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timinbc's review against another edition
4.0
So here we are, 14 years before Murderbot 1. Wells has a few books under her belt, and we have #1 of a trilogy.
It's a fairly standard alternate-world magic-and-soldiers adventure, but some things stand out and suggest that this author's going to rise above the others eventually.
Tremaine, for one. She's plucky, but doesn't start out that way, and as she grows into her power and confidence, her own opinion of herself lags behind her achievements. She'll be a good one to carry into subsequent volumes.
The world gets a point for not putting Tremaine and Florian into that tired old Victorian setting full of "oh, she's just a gel, Rupert, what can we expect of her?" *Tremaine faints*
Gilead/Gileiad/Goliath and Ilias are interesting, hinting at loyal brothers from various myths and classic stories. Ixion feels like a Jack Vance bad wizard.
One thing that sticks with me after finishing this is that we spend a lot of time travelling in groups, and Wells constantly accounts for where everyone is and how they are doing. I would have liked a few more "they reached the end of the tunnel without incident."
I'll look for #2.
It's a fairly standard alternate-world magic-and-soldiers adventure, but some things stand out and suggest that this author's going to rise above the others eventually.
Tremaine, for one. She's plucky, but doesn't start out that way, and as she grows into her power and confidence, her own opinion of herself lags behind her achievements. She'll be a good one to carry into subsequent volumes.
The world gets a point for not putting Tremaine and Florian into that tired old Victorian setting full of "oh, she's just a gel, Rupert, what can we expect of her?" *Tremaine faints*
Gilead/Gileiad/Goliath and Ilias are interesting, hinting at loyal brothers from various myths and classic stories. Ixion feels like a Jack Vance bad wizard.
One thing that sticks with me after finishing this is that we spend a lot of time travelling in groups, and Wells constantly accounts for where everyone is and how they are doing. I would have liked a few more "they reached the end of the tunnel without incident."
I'll look for #2.
kivt's review against another edition
3.0
The world isn't quite as interesting as the Raksura books. I like Tremaine as a character a lot, and Ilias and Giliead's relationship is great. Wells is pretty good at characters who toe the line of fantasy cliche but stay just on the right side to be human, convincing, and interesting. A large part of that is the dialog, which is not "clever" in the Whedonesque way, but frequently surprising and charming. That said, this was kind of a slow read, and several of the action sequences felt like reading a video game walk through. I'll read the others and hope they improve.
katlovestea's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
gracecrandall's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
prosenheim's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Xenophobia, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Mental illness, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Confinement
Minor: Forced institutionalization and Blood
fishky's review against another edition
2.0
A lot of running around but nothing actually happened??????
wordnerdy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
fantasticraccoon's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
flexmentallo's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This is just really solid old school fantasy. Definitely glad people finally pushed me into Wells' work last year, she's pretty delightful. It's filled with tropes I normally hate, but Wells' strength in character writing, world building, and adventure pacing is just too good here.
mary_soon_lee's review against another edition
3.0
This is the first book in a fantasy trilogy. The one sentence summary is that I enjoyed this but didn't love it. I found the opening a lovely hook, but became less engaged soon after that and remained that way for over a hundred pages.
It's very possible I would have liked this better had my expectations been lower. Starting in late 2018, I became a fan of Wells's Murderbot science fiction stories. Then, two and a half months ago, I began reading her fantasy series about the Raksura (first book "The Cloud Roads") and I loved the Raksura even more than Murderbot. Wells is a very skillful, very imaginative author with great breadth. While I found "The Wizard Hunters" less appealing than the Raksura or Murderbot, other readers may find quite otherwise.
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).
Spoiler
The two principal point-of-view characters come from different worlds, and I found the switches in tone and background somewhat jarring. Indeed, had I not been a fan of other books by Martha Wells, I might have given up on this. But I persisted, and, around a third of the way through the book, perhaps closer to halfway through, I warmed up to both characters enough to start properly enjoying it.It's very possible I would have liked this better had my expectations been lower. Starting in late 2018, I became a fan of Wells's Murderbot science fiction stories. Then, two and a half months ago, I began reading her fantasy series about the Raksura (first book "The Cloud Roads") and I loved the Raksura even more than Murderbot. Wells is a very skillful, very imaginative author with great breadth. While I found "The Wizard Hunters" less appealing than the Raksura or Murderbot, other readers may find quite otherwise.
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).