A review by vespix
The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding

adventurous slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

By gods this one was long. Literally long and long in terms of storyline and pacing. It came close to putting me in a slump, but I pushed through and got a good finale for my efforts. I have no idea if I will read the sequel.

It may not sound like a 4/5 book so far, but I just couldn't give it less. There's absolutely nothing wrong with The Ember Blade. The theme is sound, if done to death, there's character development and a good number of twists. The writing style is solid, the storyline mature and well thought-through. For all that, I couldn't bring myself to care. I can't pinpoint it, but at some point I failed to connect with the characters and it impacted my enjoyment of the first two-thirds of the book.

By all means, give it a chance. But if you're not into it by the end of the camp arc (you'll know) be wiser than me and dnf it.