jasmyn9's review against another edition
4.0
I love finding a good epic fantasy series to really dig into. The Immortal Crown has a lot of the elements I love to see. We start out with a prophecy - one that's changed over the years and over the miles. We even start with a hint of dragons.
Eventually we follow several potential prophecy fulfillers as they journey into new parts of their life - from adventure to first tastes of freedom to potential love. There are sooo many characters, but each story seems to entwine itself in the overall storyline in an easy and memorable way. I didn't once have a problem remembering who was doing what and where they were in the journey.
Some of the characters and lore were a little expected - the girl who prefers pants and is surprisingly good at swords, the ancient people who left a forgotten legacy, but it was done with just enough of a twist or with a little bit extra that it really made the characters stand out.
I would have liked a tad more excitement. There are a few great moments, but I feel like I missed a bit of the "sword" in the "sword & sorcery" book.
*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*
Eventually we follow several potential prophecy fulfillers as they journey into new parts of their life - from adventure to first tastes of freedom to potential love. There are sooo many characters, but each story seems to entwine itself in the overall storyline in an easy and memorable way. I didn't once have a problem remembering who was doing what and where they were in the journey.
Some of the characters and lore were a little expected - the girl who prefers pants and is surprisingly good at swords, the ancient people who left a forgotten legacy, but it was done with just enough of a twist or with a little bit extra that it really made the characters stand out.
I would have liked a tad more excitement. There are a few great moments, but I feel like I missed a bit of the "sword" in the "sword & sorcery" book.
*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*
sangloup's review against another edition
3.0
Extreme Book Nerd Challenge 2021 - Category #18
Challege Topic: Author with the same name as one of your loves ones.
I discovered this book through a name search at my library. It was on Audio, so I decided to give it a shot even though it was 20 hours. I really like Tolkien-esque fantasy Saga's and this one kind of sounded like that from the Synopsis. Unfortunately... I can't say that I was thrilled or loved this book.
The story has a good plot. Published in 2016 and marketed as Book 1 of a Saga (so the publishers, Shadow Mountain, were under the assumption there is at least 3 more books coming) and here we are in 2021 and I can find nothing about the possibility of book 2.
The author spends a lot of time on telling the reader what they are seeing instead of showing, and the character development (there are quite a lot of characters) is not very strong and sometime contradictory. I won't say you shouldn't read the book, just saying be prepared to not really crawl into the book and not have any resolution at the end... of any subplot.
Challege Topic: Author with the same name as one of your loves ones.
I discovered this book through a name search at my library. It was on Audio, so I decided to give it a shot even though it was 20 hours. I really like Tolkien-esque fantasy Saga's and this one kind of sounded like that from the Synopsis. Unfortunately... I can't say that I was thrilled or loved this book.
The story has a good plot. Published in 2016 and marketed as Book 1 of a Saga (so the publishers, Shadow Mountain, were under the assumption there is at least 3 more books coming) and here we are in 2021 and I can find nothing about the possibility of book 2.
The author spends a lot of time on telling the reader what they are seeing instead of showing, and the character development (there are quite a lot of characters) is not very strong and sometime contradictory. I won't say you shouldn't read the book, just saying be prepared to not really crawl into the book and not have any resolution at the end... of any subplot.
nogenreleftbehind's review against another edition
4.0
I love finding a good epic fantasy series to really dig into. The Immortal Crown has a lot of the elements I love to see. We start out with a prophecy - one that's changed over the years and over the miles. We even start with a hint of dragons.
Eventually we follow several potential prophecy fulfillers as they journey into new parts of their life - from adventure to first tastes of freedom to potential love. There are sooo many characters, but each story seems to entwine itself in the overall storyline in an easy and memorable way. I didn't once have a problem remembering who was doing what and where they were in the journey.
Some of the characters and lore were a little expected - the girl who prefers pants and is surprisingly good at swords, the ancient people who left a forgotten legacy, but it was done with just enough of a twist or with a little bit extra that it really made the characters stand out.
I would have liked a tad more excitement. There are a few great moments, but I feel like I missed a bit of the "sword" in the "sword & sorcery" book.
*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*
Eventually we follow several potential prophecy fulfillers as they journey into new parts of their life - from adventure to first tastes of freedom to potential love. There are sooo many characters, but each story seems to entwine itself in the overall storyline in an easy and memorable way. I didn't once have a problem remembering who was doing what and where they were in the journey.
Some of the characters and lore were a little expected - the girl who prefers pants and is surprisingly good at swords, the ancient people who left a forgotten legacy, but it was done with just enough of a twist or with a little bit extra that it really made the characters stand out.
I would have liked a tad more excitement. There are a few great moments, but I feel like I missed a bit of the "sword" in the "sword & sorcery" book.
*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*
giraffesareweird's review against another edition
2.0
1/4 of the way through and i realized that nothing had happened, and i didn't care about any of the characters. Maybe it gets better, but i figured 'why bother' at this point and moved on.
biblioholicbeth's review against another edition
2.0
Three males, each without a lineage. Each potentially the one destined to fulfill a prophecy, none knowing the part they may yet play. In this book - the first in a series - we learn about each of them and what drives them forward towards a destiny that may not necessarily be the one they believe.
First - this is a LONG book. A door-stopper. Should you choose to read it, you might want to go for an e-book, if you read them.
As for the book itself, I almost stopped reading by page 11. At that point, it felt like the author couldn't decide on what to write, so he just threw in EVERYTHING. Dragons? Check. Orphan? Check. Creepy old crone? Double-check. Epic quest? Check, check, check. It was as if there was a yellow pad with a handwritten checklist nearby, and as each thing was thrown in, a box got marked off. But - I persevered. By page 31, we had yet another mysterious orphan (I didn't realize at the time that we would end up with 3 mysterious orphans), delivered in the dead of night. And the overly florid language was driving my crazy. What could be said in 5 words instead took 3 sentences. EVERYTHING has major descriptives. Again, I persevered. And finally, after way longer than it feels like it should have taken, I completed this epic. And...it was ok.
The characters are extremely thoroughly described. By the end of the book, any reader will be able to picture each major character (and many minor ones) in exquisite detail, and will know their motives (and motivations) back to front. There is no lack there - other than the fact that the majority of all the characters who may have something to do in book two when it arrives are male. Diversity is not this book's strong point.
The story? Well, it seemed to ebb and flow. The religious system in the story reminded me more of Christianity than anything else, and occasionally I wondered if there was a hidden motive in there for that. The language, as I mentioned, seemed sometimes overdone, to the point of shrinking the book if the editing had been a bit better. There are a lot of things that seem to be a bit convenient - mysterious voices can only compensate for so much, yet here they seem to be working overtime. However, by the time I got to the end, I started to feel more interested in what was going to happen - only to find out that NOTHING was. That's right - there is no real ending. It's all one big build-up for the next book. Very disappointing to put that much effort into reading, only to figure out that none of these characters I had followed for so long were able to get any closure on *anything*.
I doubt I would read the second book, but...maybe. If I did, I would either get it in e-book on sale, or borrow it from the library. Even after 535 pages, I'm not invested enough to make the monetary investment for another one.
First - this is a LONG book. A door-stopper. Should you choose to read it, you might want to go for an e-book, if you read them.
As for the book itself, I almost stopped reading by page 11. At that point, it felt like the author couldn't decide on what to write, so he just threw in EVERYTHING. Dragons? Check. Orphan? Check. Creepy old crone? Double-check. Epic quest? Check, check, check. It was as if there was a yellow pad with a handwritten checklist nearby, and as each thing was thrown in, a box got marked off. But - I persevered. By page 31, we had yet another mysterious orphan (I didn't realize at the time that we would end up with 3 mysterious orphans), delivered in the dead of night. And the overly florid language was driving my crazy. What could be said in 5 words instead took 3 sentences. EVERYTHING has major descriptives. Again, I persevered. And finally, after way longer than it feels like it should have taken, I completed this epic. And...it was ok.
The characters are extremely thoroughly described. By the end of the book, any reader will be able to picture each major character (and many minor ones) in exquisite detail, and will know their motives (and motivations) back to front. There is no lack there - other than the fact that the majority of all the characters who may have something to do in book two when it arrives are male. Diversity is not this book's strong point.
The story? Well, it seemed to ebb and flow. The religious system in the story reminded me more of Christianity than anything else, and occasionally I wondered if there was a hidden motive in there for that. The language, as I mentioned, seemed sometimes overdone, to the point of shrinking the book if the editing had been a bit better. There are a lot of things that seem to be a bit convenient - mysterious voices can only compensate for so much, yet here they seem to be working overtime. However, by the time I got to the end, I started to feel more interested in what was going to happen - only to find out that NOTHING was. That's right - there is no real ending. It's all one big build-up for the next book. Very disappointing to put that much effort into reading, only to figure out that none of these characters I had followed for so long were able to get any closure on *anything*.
I doubt I would read the second book, but...maybe. If I did, I would either get it in e-book on sale, or borrow it from the library. Even after 535 pages, I'm not invested enough to make the monetary investment for another one.
bcinkoske's review against another edition
5.0
The story is very well written and I look forward to the next book. The search for the lost stones of power has stirred up the entire world. Who finds the stones will determine the future path of the world. Several individuals are pursing the stones, each with their own agenda. Each path is different leading to the same ending.
kittalia's review against another edition
3.0
I really did enjoy this book. I listened to it recorded by Tim Gerard Reynolds and he did a fantastic job. It was an interesting plot, interesting characters, and interesting worldbuilding. All of the characters were very distinct and I never mixed them up. When the second book comes out I am excited to read it.
That being said, there were several things I didn't love about it. My biggest problem was a lack of cohesion. It had a very large cast of main characters that overlapped sometimes but were very disparate. Between a ruthless villain, a religious postulant, an aged tyrant, a mysterious slave, and an unfeminine ex-princess, along with many minor viewpoint characters, it was a lot to juggle. They were only weakly united by the theme of the magic stones, and they weren't (yet) drawn into an overarching plot and weren't well balanced. Often main characters disappeared for chapters at a time, weren't introduced until well into the book, and had timelines that didn't match up. There were lots of flashbacks that weren't always super clear (although it may have been the audio format) and made it hard to follow.
As far as cleanness goes (for those who care), the book didn't have any all-out sex scenes, but did have lots of mention of prostitutes, lots of attempted rape, and lots of seducers. Not necessarily R-rated, but definitely not something kid-appropriate.
Overall, I enjoyed it but there were things that bothered me and detracted from the book. Without the rest of the series out, I could see this series coming together very well or falling apart. Only time will tell.
That being said, there were several things I didn't love about it. My biggest problem was a lack of cohesion. It had a very large cast of main characters that overlapped sometimes but were very disparate. Between a ruthless villain, a religious postulant, an aged tyrant, a mysterious slave, and an unfeminine ex-princess, along with many minor viewpoint characters, it was a lot to juggle. They were only weakly united by the theme of the magic stones, and they weren't (yet) drawn into an overarching plot and weren't well balanced. Often main characters disappeared for chapters at a time, weren't introduced until well into the book, and had timelines that didn't match up. There were lots of flashbacks that weren't always super clear (although it may have been the audio format) and made it hard to follow.
As far as cleanness goes (for those who care), the book didn't have any all-out sex scenes, but did have lots of mention of prostitutes, lots of attempted rape, and lots of seducers. Not necessarily R-rated, but definitely not something kid-appropriate.
Overall, I enjoyed it but there were things that bothered me and detracted from the book. Without the rest of the series out, I could see this series coming together very well or falling apart. Only time will tell.
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