redhead_reader's reviews
811 reviews

I wanted to love this book. I think I expected more because I’ve seen it so hyped up across bookstagram with my fellow fantasy lovers. It was a good book. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where the author’s prose fully transported me to the battlefield before. Gwynne’s writing is very vivid as far as battle scenes go. I felt like other areas could have been just as atmospheric as his battle scenes were but didn’t get the same imagery for the setting imo.
I also thought the characters could have been a bit more developed. I understand this is book one so presumably we’ll get more character building in subsequent books. I still feel like we don’t really know the characters whose POVs were the focus of this book and as such I only really cared about one character (Varg).
However, it’s interesting to note that despite what I felt was weak character development, there were scenes where I felt deeply for Orka, Elvar, and Varg respectively without truly knowing much about their characters.

I felt like the book was longer than it needed to be. And the different names of the secondary characters and the two main warbands were easy to get mixed up after hopping between 3 POVs because the names were all pretty similar (both battle groups start with B, multiple characters with G, V, B, and S names in each POV).

I loved the Norse mythology aspects and the Nordic setting. Overall I thought it was a good book and I plan on reading book 2 at some point.

I’d recommend it for Dark fantasy lovers looking for a Viking themed read. Or for lovers of Norse mythology.

Brewed in Magic by Jenna Wolfhart

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adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Goblins & Greatcoats by Travis Baldree

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The Ice Dragon by George R.R. Martin

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Somehow I didn’t know this book existed but I have been dying to go back to Westeros and George R R Martin’s prose so this novella seemed like the perfect fit.

Unfortunately for me, it has only made me want to dive back into ASOIAF and the world GRRM has created around that series even more, but alas, I need to finish some other books before I can commit to a reread.

Anyway, this book is supposedly a children’s book, it’s about a 7 year old girl that was born in Winter and is truly a Winter Child (same, girl, same). It doesn’t really talk about Westeros or give any specifics about the politics of the time and you don’t really even know where in Westeros the book takes place (7 year olds aren’t concerned with things like that), but there’s a war going on with plenty of dragons on both sides so if you’re up on your history of Westeros you get a general idea of when the book takes place.

I don’t think it is a children’s book. It is a bit more violent and descriptive than I’d expect in a children’s book. It left me feeling a bit melancholy at times from the atmospheric writing.

But it is written in the style of a children’s book so do with that what you will.

Theres a lot of symbolism within this short story and a heartwarming lesson to be learned by the end.

Overall I really enjoyed this little novella regarding Adara and her ice dragon. I think it’s a must for GRRM and ASOIAF fans.

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redhead_reader's reviews 811 reviews

redhead_reader's reviews
811 reviews