Jesslyn H

Review from a non- Scifi fan

Revisado: 12-05-21

I'm not a fan of sci-fi at all. My genre is fantasy. I was drawn into the series by The Expanse TV show. Having watched all available seasons so far, this book is even better than the show. but the show makes the book so much better because I have faces and accents to go with the narration. All that aside, the books are fascinatingly awesome on their own merit. It's going to make me explore more sci-fi. Right after I gobble up the rest of the series.

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Anxiously waiting for the next installment

Revisado: 10-22-18

This book had a LOT of things that I appreciated. It wasn't a cliffhanger, the various POVs were pretty smooth and it was a straight epic fantasy that didn't drown in trying to be epic. The writing style keeps you in the story and the world-building was complete enough that it seems lived in.

I don't get why this is considered 'dark' fantasy at all. An existence that isn't all sugar and rainbows doesn't qualify for dark. Nor because some of the bad stuff that occurs or is described isn't an overused trope. IMO, this book is adult epic fantasy, stays in it's lane and can hold its own with books that may be better known. My only complaint is that I wasn't surprised about anything. That's what kept it from being a 5-star book for me. Unless I yell (or think really loudly) "Holy crap!", 4-stars is as high as I can go.

IMO, this series starts off with the same feeling of promise that I felt when I started the Demon Cycle series. I am really looking forward to the next book. I'm putting my money where my mouth is and will purchase the book instead of using my Kindle Unlimited subscription to read it for free.

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Lovin' the 'King'

Revisado: 10-22-18

Whenever I read King, I always remember how much I love King. From my 1st experience with Cujo (borrowed from my Mom) to The Stand and ultimately the final book in the Gunslinger series that I waited 20 years for.

I love the Bachman voice, the King voice and the voice in tandem with Straub. I love how you can be immersed in a perfectly ordinary story, about a perfectly ordinary guy and look up hours later too scared to get up and turn on the light. I have had many a 'how the f*ck did we get here?" moments with King and loved every minute of them.

This book dragged me back into that world and I think I'll close the door behind me for a bit as I mine my digital bookshelves for more..

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I went back again and again...

Revisado: 10-22-18

EDIT: 7/16/2015 - Guess that 5 star rating was worth it - 3 reads in 3 years. Reading t again so I'm super fresh for the final installment.


EDIT 3/28/14 - I was horrified to discover that I hadn't purchased this book for my Kindle but had only borrowed it from the Kindle Lenders list. I've rectified that lack, gotten the audiobook and have pre-ordered the sequel, Blightborn as well.

EDIT 10/21/13 - I am now thinking that I should have given this book 5 stars and am changing my rating. Why? Because I cannot get it out of my head! I keep wondering about the next installment and going to see if there is any info on it. I read this book in August and now--in October--I'm still as anxious to get my hands on some more. Thats a great feeling and perfect example on how much the book affected me.


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This book was quite good and I added the series to my auto-buy list. For those who tried to compare this to The Hunger games--I ain't buying it. The only similarities IMO are YA and dystopian.

The Hunger Games didn't have the cruelty, darkness or desperation in this book. And the POV shifts were smoothly done.

I am more than eager for the next books in this series. Well done Mr. Wendig.

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Great Epic Fantasy series

Revisado: 08-23-18

This review is for the entire series. I flipped between the Kindle and audiobooks for each book, depending on my circumstances, but the audiobook narration was so good that sometimes I’d listen even if I was in a position to read. I really loved this series and wish it had and was getting more press. Hey you word of mouth folks! Talk about this series! As an avid fantasy reader, I’m a bit embarrassed that this series has been around since 2012 and I hadn’t read it yet. Also, unlike some, it doesn’t feel aged.

This is a big and truly epic series, Each book is over 600 pages long

While there were some elements that I struggled with, for the most part these books hit me right in my epic fantasy heart. There was the coming of age, the new powers save the world thing, the quest, the evil ruler, the warrior woman, the evil church thing and other fantasy tropes, but I never felt that they were overdone. Pretty much every major character seemed like ‘real’ people to me—flaws, irritants and all. And they stayed true to who they were. While the ‘good guys’ weren’t all good—the bad guys were god-awful evil. Some right away and others with a slow and dreadful spiral into pure malevolence. I let out more than one verbal OMG and just as many laughs.

One of the things that I enjoyed was the fact that the series took place in a world that had enough shades of our own world to give the narrator and story-telling a (somewhat stereotypical) base offering the user solid frame of reference. IMO, it enabled the writer to skip long expositions of world-building. And the narrator took full advantage of that, doing a brilliant job on the Indian, Germanic, Italian another accents used—at least to my American ear.

The cast of characters was large and I had to go back and forth a couple of times to make sure I had the ‘right’ one, but it seemed like almost all of them got their HEA or just reward as appropriate. This man knows how to wrap up a series because things got REAL in the last book! It’s so enjoyable to walk away satisfied from a series end. You don’t have to love what happened to your favorite character, but you should walk away full. 😊 There may have been a couple of omissions, but I’ve filed them away in my head for my next read just in case I ‘missed’ them. Because yes, I’ll be reading this series again. For now, I’m moving to his sequel to this series—The Sunsurge Quartet (unfinished as of today, 8/2018).

The only think I could say that I didn’t enjoy in this book were the sex scenes, and I was thankful that they’d tapered to ‘not much’ by the last books in the quartet. But that may just be me. I never thought that fantasy needed sex scenes explained—I’m pretty much a fade to black girl for books and movies. The other adult aspect to note was the use of adult language, which frankly seemed realistic without being overdone.

All in all, I look forward to more from David Hair and have added him to my list of followed authors.

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Wonderful

Revisado: 12-07-17

While I was listening to this book on audio, I kept thinking "This is like beautiful poetry. This is like a 5 course dinner". I don't even LIKE poetry and am not sure that a formal cruise ship dinner rates as any 5-course, but it was the only way my brain could interpret and define how beautifully Ms Bear put her words and this story together.

This story is about as far from fast-paced as you can get, but it builds and builds and builds while you realize what it's all about. Women and (in)equality of power, prejudice, religion, gender identity, life, love....and magic.

All of that sounds like an exhausting list, but is done so subtly that you don't get hit over the head with anything. Much like the exquisite unwinding of her language, the plot slowly unwinds as well. Right up to the bang at the end.

I cannot express how eager I am to get my hands on the rest of the series. This book was VERY well done. Hm....re-reading my review. Perhaps I used the wrong analogy; some of you lucky souls will get what I mean. :)

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

Nice start to series

Revisado: 09-05-17

I kept getting Stormlight Archive vibes, which is a compliment to Sanderson, but thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this series. It did take the oh-so-excellent narration by Michael Kramer to fully get me engaged, but once I did, the storyline set its hooks in me.

The only problem that I had was the seemingly utter stupidity of the teenaged protaganists. Maybe I'm too far removed from that age, and just don't remember how stupid I was, but it seems to be my new pet peeve in books.

I've already purchased the audio and Kindle versions of book #2, An Echo of Things to Come.

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This review is for the entire series

Revisado: 09-05-17

(Review added to all books in series)
This was so good, I'll probably re-read the entire series again by the end of this year. This was truly a 5-course meal of a trilogy. Jemisin never hesitated staring an ugly truth right in the eye and it really paid off. Nothing came easy and there wasn't a hint of a Mary Sue moment.

It was refreshing to be offered a series where the main character was over 40, had kids and had already lived a full range of experiences. This is the second series that I've read by Jemisin and as much as I loved the 1st one (The Inheritance Trilogy), this was even better. I hope it doesn't sound pompous, but you can see more maturity in both the writing and the story-line.

The audio-book narrator, Robin Miles, is headed to the top of my narrator list. She can add everything from an African to a Gaelic? to a Slavic accent without sounding fake. It really brings the characters to life in a nice way.

I'm sure I'll still be re-reading this series decades from now. It's easy to see why Jemisin won the Hugo back to back on this one.

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esto le resultó útil a 54 personas

I'm really loving this series

Revisado: 08-03-17

I wasn't convinced in Book one, but since then, Minalan has charmed me. I previously didn't like him much as a character, but loved the story and the world that it's set in. That's all changed as Mr Mancour series (and characters) matures.

Things are only getting better. I love these books and am purchasing the Kindle and the Audio version. I only wish the rest of the series was on audio. I'm off to purchase the rest of the series!

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Good one!

Revisado: 05-23-17

The narration was top​ notch, and the main character FINALLY grew on me so it is with delight that I discovered quite a few more books in the series. Unfortunately, none are on audio, so Kindle it is!

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