storytimed's review against another edition
3.0
Finally picks up! Blessing is kind of awful and the Ashioi never quite gelled for me, but I did like Sanglant's shenanigans. And Hanna and Sorgatani are super cute and should date.
kittenscribble's review against another edition
3.0
Fantasy, sixth in the Crown of Stars series. A bridge between the cataclysmic events of the fifth and the conclusions to be drawn in the seventh. The book is quite a doorstopper but Elliott has created so many characters that she ends up spending hundreds of pages catching up on where all of them are now. Good writing as usual but it seems that readers must wait for the seventh book for anything to actually happen.
snazel's review against another edition
Roommate: Why are you making that noise?
Me: My book!
Roommate: Ah-huh?
Me: Everything is happening! It's all terrible! Heresy! Nothing good! I love everyone!
Roommate: Huh.
Me: I love everyone! Except Hugh and Antonia and You and oh GOD so many people.
Roommate: *eyebrows raised* Huh.
Me: My book!
Roommate: Ah-huh?
Me: Everything is happening! It's all terrible! Heresy! Nothing good! I love everyone!
Roommate: Huh.
Me: I love everyone! Except Hugh and Antonia and You and oh GOD so many people.
Roommate: *eyebrows raised* Huh.
vaderbird's review against another edition
2.0
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
dark_reader's review against another edition
3.0
This is the first volume in this series that failed to win me over, but you have to take it with a grain of salt because it was not intended as a discrete book. [a:Kate Elliott|8660|Kate Elliott|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1418093298p2/8660.jpg] wrote her heart out to bring her characters and world to their natural conclusion, but her publisher balked at the 430,000 word count, citing physical printing limitations, and Elliott made the agonizing decision to split the book in two, rather than make significant cuts. If only today's book binding technology were available fifteen years earlier! Because it can be done. (I'm looking at you, Stormlight archive with your 1300+ page cinder blocks.) And I find myself wondering if it were truly not possible at the time; Stephen King's uncut [b:The Stand|149267|The Stand|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1213131305l/149267._SX50_.jpg|1742269] was 1153 pages in 1990. The page count for In the Ruins plus [b:Crown of Stars|21059|Crown of Stars (Crown of Stars, #7)|Kate Elliott|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1570613398l/21059._SY75_.jpg|3333408], as first published, would have been under that. Was it simply that the publisher didn't want to put it out this way? I doubt this; I trust the accounts of the process from the author and publisher.
All of the players on the stage find themselves literally in the ruins caused by the events of the prior book, and they struggle to regain their footing in a changed landscape. With multiple changes of fortune, at a couple of points the plot felt slightly forced, as certain parties were moved around, often through off-screen action. For the first time in the series, and only once or twice, I conscioulsy felt the author playing puppetmaster, maneuvering characters into position for whatever final fate awaits them. Some characters had very little time on the page, such as Stronghand and Rosita (I think I'm getting her name wrong at the moment), and I found myself missing them. Hugh, that gorgeous slippery evil bastard, got plenty of exposure. I can't wait for him to (please) die.
Because it is in truth only half a book, In the Ruins suffers in comparison to its prequels. Most tellingly, it lacks a climax. Theoretically it could have been revised to add an extra power punch at this mid-way point, but I appreciate that neither Elliott nor her editors tried to change the story at this point. It was written as a complete tale, and I eagerly anticipate the final portion of this saga.
All of the players on the stage find themselves literally in the ruins caused by the events of the prior book, and they struggle to regain their footing in a changed landscape. With multiple changes of fortune, at a couple of points the plot felt slightly forced, as certain parties were moved around, often through off-screen action. For the first time in the series, and only once or twice, I conscioulsy felt the author playing puppetmaster, maneuvering characters into position for whatever final fate awaits them. Some characters had very little time on the page, such as Stronghand and Rosita (I think I'm getting her name wrong at the moment), and I found myself missing them. Hugh, that gorgeous slippery evil bastard, got plenty of exposure. I can't wait for him to (please) die.
Because it is in truth only half a book, In the Ruins suffers in comparison to its prequels. Most tellingly, it lacks a climax. Theoretically it could have been revised to add an extra power punch at this mid-way point, but I appreciate that neither Elliott nor her editors tried to change the story at this point. It was written as a complete tale, and I eagerly anticipate the final portion of this saga.
dotsonapage's review against another edition
4.0
The sixth book in Kate Elliott's expansive and often overly-complicated Crown of Stars series. I enjoyed it, though I disliked the utter lack of Alain appearances through most of the first part of the book. Some of the storylines can drag at times, especially those involving Biscop Antonia and Ivar, but most of the time there's enough action and drama going on to keep you interested. Not a good book to read as a stand-alone, but as a part of the series it's excellent.
bookworm5732's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
dearbhla's review
3.0
The first time I read King’s Dragon, the first book of this series I wasn’t all that impressed. But for some reason I reread it.
And on my second reading I enjoyed it a lot more. But that was more than a few years, and as seems to happen, the Crown of Stars series has ended up a much longer series than it started out. This is book six, the penultimate in the series.
I probably should have reread the others before reading this one, but I remembered most of what had gone on, if not the exact details. In the Ruins begins with the world in the aftermath of destruction, as the lost lands of the Cursed Ones have returned to earth. There have been great destructive waves, and volcanoes. And now the ash is blotting out the sunlight. Not only is the natural world in upheaval but the various political factions are still plotting against one another. And in the midst of all this Hugh is still after Liath.
This is a fairly solid read. Nothing overly special to recommend it, but nothing to really complain about, apart from the amount of characters and having to keep track of them all. Not enough Sanglant, you’ll say, or maybe not enough Alain, depending on who your favourite character may be.
Readable. But, perhaps because this is really one half of a very, very long book, there is not a lot of action. I’ll read on in the series before I make my mind up totally.
And on my second reading I enjoyed it a lot more. But that was more than a few years, and as seems to happen, the Crown of Stars series has ended up a much longer series than it started out. This is book six, the penultimate in the series.
I probably should have reread the others before reading this one, but I remembered most of what had gone on, if not the exact details. In the Ruins begins with the world in the aftermath of destruction, as the lost lands of the Cursed Ones have returned to earth. There have been great destructive waves, and volcanoes. And now the ash is blotting out the sunlight. Not only is the natural world in upheaval but the various political factions are still plotting against one another. And in the midst of all this Hugh is still after Liath.
This is a fairly solid read. Nothing overly special to recommend it, but nothing to really complain about, apart from the amount of characters and having to keep track of them all. Not enough Sanglant, you’ll say, or maybe not enough Alain, depending on who your favourite character may be.
Readable. But, perhaps because this is really one half of a very, very long book, there is not a lot of action. I’ll read on in the series before I make my mind up totally.
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