know it will simply vanish, cease to exist, in order – after a suitable time has passed – to revive in a totally different form. But in fact no one has, nor will have, any influence on it, no one is capable of preventing it nor staving off the course of events. Not you, not l, not sorcerers nor Sages. Not even Ciri. What do you say to that?'
'Purple bison.'
felt like it was kinda misery porn
'It's revolting! Revolting and sinful, Mr Houvenaghel, to be utilising a building which was once a place of worship for such an immoral, inhuman and disgusting practice! Animals also feel, Mr Houvenaghel! They also have their dignity! It's a crime to set animal against animal for the amusement of the common folk in the name of profit!'
'Calm yourself, you pious fellow! And don't meddle in my private enterprise! In any case, no animal shall be baited today. Not a single one! Exclusively people!'
'Oh. Then I do beg your pardon.'
Your vision is a world where people are afraid to venture out after dark; not for fear of cut-throats, but off the guardians of public order. For, after all, the result of all great crackdowns on miscreants is always that the miscreants enter the ranks of the guardians of public order en masse.
'What do you think ought to add to the painting?'
'Draw huge, erect phalluses on the primitive hunters.'
'Will I get Ciri back?'
The answer was immediate.
'You will. Only to lose her at once. And to be clear: forever; irrevocably. Before it comes to that, you will lose everybody who accompanies you. You will lose one of your companions in the next few weeks, perhaps even days. Perhaps even hours.'
'Thank you.'
'I haven't finished yet. The direct effect of your interference in the grinding querns of the Purpose and the Plan will be the death of tens of thousands of people. Which, as a matter of fact, doesn't matter much, since soon after, tens of millions of people will lose their lives. The world as you know it will simply vanish, cease to exist, in order – after a suitable time has passed – to revive in a totally different form. But in fact no one has, nor will have, any influence on it, no one is capable of preventing it nor staving off the course of events. Not you, not l, not sorcerers nor Sages. Not even Ciri. What do you say to that?'
'Purple bison.'
felt like it was kinda misery porn
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical trauma, and Murder
Moderate: Drug use, Pedophilia, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Miscarriage, Rape, Vomit, and Abandonment
chronographia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
You’re going to want a map. Seriously, a map; there’s a lot of traveling from here to there and back again. Put a marker in the book and go google the map.
I find it interesting that the author starts using different cadencing and storytelling frameworks to set the various storylines apart. This is useful up to a point, but you are also likely to want a flowchart of characters and events. It’s repeatedly emphasized that this is all running to a particular schedule, with significant dates to mark the pace. Even though the storylines are broadly independent in their flow, still their actions (and inactions) have effects that ripple throughout. It can be tricky to see how they all sync up together, but the author indicates that this is important, so maybe take some notes.
PS: Cahir is unexpectedly growing on me.
I find it interesting that the author starts using different cadencing and storytelling frameworks to set the various storylines apart. This is useful up to a point, but you are also likely to want a flowchart of characters and events. It’s repeatedly emphasized that this is all running to a particular schedule, with significant dates to mark the pace. Even though the storylines are broadly independent in their flow, still their actions (and inactions) have effects that ripple throughout. It can be tricky to see how they all sync up together, but the author indicates that this is important, so maybe take some notes.
PS: Cahir is unexpectedly growing on me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Homophobia, Sexual content, Slavery, Xenophobia, and Vomit