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mastersal's review against another edition
4.0
Noting my rating for now
I really liked the book and loved the series. This did feel a little unbalanced because of how quickly the demon side of things was wrapped up. This could be a balancing issue in context of the series more than this book so I’ll have to think about this.
This may be a Skull Throne problem in the series more than this book itself. But coming off book 4 this felt like a bit of a pivot. Still loved the numerous cameos and the lazer focus on human drama (which has always been a favourite). Just from a plotting perspective I have been concerns. I see the intent and I see a pov where this makes sense but for a final book I think this could have been rebalanced a bit.
I also found this book the most violent - to the pint it made me queasy at times. That could be a good thing or bad depending on my mood.
I really liked the book and loved the series. This did feel a little unbalanced because of how quickly the demon side of things was wrapped up. This could be a balancing issue in context of the series more than this book so I’ll have to think about this.
This may be a Skull Throne problem in the series more than this book itself. But coming off book 4 this felt like a bit of a pivot. Still loved the numerous cameos and the lazer focus on human drama (which has always been a favourite). Just from a plotting perspective I have been concerns. I see the intent and I see a pov where this makes sense but for a final book I think this could have been rebalanced a bit.
I also found this book the most violent - to the pint it made me queasy at times. That could be a good thing or bad depending on my mood.
mooseycrafts's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
topdragon's review against another edition
4.0
Sharak Ka (the great war against the demonkind) is finally here. At long last, Arlen Bales (The Warded Man) and Ahmann Jardir (the Shar'Dama Ka) are ready to take the battle to the enemy, the Demon Queen herself.
Eventually.
This is a long book and before we get to that final glorious battle, there are numerous storylines to revisit. Over the course of five lengthy books in the series, the number of side characters and their corresponding stories has grown exponentially. To his credit, the author does not simply wrap up all of these stories and move straight to the finale. Rather, he develops the characters as well as continuing to escalate the tension of the overall plot. Even though the Daylight War between the two major human factions still rages, the demon onslaught is becoming overwhelming and this forces the humans to work toward a more common goal. But this is not just a battle-after-battle novel, although there are plenty of those. There are also numerous personal stories as the characters try to live their lives amidst the turmoil.
This is not an easy book (or series) to read. There are tons of characters (Jardir alone has 23 family members) and frankly, I didn’t always remember the nuances or the motivations of many of them. Add to that the “foreign” terms and culture of the Krasians as well as the complex political relationships involved and you have a challenging read indeed. They are also long books and I did on occasion think they could have been shorter, especially this one.
But for fans of epic fantasy fiction looking for a fresh approach that never resorts to traditional fantasy tropes, I would recommend this series. From the number of pregnancies and births in this novel, I can well imagine a follow-on series still to come. If so, I welcome it.
Eventually.
This is a long book and before we get to that final glorious battle, there are numerous storylines to revisit. Over the course of five lengthy books in the series, the number of side characters and their corresponding stories has grown exponentially. To his credit, the author does not simply wrap up all of these stories and move straight to the finale. Rather, he develops the characters as well as continuing to escalate the tension of the overall plot. Even though the Daylight War between the two major human factions still rages, the demon onslaught is becoming overwhelming and this forces the humans to work toward a more common goal. But this is not just a battle-after-battle novel, although there are plenty of those. There are also numerous personal stories as the characters try to live their lives amidst the turmoil.
This is not an easy book (or series) to read. There are tons of characters (Jardir alone has 23 family members) and frankly, I didn’t always remember the nuances or the motivations of many of them. Add to that the “foreign” terms and culture of the Krasians as well as the complex political relationships involved and you have a challenging read indeed. They are also long books and I did on occasion think they could have been shorter, especially this one.
But for fans of epic fantasy fiction looking for a fresh approach that never resorts to traditional fantasy tropes, I would recommend this series. From the number of pregnancies and births in this novel, I can well imagine a follow-on series still to come. If so, I welcome it.
louanne73's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
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
3.5
benbryans's review against another edition
2.0
Very unsatisfying finish. too much on the usual politics which eventually didn't even lead to anything, all those boring POVs a massive waste of time. 2 stars just because I'm glad it's finished and we finally saw the core. I would rather have read a whole series about Briar tbh. Definitely could have done with a greater epilogue.
I also don't remember being advised that the novellas were essential for keeping up with the story so not only is there too many characters to keep up with but now he's brought other in from the novellas which I don't even know about??
Nightmare, but glad it's over.
I also don't remember being advised that the novellas were essential for keeping up with the story so not only is there too many characters to keep up with but now he's brought other in from the novellas which I don't even know about??
Nightmare, but glad it's over.
daanielleh's review against another edition
1.0
I considered rating this as a 2 star just for the ending. For three books I've been tediously waiting for the path to the core to finally be described. This book, named "The Core", seemed to be the promised salvation, but 75% of the book was just an uniteresting filler for the last couple of chapters. We started this series as a book club, and over half of us could not be bothered to continue reading past the first half of the series. I challenged myself to see it through, and boy, was it not worth it.
psoglav's review against another edition
3.0
UKUPNA OCENA (overall rating) ★★★ 3/5 stars
Radnja (story) ★★★
Ideja (plot idea) ★★★✫
Okruženje (setting) ★★★
Pripovedanje (writing style) ★★★
Likovi (characters) ★★★✫
Pozitivno (pros) - završetak serijala. Dovoljno interesantno da se knjiga privede kraju.
Negativno (cons) - ima nerazjašnjenih pitanja i nakon završetka; pojedini likovi su ubačeni ili uklonjeni bez razloga ili objašnjenja; predugačko sa dosadnim delovima nebitnim za zavšetak serijala.
Radnja (story) ★★★
Ideja (plot idea) ★★★✫
Okruženje (setting) ★★★
Pripovedanje (writing style) ★★★
Likovi (characters) ★★★✫
Pozitivno (pros) - završetak serijala. Dovoljno interesantno da se knjiga privede kraju.
Negativno (cons) - ima nerazjašnjenih pitanja i nakon završetka; pojedini likovi su ubačeni ili uklonjeni bez razloga ili objašnjenja; predugačko sa dosadnim delovima nebitnim za zavšetak serijala.