Dina
I'm torn between rating this 3 or 4 stars. I did enjoy it, although I think it wasn't as strong as the first book. I loved the characters, especially some of the newer ones, but the plot was a bit thin. And as a second book, it has the unfair disadvantage of not showing us a new world but one we already know a bit.
So let's call it 3.5 stars. I'm leaving it at 3 for now and may change the rating once I've thought about it some more.
ETA: Okay, I rounded it up to 4 stars. I keep thinking about the book and even though it didn't fulfull all my expectations, it was really good. Plus, Twenty Cicada deserves half a star all by himself, so there.
After many re-reads still one of my favourite fantasy books. It actually becomes better the more you read it. Full review at: http://sffbookreview.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/robin-hobb-assassins-apprentice/
DNF... should I start caring about these characters at some point? There is nothing interesting here, and my time is precious. So let's DNF and move on to greener pastures.
Here's another review book I couldn't finish. It suffered from many of the same symptoms as “The Waking Engine” by David Eddison did, but Rjurik Davidson did give his characters a bit more room to come to life.
While Eddison simply seemed to have added characters in order to show off his fancy world building, Davidson shifts perspective to keep things moving. However, every single chapter starts with a few pages of boring exposition, there is little dialogue and not nearly enough world building set up in order to understand the events that are happening. If I hadn't read the blurb, I would have been rather lost.
But - and this is a big But - this book isn't without merit. I believe that many people will like it a lot more than I did. The style didn't appeal to me and after about a third, I gave up. After all, forcing myself to read 10 pages at a time and then putting the book down annoyed isn't my idea of fun. But if you enjoy the writing and don't mind the exposition, there could be something there for you.
With three protagonists - vastly different in social status and personality - there is a good chance readers will fall in love with at least one of them and follow their story longer than I did. Kata, a former street urchin now employed by House Technis, has to kill two minotaurs in order to pay off her dept. Maximilian is a rebel, collecting people for his cause to overthrow the political status quo. And Boris is trying to better the working conditions for railroad workers.
There are hints of magic and tons of politics - but I didn't get deep enough into them to be hooked. While I believe this book may just kick off eventually, I lack the stamina to push through more than a third of a book to finally get to the parts that are good. I would definitely recommend to read an excerpt and see if it's for you. And if it is, be nice and let me know if I missed something brilliant.
2.5 stars
This was okay, but the world building was very flat, the plot not exactly original, and the characters only mildly interesting.
My favourite was Silas! For him, I may add another star later.
A fun-ish read.
2.5 stars
I'm honestly glad this is finally over. Not totally bad but nowhere near as good as everyone is saying.
This was brilliant!!!
I can't wait to read Chiang's first collection too. But for now, there's a lot to think about. There are so many great ideas and fantastic writing here that I'll have to digest it all first.
Well, this was amazing! So many twists, such a great world, and a protagonist who is constantly put through the worst possible situations and has to make the hardest decisions. And then that ending! And the epilogue! Aaaaaah!
I need a sequel right now!!!
Full review at sff book review
I liked this book a lot, but for different reasons. While other Heinlein's gripped me for their story line as much as for the ideas and the way they're integrated into the plot, this one mostly convinced me because of its ideas and the character of Jubal Harshaw.
If I judged purely for plot, I wouldn't rate it this highly because, honestly, it felt a little stitched together and I was missing a driving force in the plot. Altogether, this was a great novel that deserved its Hugo award and I understand why it is still so widely read and loved.
For a detailed review, go to SFF Book Review.
What a surprise. There I was, thinking after Slaughterhouse Five I'd never warm to Vonnegut and then he hits me with a novel like this! I won't say anything about the plot, it's too good not to read it yourself.
The themes and ideas in this novel are as breathtaking as they are believable - even though the whole thing is, at the same time, batshit crazy.
I love these books so, so much! The third Fairyland adventure gave me ALL THE EMOTIONS.
If you want to read my gushing, squeeful review, go to SFF Book Review and join me in longing for the next volume in the series.
That was probably the most meh book ever. I didn't care about any of the characters, the protagonist is a mean bitch, the plot is a mess, and nothing makes sense.
Add to that glaring anachronisms and weirdly contrived dialogue and you've got a pretty lame book.
I don't think I'll read the rest of the trilogy, even though this was at least a quick read.
Relies too much on info-dumping text because the complexity of the story is too great to convey through plot.
The art is still stunning but the fight scenes are too detailed to follow properly. Everything is a bit messy when things happen quickly.
This series has been consistently good so far but still hasn't really hooked me. Maika is not exactly a fountain of emotion so it's hard for me to truly care about her. I do love Kippa though!
