C10
TLDR : Worldbuilding is fantastic. Story is ok sor far but characters are very meh. Romance is badly done.
I LOVE the worldbuilding. It is really well-made, you can see a lot of thought was put into it. It is a great scenery for a fantasy story. I loved the griffin society, the druins, the Black City. Everything titan-related is good. The Imperium is a bit of a cliché, but it is not too bad.
And the story ? It could be better, and it could be worse. The Ynis part is the best one IMO. I think the Leven one is the one with the most pages, but it feels kind of lacking. Leven is not interesting as a character, and her quest is too simplistic. I still don't know what Cillian is doing here and neither does he.
The Kaeto part is the worst. This man is the less credible character I have seen in a while. He should be smart, ruthless and efficient, but he is a whining little bitch.
My main problem with Jen William's books is the romance. It feels SO forced. That was already the case in The Winnowing Flame trilogy, and it has not much improved in this series. It feels like Williams needs to tick the boxes "gay couple" and "lesbian couple" even if it brings nothing and doesn't make much sense. The straight couple in Talonsister has zero alchemy, you can see page after page how the author pushes the characters towards being a couple even though it feels painful even for them.
TLDR : Worldbuilding is fantastic. Story is ok sor far but characters are very meh. Romance is badly done.
I LOVE the worldbuilding. It is really well-made, you can see a lot of thought was put into it. It is a great scenery for a fantasy story. I loved the griffin society, the druins, the Black City. Everything titan-related is good. The Imperium is a bit of a cliché, but it is not too bad.
And the story ? It could be better, and it could be worse. The Ynis part is the best one IMO. I think the Leven one is the one with the most pages, but it feels kind of lacking. Leven is not interesting as a character, and her quest is too simplistic. I still don't know what Cillian is doing here and neither does he.
The Kaeto part is the worst. This man is the less credible character I have seen in a while. He should be smart, ruthless and efficient, but he is a whining little bitch.
My main problem with Jen William's books is the romance. It feels SO forced. That was already the case in The Winnowing Flame trilogy, and it has not much improved in this series. It feels like Williams needs to tick the boxes "gay couple" and "lesbian couple" even if it brings nothing and doesn't make much sense. The straight couple in Talonsister has zero alchemy, you can see page after page how the author pushes the characters towards being a couple even though it feels painful even for them.
TLDR : Worldbuilding is fantastic. Story is ok sor far but characters are very meh. Romance is badly done.
I LOVE the worldbuilding. It is really well-made, you can see a lot of thought was put into it. It is a great scenery for a fantasy story. I loved the griffin society, the druins, the Black City. Everything titan-related is good. The Imperium is a bit of a cliché, but it is not too bad.
And the story ? It could be better, and it could be worse. The Ynis part is the best one IMO. I think the Leven one is the one with the most pages, but it feels kind of lacking. Leven is not interesting as a character, and her quest is too simplistic. I still don't know what Cillian is doing here and neither does he.
The Kaeto part is the worst. This man is the less credible character I have seen in a while. He should be smart, ruthless and efficient, but he is a whining little bitch.
My main problem with Jen William's books is the romance. It feels SO forced. That was already the case in The Winnowing Flame trilogy, and it has not much improved in this series. It feels like Williams needs to tick the boxes "gay couple" and "lesbian couple" even if it brings nothing and doesn't make much sense. The straight couple in Talonsister has zero alchemy, you can see page after page how the author pushes the characters towards being a couple even though it feels painful even for them.
TLDR : Worldbuilding is fantastic. Story is ok sor far but characters are very meh. Romance is badly done.
I LOVE the worldbuilding. It is really well-made, you can see a lot of thought was put into it. It is a great scenery for a fantasy story. I loved the griffin society, the druins, the Black City. Everything titan-related is good. The Imperium is a bit of a cliché, but it is not too bad.
And the story ? It could be better, and it could be worse. The Ynis part is the best one IMO. I think the Leven one is the one with the most pages, but it feels kind of lacking. Leven is not interesting as a character, and her quest is too simplistic. I still don't know what Cillian is doing here and neither does he.
The Kaeto part is the worst. This man is the less credible character I have seen in a while. He should be smart, ruthless and efficient, but he is a whining little bitch.
My main problem with Jen William's books is the romance. It feels SO forced. That was already the case in The Winnowing Flame trilogy, and it has not much improved in this series. It feels like Williams needs to tick the boxes "gay couple" and "lesbian couple" even if it brings nothing and doesn't make much sense. The straight couple in Talonsister has zero alchemy, you can see page after page how the author pushes the characters towards being a couple even though it feels painful even for them.
Tuyo is filled with good ideas. I loved the worldbuilding and the flesh given to both countries.
However the writing in general feels lacking. It looks like the author is new, and sometimes even feels like a bad translation.
The story is written through Ryo's POV, and I am saddened to say he has not much of a personality. He feels flat. His thoughts are often very repetitive. He can be described as : Honorable, honest and stubborn. IMO, this doesn't rhyme with "interesting".
The other characters are not any better. Aras in particular is generous and honorable, and that's it. Esau, Geras and Suyet are nothing more than sidekicks. I felt that Tuyo in general is very predictable : that is the problem when both societies are so based on honor they would put feodal Japan to shame.
The antagonist was just an ordinary villain. Why is he so mean and cruel ? Because that is how he is. Well.
The magic part is tricky to describe in a book, by its nature. I would say it was ok-ish, but I would have enjoyed a little more substance. The "big fight" felt a bit messy.
Overall an OK read, but I am not sure I will read the next tomes. At the end of Tuyo the author advertised a spinoff about Nikoles : why would I want to read a whole book about a guy I absolutely don't care about ? He was not intriguing nor "story-worthy" to me. Make it about the winter people and their songs, or the Lakasha.
Tuyo is filled with good ideas. I loved the worldbuilding and the flesh given to both countries.
However the writing in general feels lacking. It looks like the author is new, and sometimes even feels like a bad translation.
The story is written through Ryo's POV, and I am saddened to say he has not much of a personality. He feels flat. His thoughts are often very repetitive. He can be described as : Honorable, honest and stubborn. IMO, this doesn't rhyme with "interesting".
The other characters are not any better. Aras in particular is generous and honorable, and that's it. Esau, Geras and Suyet are nothing more than sidekicks. I felt that Tuyo in general is very predictable : that is the problem when both societies are so based on honor they would put feodal Japan to shame.
The antagonist was just an ordinary villain. Why is he so mean and cruel ? Because that is how he is. Well.
The magic part is tricky to describe in a book, by its nature. I would say it was ok-ish, but I would have enjoyed a little more substance. The "big fight" felt a bit messy.
Overall an OK read, but I am not sure I will read the next tomes. At the end of Tuyo the author advertised a spinoff about Nikoles : why would I want to read a whole book about a guy I absolutely don't care about ? He was not intriguing nor "story-worthy" to me. Make it about the winter people and their songs, or the Lakasha.
DNF 20%
This is feminism at its most uninteresting point. And it does not make any sense
DNF 20%
This is feminism at its most uninteresting point. And it does not make any sense