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crypticspren's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
This was a very solid 4.5 star read. I was hesitant going into it as the book is narrated from the point of view of Owen's daughter, several years after the events of the third book. Other series that have done this weren't very successful for me, particularly books like the Selection. I expected this to be a dry attempt to keep the series going. However, I was very very wrong.
The book begins with Trynn, Owen's daughter, suffering a horrible attack that leaves her permanently disfigured. Over the next few chapters, the book jumps forwards a few years and we settle during the time period when Trynn is 15, almost 16.
First and foremost, I felt that the paralysis was approached with dignity and Trynn was a strong person regardless of her injuries, instead of because of them or in spite of them. I appreciated that Trynn's character development only ever grazed her injury and she was an individual entirely separate from it.
I enjoyed seeing how Owen had grown too, and his relationships with previously powerful characters like Severn. Despite being a continuation of the previous books, it didn't feel like a "spin off" at all and I grew invested in new characters like Trynn and Falon very quickly.
As always, Wheeler's writing is fantastic and the atmosphere he conjures is hair-raisingly good. I slammed my kindle down a few times in pure shock and had to take a moment to process. I enjoyed this instalment of the series and now need to go and get the next one!
The book begins with Trynn, Owen's daughter, suffering a horrible attack that leaves her permanently disfigured. Over the next few chapters, the book jumps forwards a few years and we settle during the time period when Trynn is 15, almost 16.
First and foremost, I felt that the paralysis was approached with dignity and Trynn was a strong person regardless of her injuries, instead of because of them or in spite of them. I appreciated that Trynn's character development only ever grazed her injury and she was an individual entirely separate from it.
I enjoyed seeing how Owen had grown too, and his relationships with previously powerful characters like Severn. Despite being a continuation of the previous books, it didn't feel like a "spin off" at all and I grew invested in new characters like Trynn and Falon very quickly.
As always, Wheeler's writing is fantastic and the atmosphere he conjures is hair-raisingly good. I slammed my kindle down a few times in pure shock and had to take a moment to process. I enjoyed this instalment of the series and now need to go and get the next one!
nerdybookreview's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
smurfle's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
wayfaring_witch's review against another edition
4.0
The series shifts to the next generation in The Hollow Crown. It lost some of my interest in the end when the big bad seems a bit uninteresting, but hopefully it will all be explored in the rest of the series.
agruenbaum's review against another edition
3.0
More a 3.5. Finishing the series, but it is not as good as others I have enjoyed.
kerttuli's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
habeasopus's review against another edition
3.0
More of the same from Jeff Wheeler on his Kingfountain series, but the same is pretty good!
laurelrose's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
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
5.0
secre's review against another edition
2.0
So the focus on the children just didn't quite work for me. Neither did the reliance on prophecy related tellings and Fountain given gifts to push the story along. For the first point, the children are simply not as interesting as their parents. None of their characters gripped me in the same way and made me feel as though I had to be part of their story. This is perhaps because having spent three books with the parents they are, quite understandably, the focus of my attention... but they are not the authors.
On my second point, there was far less of a reliance on people figuring things out for themselves; it is replaced by knowledge from the Fountain, or visions of the future. This really impacted on the character development as Wheeler no longer uses the Fountain to supplement his characters but actively changes his characters based on generic data dumps from either the Fountain or the visions. Whereas the Fountain gifts had previously been used with subtlety, here there was all the tact and subtlety of an adolescent moose.
It's a lazy way of writing in short. In all of the previous novels, the people were more important than the powers. Here, the power changes the person completely. If you want your character to become a superb swordsman, then let her learn and train and damn well earn it... instead of getting to a middling level and then going the Fountain grants you awesomeness. It's a tactic that drives me mad when it is overly relied on, and it is relied on far too much here. There isn't any cleverness or wiliness to the characters and nobody has to work to get better at anything; the Fountain provides. There isn't any other description than this is lazy writing. This novel is the story of an author who has figured out how he can make a few more bucks from a story without being heavily invested in the characters. It reads in the way I would anticipate mediocre fanfiction to read, rather than a serious entry in a continued series.
My final issue is that the story stops halfway through. Essentially you could condense the first half the book and then whatever the sequel is to be - and there is definitely no. 5, no doubt about that - it should be the same book. This just stops rather than finishes and it shouldn't which is once more a sign of an author whose heart simply isn't in it. It leaves the story unfinished, closing on an inhale rather than an exhale. It's not even a proper cliff hanger, it just stops and leaves you dangling rather than hanging.
On my second point, there was far less of a reliance on people figuring things out for themselves; it is replaced by knowledge from the Fountain, or visions of the future. This really impacted on the character development as Wheeler no longer uses the Fountain to supplement his characters but actively changes his characters based on generic data dumps from either the Fountain or the visions. Whereas the Fountain gifts had previously been used with subtlety, here there was all the tact and subtlety of an adolescent moose.
It's a lazy way of writing in short. In all of the previous novels, the people were more important than the powers. Here, the power changes the person completely. If you want your character to become a superb swordsman, then let her learn and train and damn well earn it... instead of getting to a middling level and then going the Fountain grants you awesomeness. It's a tactic that drives me mad when it is overly relied on, and it is relied on far too much here. There isn't any cleverness or wiliness to the characters and nobody has to work to get better at anything; the Fountain provides. There isn't any other description than this is lazy writing. This novel is the story of an author who has figured out how he can make a few more bucks from a story without being heavily invested in the characters. It reads in the way I would anticipate mediocre fanfiction to read, rather than a serious entry in a continued series.
My final issue is that the story stops halfway through. Essentially you could condense the first half the book and then whatever the sequel is to be - and there is definitely no. 5, no doubt about that - it should be the same book. This just stops rather than finishes and it shouldn't which is once more a sign of an author whose heart simply isn't in it. It leaves the story unfinished, closing on an inhale rather than an exhale. It's not even a proper cliff hanger, it just stops and leaves you dangling rather than hanging.