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A review by jyb
The Throne of the Five Winds by S.C. Emmett
Did not finish book. Stopped at 40%.
DNF at 40%. The worldbuilding is very interesting, the characters' machinations are interesting to follow, the plot overall seems like it's going somewhere intriguing... but by GOD does this book <i>crawl</i>.
It would be inaccurate to say that reading this book is like watching paint dry. This is more like as if someone took a very interesting episode of a TV show and slowed it down by 200 percent. I <i>know</i> that interesting stuff is <i>going</i> to happen, I know that this build up is creating interesting plot threads... but holy shit, can we go a little faster? I keep seeing reviews saying it gets more interesting and better paced in the last 200 pages or 20 percent or whatever, but I literally cannot keep reading conversation after conversation that develops maybe 2% of the plot each time they happen. AND each conversation is padded with dozens of descriptions that are <i>nice,</i> but when compared with the already slow pacing, it just annoys. I like the courtly intrigue, I like the scheming, I like the characters (even with SO many names it was hard to keep track of who was who within the first 200 pages), but I cannot keep going with this DRAG. Some people said if you liked Game of Thrones you should read this, but Games of Thrones' pacing is far better. The build up and pacing certainly is.
Moreover, the attempt at mimicking Tolkien via "this is a translation" felt weak, since all that's translated is stuff like "this is a type of bird" or "this is a plant," instead of cultural or historical knowledge of the world. Building on that, the "translations" feel exceptionally stupid sometimes – turning "bamboo" into "babu"? Why? What is the purpose of that – to make your world feel exotic or something? I don't know. Not a fan. It was initially interesting with the more unique names, but after seeing sohju and babu... meh.
I really wish I could keep going in this book – and perhaps if there were fewer pages between where I am and the ending, I could. But I just can't slog through another 200 pages of barely anything. And while the spoilers did seem rather interesting... I just can't. I'd rather read something that fully engages me. It's such a shame, too, because I actually initially felt quite interested in the book! But after seeing reviews saying it barely speeds up until the end... sigh. Maybe I'll come back to this? We'll see.
It would be inaccurate to say that reading this book is like watching paint dry. This is more like as if someone took a very interesting episode of a TV show and slowed it down by 200 percent. I <i>know</i> that interesting stuff is <i>going</i> to happen, I know that this build up is creating interesting plot threads... but holy shit, can we go a little faster? I keep seeing reviews saying it gets more interesting and better paced in the last 200 pages or 20 percent or whatever, but I literally cannot keep reading conversation after conversation that develops maybe 2% of the plot each time they happen. AND each conversation is padded with dozens of descriptions that are <i>nice,</i> but when compared with the already slow pacing, it just annoys. I like the courtly intrigue, I like the scheming, I like the characters (even with SO many names it was hard to keep track of who was who within the first 200 pages), but I cannot keep going with this DRAG. Some people said if you liked Game of Thrones you should read this, but Games of Thrones' pacing is far better. The build up and pacing certainly is.
Moreover, the attempt at mimicking Tolkien via "this is a translation" felt weak, since all that's translated is stuff like "this is a type of bird" or "this is a plant," instead of cultural or historical knowledge of the world. Building on that, the "translations" feel exceptionally stupid sometimes – turning "bamboo" into "babu"? Why? What is the purpose of that – to make your world feel exotic or something? I don't know. Not a fan. It was initially interesting with the more unique names, but after seeing sohju and babu... meh.
I really wish I could keep going in this book – and perhaps if there were fewer pages between where I am and the ending, I could. But I just can't slog through another 200 pages of barely anything. And while the spoilers did seem rather interesting... I just can't. I'd rather read something that fully engages me. It's such a shame, too, because I actually initially felt quite interested in the book! But after seeing reviews saying it barely speeds up until the end... sigh. Maybe I'll come back to this? We'll see.