cold_boy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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? Yes
4.25
I'm a big fan of plotlines where a morally dark grey but still sympathetic character gets completely broken down and boy howdy does this deliver that in spades.
As this series progresses, it's clear that Brent Weeks gets a better handle on who the characters are and how to make them grow. One of the biggest struggles with the first two books is how unlikable some of the characters are, and it's clear that Weeks was a bit clueless when it came to writing women - especially since a lot of the casual misogyny was pretty incongruous with the relatively egalitarian world he had set up. This book makes it clear that he's improving as a writer, with Teia, Karris, Marissia, and The White all becoming great, fully fleshed out characters.
I also appreciate how this series is almost a bait-and-switch with regards to the worldbuilding. At first it seems almost like a Brandon Sanderson-style world, where the magic and politics are all very fixed and cut-and-dry. In this book, it reaches a tipping point, and the world really begins to feel truly organic and lived in, and it's revealed that the reader and the characters know even less about the supernatural and the magic system than they thought.
As this series progresses, it's clear that Brent Weeks gets a better handle on who the characters are and how to make them grow. One of the biggest struggles with the first two books is how unlikable some of the characters are, and it's clear that Weeks was a bit clueless when it came to writing women - especially since a lot of the casual misogyny was pretty incongruous with the relatively egalitarian world he had set up. This book makes it clear that he's improving as a writer, with Teia, Karris, Marissia, and The White all becoming great, fully fleshed out characters.
I also appreciate how this series is almost a bait-and-switch with regards to the worldbuilding. At first it seems almost like a Brandon Sanderson-style world, where the magic and politics are all very fixed and cut-and-dry. In this book, it reaches a tipping point, and the world really begins to feel truly organic and lived in, and it's revealed that the reader and the characters know even less about the supernatural and the magic system than they thought.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery
Moderate: Sexual violence
Minor: Sexism
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