Not sure how much more bluntly I can put it. I implore anyone with any decent sense, please don’t read this book. There are much better dark fantasy novels with anti-hero archetypes out there. This is just bad

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jz_the9th's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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gladelein's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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forestghost's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Overall, this book was alright. I liked the main character Jorg for the most part; he had a distinct voice and an interesting enough backstory. Unfortunately, the other characters were not fleshed out to the same extent. In fact, most of them barely mattered at all and it was hard to care about them because they were just there. Jorg himself merely considered them pawns, and this was definitely reflected by the narrative. I think it would've been possible to give the side characters a bit more depth even while portraying that they are of little importance to Jorg.

The one thing I have nothing positive to say about is the plot. Most of the time, I had no idea what was going on, what Jorg was trying to accomplish or why I should even care about what he was up to at any given moment. It felt like Lawrence made the plot up as he went along - which is fine, some people just write like that, but the book could've greatly benefited from one more edit to make sure that all of the plot points are tied together more cohesively. As it was, it felt like the book simply jumped from scene to scene.

The world building was confusing to me, too. Many things that should have been established from the beginning were brought up much too casually halfway through the book, such as the clear confirmation that magic is real. Maybe I'm a bit spoiled by Sanderson's way of writing magic (which is absolutely brilliant), but I felt the book lacked any sort of explanation regarding its magic system. Even after finishing it, I don't know what magic can do, what it's limited to, etc.

Spoiler

The necromancers were introduced pretty much out of nowhere, too, and again, we learn nothing about them, except that they can control people? Maybe?

That aside, there were other aspects of the world building that I disliked, simply because they were not expanded on. The world seemed to be mostly based on the real one, as several philosophers were mentioned and Christianity exists, but it almost feels like those references are just thrown into the book to give that sort of medieval feeling that the author thought a fantasy book should have. Hopefully Lawrence dedicates some more time to the lore in the other books.

But, as I said, the book wasn't bad. It definitely wasn't great, and I'm not sure if I'd even recommend it, but I didn't hate it. I'll definitely read the other books to see how the story continues.

TL;DR: The main character is interesting and it's a fairly quick read. On the other hand, the secondary characters are not very interesting, the plot is not cohesive and hard to follow, the world building is lacking.

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frogbone's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-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

5.0

i think some of the reviews are missing the forest for the trees here - this protagonist isn't an edgy teen, he's a full-on sociopath. if you're not comfortable with inhabiting the mind of a genuinely bad person a la the works of Joe Abercrombie, you're going to have a bad time.

if you're cool with that, there's much here to enjoy. the writing is brisk and compelling, and i liked the buried lede that the setting

Spoiler

is not a fantasy realm, but a post-apocalyptic Earth that has simply been bombed out of their ability to read thumb drives.

the ending has a finality that makes this a pretty quality solo read, and i'd argue that the sequels end up being a little listless because of it.

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lia_kim's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I love the story bit hate the character

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