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astraia_sun's review against another edition
4.0
I rather liked this one. It was soon obvious as I was reading that I missed a lot of the world building and magic system from the previous trilogy (I was unaware the books were connected when I bought this one), but I still managed to enjoy it and I even put the previous trilogy on my "to read" list. A quick perusal told me this book has ratings all over the map, and I can understand why. There's not a lot of character development (though I do like Shadrael, Lea, and Thirbe) and the plot is rather simplistic. It's a bit short for a fantasy epic, but that's okay.
It's a nice, quick read, and to be honest, after reading A Song of Ice and Fire last year, it's nice to get something a lot lighter and less depressing into my brain. I have the sequel, and I plan on starting it right away to find out what happens to these characters.
It's a nice, quick read, and to be honest, after reading A Song of Ice and Fire last year, it's nice to get something a lot lighter and less depressing into my brain. I have the sequel, and I plan on starting it right away to find out what happens to these characters.
rachel_abby_reads's review against another edition
2.0
This story picks up after the trilogy that introduced us to this world and the central figure's brother. The first time I read the other series, I quite liked it; but as time passed and I revisited it, I liked it less and less.
This book begins with instability in the country, and plots to overthrow the Emperor abound. One of them is fixed on the abduction of his beloved sister, Lea (who is beautiful, sweet, good etc etc). Her abductor is a soulless (literally) captain from the old guard military who was dishonorably discharged and has a huge grudge against the new Emperor.
The book read quickly, but it was still hard for me to care about any of the characters. Stories in which the abductor and victim fall in love with one another seem to perpetuate a dangerous and foolish myth.
This book begins with instability in the country, and plots to overthrow the Emperor abound. One of them is fixed on the abduction of his beloved sister, Lea (who is beautiful, sweet, good etc etc). Her abductor is a soulless (literally) captain from the old guard military who was dishonorably discharged and has a huge grudge against the new Emperor.
The book read quickly, but it was still hard for me to care about any of the characters. Stories in which the abductor and victim fall in love with one another seem to perpetuate a dangerous and foolish myth.
jeteitsworth's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I didn't think I liked it at first. As the story progressed I found myself drawn in.
brownbetty's review
2.0
I understand that this is the first book in a series, but that the series is preceded by another series which introduces many of the main characters and sets the background, so perhaps I would have felt differently had I read [book:The Sword], [book:The Ring], and [book:The Chalice] trilogy. But I didn´t, and perhaps as a result, I ended up skipping nearly two thirds of the chapters when they switched to the POV and stories of characters I couldn´t care less about.
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