midnightblitz's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
bigbear73's review
5.0
Brent is rapidly turning himself into one of my favorite authors. I fell in love with many of the characters, and the story always keeps the pages turning.
books_in_the_clouds's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
kodermike's review
4.0
Weeks is awesome, that's all I can say. Fantasy full of magic and swords (but oddly, not swords and sorcery ;) ), the middle book in this series takes the decent start book one gave us and catapults you into a streamlined epic fantasy. Awesome fun brain candy that isn't caught up in how cool it is.
alexreadsnstuff's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.0
its_tara's review
5.0
This review can originally be found here on my blog, Hey, Tara.
Well, let’s just say that whilst I enjoyed the first book, I think I enjoyed this one a whole lot more. I thin that’s because the first book really is the beginning of the story, telling of how Azoth/Kylar’s upbringing brought him to do the things he did, and end up being the apprentice of Durzo Blint, the most famous “wetboy” (read as high caliber assassin) in all of Cenaria.
However, this book jumps straight in where the last book left off – Cenaria is in disarray, having been invaded by the Khalidoran’s, who seem to be a war-hungry, mainly unpleasant bunch. Kylar, however, is leaving Cenaria behind, and heading to Caernarvon, a city a fair distance away, with Elene and Uly, intending to start a new life, and live as a herb specialist. He’s agreed to give up being a wetboy, despite having bonded with the ka’kari, an artifact which makes him more dangerous/indestructible than ever. The reason? Elene. She’s fundamentally a good person, and she wants the three of them to live a good life. Kylar agrees that he wouldn’t want Uly living under the shadow of his profession, and he loves Elene, so he tries.
Only, that sort of thing can only last so long, especially when he hears that his best friend growing up, and the rightful King of Cenaria, Logan Gyre, is still alive. Kylar ends up returning to his old profession and his old home city, and doing what he does best under the shadow of the war.
As with the last book (and a lot of books within the fantasy genre) this is simultaneously told through the point of view of several characters, which leads to the reader knowing what everybody is doing at any given time. I know I enjoy that, but sometimes I did feel a bit lost, especially when new characters, or seldom mentioned characters were brought up. However, generally, I was fairly invested in the various characters, so this wasn’t an issue. I also liked how the characters had different voices throughout, and I have to say, I really enjoyed reading the sections on Vi – a character I’d never really considered before.
I also enjoyed the pacing of this book – it moved fast. There was always something happening to someone, and at no point did I really feel things were particularly dragging. Even the sections written about Kylar experimenting with his newfound powers were interesting, because the idea of the ka’kari were only really brought up at the end of the last book, so the reader knew as little about them as the characters themselves.
As for the ending of this book – without spoiling anything – there are cliffhangers, so many cliffhangers. I really want to know what happens next, but I need to wait until I can borrow the next book from The Bookish Ex, so I[‘m thinking something short and easy to read in the meantime!
Well, let’s just say that whilst I enjoyed the first book, I think I enjoyed this one a whole lot more. I thin that’s because the first book really is the beginning of the story, telling of how Azoth/Kylar’s upbringing brought him to do the things he did, and end up being the apprentice of Durzo Blint, the most famous “wetboy” (read as high caliber assassin) in all of Cenaria.
However, this book jumps straight in where the last book left off – Cenaria is in disarray, having been invaded by the Khalidoran’s, who seem to be a war-hungry, mainly unpleasant bunch. Kylar, however, is leaving Cenaria behind, and heading to Caernarvon, a city a fair distance away, with Elene and Uly, intending to start a new life, and live as a herb specialist. He’s agreed to give up being a wetboy, despite having bonded with the ka’kari, an artifact which makes him more dangerous/indestructible than ever. The reason? Elene. She’s fundamentally a good person, and she wants the three of them to live a good life. Kylar agrees that he wouldn’t want Uly living under the shadow of his profession, and he loves Elene, so he tries.
Only, that sort of thing can only last so long, especially when he hears that his best friend growing up, and the rightful King of Cenaria, Logan Gyre, is still alive. Kylar ends up returning to his old profession and his old home city, and doing what he does best under the shadow of the war.
As with the last book (and a lot of books within the fantasy genre) this is simultaneously told through the point of view of several characters, which leads to the reader knowing what everybody is doing at any given time. I know I enjoy that, but sometimes I did feel a bit lost, especially when new characters, or seldom mentioned characters were brought up. However, generally, I was fairly invested in the various characters, so this wasn’t an issue. I also liked how the characters had different voices throughout, and I have to say, I really enjoyed reading the sections on Vi – a character I’d never really considered before.
I also enjoyed the pacing of this book – it moved fast. There was always something happening to someone, and at no point did I really feel things were particularly dragging. Even the sections written about Kylar experimenting with his newfound powers were interesting, because the idea of the ka’kari were only really brought up at the end of the last book, so the reader knew as little about them as the characters themselves.
As for the ending of this book – without spoiling anything – there are cliffhangers, so many cliffhangers. I really want to know what happens next, but I need to wait until I can borrow the next book from The Bookish Ex, so I[‘m thinking something short and easy to read in the meantime!
diamondbreezy's review
3.0
Some anti climactic or deus ex machina moments, but there was some interesting character development for many of the side characters who were pretty one dimensional in the first book. Overall, I didn’t eagerly read the second book either, which pretty much summarizes my rating
mrtumnusscarf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This series is a favourite. I've read it several times. It's now a comfort read. I just love it.