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konekoanni's review
5.0
The Fallen is a wonderfully written short novel that sets up the story of Chavali the Seer. The writing does a great job of showing rather than telling, with little hints about the world and the way magic works throughout the narrative. The story carries you along a nice pace, something which not all fantasy books do well. The beginning isn't necessarily a gripping page-turner, but once you get past the midway point, it's difficult to put down! I'm definitely looking forward to more books in the series.
thelauramay's review against another edition
DNF at 69% - I just didn't care about the characters at all, and the lack of dramatic tension meant there was no reason to keep going.
fibbi's review against another edition
5.0
This was a fun beginning to a fantasy series.
I enjoyed traveling with the clan and seeing a unique type of culture. The brazenness of the clan was a fun addition and was comfortably entertaining and felt very human. The main character is very real and her emotions and thoughts are easy to follow allowing you to be along for the ride of her life.
The story takes a turn and moves off into a surprising and interesting direction, can't wait for the continuation!
I appreciated how the writing and so the story felt very natural and unforced.
I enjoyed traveling with the clan and seeing a unique type of culture. The brazenness of the clan was a fun addition and was comfortably entertaining and felt very human. The main character is very real and her emotions and thoughts are easy to follow allowing you to be along for the ride of her life.
The story takes a turn and moves off into a surprising and interesting direction, can't wait for the continuation!
I appreciated how the writing and so the story felt very natural and unforced.
kaiouelios's review against another edition
3.0
I was not fond of the beginning of this book, but am glad I continued reading. The book got much better after the main character died. I look forward to reading her future adventures.
jpv0's review against another edition
4.0
I have a pretty good number of less known / self published stories that I've collected through various sales and bundles that I keep meaning to work through. [b:The Fallen|20639269|The Fallen (The Greatest Sin #1)|Lee French|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390778530s/20639269.jpg|39921898] is one such book. I'm not even sure where I picked it up anymore, but it seems worth giving a try.
Structurally, The Fallen starts with Chavali (a fortune teller who just so happens to have a gift for mind reading) and her clan of travelling folk. Fascinating world building already and we just keep getting hints of even crazier things going on in the greater world aseveryone dies and Chavali is brought back as one of the mysterious "Fallen" . Quite a twist.
Really, the fascinating world building, truly with a 'fantastical' feel to it carries the story. You never really know exactly how things outside of her clan work, since Chavali doesn't know how things work, and it works. You get to learn about the world as she does. One thing that felt really strange was a bare handful of mentions of 'elves and dwarves'. But... why? The story would be just as strong without it; by putting that in, you feel like you're leaning against Tolkein and Dungeons and Dragons.
Worth the read. I'm really curious to see where it goes from here.
Structurally, The Fallen starts with Chavali (a fortune teller who just so happens to have a gift for mind reading) and her clan of travelling folk. Fascinating world building already and we just keep getting hints of even crazier things going on in the greater world as
Really, the fascinating world building, truly with a 'fantastical' feel to it carries the story. You never really know exactly how things outside of her clan work, since Chavali doesn't know how things work, and it works. You get to learn about the world as she does. One thing that felt really strange was a bare handful of mentions of 'elves and dwarves'. But... why? The story would be just as strong without it; by putting that in, you feel like you're leaning against Tolkein and Dungeons and Dragons.
Worth the read. I'm really curious to see where it goes from here.
errantdreams's review against another edition
5.0
I was actually surprised to go back to my notes and realize just how much of this book was taken up by worldbuilding and character building, because it’s so ‘alive’ that it never felt in any way motionless or dull. I was engaged from the very first page. In particular I love both the building up of Chavali’s clan and of her personality. She is super confident, somewhat self-centered, and very sure of her place in things, all of which make total sense for her upbringing, background, and gifts. She also happily occupies the children with folk tales, shares a good relationship with her family, and doesn’t ask for more than her due. She’s smart, talented, and delightfully imperfect. In short, she’s one of the better strong female characters I’ve seen in a while.
By the way, the authors do a great job of avoiding the stereotype of drifters-as-grifters. While the clan entertains and sells things to make money wherever they go, they don’t engage in thievery. They have a rich folklore and many generations of traditions by which they live. Also, when Chavali is forced to go to Outsiders for help, the worldbuilding doesn’t stop. Everything going on beyond the clan has had just as much thought put into it.
I’ll leave the rest of the tale for you to find out on your own, because it’s gripping, enchanting, and well worth your time. I gather there are currently five books in this series, and I plan to read them all!
Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2019/01/review-the-fallen-erik-kort-lee-french/
By the way, the authors do a great job of avoiding the stereotype of drifters-as-grifters. While the clan entertains and sells things to make money wherever they go, they don’t engage in thievery. They have a rich folklore and many generations of traditions by which they live. Also, when Chavali is forced to go to Outsiders for help, the worldbuilding doesn’t stop. Everything going on beyond the clan has had just as much thought put into it.
I’ll leave the rest of the tale for you to find out on your own, because it’s gripping, enchanting, and well worth your time. I gather there are currently five books in this series, and I plan to read them all!
Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2019/01/review-the-fallen-erik-kort-lee-french/
kittyg's review
3.0
*This is one of my #SPFBO books for this year*
I really was interested in this when I started reading as I feel like the start of the book really drags you in. At the beginning we're following a young woman called Chevali who is the Clan Seer for the Blaukeners. These people are a travelling group who entertain, wander and live a fairly untroubled life. They sometimes put on shows for villages if they want to trade or gain money, but in general the Clan is family and they never leave or desert one another.
Chevali's character is a promising one at the start, she seems like she knows her own mind and she's kind of stubborn at times. I particularly like the fact that she stood up for herself multiple times and knew how to say 'No' when she needed to. However, as the story went on I feel like Chevali made a few choices and we saw a few internal thoughts from her that were a little disappointing and I feel like she could have stayed a little stronger than she did.
The magic of this world comes from the Seer mostly because whenever Chevali touches a person she gets to see their thoughts as images in her mind. I like the concept of this magic, and the fact that she uses it to be a Seer for the clan was interesting, but alongside this Chevali also occasionally has visions.
The story itself is fairly well paced although I did find some bits a little slower than I wanted. I read the first half of the book pretty quickly, but there is a section in the middle which is setting up a new location and organisation and I felt some of that was a bit slow-going.
On the whole, I think this had some good moments and it didn't follow quite the path I anticipated which I liked, but I think some of the elements I found most fascinating (the Clan life) aren't really a feature later in the book and I would have liked to see more of these.
It's a solid read with only a few typos/grammatical issues (although one was the name of the main character so that's not great!) and I gave it a 3*s overall so 6/10 for SPFBO.
I really was interested in this when I started reading as I feel like the start of the book really drags you in. At the beginning we're following a young woman called Chevali who is the Clan Seer for the Blaukeners. These people are a travelling group who entertain, wander and live a fairly untroubled life. They sometimes put on shows for villages if they want to trade or gain money, but in general the Clan is family and they never leave or desert one another.
Chevali's character is a promising one at the start, she seems like she knows her own mind and she's kind of stubborn at times. I particularly like the fact that she stood up for herself multiple times and knew how to say 'No' when she needed to. However, as the story went on I feel like Chevali made a few choices and we saw a few internal thoughts from her that were a little disappointing and I feel like she could have stayed a little stronger than she did.
The magic of this world comes from the Seer mostly because whenever Chevali touches a person she gets to see their thoughts as images in her mind. I like the concept of this magic, and the fact that she uses it to be a Seer for the clan was interesting, but alongside this Chevali also occasionally has visions.
The story itself is fairly well paced although I did find some bits a little slower than I wanted. I read the first half of the book pretty quickly, but there is a section in the middle which is setting up a new location and organisation and I felt some of that was a bit slow-going.
On the whole, I think this had some good moments and it didn't follow quite the path I anticipated which I liked, but I think some of the elements I found most fascinating (the Clan life) aren't really a feature later in the book and I would have liked to see more of these.
It's a solid read with only a few typos/grammatical issues (although one was the name of the main character so that's not great!) and I gave it a 3*s overall so 6/10 for SPFBO.
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