texaswolfman's review
Great addition to the Noble Dead series. The Hendee's have woven together a rich tapestry filled with everything that fantasy and horror fan would like. I have really started digging Brot. Cannot wait for the next one.
mjfmjfmjf's review
3.0
Disappointing follow-on in a fantasy series I read for the Endeavour Award. I expect more from these authors and this series. This book just fell over from its own weight. It was too complicated just in general but made almost unreadable by much of the action being told as memories of previous actions. And it had crazy name disease. And yet the base world and characters has great potential - telling almost any one of the character's stories from start to finish would have made a decent book.
julieabe89's review
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-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
4.0
This book did not progress the story a lot, mostly just filled in the backstory of what happened with the main characters leading up to the previous book as they travel by ship to their next destination. I am really looking forward to the next book!
puppy_eyes's review
4.0
So as the name suggests, this time we're centred around Brotan and the mystery of his hidden agenda. Can we trust him? Why is he even here?
He grew on me. I know in the past he got on their bad side (especially Leesil's), but they should understand more than anyone what it's like to be tied to orders. Especially in the past. He's here and helping now, so I wish they could get over it and work together.
This book is almost PERFECT. If not for one thing: 3/4 of it is told in flashbacks! Whyyyyyy
I love how we finally get to see the missing pieces of what happened to Magiere and Leesil while they were out in the wastes, the dangerous journey. And while most of the story takes place back in the elf territory where Brotan started, I don't understand why it had to be in flashbacks. It takes away so much of the tension knowing that since they're here in the present, none of the past's danger is a threat.
But something I REALLY enjoyed, was Leanlham's story. At first, it's kind of annoying, because she seems to take Wynn's place, only has less to offer skill-wise. But you start to feel for her, not having a place to belong, and even her interest in Osha is overshadowed by Wynn, who isn't even reciprocating.
We DO get to see some action again, finally, which is what I loved about the series to start with, only most of it's fighting anmaglahk again, nothing to do with the undead. Still, I LOVE it when Leesil gets his kills in, he's so cool~!
A random note about elven homes. Living in trees sounds amazing at first, but then you start to imagine all the bugs, and the allergies, sitting on actual grass and dirt all day.. the reality of it starts to get to me. Sort of like how people sensualize sunsets and laying in fields of grass when all I can think about is the itchiness of grass, bugs, animal faeces, and especially the mosquitos after sunset. But the nature aesthetic is pleasing!
Magiere and Chap each have their own drive in this as well. Her problem is that she's losing more and more control of her Dhampir side, and Chap is obsessively watchful over Brotan, ever suspicious of his actions.
This book seemed longer than the rest for some reason, but most of the answers we had get answered. We have to be getting closer to the orb by now! Next book, Let's goooo!
He grew on me. I know in the past he got on their bad side (especially Leesil's), but they should understand more than anyone what it's like to be tied to orders. Especially in the past. He's here and helping now, so I wish they could get over it and work together.
This book is almost PERFECT. If not for one thing: 3/4 of it is told in flashbacks! Whyyyyyy
I love how we finally get to see the missing pieces of what happened to Magiere and Leesil while they were out in the wastes, the dangerous journey. And while most of the story takes place back in the elf territory where Brotan started, I don't understand why it had to be in flashbacks. It takes away so much of the tension knowing that since they're here in the present, none of the past's danger is a threat.
But something I REALLY enjoyed, was Leanlham's story. At first, it's kind of annoying, because she seems to take Wynn's place, only has less to offer skill-wise. But you start to feel for her, not having a place to belong, and even her interest in Osha is overshadowed by Wynn, who isn't even reciprocating.
We DO get to see some action again, finally, which is what I loved about the series to start with, only most of it's fighting anmaglahk again, nothing to do with the undead. Still, I LOVE it when Leesil gets his kills in, he's so cool~!
A random note about elven homes. Living in trees sounds amazing at first, but then you start to imagine all the bugs, and the allergies, sitting on actual grass and dirt all day.. the reality of it starts to get to me. Sort of like how people sensualize sunsets and laying in fields of grass when all I can think about is the itchiness of grass, bugs, animal faeces, and especially the mosquitos after sunset. But the nature aesthetic is pleasing!
Magiere and Chap each have their own drive in this as well. Her problem is that she's losing more and more control of her Dhampir side, and Chap is obsessively watchful over Brotan, ever suspicious of his actions.
This book seemed longer than the rest for some reason, but most of the answers we had get answered. We have to be getting closer to the orb by now! Next book, Let's goooo!
ghostlydreamer's review
5.0
Is this the one where almost all of the story is told to us in flashbacks, while our characters are aboard a barge of sorts and very little else happens? I think so.
Right. So with that in mind, THIS is the book where we play a LOT of catch up. To the point where not a whole lot is actually happening, and what we are seeing all came from the past. Because if memory serves, Brot'an wants to know what led up to that moment where they're all together, and it gets revealed in spurts. These flashbacks, if you will, were the events that occurred between Child of a Dead God and Between Their Worlds, when we were reading exclusively from Wynn's point of view. It's kind of weird; not the concept, but the passage of time. When we're reading from the present, the pacing was much slower. But when reading from the past, I remember it flying by. Funny how that works.
Anyway, if you read my earlier reviews of the series, I've already hinted at how I'd have liked to see this being done differently. First of all, I think we could have easily read from dual perspectives throughout the second arc (when we exclusively read from Wynns's), which would have saved us all of the trouble of living through flashbacks and old memories. We'd already be aware of these events, so we wouldn't need it all to be spelled out. Granted, and this is my second point, that would have rendered this book almost completely unnecessary, since the point of this book was mostly TO play catch up. But that just means we could have had other information introduced here to keep the plot moving, and maybe the layout of this and the future books would be a little different. Which I think could have been a good thing.
Given the way it was executed, this was a clever way of tying up those loose ends. But it could have been done differently, so this book could have focused on something else. Especially if what I read in the past was right, about this book being the one where the publishers asked the authors to condense their plot and finish it sooner than intended. Maybe we could have gotten just a little bit more of the intended plot if the events of this book had been distributed between the previous four.
It did catch the reader up and added to the plot. It tied things together. But I would have liked to see it be executed differently.
Nevertheless, despite this complaint, I still gave the book five stars because I really enjoyed it. I would have liked to see things being done differently, but the way it WAS handled still captivated me. And honestly, I was just so glad to read things from Leesil and Magiere'e point of view that almost nothing could have diminished my happiness. So I believe my five star rating and I'd happily reread this installment again.
Right. So with that in mind, THIS is the book where we play a LOT of catch up. To the point where not a whole lot is actually happening, and what we are seeing all came from the past. Because if memory serves, Brot'an wants to know what led up to that moment where they're all together, and it gets revealed in spurts. These flashbacks, if you will, were the events that occurred between Child of a Dead God and Between Their Worlds, when we were reading exclusively from Wynn's point of view. It's kind of weird; not the concept, but the passage of time. When we're reading from the present, the pacing was much slower. But when reading from the past, I remember it flying by. Funny how that works.
Anyway, if you read my earlier reviews of the series, I've already hinted at how I'd have liked to see this being done differently. First of all, I think we could have easily read from dual perspectives throughout the second arc (when we exclusively read from Wynns's), which would have saved us all of the trouble of living through flashbacks and old memories. We'd already be aware of these events, so we wouldn't need it all to be spelled out. Granted, and this is my second point, that would have rendered this book almost completely unnecessary, since the point of this book was mostly TO play catch up. But that just means we could have had other information introduced here to keep the plot moving, and maybe the layout of this and the future books would be a little different. Which I think could have been a good thing.
Given the way it was executed, this was a clever way of tying up those loose ends. But it could have been done differently, so this book could have focused on something else. Especially if what I read in the past was right, about this book being the one where the publishers asked the authors to condense their plot and finish it sooner than intended. Maybe we could have gotten just a little bit more of the intended plot if the events of this book had been distributed between the previous four.
It did catch the reader up and added to the plot. It tied things together. But I would have liked to see it be executed differently.
Nevertheless, despite this complaint, I still gave the book five stars because I really enjoyed it. I would have liked to see things being done differently, but the way it WAS handled still captivated me. And honestly, I was just so glad to read things from Leesil and Magiere'e point of view that almost nothing could have diminished my happiness. So I believe my five star rating and I'd happily reread this installment again.
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