birdkeeperklink's review against another edition
1.0
This is packaged as a trilogy, and I only read the first book. Still, I think that's enough to give a fair assessment of my opinion--if it's not, then it shouldn't be marketed as a trilogy.
I did not like this. At all. However, it didn't really tick me off...I just felt like it was a waste of time and I shouldn't have bothered.
The characters seemed very flat and uninteresting--since I didn't get invested, this caused me to be bored rather than angry. Of course, this was probably a misstep on the author's part, and opening with really should have warned me of how gross this book was going to be, since it was described in detail, but it also prevented me from getting too attached to any of the characters. I remained guarded, taking it as a warning that anybody could die at any time. While it's good to give your readers a heads-up that the book isn't going to be all sunshine and roses, you also don't want to create too much of an emotional barrier, because then what happened to me might happen: I just chose not to care so I wouldn't get hurt. Of course, the fact that the characters were so very flat definitely helped me along, as there wasn't much to care about. We're told about them thinking and crying because of their troubles, but their arcs really meandered without much reason.
The dragons were also problematic, in my opinion. All the writing advice books and blogs and columns will tell you to give your heroes and creatures (in this case, they are heroic creatures) flaws and weaknesses to keep them from being too invincible, thereby removing any suspense from the story. It's true that stories where the dragon comes along and easily curb-stomps everyone are awesome but dull. However, I felt that this book went too far the other way--I was rolling my eyes at points because being a weredragon seemed to automatically make you wussy and easily defeated. The characters were talking about how strong they were and how only they could defeat the demons, and meanwhile, I was wondering just how in the world that could be when arrows could easily take them out, and humans in groups larger than three seemed to handle them with little effort. They have so many weaknesses and limitations that it removed the cool by making them pretty decorations. When fights came along where they were finally winning (ish), I didn't believe it and assumed their enemies were fragile morons, or else the heroes got lucky.
The plot itself was halting and episodic, and...it was really just too dark for my tastes. I'm not into the new grimdark trend that's out there right now--I'm easily prey to Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy, and this is a perfect example. I just couldn't care after the first couple of times of everything going wrong every time you turn around. Things should be hard for the hero, yes--they should have to work for their goals, and not have everything just handed to them--BUT things should occasionally go right, too. You need bright spots in the darkness or there's nothing to hold onto. I have no reason to care when I come to the conclusion that, like a horror movie, there will be either one or zero survivors, because nothing good ever happens to them, so why should the end be different?
The descriptions also delighted in gore and horrific imagery and Eldritch Abominations entirely too much for my taste. I'm not into that stuff. If you are, then it probably won't bother you, but it definitely detracted from my reading experience and led to me skimming when he started describing yet another group of demons.
To be honest, there was only one minor frustrating aspect, and that was that, before the demons showed up, I thought this had potential. As a character study and an examination of the mentalities that lead to witch hunts, it would have worked beautifully. self-loathing leading to the attempted genocide of a group of people considers 'diseased' would have been really, really interesting. But nope--instead, we got demons. I guess I should have expected that, but I didn't take the title 'Demon King' in the summaries of the other two books seriously, or rather, I assumed it meant he was going to undergo some kind of transformation himself, not call on a horde of demons.
But oh, well. On to other things.
I did not like this. At all. However, it didn't really tick me off...I just felt like it was a waste of time and I shouldn't have bothered.
The characters seemed very flat and uninteresting--since I didn't get invested, this caused me to be bored rather than angry. Of course, this was probably a misstep on the author's part, and opening with
Spoiler
a woman getting burned at the stakeThe dragons were also problematic, in my opinion. All the writing advice books and blogs and columns will tell you to give your heroes and creatures (in this case, they are heroic creatures) flaws and weaknesses to keep them from being too invincible, thereby removing any suspense from the story. It's true that stories where the dragon comes along and easily curb-stomps everyone are awesome but dull. However, I felt that this book went too far the other way--I was rolling my eyes at points because being a weredragon seemed to automatically make you wussy and easily defeated. The characters were talking about how strong they were and how only they could defeat the demons, and meanwhile, I was wondering just how in the world that could be when arrows could easily take them out, and humans in groups larger than three seemed to handle them with little effort. They have so many weaknesses and limitations that it removed the cool by making them pretty decorations. When fights came along where they were finally winning (ish), I didn't believe it and assumed their enemies were fragile morons, or else the heroes got lucky.
The plot itself was halting and episodic, and...it was really just too dark for my tastes. I'm not into the new grimdark trend that's out there right now--I'm easily prey to Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy, and this is a perfect example. I just couldn't care after the first couple of times of everything going wrong every time you turn around. Things should be hard for the hero, yes--they should have to work for their goals, and not have everything just handed to them--BUT things should occasionally go right, too. You need bright spots in the darkness or there's nothing to hold onto. I have no reason to care when I come to the conclusion that, like a horror movie, there will be either one or zero survivors, because nothing good ever happens to them, so why should the end be different?
The descriptions also delighted in gore and horrific imagery and Eldritch Abominations entirely too much for my taste. I'm not into that stuff. If you are, then it probably won't bother you, but it definitely detracted from my reading experience and led to me skimming when he started describing yet another group of demons.
To be honest, there was only one minor frustrating aspect, and that was that, before the demons showed up, I thought this had potential. As a character study and an examination of the mentalities that lead to witch hunts, it would have worked beautifully.
Spoiler
Raem'sSpoiler
heBut oh, well. On to other things.
lordsith77's review
5.0
Loved this story. I bought all of the omnibus versions of the entire set, and read this first (reading them in chronological order. The birth of Requiem is an amazing tale. I was on the edge of my seat at times. Other times, laughing out loud, or crying. Excellent story, and characters. Just a well done story. Loved it. Now on to the next trilogy. :-)
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