I tried to read this while traveling in my vacation. I could not, In fact I even forgot I picked it up, such an impression it made on me. I don't even kI tried to read this while traveling in my vacation. I could not, In fact I even forgot I picked it up, such an impression it made on me. I don't even know where I stopped... It is all just blah blah blah, names, names, titles, titles and everyone has no substance, like the main character could have been full elf or demon or whatever and it would not have made any difference. I get it that the author didn't want to introduce some ruthless politics, but having Maia or what his name was solve 90% of his problems with kindness and forgiveness or with the help of his trusty and loyal secretary/friends (because the script requires it so) is just plain bad writing. No real risk or challenge anywhere. People with a grain of political savviness would have easily taken the rains without him ever even noticing and with out a single bit of blood shed. My case and point is that this book is just a waste of time. If you enjoy hearing people talk about things that don't really matter in the end, then pick this book up....more
To start off, this book is oozing with passion and this is really conveyed through the overly elaborate descriptions and intricaWhew... what a book...
To start off, this book is oozing with passion and this is really conveyed through the overly elaborate descriptions and intricacies that this book displays, but at the same time, it is also it's biggest undoing. The reason for my high score is that passion that was displayed here and I hope the next instalments get better. I'd say that 20% of this book is quite epic in scale and in conflict and it does an awesome job of reeling you in and wanting to know more. The problems come in the middle of the book. For a long time the plot just slacks and nothing really interesting happens and if say this book was shorter by 200 pages it would not have affected it at all. It also doesn't help that the characters feel a little bit one dimensional and a little bit obsessed with their thing. It also doesn't help that everything is so verbose, like I understand explaining something in detail when we first encounter it or going through the titles that someone helds, but going through it every time is... ugh...
Well the story was this book's saving grace for me as it did have a plot that wasn't so clearly black and white and it has a healthy dose of brutality in it, but I can't really praise it yet at this point as I do not know how it will end. In saying that, I think this is one of those books that one will read out of inertia, not really enjoying most of it, but then when you look back, you also don't regret it....more
This was a delightful one for me. I always loved reading about mysterious and endless libraries that contain more than just books but a whole universe This was a delightful one for me. I always loved reading about mysterious and endless libraries that contain more than just books but a whole universe within themselves. It really hit a softspot for me. The character of Livira also grew on me over time and I won't lie all of the characters played their roles perfectly in this quite surprising story that isn't as straightforward as one may first assume. So why the 4 stars? Well to put it simply, it was the ending, the ending really left a sour taste in my mouth of how abrupt and unexpected it felt. There are also things like Livira not acting her age in the beginning and a bit of an info overload, but those are mostly nitpicks in comparison to the great blunder that was the ending. ...more
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