Manuel
Review for the whole series
I'm seeing so many people trashing on this manga because of the way it begins, it starts with this guy that doesn't understand himself and does some pretty perverted stuff, and I'm not sure if people read this and to clean their conscience they rate it low, but that's just the cataclysm, the story evolves into something way more complex and thought-provoking, to explore a character that doesn't know where to fit in society and what to do with his impulses and emotions, he just has to find a place in this world, and here comes the second main character of the story that helps him start to develop that, it all then comes full circle in the last chapter which finishes the series in such a perfect way.
This is a story about self understanding and coming to good terms with your dark side, all through your environment and the people that you relate with, yes it has some overly dramatic and exaggerated moments but that's how manga tells its story sometimes, and it helps to bring emotion to the page, and yes it has some “weird Japanese stuff” but when you really understand it, It's not actually weird at all, and its just human nature.
Also, I have to mention the superb art, paneling, imagery and symbolism of the series.
Overall one of the best psychological manga I've read, 9/10.
I'm so happy to say that the last book of the triology is my favorite one.
It was everything the last books where but perfectioned, so much happened and the journey was so “journeylike”, you don't just get the highlights you get everything, but when things could feel a chore you get the big character moments that may happen during some mundane stuff but it is so well written and it feels so real that it explains the characters so well in that.
I also love the reveals and how the magic ended playing out in this one and also how Hobb writes it entangled with emotions and feelings is brilliant.
The character interactions and plotlines and how they resolve feel so realistic I can't explain how but it just feels like a reflection of real life and not something that's written for the sake of telling a story.
9/10
MILD SPOILERS I guess but if you thought this book was gonna have a big battle in the end you weren't paying attention.
This feels like a prelude to the big story that's about to unfold in the rest of the saga.
The plot is simple with focus on themes, ideas and most of all I feel like it has two objectives:
First in getting us to know the main character seeing him struggle and be the hero, and we understand his noble intentions and where he comes from, while in contrast knowing that he will do these terrible things that we are told by him that he will do, since the story is being told in the future by him. It's very much like seeing Anakin in the prequels knowing what he will become, but here the author actually says that the right choice for Anakin would've been to become Darth Vader, so that's a hook for ya.
And second in introducing us to a lot of characters that are clearly gonna have more to do in the bigger story later, which I feel like it's a cool idea but maybe there were too many so a lot you are gonna get more out of in a reread than in actually remembering that they had a role in the first book later on, since they have very small roles and we are told by the MC that they where important in his life later basically, it was a problem for me since I learn the names by repetition, not by being told that they are important one time in an 800 page book.
Overall the beginning was the highlight for me, and then I felt like the middle part dragged a little longer than it needed and then it picked back up in the ending.
Very good read and it sets the saga nicely.
From the center of it all, the building of a church, from that, the spiral of this whole picture of the mid ages, the harshness and cruelty of it, the politics and scheming of the people in power and the day to day life problems of citizens, the relationship between the church and the crown, the exploration of Christianity and it's effect on people, it even has some epic, and beautiful romance stuff in between.
And it's all intertwined in this wondrous story that spans so many years, hardships and revelations, every moving part influences the other, every character with its own motivations and distinct roles and personalities, and it all comes constantly full circle in so many different ways in such a perfect manner that makes so much sense.
Even the moments of explaining how the church is built never felt like a chore and never went longer than they needed to be.
It's just a masterpiece, 10/10.
Fun read but nothing special, yet?
The story was very vanila but very well crafted, the pacing was on point, not too fast, not too slow at any moment, and it was always engaging, and the dialogue was nothing crazy but it felt very natural for the first half of the book when the protagonists where talking between themselves.
Then by the ending is where i expected this book to get more personality in it of itself, but it instead the ending was even more vanila, which i didnt dislike, i just expected that for it to be like a 4 star, to become its own thing by that point, i dont think this book has any big flaws, except if you count being basic a flaw.
I dont mind tropes as long as they are used to tell something new, i've heard this series becomes its own in the second book tho so im very thrilled to keep goin, since i see a loooot of potential here.
There are some good stories here, but I don't think Tolkien would've published this as it is in a million years, and I couldnt've got throught it if it wasn't for the amazing performance by Andy Serkis in the audio version.
The introduction chapters by Christopher and the letter by Tolkien himself were super interesting.
The first two chapters add a lot to the middle-earth lore while also being well written and not super dense like the rest of this book and I to my knowledge you can't get the stories they tell anywhere else which is a problem with later chapters.
After those, the book becomes this ultra dense without much editing text of history, that it's that, a history book that you have to study to get the “value” out of it and I don't think you are meant to study fantasy as we do our history, since we don't live in the middle-earth world as much as we would like to XD.
Then come the good chapters, but they have their own standalones fleshing way more their stories out, so really there's no need to read this and I would've love to know this before reading the book.
Overall I still see value in this book as a curiosity thing and I'm not against the idea of it being published, but hey those are my thoughts.
Alright Hobb knows how to write, I loooved the detailed but not ultra dense prose, it hits the perfect spot.
And the coming of age story is so beautifully done, the characters were greatt, if this is the worst book in the series oh boyy.
I actually laughed when I learned why everyone cried at the end of this book lol
