errantdreams's review
5.0
The world-building is lovely. The Elves are relatively inhuman, and that does show. The characters have depth, even Chayan’s grandfather, Erimar, who hates the Elves who enchanted his son. Even Maradon, who’s a madman, has some nice detail to him. The fights and battles are exciting. I was a little surprised that we didn’t see Chayan learn to use his magic more, particularly since it seems so strong–it felt like a dropped plot thread.
There’s a character who earns Maradon’s enmity to an extremely strong degree, and the punishment Maradon comes up with seems extremely out of character for him, although convenient for the story. I can’t buy into the idea that Maradon would do anything other than visit an extremely painful and personal revenge upon this person. There were one or two other small details that didn’t quite add up, but they weren’t that big a deal.
There is a sexual assault and attempted rape (of a man) in here, so be aware of that.
If you’re looking for a one-book not-hyper-complex men-and-Elves fantasy, The Halfblood War is a great option. One reason I don’t often pick up fantasy is because you often can’t be sure what you’re getting into, how many books there’ll be, or how long it’ll take for the next book to come out. And you don’t always want to have to memorize hundreds of names and dozens of races. This volume makes a nice, compact read that’s quite enjoyable.
Consider my rating a 4.5
Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2018/11/review-the-halfblood-war-l-deni-colter/
There’s a character who earns Maradon’s enmity to an extremely strong degree, and the punishment Maradon comes up with seems extremely out of character for him, although convenient for the story. I can’t buy into the idea that Maradon would do anything other than visit an extremely painful and personal revenge upon this person. There were one or two other small details that didn’t quite add up, but they weren’t that big a deal.
There is a sexual assault and attempted rape (of a man) in here, so be aware of that.
If you’re looking for a one-book not-hyper-complex men-and-Elves fantasy, The Halfblood War is a great option. One reason I don’t often pick up fantasy is because you often can’t be sure what you’re getting into, how many books there’ll be, or how long it’ll take for the next book to come out. And you don’t always want to have to memorize hundreds of names and dozens of races. This volume makes a nice, compact read that’s quite enjoyable.
Consider my rating a 4.5
Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2018/11/review-the-halfblood-war-l-deni-colter/
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