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fabioethics's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
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
kalika22's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-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
5.0
Such amazing world building. Thankfully there are three more books in this series or I would be having a breakdown.
neolutionist's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I genuinely don't understand how I didn't love this book, and it makes me really sad. I feel like such a hater because everybody loves this book, and I geniunly wanted for this to be my new favorite series, but I have to be honest with myself and accept that I didn't enjoy it. The rating is purely based on my experience with the book and not the quality of it, because I recognize it's a well written book.
I thought the premise was really interesing and the idea of going through different levels of the tower and learning about each of them was going to be so much fun, but it wasn't. I just felt so bored reading this book, and I'm usually not someone who needs a lot of action to be entertained. After pondering for a bit, I think I know what my problems were with this book.
I think the biggest thing that kept me from enjoying this book was the main character. I found him to be very dull and not that interesting. At the very beginning I wasn't even sure if I believed he was in love with his wife because of the way he talked about her and their relationship. I know that the character is supposed to be very reserved and introverted, and maybe I'm just not used to reading main characters like that, but the way the story was narrated was just not interesting to me. Senlin just felt boring to me.
Also, I felt no sense of urgency.Obviously it's going to take a long time for him to find his wife, but there's so many side plots that I wasn't even remotely interested in. I know all these extra things are important to find Mayra, but I just couldn't be bothered to care about them.
It's weird because I want to read the next one, just to give it one last chance and hopefully I will enjoy this series (now knowing about the characters and managing my expectations a bit more). But I don't know if I can/should push myself through the sequel, knowing I didn't enjoy this one. I guess only time will tell!
I thought the premise was really interesing and the idea of going through different levels of the tower and learning about each of them was going to be so much fun, but it wasn't. I just felt so bored reading this book, and I'm usually not someone who needs a lot of action to be entertained. After pondering for a bit, I think I know what my problems were with this book.
I think the biggest thing that kept me from enjoying this book was the main character. I found him to be very dull and not that interesting. At the very beginning I wasn't even sure if I believed he was in love with his wife because of the way he talked about her and their relationship. I know that the character is supposed to be very reserved and introverted, and maybe I'm just not used to reading main characters like that, but the way the story was narrated was just not interesting to me. Senlin just felt boring to me.
Also, I felt no sense of urgency.
It's weird because I want to read the next one, just to give it one last chance and hopefully I will enjoy this series (now knowing about the characters and managing my expectations a bit more). But I don't know if I can/should push myself through the sequel, knowing I didn't enjoy this one. I guess only time will tell!
lbosch's review against another edition
adventurous
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? Yes
4.5
I wasn’t sure if I was going to stick with the book when I first started, but I’m really glad I did. I enjoyed Senlin’s character development, and the further expansion of the world he found himself in. Looking forward to keeping on reading.
Not a spoiler really. Towards the end, I kept imagining everyone as anime characters. Just kinda a funny quirk for me
smallneen's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
mustarastas's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
lizziestudieshistory's review against another edition
4.0
3.75 stars
I liked this one! It has a lot of potential for a weird, wacky, and swashbuckling series. However, it reads like a debut novel. The balance between plot, character, and worldbuilding isn't quite right and it really shows in places where there's lulls.
Thomas Senlin is a great lead character. He starts out as a naive, fussy headmaster who struggles to show how much he loves his eccentric, outgoing wife. Yet, after she goes missing in the Tower of Babel and he starts to climb after her, he learns and adapts to the cutthroat world of the Tower's Ringdoms. He's a bit of a stereotype but I don't really care because he's done well and is compelling (most of the time) to read about.
However, as compelling as Senlin is, he's not enough to carry the whole novel. He can, especially early on be really boring (I struggled a lot with him in the first part!) And this is only exacerbated by the lack of permanent secondary characters, we meet a new cast in almost every floor of the Tower until suddenly everyone is inexplicably brought together in the final chapters. Some of these characters I really liked, Iren and Edith in particular are so interesting in their own rights. Edith perhaps more so than Iren but I have a soft spot for Iren's character type...! We needed more from these other characters and not just focus on Senlin all the time. I have a feeling this will happen more in the following books though.
The plot in this one is slow to unravel, and we're clearly only touching the tip of the iceberg. There's treachery everywhere, nothing is as it seems, and everything is connected. Some of it felt far too easy and convenient, particularly that Senlin HAPPENED to bump into Tarrou and Ogier in the Baths... It stretched the realms of plausibility too far, same with Edith's reappearance in part three. For a book that has a central theme of how difficult it is to find the person you're looking for, Senlin manages to find people A LOT. Admittedly though not his wife...
The central mystery is intriguing and I definitely want to read the rest of the series, I just hope things continue more along the lines of part three (consistent characters and actually having a plot) and revert back to part two which dragged for a lot of its page count. I really struggled when Senlin was just wafting about the Baths... Also a few less fight scenes would be nice, I'm fed up of people just punching Senlin with no real point to it, he makes for a lousy action hero!
What really makes this book shine is the worldbuilding - the Tower of Babel is a monstrosity full of danger, lies, and criminal activity. Each Ringdom is completely different and all of them are out to get you. You need to experience the sheer nonsensical drama of each floor - whether it's the steampunk Victorian docks of New Babel or the living theatre of the Parlour. Nothing makes sense and reading the developments can make you feel like you're on a bad drug trip, in the best possible way. Sometimes the worldbuilding did feel a bit gimmicky but when we reached the end explanation in Senlin's theory for how things worked it clicked into place!
Overall, it was an entertaining read, there are definitely flaws in it but nothing that can't be ironed out in later novels! I'm intrigued and will hopefully get around to the rest of the series soon.
I liked this one! It has a lot of potential for a weird, wacky, and swashbuckling series. However, it reads like a debut novel. The balance between plot, character, and worldbuilding isn't quite right and it really shows in places where there's lulls.
Thomas Senlin is a great lead character. He starts out as a naive, fussy headmaster who struggles to show how much he loves his eccentric, outgoing wife. Yet, after she goes missing in the Tower of Babel and he starts to climb after her, he learns and adapts to the cutthroat world of the Tower's Ringdoms. He's a bit of a stereotype but I don't really care because he's done well and is compelling (most of the time) to read about.
However, as compelling as Senlin is, he's not enough to carry the whole novel. He can, especially early on be really boring (I struggled a lot with him in the first part!) And this is only exacerbated by the lack of permanent secondary characters, we meet a new cast in almost every floor of the Tower until suddenly everyone is inexplicably brought together in the final chapters. Some of these characters I really liked, Iren and Edith in particular are so interesting in their own rights. Edith perhaps more so than Iren but I have a soft spot for Iren's character type...! We needed more from these other characters and not just focus on Senlin all the time. I have a feeling this will happen more in the following books though.
The plot in this one is slow to unravel, and we're clearly only touching the tip of the iceberg. There's treachery everywhere, nothing is as it seems, and everything is connected. Some of it felt far too easy and convenient, particularly that Senlin HAPPENED to bump into Tarrou and Ogier in the Baths... It stretched the realms of plausibility too far, same with Edith's reappearance in part three. For a book that has a central theme of how difficult it is to find the person you're looking for, Senlin manages to find people A LOT. Admittedly though not his wife...
The central mystery is intriguing and I definitely want to read the rest of the series, I just hope things continue more along the lines of part three (consistent characters and actually having a plot) and revert back to part two which dragged for a lot of its page count. I really struggled when Senlin was just wafting about the Baths... Also a few less fight scenes would be nice, I'm fed up of people just punching Senlin with no real point to it, he makes for a lousy action hero!
What really makes this book shine is the worldbuilding - the Tower of Babel is a monstrosity full of danger, lies, and criminal activity. Each Ringdom is completely different and all of them are out to get you. You need to experience the sheer nonsensical drama of each floor - whether it's the steampunk Victorian docks of New Babel or the living theatre of the Parlour. Nothing makes sense and reading the developments can make you feel like you're on a bad drug trip, in the best possible way. Sometimes the worldbuilding did feel a bit gimmicky but when we reached the end explanation in Senlin's theory for how things worked it clicked into place!
Overall, it was an entertaining read, there are definitely flaws in it but nothing that can't be ironed out in later novels! I'm intrigued and will hopefully get around to the rest of the series soon.