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miles's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Murder, Blood, Animal death, Death, Violence, War, and Incest
athryn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Fantastic book, an overrated/overlooked classic. I love that it takes a bunch of mythology and folklore and synthesizes it into a completely new world. It's a shame that Anderson never did anything else with this universe, because it was really great to spend time in.
It was definitely influential to some extent - Moorcock said he was inspired by this when he was writing the Elric saga. And I can see it's influence in other places.
Makes me want to read more of Anderson's fantasy work for sure.
It was definitely influential to some extent - Moorcock said he was inspired by this when he was writing the Elric saga. And I can see it's influence in other places.
Makes me want to read more of Anderson's fantasy work for sure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Pregnancy, Incest, Sexual content, Torture, Murder, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, War, Violence, Sexual harassment, and Slavery
decembermagpie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, War, Blood, Child death, Death, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Incest
eowynn01's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book is about as old as Lord of the rings and the Chronicles of Narnia but yet has never hit the mainstream of Epic fantasy book list like those major hitters.
After reading it I understand why it never hit the mainstream, when you write something you write with a targeted demographic. JRR Tolken and CS Lewis both targeted a larger crowd and wrote it so that the whole family could read it. Tolken a little more for advance readers then Lewis' but still family friendly. With that it now warms a way into the heart and nostalgia.
This was Fire and Ice before GRR Martin's Game of Thrones hit the shelves in 1996. This has almost all that it has to offer but in one book over the 5... maybe more when he feels like finishing them? (No pressure Martin, still loved the books and they are written well)
When I say this is like Fire and Ice, I am not joking. This book has a great passing of time without it feeling like you are missing something. They are smooth and logical. The bouncing back and forth between characters are natural as breathing. The seasons are like the Ice part of the story and the battles that take place and passions are like the Fire.
And if that doesn't do it for you, this book has a strong influence with multiple religions, mainly Norse and Christian but it sprinkles Roman and Celtic too. Oden and Loki are heavy hitters in this story... and here we have Ice and Fire as well.
This book was harder to listen to with the non-English names but still good, and while I was writing this, I moved it from a 3 to a 4 star since thinking about it I feel that the Game of Thrones is its own world, but this made this one book fantasy (no series) is unique in many ways and dare say beats the Song of Ice and Fire in some ways.
This is a standalone Epic fantasy, not many fantasies are stand alone. The transitions in time are smooth and seamless, switching scenes or views are natural for this book and the added viewpoints are reasonable and not over done with MANY characters. In this why I think it beats Martin's stories.
I hope that with Martin's series paving the way for adult, grim, dirty and taboo subjected fantasy taking the world over that will give this one a chance to shine in the light with books that are dark, grim, dirty and touching taboo subjects.
After reading it I understand why it never hit the mainstream, when you write something you write with a targeted demographic. JRR Tolken and CS Lewis both targeted a larger crowd and wrote it so that the whole family could read it. Tolken a little more for advance readers then Lewis' but still family friendly. With that it now warms a way into the heart and nostalgia.
This was Fire and Ice before GRR Martin's Game of Thrones hit the shelves in 1996. This has almost all that it has to offer but in one book over the 5... maybe more when he feels like finishing them? (No pressure Martin, still loved the books and they are written well)
When I say this is like Fire and Ice, I am not joking. This book has a great passing of time without it feeling like you are missing something. They are smooth and logical. The bouncing back and forth between characters are natural as breathing. The seasons are like the Ice part of the story and the battles that take place and passions are like the Fire.
And if that doesn't do it for you, this book has a strong influence with multiple religions, mainly Norse and Christian but it sprinkles Roman and Celtic too. Oden and Loki are heavy hitters in this story... and here we have Ice and Fire as well.
This book was harder to listen to with the non-English names but still good, and while I was writing this, I moved it from a 3 to a 4 star since thinking about it I feel that the Game of Thrones is its own world, but this made this one book fantasy (no series) is unique in many ways and dare say beats the Song of Ice and Fire in some ways.
This is a standalone Epic fantasy, not many fantasies are stand alone. The transitions in time are smooth and seamless, switching scenes or views are natural for this book and the added viewpoints are reasonable and not over done with MANY characters. In this why I think it beats Martin's stories.
I hope that with Martin's series paving the way for adult, grim, dirty and taboo subjected fantasy taking the world over that will give this one a chance to shine in the light with books that are dark, grim, dirty and touching taboo subjects.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Incest, War, and Blood
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