yoav's review against another edition
2.0
This is the third book in the "brilliance" trilogy. If you made it through the second novel which was bad you have good news and bad news: the good news, this book is better then the second. The bad news: this is not a good book. Yes, the idea of the series is fantastic. Yes, it is thrilling at times and the action parts are written well. But it is written in fire or more exactly drowning in an endless mumbo jambo, every thought or a feeling that a catcher has, is describe in length, as a flashback to the past that is basically summering everything that was happening previously (is Natalie frightened, it can't be, she was a brave girl, but then she got married, had children her ex did this and that so no she isn't afraid for her self but that her kids won't have a mom - and this go on for three pages!). One of the characters is gifted in a way that every second for us feels to him as 11 seconds - Reading this book might be torture for him. Happy this saga ended (and don't get me started talking about the end). This series of three books could have been shortened in to two, not very long books but thrilling one. If you know how to skim or have a lot of patients, you might enjoy it after all.
mosaik's review against another edition
5.0
Such a great trilogy! I'm enjoying some more 'near-future' sci-fi and, having recently lived near DC and in the US, I was able to put myself in a lot of the locations. The pace is fast and there's lots of action - it's destined to be made into a movie or series, I'm sure.
jobatkin's review against another edition
2.0
I quite liked the premise for this series - 1 percent of the population developing brilliant abilities - but each book just seems to outdo the last in graphic violence and war and monstrosity and horror. This book in particular had much less about any brilliant abilities and was almost all about fighting and war machinations. I finished it for the sake of the rest of the series but didn't enjoy it much. Well written and certainly not bad but overly American and not really my thing.
rora114's review against another edition
4.0
A really good final installment in the Brilliance Saga. I'm so glad I stumbled on this series!
greebytime's review
4.0
As the final part of the Brilliance trilogy - something i discovered only courtesy of NetGalley, which provided me with all three books that I devoured in a row - Written in Fire is an extremely satisfying conclusion to the series. They are based on "our" world - with the exception that in the 1980's, about 1% of children born going forward were considered 'abnorms' - that is, genetically brilliant in ways that gave them huge advantageous. This inevitably leads to a confrontation between these 'abnorms' or 'twists' and "normal people."
I really liked how Sakey veered away from both tried and true tropes with subjects like this, as well as avoided being too preachy about the obvious allegories between the way any privileged majority looks at new, 'strange' new minority groups. (The point comes across without feeling as if it is being shouted down from Mount Pious.)
It's a very satisfying and engaging conclusion .. with the only complaint I have is that at the very end, it resulted in a few pages of "and here's how all the other loose ends were tied up and resolved" that was likely necessary for space (and also because it wouldn't have been as interesting to play out after the events that preceded it)....but it felt a bit lazy and rushed.
Marcus Sakey has written a LOT of terrifically engaging books and this is no exception. I really recommend the series - even if, like me, you're not particularly drawn to sci-fi or fantasy. It's well worth your time.
I really liked how Sakey veered away from both tried and true tropes with subjects like this, as well as avoided being too preachy about the obvious allegories between the way any privileged majority looks at new, 'strange' new minority groups. (The point comes across without feeling as if it is being shouted down from Mount Pious.)
It's a very satisfying and engaging conclusion .. with the only complaint I have is that at the very end, it resulted in a few pages of "and here's how all the other loose ends were tied up and resolved" that was likely necessary for space (and also because it wouldn't have been as interesting to play out after the events that preceded it)....but it felt a bit lazy and rushed.
Marcus Sakey has written a LOT of terrifically engaging books and this is no exception. I really recommend the series - even if, like me, you're not particularly drawn to sci-fi or fantasy. It's well worth your time.
katkeyes's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed the series as a whole. More than the conclusions to other similar series.
davekan's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent read and a great conclusion to the trilogy... The characters were all well fleshed out and I enjoyed being in their world
teanahk's review against another edition
3.0
An ok finish to the series. Book two was probably the best of the bunch.
imzadirose's review against another edition
4.0
Received from NetGalley for my honest review.
Review to come.
Review to come.
pbarish18's review against another edition
5.0
Stuck the landing on the end of the trilogy. Fleshed characters out even further and gave them more purpose. The plot was smooth and nothing seemed unexplainable, but there were still bits I didn’t necessarily see coming. Love that there is room remaining for him to explore the subject.