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noranne's review against another edition
2.0
The fact that it took me over a month to read this book should really speak for itself.
This book dragged. It meandered and thought it was far more clever than it was.
The last 15% or so finally got sort of interesting, but the same thing happened in the first book and I am not falling for it again. It's the end of the road for me and Mr. Deas, sorry.
This book dragged. It meandered and thought it was far more clever than it was.
The last 15% or so finally got sort of interesting, but the same thing happened in the first book and I am not falling for it again. It's the end of the road for me and Mr. Deas, sorry.
oxymoronic's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
caroleheidi's review against another edition
5.0
What I Liked: The pace of the story is carefully measured, never too slow, often fast and always keeping you reading all the way through.
The characters, though not all likeable, are all thorough and believable and you find yourself endlessly curious about what each of them is plotting or planning against the others. Stephen Deas never gives too much away about any of them yet at the same time never makes them so closed that you don’t care for them either. I have a passionate dislike for a few characters and fondness for others – despite not really knowing, ultimately, who is good and who is bad.
I also love the fact that, for once, dragons are as dragons should be. They are not docile, friendly ‘pets’ or the slightly Disneyfied versions of dragons that we have been endlessly fed that don’t mind being used as glorified horses or have a random fondness for these small annoying human things that shout, wave pointy metal sticks and kill each other. No, in these books they think they are food. Which is a nice change. I like proper dragons.
What I Didn’t Like: Despite having read The Admantine Palace and King Of The Crags very close together I still ended up being a bit confused at times by who was married to who and who had feuds with which family and why. The family trees at the beginning of the book were useful to combat this but it was a bit frustrating to have to stop mid-action to flick back and find out just who Prince So-and-So was and why he was arguing with King Blah. This wasn’t a major flaw and it certainly didn’t stop my utter love for the books, indeed, it may well just have been down to my terrible memory for names.
The characters, though not all likeable, are all thorough and believable and you find yourself endlessly curious about what each of them is plotting or planning against the others. Stephen Deas never gives too much away about any of them yet at the same time never makes them so closed that you don’t care for them either. I have a passionate dislike for a few characters and fondness for others – despite not really knowing, ultimately, who is good and who is bad.
I also love the fact that, for once, dragons are as dragons should be. They are not docile, friendly ‘pets’ or the slightly Disneyfied versions of dragons that we have been endlessly fed that don’t mind being used as glorified horses or have a random fondness for these small annoying human things that shout, wave pointy metal sticks and kill each other. No, in these books they think they are food. Which is a nice change. I like proper dragons.
What I Didn’t Like: Despite having read The Admantine Palace and King Of The Crags very close together I still ended up being a bit confused at times by who was married to who and who had feuds with which family and why. The family trees at the beginning of the book were useful to combat this but it was a bit frustrating to have to stop mid-action to flick back and find out just who Prince So-and-So was and why he was arguing with King Blah. This wasn’t a major flaw and it certainly didn’t stop my utter love for the books, indeed, it may well just have been down to my terrible memory for names.
sillykitty's review against another edition
4.0
I am very glade that there was a book to follow up 'The Adamantine Palace.' This book began to delved into some of the points that were introduced in 'The Adamantine Palace.' (As a sequel in a series should do.)
It was great to finally hear more information on the worlds past and how the dragons came to be in their enslaved state. And it was good that there was a bit more follow up on how the Alchemists came to be and why they do what they do.
There were also some new character view points introduced. These kept the story engaging and always made new chapters interesting, as it was reveled who we were following next. The character development in 'King of the Crags' is more evident than in 'The Adamantine Palace.' Characters that seemed two dimensional or generic in 'The Adamantine Palace' are built upon; they begin to have personalities and seem to have opinions that swap and change with the situations and events around them. The characters seem to become more adaptable and don't seem to be following a rigid archetype. It was great to see characters that I initially disliked suddenly became more human and relate-able, even to the point were I was being sympathetic with certain characters.
Once again though, there is not all that much mention of the Dragons and what is going on with them, they seem to be a secondary plot line. While there is a lot of events and mentions of what is going on between the Speaker and the Kings and Queens of the realms; there seems to be little happening on the dragons' side of things. Hoping that the next book in the series looks into what the dragons are up to more, or even looks into what they are planning.
While I really enjoyed this book, I am left questioning about the title and who the King of the Crags actually is, and what his role is going to be in the overarching plot. For a book that is titled 'King of the Crags' there is little mention of him. It took quite a while for the King to make an appearance, and even then it was very brief and did not leave much of an impression. Having said this, I do want the King of the Crags to pop up in the following books, just because they seem capable of throwing a spanner into the works.
Overall another enjoyable book, that was easy to read, although at times a little confusing to follow - especially with so many new characters introduced. I flew through this and really did not want to put it down, I hope that the next book 'Order of the Scales' continues to build on the story and answer some of the questions that have come up.
It was great to finally hear more information on the worlds past and how the dragons came to be in their enslaved state. And it was good that there was a bit more follow up on how the Alchemists came to be and why they do what they do.
There were also some new character view points introduced. These kept the story engaging and always made new chapters interesting, as it was reveled who we were following next. The character development in 'King of the Crags' is more evident than in 'The Adamantine Palace.' Characters that seemed two dimensional or generic in 'The Adamantine Palace' are built upon; they begin to have personalities and seem to have opinions that swap and change with the situations and events around them. The characters seem to become more adaptable and don't seem to be following a rigid archetype. It was great to see characters that I initially disliked suddenly became more human and relate-able, even to the point were I was being sympathetic with certain characters.
Once again though, there is not all that much mention of the Dragons and what is going on with them, they seem to be a secondary plot line. While there is a lot of events and mentions of what is going on between the Speaker and the Kings and Queens of the realms; there seems to be little happening on the dragons' side of things. Hoping that the next book in the series looks into what the dragons are up to more, or even looks into what they are planning.
While I really enjoyed this book, I am left questioning about the title and who the King of the Crags actually is, and what his role is going to be in the overarching plot. For a book that is titled 'King of the Crags' there is little mention of him. It took quite a while for the King to make an appearance, and even then it was very brief and did not leave much of an impression. Having said this, I do want the King of the Crags to pop up in the following books, just because they seem capable of throwing a spanner into the works.
Overall another enjoyable book, that was easy to read, although at times a little confusing to follow - especially with so many new characters introduced. I flew through this and really did not want to put it down, I hope that the next book 'Order of the Scales' continues to build on the story and answer some of the questions that have come up.
nyllia's review against another edition
3.0
Un second tome que j'ai un peu mieux aimé que le premier mais à peine. Déjà point positif : il est mieux construit. Les chapitres sont plus clairs et l'histoire aussi. Par contre là où le premier manquait de descriptions, le deuxième en a beaucoup! Et dans les batailles aériennes entre dragons c'est parfois un peu trop. Les personnages sont toujours aussi distants du lecteur, mais j'aime beaucoup Jaslyn. Par contre d'autres personnages sont juste pénibles! A suivre.
aloyokon's review against another edition
4.0
Very engaging! Although the story occurs over almost 400 pages, the plot is fast paced. I loved the thought dialogues that appeared for these crazy, dangerous, and psychopathic characters, and shifts between the unique POVs allowed me to better understand this complicated world of politics, intrigue, war, and dragons.
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