Josh
When it comes to fantasy I would rank the factors that are most important to my enjoyment in order of importance as characters, plot, and then world building. There is a significant gap between 1 and 2, and 2 and 3 though.
This book hits solidly on 2 and 3. The plot is interesting and I wanted to keep reading to see how things would inevitably end up. It's also chalk full of world building. There are different cultures, biomes, races, languages etc. It is epic in scope in every sense of the word.
But, the characters don't really resonate with me, falling flat more often than not. The group dynamics here and there are interesting and/or amusing, but largely fall they missed as well. The most intriguing character I find is Queen Erida, but by the end of the book it started to feel like certain elements were/are going to be shoehorned into her plot line that I wasn't a big fan of so even that ended on a somewhat sour note.
I will read the next one though as the plot is interesting enough for that on it's own.
When it comes to fantasy I would rank the factors that are most important to my enjoyment in order of importance as characters, plot, and then world building. There is a significant gap between 1 and 2, and 2 and 3 though.
This book hits solidly on 2 and 3. The plot is interesting and I wanted to keep reading to see how things would inevitably end up. It's also chalk full of world building. There are different cultures, biomes, races, languages etc. It is epic in scope in every sense of the word.
But, the characters don't really resonate with me, falling flat more often than not. The group dynamics here and there are interesting and/or amusing, but largely fall they missed as well. The most intriguing character I find is Queen Erida, but by the end of the book it started to feel like certain elements were/are going to be shoehorned into her plot line that I wasn't a big fan of so even that ended on a somewhat sour note.
I will read the next one though as the plot is interesting enough for that on it's own.