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kolymaarasto's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
becraynor's review against another edition
2.0
To be clear, I didn't actually finish the series. I finished the first 2 books, but couldn't finish the third.
I love Chris Wooding. I've read 2 of his other books and found both of them to be well written and very different from each other. I did not enjoy The Braided Path whatsoever. I found it predictable, dry, and unnecessarily repulsing, especially with the weavers.
This will not stop me from reading more of Chris Wooding, but I will definitely be borrowing them from the library rather than purchasing them!
I love Chris Wooding. I've read 2 of his other books and found both of them to be well written and very different from each other. I did not enjoy The Braided Path whatsoever. I found it predictable, dry, and unnecessarily repulsing, especially with the weavers.
This will not stop me from reading more of Chris Wooding, but I will definitely be borrowing them from the library rather than purchasing them!
moooncat's review against another edition
4.0
Years of trying to read this series and finally, I am done!
It’s hard to rate such a long story, but I think I’m closer to three than four star. I gave it four because of my fondness for Chris Wooding’s writing in general; overall though, this series was less succinct than The Ember Blade, and it suffered for it.
The characters are excellent, even though I might not have liked them on a personal level. Kaiku was so dreary and selfish, but that was mostly resolved by the final chapters (a little too late imo). Asara was a wonderfully complex character and I really enjoyed her brutality and self-preservation. Tsata seemed to have too brief a time on the page and I would have loved to see him interacting more, just to see the interplay of cultures. Mishani was hard to like, which I guess was the point, but it made the more tender moments feel very forced.
That said, Wooding is good at letting you get attached to characters just to kill them off. I found it just upsetting enough, but it also felt like the impact of their passing on other characters could have been given more page time. Exploring emotions was often pushed aside to make way for more war prep, and I haaaaate that.
I often find in books with battles and the ending war that I just want it to be over with. I care very little for tactics and political manoeuvres and find myself skimming the pages searching for actual character interactions. This book was weighted heavily with fighting and subterfuge, and while some of it was tense and genuinely horrifying, most of it fell flat because of how bored I was.
I think it’s worth saying that the “oriental” setting was cringey, particularly at the beginning of the series. I would have liked a completely new culture, but you could tell where the influence came from, and sometimes it made the story feel a bit stifled. I also thought the “nature good, metal bad” subplot was a little heavy handed.
The ending seemed open for further books to come along, but I felt like that was obvious, something signalled along the way. It made some plot lines seem pointless in the end as Wooding hinted to things coming full circle to the detriment of the world once more. I don’t think there are other books planned though, and it’s satisfying to leave Kaiku and gang where they are for now.
Overall, I’m very happy to add this to my finished list!!!!!!!!
It’s hard to rate such a long story, but I think I’m closer to three than four star. I gave it four because of my fondness for Chris Wooding’s writing in general; overall though, this series was less succinct than The Ember Blade, and it suffered for it.
The characters are excellent, even though I might not have liked them on a personal level. Kaiku was so dreary and selfish, but that was mostly resolved by the final chapters (a little too late imo). Asara was a wonderfully complex character and I really enjoyed her brutality and self-preservation. Tsata seemed to have too brief a time on the page and I would have loved to see him interacting more, just to see the interplay of cultures. Mishani was hard to like, which I guess was the point, but it made the more tender moments feel very forced.
That said, Wooding is good at letting you get attached to characters just to kill them off. I found it just upsetting enough, but it also felt like the impact of their passing on other characters could have been given more page time. Exploring emotions was often pushed aside to make way for more war prep, and I haaaaate that.
I often find in books with battles and the ending war that I just want it to be over with. I care very little for tactics and political manoeuvres and find myself skimming the pages searching for actual character interactions. This book was weighted heavily with fighting and subterfuge, and while some of it was tense and genuinely horrifying, most of it fell flat because of how bored I was.
I think it’s worth saying that the “oriental” setting was cringey, particularly at the beginning of the series. I would have liked a completely new culture, but you could tell where the influence came from, and sometimes it made the story feel a bit stifled. I also thought the “nature good, metal bad” subplot was a little heavy handed.
The ending seemed open for further books to come along, but I felt like that was obvious, something signalled along the way. It made some plot lines seem pointless in the end as Wooding hinted to things coming full circle to the detriment of the world once more. I don’t think there are other books planned though, and it’s satisfying to leave Kaiku and gang where they are for now.
Overall, I’m very happy to add this to my finished list!!!!!!!!
autumn_plum's review against another edition
4.0
I really thought about this one and came to the same conclusion. Why did this get a four-star rating even though it had all the fancy ingredients to be a five-star? I dunno, but Something bugged me enough to bring it down a peg, so I'll site it down by listing pros and cons for clarity's sake
Pros
Good story- I’ve read better, but I still found it held its own, and besides, I think what makes a good story is usually a matter of taste and/or expectations. For example I was listening to my uncle laughing the other day at a guy who complained that the story of a movie he went see was “kinda thin”. Totally reasonable complaint until you realize that the movie was the newest Godzilla. Seriously, I went there looking for a bad story, Godzilla’s thunder thighs, and to see things explode the same way some people go looking for trashy romance novels. My point here? In this case, I had reasonably good expectations, and this book met them.
Nice Writing- A lot of people can complain that it’s a bit too wordy, but being one like to become rapturous when confronted by a rich vocabulary, I guess I can work with that.
Great world building -I thought if anything it deserves that, the magic system was interesting, the geography, environments and cultures were interesting. Period.
Cons
Characterization- I feel like even though there were a lot of different characters that could’ve been loads of fun but I’ll be blunt. I didn’t give a rat’s ass for almost anyone in this whole book. Really, a lot of them felt like cardboard cutouts and the descriptions of their looks and personality were really, really repetitive.
Names- Really minor. the Japanese and Renaissance thing work respectively and can be salvaged if combined. But throw in some X’s and some names that don’t flow very easily on the tongue make everything hard to remember. And this is coming from someone who knows who’s who whenever I read Game Of Thrones without ever looking at the Appendix with all the Houses
The bottom line here is that yes, the book has almost everything a fantasy reader could ever want. However, there are still problems that even the slightly nit-picky will notice, though I don't think these problems cast much of a stain on the overall reading experience, and although I eventually got tired of it, I didn't finish the last page feeling like I had wasted my time. Now I'm stupidly persistent, but even if I was willing to read over 900 pages, that there is pretty self-explanatory.
Pros
Good story- I’ve read better, but I still found it held its own, and besides, I think what makes a good story is usually a matter of taste and/or expectations. For example I was listening to my uncle laughing the other day at a guy who complained that the story of a movie he went see was “kinda thin”. Totally reasonable complaint until you realize that the movie was the newest Godzilla. Seriously, I went there looking for a bad story, Godzilla’s thunder thighs, and to see things explode the same way some people go looking for trashy romance novels. My point here? In this case, I had reasonably good expectations, and this book met them.
Nice Writing- A lot of people can complain that it’s a bit too wordy, but being one like to become rapturous when confronted by a rich vocabulary, I guess I can work with that.
Great world building -I thought if anything it deserves that, the magic system was interesting, the geography, environments and cultures were interesting. Period.
Cons
Characterization- I feel like even though there were a lot of different characters that could’ve been loads of fun but I’ll be blunt. I didn’t give a rat’s ass for almost anyone in this whole book. Really, a lot of them felt like cardboard cutouts and the descriptions of their looks and personality were really, really repetitive.
Spoiler
If you’re someone saddled with a really good memory who winces every time Kaiku is referred to as “ever a stubborn one” or “a tomboy”, Mishani “Never changed her expression” Anais is described as “appearing deceptively naive” or my favorite, when Kaiku “builds up a wall around her heart which had been hurt so many times” or something like that, it can be annoying. Really, I hardly wanna dignify Mishani, Anais, or Asara with the term “bitch” because they just didn’t feel like people to me. As if to grind salt into this wound the only characters I liked were Lucia and Nomoru. Of course my characters can't just be the ones who die, one has to kill the otherNames- Really minor. the Japanese and Renaissance thing work respectively and can be salvaged if combined. But throw in some X’s and some names that don’t flow very easily on the tongue make everything hard to remember. And this is coming from someone who knows who’s who whenever I read Game Of Thrones without ever looking at the Appendix with all the Houses
The bottom line here is that yes, the book has almost everything a fantasy reader could ever want. However, there are still problems that even the slightly nit-picky will notice, though I don't think these problems cast much of a stain on the overall reading experience, and although I eventually got tired of it, I didn't finish the last page feeling like I had wasted my time. Now I'm stupidly persistent, but even if I was willing to read over 900 pages, that there is pretty self-explanatory.
kittyg's review
3.0
I'd give this whole series a very solid 3.5*s overall. Whilst I enjoyed all the volumes and the overall plot, I think from having read The Ember Blade, which is Chris Woodings' later epic fantasy, that one is a massively tighter overall story, but this one shows the beginnings.
This world is made up of Aberrants (people who are magic/disfigured/different) and 'normal' people. The Aberrants are hunted by the Weavers who are magic and work for the nobility, supposedly...
The Weavers of this world are able to dive into the weave of the world and manipulate the strings (a.k.a magic) and yet wherever they do the get more corrupted and their bodies disfigure and twist.
We follow Kaiku, a young daughter of a noble family who are all killed right at the start of the book. She is rescued by her handmaiden, who turns out to be more than meets the eye, but Kaiku soon realised there's more to her too.
This is a big political story with a whole lot of different people bouncing off of one another, and trying for the throne/the leadership positions. There's a lot of focus on whether the Weavers are good or not, and also a few new rebel groups who are pretty intent on destroying the Weavers.
In general, I think the pacing isn't bad and each book builds on the previous, however, I also think that some of the things could be tightened up. I definitely enjoyed it, but it wasn't quite as epic as I would have liked to see, but still had a lot of magic and strong female characters. I think it's missing the slightly more character-focused side I've come to enjoy from other Wooding books. 3.5*s overall for all three books.
This world is made up of Aberrants (people who are magic/disfigured/different) and 'normal' people. The Aberrants are hunted by the Weavers who are magic and work for the nobility, supposedly...
The Weavers of this world are able to dive into the weave of the world and manipulate the strings (a.k.a magic) and yet wherever they do the get more corrupted and their bodies disfigure and twist.
We follow Kaiku, a young daughter of a noble family who are all killed right at the start of the book. She is rescued by her handmaiden, who turns out to be more than meets the eye, but Kaiku soon realised there's more to her too.
This is a big political story with a whole lot of different people bouncing off of one another, and trying for the throne/the leadership positions. There's a lot of focus on whether the Weavers are good or not, and also a few new rebel groups who are pretty intent on destroying the Weavers.
In general, I think the pacing isn't bad and each book builds on the previous, however, I also think that some of the things could be tightened up. I definitely enjoyed it, but it wasn't quite as epic as I would have liked to see, but still had a lot of magic and strong female characters. I think it's missing the slightly more character-focused side I've come to enjoy from other Wooding books. 3.5*s overall for all three books.
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