Daniel Bulacio
An honest review for Shadow of the Wicked, by Douglas W.T. Smith.
First of all, a big thank you to Douglas for sending me the eArc of his novella, it got me out of a big reading slump.
Shadow of the Wicked jumps between the points of view of Jaromir and Talmage, twin brothers that are living completely different lives. One is mastering the art of magick (yes, with a K. It was hard to get used to that), while the other is trying to get rid of all magick users in the world because of some tragedy in the past.
The pacing in this novella was very well executed. Each time I was getting tired of some character the story jumped to the next and vice versa, so it was easy to read which is a great thing and the tension was kept high at all times.
The story takes place basically in two locations, an underground labyrinth and a torture room, and the atmosphere in both was great. I felt claustrophobic, I felt scared, I even felt the pain of one of the characters by the end.
I left this book feeling like I know there's so much more to the world that wasn't in here and I would have liked to see it! Somehow the world felt real, with a lot of history and legends, but there was nothing of that in the 104 pages, just tiny glimpses. By the end, I felt like we could have taken time off of some of the repetitive stuff and really justify the intentions of the protagonists with something else.
Also I would have loved a little bit more depth on Kadir's and Pius's characters, they were great but felt empty.
Overall and taking into account these two minor downsides, Shadow of the Wicked was a really enjoyable read, I had a lot of fun and I can't wait to know a bit more about The Three Kingdoms.
Three adjectives to quickly describe this book: epic, ambitious, iwantmoreplease.
The story has all the epicness and lore of a Sanderson book, mixed with the minimalist approach to magic (not so minimal) and political intrigue of Joe Abercrombie. And let me tell you, it works together beautifully.
This is such an ambitious debut and I applaud the courage and effort it must have cost to craft this story the way the author wanted. M. B. Castle did an amazing job keeping this a fast-paced, high stakes story at all times.
I would encourage everybody to read the prologue, that's where I fell in love with the world, legends and lore Castle created, and it never stopped moving forward.
Also, if you give this book a go, don't get attached to ANY character. I've only read the first ASOIAF book, and haven't watched the series, but you know what happens and how unexpected it is... Well, I won't tell you how, where or when because I would love for you to suffer as much as I did. <3
That all said, I thank the author for sending me an eArc of the book. I will definitely be looking forward to book two. I'm so happy to see a latin-american author crafting a story to the highest of levels and I can't wait to see his improvement over the years.
Oh, and I didn't like the book cover at first, but thank the stars for accepting his offer to review the book anyway.
I have to admit I downloaded this trilogy illegally. It is so good I ended up buying the boxed set and an audiobook subscription to listen to the Steven Pacey narration. Amazing story.
Se nota que es el primer libro (publicado) de Sanderson. El principio se me hizo cuesta arriba; pero cerca de la mitad, el libro adquirió ritmo, dejandanos con un final que se desenvuelve de forma muy interesante, con varios giros y sorpresas.
I definetly wasn't expecting The Look of a King to appear in my tbr but what a great surprise it was.
We are introduced to Cyrus, a very humble young man who wants to be a hero like the ones in the stories he likes to tell, but we see him constantly failing. Then, through a series of unfortunate events, he gets a chance to create his own legacy of greatness.
The conclusion was great, delivering on all the promises and pushing the story forward with some new revelations, unexpected decisions and twists.
I guessed the first twist and was dissapointed because I had seen the same thing done in another series. But then that twist twisted itself, and then again. And then another twist. And the best part is that it never felt forced. Each character decision makes sense even when it goes against everything you would expect.
There even was a moment when it felt a bit like reading the ending of a Sherlock Holmes story, when everything seems obvious after some detailed explanation of what was going on away from the main pov character.
I read about half of this book in the time it took my girlfriend to watch Jungle Cruise, which made me really happy after she told me she didn't like the movie and I couldn't stop tapping my kindle screen.
The story is really fast-paced and there aren't filler pages at all, so I would highly recommend it if you're looking for great characters and relationships, unexpected plot-twists, and epic stakes packed in 270 pages. (May I mention the sequel is out and the last book is coming out next year? Yeah, that's a big selling point for me too.)
If you're ever feeling down, like you don't belong, like you're doing something wrong and you've lost all purpose, please, read any T J Klune book. He's wonderful.
The Burning God is the perfect conclusion for this series. Brutally true to the horrors of war and a broken country, super interesting conversations about power and the quarrels of having to much or too little of it, and a serious dive into how stories are always written by the winning side, erasing from history those who were against the and vanishing any trace of their relevance.
I'm looking forward to read anything R.F. Kuang puts out. She's now one of my favourite writers. I cannot recommend this enough.
I usually don't like politics and don't like naval battle stories... But I love every little part of this book. You can tell the amount of care and the attention to detail the author put into it.
Stunning 2nd entry to this series.
And Kitay is the best character of this series, hands down.
Tras la relectura y habiendo leído el resto de los libros en el Cosmere, resulta uno de los libros más satisfactorios en la saga. Sin embargo, no lo recomiendo para alguien que no esté muy versado en fantasía epica.
Los pequeños detalles y referencias son lo que hacen de Oathbringer un libro maravilloso.
I've got some advice for all of you who, like me, are trying to write your first epic fantasy novel. Don't read this series at the same time. You'll get depressed.
Sanderson turns the superheroe genre upside down, giving it his magical touch. Wonderful conclusion, I can't wait for more.
