Yncke Wells

I will not think back to this book fondly.

Firstly, unlike Godkiller, whose prose was one of my favorite aspects of the novel – easy to read, descriptive yet deceptively simple, largely inoffensive – Sunbringer has many issues when it comes to writing as an artform and logic. There are many sentences that simply did not flow well, with extremely repetitive language, or with errors where wrong names were used for certain characters (such as Hestra getting called ‘Hseth' on page 29, but returning to Hestra on page 31). This book was, on a basic prose level, not ready to publish. it should have gone through at least one more round of edits, where the name-swaps, the awkward sentences, the repetition, too long sentences and lack of commas in certain places would have gotten fixed.

Secondly, this book holds none of the appeal that Godkiller did. While Godkiller starts out extremely slow, one can find something appealing within through the worldbuilding that is explored and given quite organically to the reader, but mostly; the character dynamics. While the characters are not necessarily weak on their own, the main attraction towards Godkiller seems to have been the interaction between the characters moreso than the characters themselves. With the main party split, following their stories, the characters are forced to carry the plot as individuals rather than a cohesive whole, and this is where the appeal falls apart. One of Sunbringer's strongest scenes is the climax, where the main three characters reunite, but it is a long time coming, and by that point, I just wanted to get done with this book. While I do love Kissen, Elogast, and Inara, and Skediceth, I was struck by the feeling that these should not be the people who's story we follow in this book. Kissen especially. I think it would have been much more powerful, much more poignant in a way, if we could only speculate that Osidisen saved Kissen based on Godkiller's ending; I would have much rather followed Lessa Craier. Kaner focuses on character exploration, but the ways in which this is done just... does not land sometimes. Especially when it tries to harken back to Godkiller's intercharacter dynamics.

One such moment that stands out is on page 97, where Elo's narration states “He was not broken. He was never broken. Kissen had taught him that.” and my genuine and immediate reaction was “but did she tho????”. This to me is telling rather than showing. There were some instances of it in Godkiller too, but those I found easy to look over. Not here for some reason. It would have been much better, I think, if Elo instead had flashed to some memories of Kissen that would be relevant in this instance. Show how Kissen taught him he is not broken, maybe emphasize that with the telling phrase, rather than just proclaim it as truth. My own version would be something along these lines: “A broken man. Was he? Charred and burned, betrayed by Arren, his brother, nothing but a sacrifice to a god, and for what? For power? Elo's mind ached as images flashed before his eyes. Kissen, when they had first met. A mystery that unfolded slowly, with her bruises and broken curses and metal leg. The world had tried to break her, and she certainly looked it, but it had failed. Hearty or hurt, gloriously alive or tumbling to her death, Kissen had been whole; Elo was as well.” Is this the best alternative? No. But I'm also not a writer. Still, I feel like like this paints a stronger connection between Kissen and Elo, shows what exactly brokenness means to Elo here, why he doesn't believe himself to be broken still, and how Kissen plays a part in this belief. Yes, Elo is pained and somewhat weakened by his injuries and the horrors he has gone through, but so was Kissen, and she had the strength to fight a fucking god. How could she have been broken? Even if, like Elo, her body had been damaged.

I also honestly found the story to be boringly predictable. When it was revealed that Inara is a demigod, the child of Yusef, the God of safe haven, it did not feel earned. For multiple reasons. Firstly, it was something I theorized back when Inara was introduced and her father was absent, unknown by her. Secondly, there are many more hints throughout the story to lead the reader to that conclusion. The way then reveal is presented, it feels like the reader is supposed to be held in suspense, or maybe surprised, by Inara's godly heritage, perhaps as much as Kissen may have been. But here's the thing: it was not surprising. When you drop so many hints about a plot point that it might as well have been nailed into the reader's forehead, you don't focus on the official reveal, you focus on the reactions. We cut away before we see Kissen's (which was extremely underwhelming; especially when we are told she had thought it without that thought ever truly appearing in either book in any way that mattered). What would have been better is if the reveal was firstly introduced in an official capacity through Inara herself, supported by her actions, and then made “official” in Kissen's POV with Lessa Craier with a focus on Kissen's reaction and the resulting conversation (or bullying from Kissen). But because that's not how it goes down, I just felt frustrated with the book, saying “I know that already!”. This is also true of Lessa Craier being alive. The second we met the unnamed woman, even without recognizing her appearance, I thought "oh god, this can't be Ina's mother, can it?" and then it was. It felt like a cheap reveal. I would have preferred Inara to stay without guidance, without a key to the past, until, perhaps, Yusef rose again, until Skedi's memories might have come back (since they come in flashes sometimes)... Also, what the fuck was with Telle and the scroll? When did she have time to do research like that? How would she know??.

The only POV that I was genuinely invested in because I had no clear idea where it would go was Elogast's. I absolutely loved the way he was regressing in a way, becoming his worst self, a commander and ruthless warrior, and the way it conflicted with how he viewed himself, the people around him, Arren, the world, gods... all of it. I still found many aspects of it rather weak, but it actually surprised me on occasion. Skediceth was also a highlight. Getting glimpses into Arren's POV was also quite a surprise. It's a bold move on Kaner's part to introduce the book in the villain's perspective. However... if it was meant to make me care for Arren, get me invested... not really. I get that he's been hurt, and why he feels that way, but frankly I don't like him, nor do I find him particularly compelling. I sympathize, empathize even, but there was not enough of him to make a favorable impression. I think that there is a chance I will grow to like him if/when I read the third book, but from the decrease in quality from Godkiller to Sunbringer, I'm a little scared the third installment will be even more rushed and, thusly, and even more frustrating read.

That isn't to say I hated everything. The climax is quite strong, the darkest hour is fucking dark, and I did genuinely feel moved during some scenes, like Scian being confronted on Scian's Day and choosing to walk in the streets of the city.

However, the good parts were surrounded by the middling parts and the bad parts, and there were few of them to begin with. There were also some concepts I found to be significantly less interesting than my own theories. For example, Canovan is Lethen's son. This had been rather awkward as a reveal because I thought that Canovan and Lethen were lovers; that they had married once before the God War, and after Lethen was killed during it, Canovan brought her back through his own love, his solitary admiration and devotion, and I thought Lethen lost all her memories of the past, but fell in love with Canovan anew anyway. I thought maybe they had a child together that had been killed during the God War, too, and that it is the loss of his family (the old Lethen being just a little different from the new Lethen) that led him to the path of destruction he had been on. Him just being Lethen's kid feels.... simple and boring in comparison. Especially since he could have been explored more in-depth, perhaps seeing the echoes of what-could-have been in Inara, had his own child been able to live and grow to that age.

Overall, while Sunbringer does try to resolve and continue all plots and threads Kaner had set up in Godkiller, they felt lackluster and did not live up to the expectations that I had. They lived up to some theories, sure, but in ways so boring or predictable or cliched that it honestly detracted from the experience. Being predictable does not make the book bad, but sometimes these ‘known twists/reveals' have to be tackled in more creative ways to actually be poignant, to make those reveals and twists matter to the reader beyond the basic “official” confirmation. There is definitely more action happening in Sunbringer than even in Godkiller's climax, but the book still has dragged its feet, did not utilize it's POV gimmick in exciting ways, kept losing focus because of it, and just generally failed to deliver fantastic conclusions to fantastic setups. By no means a horrible book, but to me it is not a good one.

As a last little addition, here are some of the notes I made whilst reading, in chronological order (with varying amounts of context):
pg. 76: what a sentence. why is there so much ‘then'?
pg. 156: ‘godhead' instead of ‘godhood'... or maybe Kissen genuinely thinks Arren wants a divine blo-
pg. 187: genuinely what the FUCK does this mean
pg. 248: “generously” did NOT have to be there
pg. 262: well, look whose shoulder survived!
pg. 342: THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN, “TOO FAR?” KELT CAME FROM FUCKING BELRADEN, YOU'RE IN SCIAN'S GODDAMN HOME!
pg. 344: the “standing still” is, at the very least, very strongly implied by “unmoving”

THE SHADOW OF THE GODS BY JOHN GWYNNE2.5-3/5 stars Major SpoilersShould have been three devent books instead of one that's kinda shit(A more thorough though quite repetitive review can be found on my new blog. If you've read all of this, please read only what I had to say from “The Plotting; A Continuation”.)______________To start this off with some facts: this is a tri-POV book with a large cast of characters (each POV one having their own gaggle of supports), an interesting world and heavy Norse aesthetic. If you liked The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski for its mood and the way it felt like alternative history thanks to the realism, I think you will enjoy The Shadow of the Gods in much the same way. The author is a viking reenactor and it shows, both with the enthusiasm with which he writes the mood and setting and in the incredible amount of research and knowledge about the culture and history packed into this book. If you are into that in any way shape or form, I do recommend that you read this book, because every page has the very essence of love and appreciation for the viking era, all its goods and all its faults, and it feels real. Go and read it.If that is not enough to keep you going, and unlike me you are good at DNF'ing things and want to know if it is worth it, here is the rest of my review:This book is, if anything, extremely frustrating. There are many good concepts and little nuggets of what could have been, but simply is not. I think that this is mostly due to a lack of pagetime and space to figure everything out, but there are some egregious faults that even that excuse cannot justify. Most of the story is build-up, slow and not really steady, but it isn't until half-way through the book (after at least 200 pages) that the inciting incident for one character's story happens (and it doesn't happen well), just to put into perspective how long one may have to read for anything to start getting interesting and falling into place.There are three POVs here. My biggest complaint is that it is unnecessary. Their stories don't overlap enough to make the three POVs work in one book better than they would have worked in their own standalone novels. There is no event, theme, or character cross-overs until, I think, the last 50 pages, and those are minor to the point that they could have happened across multiple novels with more impact than when they happened here. The POVs getting packed together and the execution of other elements left me wondering if this is Gwynne's debut that he has been nursing for ages and had to cut down and compact into as few words as possible if he wanted to have any chance at publishing it. I will go through each POV in the order of novels I think this series could and should have been written as:ORKAOrka has been a major source of my frustration in the very beginning because of the ineptly planned and executed story that leads up to the inciting incident of her plot; the death of her husband and abduction of her son. Her archetype is made clear on pg.3 (of my copy of the book, a small paperback with an attached interview), and it is made clear in a bad way. There's a metaphor in the narration that goes “...winter still clung to these wooded hills like a hunched old warrior refusing to let go of his past.” This chapter is supposed to be from Orka's perspective, but this does not feel like something Orka the character would say or think. When I read this first, it felt like the author smacking me with the face going ‘do you get it? do you get it yet? do you know who it is about? guess who it is about! it's orka! do you get it?'. It is an artsy metaphor that stands out from the rest of the writing and how Orka talks about and perceives this world, and it is writing that makes it extremely obvious that this is a book with an author who controls everything and through whom the world and its characters are filtered. Of course the reader knows they are reading, but the experience should be smooth and immersive, allowing the author to fade away into nothing as the audience is captured by the prose and events of the story. This type of prose just brought me out immediately, and I honestly kind of wanted to stop there.In the same chapter (the first one of the book, Orka's first too) we also get a massive infodump masqueraded as a child asking his father to be told a story. That infodump is unnecessary and ineffective, especially since it is also out of the blue. The information could have been given to us in a shorter, more concise way, and the connection between Orka's husband, Thorkel, and her son, Breca, could have been shown and amplified in better ways that actually felt organic. I could tell the author just wanted to tell the reader about This Cool Worldbuilding, and used Breca being inquisitive for it. It could have perhaps worked if it had been later in the story, when we've grown to care about the characters more, but this was too early. Especially with how it is bracketed with other conversation and events. Int he first scene, we have Breca hunting with his family, guided by Orka and Thorkel, but he misses his throw with the spear and is rather dejected. He is later comforted by Thorkel. But between the missed spearthrow and the comforting is the infodump, which feels like an interjection just to inform the reader of this Cool But Not Really Important Right Now Thing About The World. And the worst thing is, I see what Gwynne was trying to do here. He's trying to lessen the sting of the infodump by using it to characterize Breca and Thorkel and Orka. He wants Breca to be obsessed with heroes and the stories of this world, with the sagas of the gods and famous warriors, so he has him ask to be told about the same story about Snaka the Snake God whilst looking at the mountain range built upon his bones. This does not work because of the timing (being both too early in the story, and interjecting into what should have been a continuous conversation about Breca's spearthrow) and because I think we have, by this point, gathered the different roles Orka play as parents, and thus the characterization of Thorkel is redundant here. Breca's saga-obsession could have been shown in a different way: with Thorkel using the lore of the world to comfort him about the missed hunt. It could still be frustrating to some, yes, but at least it would a) be relevant and b) provide emotional comfort to Breca, which would be more compelling than Breca just going “dad, tell me about the bones again”. Especially when half the time is just spent with Thorkel telling Breca it would take too long to tell the whole thing. It actually felt almost like Gwynne was telling the reader “see? im being nice. youre not getting the whole thing!”It just felt like an enthusiastic and inexperienced author's attempt at worldbuilding that ended up as subtle as a piano crashing onto the pavement. It was not a bad concept (use infodumps for characterization) but the execution was lacking.This is the biggest issue with Orka's early story. There are many good concepts, but the way they're being executed, the way they're spread out, actually hinders everything that could have been. My biggest frustration with her story, the one that made me certain this was Gwynne's first ever novel, was the inciting incident. Orka and her husband Thorkel think about moving away as tensions rise. Good for them. Except then Orka says she wants to speak to Froa, some entity that went unseen and unmentioned and unnamed up to this point, and so she goes to Froa, finds Froa dead, and immediately hears the screams of her son and smells the burning of her home. I needed to take a break from the book at that point because I was just struck dumb by how big of an asspull that was. My one and only thought was “wow, could Gwynne really not come up with an organic and in-character reason for Orka to leave her house for an hour?”. Because Froa is enver mentioned or hinted at in the chapters leading up to it, her general existence feels like somthing Gwynne came up with last-second before getting to writing this chapter. He needed Orka to get out of the house, so he got her out; but at the cost of a satisfying reason and at the cost of my faith in his planning and plot. The fact that Froa makes no appearance, ha sno set up, is just dead when we find her, and has the BIGGEST payoff (Orka's wish to speak with her leading to the death of her husband and abduction of her child, setting her off on her revenge quest) is just fucking WILD. in a bad way. the worst way. It feels inept and like a cop-out.After this, Orka's story is fine. It's not perfect, but we get to see her be badass and cool and murder people, and I'm into that. Good for her. She also has some companions on this journey of hers, and I find that they actually make her a more compelling character than if they weren't included. However, her companions are named Mord and Lif, which translates to Murder and Life, and I resent that. A lot of the names actually suck ass in this story, but I'll speak on that later.Orka's story ends up just... meandering way too much in the beginning to be good as it is. There is a lot of page-time wasted with her, and the order of events, the lack of planning invovled with introduction of some characters (cough Froa cough). I could tell from chapter 1 what Orka's inciting incident was going to be, I knew we are just waiting for the vengeance quest to kick off. But we don't get to that for a WHILE. Gwynne uses much of Orka's early chapters to set up Orka and her family and her future companions, which would have been fine if it was just... done differently. Because I knew Thorkel would die and Breca would get abducted I found it hard to really care for them much. Sure, I enjoyed them and how they played off of Orka, but because I knew what would happen, I could not truly invest myself much. I think it would have been better if Orka's plot beats got rearranged to set up all of the players in her story at an earlier point, getting us to care about the characters without Gwynne shwoing his entire hand in chapter 1, giving the readers no reason not to allow themselves to be fully captivated by the characters. Especially since at some point it starts to feel like Gwynne is doing some things just for the sake of begging you to give a shit abt these guys.It's a very flawed story, but it has a lot of potential, and it becomes much tighter and well-paced after the inciting incident. As a story on its own, it's a 3/5; it's unsatisfying and with a lackluster start, but it does get good eventually.VARGMy beloved. Best fucking thing about this book. He would have been a wonderful 2nd novel for this series, since it ties into Orka's in the very last chapter in such a way that we actually meet her again! Good. Varg has so much good going for him. He's instantly compelling; a runaway thrall (slave) seeking a mage so he can learn who killed his sister and avenge her. I honestly didn't even think about how this could count as fridging, but if that can turn you off a story, read with caution. Varg's story is extremely tight, straight-paced, and he has a lot of agency as a character, with him neve rlosing track of his goal (learning what happened to his siter and avenging her). Because of his shitty backstory and the fact he was hunted down to stay a slave, the stakes also feel high regarding his wellbeing and his success; he's someone you want the best for, someone you root for, becuase you are given so much to work with so early. he's also surrounded by extremely compelling characters. I love Svik, I love Einar, I love Røkia, and Golnir, and everyone in the Bloodsworn, and I want Varg to grow with them into his own. He does a little here, and it's wonderful to see. I have very few notes here actually because Varg's story is just so good. While Orka's story is slow to start, Varg kicks things off quickly with everything at stake, his vengeance quest already in place. But his story is not about the vengeance quest. Unlike Orka, who is meant to find her son, Varg's vengeance is a backdrop that pushes him onwards, but the main appeal I think is just seeing this hurt man be cared for, grow as his own person, free for the first time, and enjoy the other wonderful characters in his story.This is 5/5, Gwynne can actually write, I am impressed, Varg is the only thing that fucking kept me going and everytime we got to one of his chapters I whooped in joy. Yes please.ELVARElvar should not have been the POV character. The issue with her is that she just doesn't really have anything going for her. With Orka, you know what's going to happen, and you want to see how she reacts to it, the vengeance she will wreak upon those who wronged her. With Varg, you want him to grow and heal. With Elvar... there's really nothing.Elvar is a warrior on a team of mercenary slavers. Her first chapter is her band, the Bttle-Grim, hunting down and enslaving a man, abducting his family to keep all three of them under their thumb, and you don't see Einar really reflect on this, you don't see her think or feel or express any contention with this. The only thing Elvar wants, the only thing she cares for, is becoming famous and havinga r eputation, being known for her own merits. Which is fine. For a side character. She is not compelling as a protagonist, especially not when compared to Varg and Orka. Even those who like the book seem to dislike or at least find issue with Elvar, and for good reason. Elvar is a nothing character. She's bland and plain and there's nothing meaningful about her. And because everyone she's surrounded by are also fame-hungry warriors and slavers, there's nothing to root for here. I don't want Elvar to do well, because she is just... some guy. As a side-character she could have been intriguing considering her background, but whilst reading her chapters I just couldn't help but feel like I was wasting my time.Speaking of Elvar's background and wastes of time, Elvar's one and only personal conflict in this story nearly made me throw the book out. We find out at some point that Elvar's father is a jarl, a noble, who wa splanning on marrying her off to a prince for political connections. She ran away because she didn't want to be a brood bitch to that prince. You'd think that this would make her anti-slavery, or make her conlficted about selling people to be a slave that she refused to be. Nope. She gives not a fuck, has not a single throught in her brain about this. What more, she has never once thought about her family until she meets her father, and based on what she says, it is clear that her father had been shit. He's manipulative, a liar, did not care for her, saw her only as a pawn to be used. Gwynne hits you over the head with this fact.Then, Elvar's father offers Elvar something she had once wanted in the past; a warband, warriors to lead, and the status of drengr, an elite warrior to be known by all. So suddenly there's an entire plotline, with a chapter dedicated to it, where Elvar has to pick between her chosen kin who has helped her achieve everything she ever wanted, with whom she has bled and fought and sheltered with for the past 4 years, or a family that she knows is prone to manipulation and lying to get... the same thing she now has, except gifted to her instead of earned, and earning something on her own merits has been a big motivation for her this whole time.Wow. what a hard choice it must be. I am saying this with the utmost sarcasm. This “"”dilemma””” is so fucking hollow and underdeveloped and a waste of everyone's time. it's a waste of my time, a waste of Gwynne's time, a waste of the pages and words that could have been better used for something and someone else. I hate this. It's so bad. It's not compelling, it's not deep, and it makes Elvar just seem like a stupid fucking idiot for needed to BE TOLD by somebody else that HEY. THIS GUY? YOUR FATHER? HE'S KIND OF A LYING CUNT. YOU KNOW THIS. DON'T TRUST HIM.I wish this was removed. I wish Elvar was removed. Her installment is weak and lackluster and unnecessary. Her story ahs two supporting characters that I think would have worked better as protagonists, would have been more compelling. You have Grend, her silent protector and bodyguard oathsworn to her, who I think could offer a lot of wisdom and interesting perspective whilst running after Elvar. She could still be the star of the show, and I think that she'd genuinely be more interesting as a side-character instead of a main one. The other character I think could have replaced her is Biórr. Biórr is the only member of the Battle Grim that seems to care about the thralls on their theme, that learns their names and is kind to them. He is also not actually a Battle-Grim; he infiltrated their ranks to aid a different warrior group defeat them. He has so much going for him, I wish we'd have followed him instead. Especially because he was the only one I was rooting for! Sure, I didn't give a fuck about him until he, rather angrily, informed Elvar of the name of one of the thralls she was dehumanizing and objectifying to hell and back, but after that? Chef's kiss, Biórr was the highlight of the story, and I cheered when he killed the leader of the Battle-Grim. I wish Elvar the worst because maybe then she'll actually grow into someone interesting to follow. I do not plan on reading The Hunger of the Gods but the fact Biórr DOES supposedly have a POV there is tempting me.Another thing about Elvar that doesn't work is that she's just... irrelevant. Her story ties into the Big Event of the book (the freeing of a god from her imprisonment) mostly by accident. Elvar wants to be famous, so she goes looking for fame, and accidentally gets caught up in a different group's ritual to free the god. Elvar is Just Kind of There. Her motivation is shallow, her involvement is weak, and she has nothing interesting to say or do thematically. Elvar gets 1/5 stars from me. That one star is Biórr.CONCLUSIONI have more to say, but I hit the character limit, so I'll end this here, swiftly: The Shadow of the Gods is not a bad book and it has many appealing elements, but to me it remains a dissatisfying, disappointing read.

GODKILLER BY HANNAH KANER3.5-4/5 Stars* Medium Spoilers As different strangers on different quests come together to unite, we are treated to a glimpse into their magical, downtrodden world and their lives: (my reading experience was elevated by the ending, which might be bringing the star rating higher than it otherwise would be) _________________Godkiller by Hannah Kaner is a quest-heavy fantasy that focuses on the adventure and journey to the end goal than the end goal itself. To me, this is a rather cozy book; there is little within that will surprise you (besides one little thing at the end, maybe) and it doesn't offer many thrills beyond the action-packed prologue and ending, both of which can quickly get your adrenaline spiking. Two of the major criticisms against this book that I've seen so far is that the characters' voices are samey and that the pacing is slow; as someone who liked this book, both complaints are true. This book, after the prologue, does slow its pace almost immediately, continuing the prologue's action with a small fight that is quickly resolved–something characteristic of most conflicts within this story. If you are looking for action and that's what you enjoy, this is not the book for you. Likewise, if you have a hard time remembering POVs, the multiple perspectives we encounter here can be a bit confusing.Pesonally, while I agree that the POVs weren't too distinct or full of personality, I do think that this aids with ease of reading. I'm trying to get out of a pretty much life-long reading slump and this book, unlike many others, was very easy to read. The language isn't necessarily simple, but the prose flows in a way that is simply wonderful for me. It balances description and action and dialogue very well, still painting a vivid image of the world without being bulky or pretentious. This may come at a cost of voice and continuity. I do not mind the lack of characteristic voices, as the book is in third-person POV at all times and we never use the pronoun ‘I', and thus are always more disconnected from the characters than in some other stories. However, there is a small issue with this POV; sometimes we seem to detach from the characters mid-chapter for a line or so to get a glimpse into the others' thoughts and feelings and backstories, or somehow know more than a character would realistically be aware of. This isn't too egregious since it doesn't happen all too often, but it is something I noticed happening (especially in later chapters) that did make me pause and ask the characters “how the fuck do you know that?”While the pacing is slow, I think that the readers who care about character dynamics more will still find this book very interesting. There is a big focus on the world, its history, and its people, but this is by and far a book where character dynamics are at the forefront. The cast of main characters are in close-quarters all the time, and thanks to the head-hopping we're able to explore each. Not to mention there is a good amount of banter and interactions that I find to be well-written enough to get me very much invested; if not in the characters themselves, then in the relationships between them. I don't like kids much, so Inara didn't grow on me much, and because Skediceth has to be hidden a lot (and gets the least POVs I'm pretty sure), he also didn't get to be on the page much. Still, I like them thanks to how they interact and play off of each other and the two protagonists I did grow to care a lot about, Kissen and Elogast. I love that Kissen is allowed to be flawed and a pain in the ass, someone bitter and angry yet still full of love and capable of vulnerability. I love that she is strong both physically and mentally, willing to make mistakes and own them and move through them. Elogast has one of the most compelling emotional states to me personally, a man bound by guilt and duty to his ‘brother' to a point where he is willing to sacrifice himself to keep his family alive. The characters are absolutely the highlight of this story, and I didn't find fault in them even though their voices weren't completely unique. I didn't really have issues remembering who's POV we were in, but I do know that some reviewers were, so do keep that in mind if you're interested in the book.The world, and especially the way the gods worked, are very interesting. The magic system is very much wishy-washy, but as someone who completely prefers hard magic over soft magic, I found that I didn't mind the lack of explanation here. After all, the magic is contained to the gods; our characters cannot pull magic out of their ass (for the most part) and Skediceth, the god that *does have the most obvious magic powers, is only a very small god of white lies; of course he cannot do much. This lack of magical characters made it easy to not care about the lack of a proper explanation or rigorous limits for magic, since the magic was exclusively divine, and there were very many compelling reasons as to why the characters neither turned to gods and why the gods would not have answered their prayers.While this book is very enjoyable, and the ending is, i find, a good and exciting one, this is in no fucking way a surprising novel. If you keep your brain turned on whilst reading, you will most likely be able to predict many, many things this book throws at you. There aren't many surprises once you pick up the hints, so I found myself very coming up with theories about what may be going on with Inara and her fatherlessness, as well as with Inara and Skediceth, and there simply weren't that many mysteries beyond that. The one thing that surprised me was revealed at the end, with Arren, Elogast's kind-of adopted brother. Because we know nothing of him and see him on page once, his later involvement and betrayal did come as a surprise to me. I completely forgot he existed (kind of; I obviously knew he existed and sent Elogast on his quest, but I kind of forgot he mattered). So the surprise was both ‘oh, Arren is here?' and ‘oh, Arren is here'. It did feel like it came a little bit out of the blue, though to be honest, I also just was not reading this book critically or even all that closely. Regardless, there was an element of surprise mostly because of how little we know Arren. He's such a minor character in the beginning, basically there for a couple of pages before he's gone, that him being The Big Bad is just very out of the blue. The only hint that there's more to him than meets the eye is his fiery hearth-heart, but him being powered by divine magic as a result of his foolishness and the desperation of Elogast doesn't really count as foreshadowing or hinting for me. Overall it's just kind of out of the blue. Especially for me, to whom Arren didn't really exist.I do think this book is overall very solid. The ending especially god my blood pumping and I am definitely going to read the sequel once I get my hands on it. However, this is not a fast-paced book, and it is not a particularly thrilling book, nor does it have that much fighting in it. If those are the things one looks for in a novel, then this one's better skipped But if you are a reader that enjoys characters and character dynamics, and that likes to see and explore the setting, I think you will find this book to be a cozy read with some fun scenes thrown in to spice things up. It was enjoyable for me, at least!

THE KEEPER'S SIX BY KATE ELLIOT3-3.5/5 Stars Medium Spoilers A cozy quest/adventure tale as much about the fantastical world as it is about a mother's undying love for her son_________________The Keeper's Six by Kate Elliot is a rather cozy quest/adventure style fantasy novel with a quick pace, which my slow, focus-losing self managed to read in more or less one sitting (notwithstanding a single break for coffee and a walk during a phonecall) that lasted about 5.5 hours–although it probably took me closer to 4.5-5 hours to read, due to the length of the break. I wouldn't call this story particularly gripping or thrilling, but it reads smoothly and swiftly (more on that later) and has a strong, well-balanced pace that did not drag nor rush, instead flowing steadily onwards. This book has many strong points, mostly rooted in its worldbuilding and plot, but the weaker links do not detract from the story and are, in some ways, necessary to keep the pace as good as it is. WORLDBUILDINGThe world of The Keeper's Six is something of a cross between fantasy and Sci-Fi. Set not in the olden days like I had originally expected, we are thrust instead into an undisclosed but relatively modern age with a fantastical twist. There are phones and TVs and aliens, but also magic, interdimensional travel (of sorts), and many mysteries and unknowns.I think the world is one of the strongest aspects of the story. It is what kept my interest and helped me stay focused on the book. The Beyond is an ever-shifting, treacherous space between the Realms–more solid, more material, more understandable places much like our Earth. There are many different species, none of which are particularly important (except the dragons) or deeply explored, but which add to the fantasy and the grandness of this universe. This diversity is reflected in the writing, as not all alien person-classified species go by human pronouns or human genders–I truly loved the way some surrounding characters would get clocked as people first, then described later, and it was very interesting to see neopronouns/xenopronouns be used so unabashedly. The attention to gender and language used by humans towards and about other species was a highlight for me, made the world so much richer, so much more real, so much more put-together and well-thought-out.There is, unfortunately, some worldbuilding avenues that the story presents but does not explore in more depth, and that I think is a shame; both because I have fallen in love with the setting and am curious, but also because I feel it did at times make the world just a little bit superficial. Those moments are few and far between however, and I am certain most readers will not be particularly bothered by what is left in the shallow waters. PLOTThe plot is simple and straight-forward; the main character's son is abducted, and he must be rescued by any means necessary. The stakes are personal, but they never felt particularly high. I not for once thought that the quest would be failed, nor did I think there would be negative consequences, nor did I worry about anybody's safety. This is mostly due to the way humor has been used in the story, and the fact that the there was much more time spent focusing on other groups, institutions, and dynamics within the setting (developing the themes rather than the premise). This may detract from the story for some.The main distractions from the plot are some of the themes, in particular that of power and control in the workplace and various institutions, as well as servitude and slavery. These are important topics and themes, but it is the way they are dealt with that give the impression that the stakes are more or less nonexistent. The main character's son, Daniel, appears on the page for the first time in person whilst making merry in the kitchen with servants and workers. He is teaching them about unions and workers' rights. Immediately, any stakes that the chapters leading up to this point may have promised have vanished. It wasn't necessarily a disappointment, but it was a turning point in how I engaged with the story–caring slightly less about the goings-on, instead preparing for a smooth drive where the journey is far more important than the end.The way the themes are presented and explored is... borderline hamfisted, some might say. I didn't particularly hate it, seeing as I agree with the politics presented here, but it did feel like I was getting bonked on the head with messaging. It wasn't annoying so much as somewhat exasperating? But it did add a lot to the characterization, the mood, the world, and while it did elicit a sigh from me, I was also endeared by it. This can be a boon or a detriment depending on one's preferences for a story; a thrilling, action-packed tale this is not, and if you are somebody who prefers wild adventures and bold heists, then I warn that you will not find that here. I at no point felt like there was a true struggle or any true setback, even if there were ups and downs in the main team's fortune.For me, the plot was not the main drive or appeal of the story; it was the world and the characters and the topics and themes explored therein. However, a trigger warning for those that may need it: there is mention and discussion of sexual/reproductive slavery. There is no depiction of it (though we see plenty of indentured servants and slaves and horrible work contracts), but due to the ‘cozy' and somewhat humorous atmosphere I feel the sting of that fact is not as harsh as it would be otherwise. CHARACTERSI find most of the characters to be appealing, even if most are explored only on the most surface level. Esther is a good protagonist for this type of story, aged and mature and good and skilled, through whom the world is presented to us (though the story is written in third person). She isn't particularly interesting, but she is sympathetic and kind, and thus likeable enough for my tasted. That isn't to say she doesn't fuck up or make mistake or have flaws, but she is quite a simple person to understand and get. Which is a perfect protagonist for a simple and cozy story.Marianne was a particular highlight for me. I liked when she called out Esther on her bullshit, I liked when she was bitter and angry and vengeful and didn't let the past die, because she was screwed over! Esther did her dirty! And she has a right to be pissed! I will be honest in that Esther being frustrated with Marianne's (quite valid if untimely) criticism of her choices frustrated me in turn, as I was quite defensive of Mar. It was quite fun to be invested in a character that, in any other story, might have been presented as unsympathetic or vilified. Not here! While I wish that Esther's acquiescence to Marianne's points and criticisms was a bit more... satisfying (a bit bigger, a bit more cathartic, more emotional) I did like that Esther did see and empathise with Marianne's feelings. Marianne might be my favorite character here, even if there wasn't much of her.And that is perhaps the worst part of the story. Because there are so many characters and only so many pages, none are explored in-depth, and some almost disappear, or have nothing to add to the story besides performing a function within the professional Hex dynamic. Gus, for example, what something of a non-character to me. I was aware of his existence, I was aware he was important (even if the role of Ghost in the Hex dynamic felt like the weakest link to me), but I saw him as someone that had to be there because the Hex structure demanded he be there; he did nothing for the story and little to nothing for the characters. Characters like Daniel were also rarely on the page, but because of their strong personalities and memorable introductions/scenes, I feel I have a much stronger understanding of Daniel than Gus, even though Gus is part of Esther's group with whom we are traveling, whilst Daniel is gone for most of the story.I would be remiss not to mention Shahin, who plays a somewhat major role, especially when it comes to explaining the world and exploring the themes of power and identity. He is an enigmatic, tight-lipped man, but to me he is more a narrative vehicle than a character. That isn't to say he is a chore or detriment to the story, but I simply have little to say about him; it is clear that he is... somewhat sheltered, for he knows little of the world in practicality, but he is inquisitive and more rebellious than one might at first expect of him. However, what did detract from the story for me here was the attraction Esther feels towards him. It just feels extremely out of place, and hearing about how attractive he was, how pulled towards him Esther felt, it did not strike me as poignant or important, and annoyed me. I also didn't feel like it added to Esther's character or personality. She constantly thinks to herself that this is not the time nor the place to be catching feelings, and she's right, and because Shahin is a narrative device more than a person, all of the words allotted to this attraction feels to me like a waste. Some might find this spark cute, but it was not for me.Another pivotal character is Kai, who is more or less a walking spoiler. Kwo (Kai's pronoun) is not present for most of the story, and kwo is unremarkable as an individual in the few scenes we see kwo. This isn't anything bad necessarily. This is a cozy, simple story, and thus it has cozy, simple characters. That doesn't mean they are bland, but because they are not featured much, I have little to say other than they exist. It is the Hex and Hex-opposed characters who add the most interest and depth to the story thanks to their dynamics. PROSEThe prose is the weakest link to me. It is not bad, but it is middling. The book is less than 200 pages long, and to achieve that length whilst still being easy and quick to read, and wlel-paced, the prose makes a concession; it lacks description and depth. That isn't to say that there is no description, but it is weak in most places, and doesn't paint the most vivid picture. Some descriptions, especially at the beginning whilst meeting some Hex members, breathe life into the characters. Others are... well, at some point, a dragon's crest is described as ‘neither showy nor modesst' (paraphrasing here, as I do not have the book with me), and I remember being pulled right out of the moment just to ask ‘but what DOES it look like then?!'. Some descriptions were frustratingly vague and borderline nonexistent, and there were some that would have been better left out; not because they were gory or gross, but because they simply were useless.There is a simplicity to the prose that I think is often found in YA. However, it is far from juvenile–usually. There are some unfortunate sections where the word choices just... made me frown and roll my eyes and want to put the book away, because they felt so out of place. At some point, a character is described as wearing a “sexy jumpsuit”, and Esther uses the phrase “boss bitch” (or similar) to describe that character. It is very unimaginative (what makes the jumpsuit sexy, for one?) and the word choice is very different to the mood and word choice in the rest of the prose. There were multiple instances where I would read a sentence or paragraph and think to myself that it could have been worded better. While I still don't think the writing is juvenile, it has immature moments, and these were not fun for me. In addition, there is a lot of literary references, especially to poetic works. This may be frustrating for those who hate to be left out of the joke, but can be a boon for those who are well-read in literature. I am not–but I also did not care. If I missed anything because of that, I do not feel its loss.The bareness and simplicity of the prose is somewhat necessitated to keep the flow and pace and shortness of the work overall. Whether the readability is a boon (quick to read even with attention-issues, at least for me, and the constant onward progress does keep things smooth) or a detriment (especially for those who love lush, vivid descriptions that set the mood and the scene) depends entirely on the individual reader. ADDITIONAL NOTES (Extra Spoilery)I cannot for the life of me recall if there was an explanation as to why the main antagonist abducted Daniel instead of kwos target, Kai, despite the fact that Kai and Daniel live together. If Daniel had to leave the safety of the Keep to be abducted, how come he knew to leave his mother the clues to come and find him (and call her?)? But if he had to let the kidnappers into the Keep under the guise of helping a wandering Hex to safety, why the hell did the kidnappers grab hima nd leave immediately when Kai was Right There? This didn't really take away from the story for me (I remembered to ask this question only after I was 85% done with the book), but it does call the premise into question for me, just a little. Where did Daniel even get the dragon scale that would help his mother track him down? This wasn't and still isn't that big a point of contention for me, but it does nag me a little bit. Perhaps there was an explanation in the book, but I only remember Esther wondering about the circumstances of the kidnapping herself, not the answer to these questions.I also find that some parts of the story were a little underwhelming. I think the book wanted me to be surprised by the fact that Kai and Daniel had children, and that Kai could have been the antagonist's spawn. But it is not uncommon in fantasy for hybrid children to exist, and as such it did not cross my mind to be surprised or not accept hybrid children at face value; and whenever Esther or anyone else expressed incredulity at the idea of dragons or different dragon kindreds being able to interbreed with each other, I kept thinking to myself “Kai has kids with a human! How is this weird?! You all know this!” This might be in part because the information that dragons and dragon kindreds are very, very different, to the point of beign seperate species that should not be able to interbreed, comes during a discussion of said interbreeding being (im)possible. Because there was no buildup, and because of fantasy tropes where hybrid children are normal and expected, it was honestly just weird for the book to act like I should be surprised, and I was frustrated with the characters being surprised themselves. The reveal of what a nexus is was thus neither surprising nor particularly interesting to me. I could not have cared less. CONCLUSIONA short and sweet book with a straight-forward plot, enjoyable character dynamics, and a lot of commentary delivered with as much subtlety as a jackhammer to the face (affectionate). There are cons, mostly in the simpleness of the prose and some superficial elements, as well as reveals I think will not be very surprising to experienced fantasy and Sci-Fi enjoyers. I strongly recommend checking it out.

THE HUNGER OF THE GODS BY JOHN GWYNNE2/5 stars Major Spoilers Unfinished and unpolished___________Even if I were to enjoy this book, I would not be able to rate it over 2 stars. There is much in here that shows The hunger of the Gods is unfit for publication as it is an unfinished product. A traditionally published book generally goes through several edits before is goes out to the public, and this has clearly either not received that treatment or the editors did not do their jobs well; whether that be because the publisher didn't let them or not is a different matter. However, my paperback edition published in 2023 contains hella many issues. Dialogue tags either disappear into the nether or appear out of nowhere, sometimes they are disconnect from the dialogue and in the wrong place, characters on multiple times are misnamed or have their names misspelled, there is inconsistent italicization, inconsistent hyphenation, inconsistent capitalization, and many sentences (much like this one) should have been split at least in half if not into threes. I cannot fault Gwynne for this as this type of polishing and finishing is the job of the editors, for them to either do or point out to him to get it fixed. From my understanding, Gwynne's daughter had died the year this book had been published. It seems to me that Orbit, the publishing house, has not given Gwynne the time to grieve and pushed for publication of what is essentially a partially-uncooked meal. It's generally solid, but the lack of these finishing touches adds up to a lackluster product. I cannot blame this on the author, so I will not; I am however looking askance at Orbit.About the actual content of this novel! I have blogged my experiences with this book on my tumblr blog as I went through the chapters, where my most detailed thoughts and critiques of prose can be found. I get somewhat redundant there but also very specific about what isn't working and why.The pacing is generally better than The Shadow of the Gods, though there is much build-up to a rather short climax. The main reason the pacing works better, despite this book being meatier, is that the characters tend to be in harmony regarding the energy and action-levels of their chapters, making the flow generally more consistent than in book one. Likewise the multi-POV structure feels more natural. My biggest gripe with TSOTG was that it should have been three books instead of one, or at least three short-stories that we read in full one after the other. The head-switching in The Shadow of the Gods felt pointless with how little the stories overlapped. There are multiple scenes in THOTG that we can see from two to three different POVs, which helps make the multi-POV quirk work much better. Some chapters feel less important than others, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense for some of them to be there.However, there are problems with this book. Mainly, there are underutilized, underdeveloped, and unexplained elements that muddle the story. Raising gods from the dead is done twice, and neither of them amount to anything; not to mention that while the Battle-Grim have the wherewithal to raise Ulfrir from the dead, they somehow don't consider bringing Agnar back at all. That is despite him dying a bad death in book one. We also know from Varg and other sibling-Tainted that Tainted born of the same mother and father have a mental link going on, which lets them know if their siblings are alive, hurt or well, or dead. Glornir, despite being Thorkel's brother, apparently didn't know he was alive, AND didn't realize he died only weeks/months prior? The characters do not grow significantly (besides maybe Varg and Biórr) and some of them get worse if not stagnant. I will not speak at length about the characters as I have done that enough on my blog and all my issues with them. However, to be short and concise:Orka is the same the whole two books; stone-hearted, hellbent on getting her son back and willing to do anything it takes to get to him. This isn't really bad when it comes to Orka specifically, but it does get hard to care sometimes. She gets more supporting characters this book, which helps keep her chapters exciting, though there is... not enough drama/emotion there for my liking.Varg is getting better at fighting and smarter with how he speaks with people (mostly if not only with Sulich) but there are some things that Gwynne does with his character that just do not land with me. He's still the character I enjoy the most because I like the archetype of his character, but there is not much focus on his personal quest, which sucks.Elvar is much of the same and worse, not just a mercenary slaver but also a slave-owner who will not hesitate to beat her slaves if they cross her. I don't really like how the book kind of gives her everything she wants and didn't care for before she got it; it's handed to her on a silver platter when her character is one of the shallowest of them all. She gets more depth added here, her backstory becoming more prominent, but that only makes her worse. There was no hint of any of that in the first book when that should have come out the second her father started trying to manipulate her in Snakavik. It feels tacked on to make her more interesting. It also retroactively makes the chapter of her trying to decide between the Battle-Grim and her father in TSOTG worse and more stupid, and I already hated the fact we needed to devote a whole chapter to it only for Elvar to have to be told by someone else to not be an idiot. I rant about her a lot during my “live-reading” summaries because there is just so much that does not work for me with this character.Guðvarr surprisingly tolerable but also the most aggravating of them all. Gwynne kept on trying to make him more pathetic by mentioning him potentially pissing/shitting himself almost every single chapter, which got boring quick, and didn't really have the desire effect. I just started rolling my eyes. He also seemed a little inconsistent, both extremely self-aware at times and bordering on self-hatred only then to genuinely self-aggrandize with no capacity for introspection whatsoever. It's not necessarily unrealistic but I wish Guðvarr's character was more straightened out because while I hated him as a person, he had the potential to be an intriguing character. Biórr had potential that got squandered in his first chapter. He was not the character I wanted nor expected, and honestly he is worse for it. I had high hopes about him being a strong-willed anti-slavery warrior who'd be among the first to question Lik-Rifa, enough to maybe break ranks, but not really; he's whiny, constantly talking about Elvar and Agnar (made all the worse by my dislike of these characters) and he doesn't have much solid substance to him. Not offensively bad, but he was not someone I really cared about. Lik-Rifa also lacked gravitas or charisma on the page, being rather two-dimensional and very transparent to the reader. There isn't much to say about the plot. Nothing impactful truly happens until the very end, making it a very, very slow build-up filled with blips of excitement. This story overall is not one I particularly enjoy or care about, but that I will be seeing through when the last book comes out. This is less because I'm genuinely invested and more because the Bloodsworn Saga has been frustrating for me, and I want to know what all of this was for. My hopes especially are that Elvar gets what she deserves (which is: nothing fucking good. she needs a serious humbling), and I want to follow Varg around some more. I also hope that Snakka will actually have some actual presence in that book, because while Ulfrir is on the cover of this one, he does fuckall.

THE ANOMALY BY HERVÈ LE TELLIER

It is important to note that this book takes many liberties with structure and prose style; there is no one unified protagonist, nor is there all that much substance plot-wise I fear. This book is predominantly characterized by its focus on philosophy and discussion as well as critique of many aspects of modern life and culture, especially religion. The most wondrous and fictional aprt of this book, except the duplicated plane and all its passengers, is the fact that a child predator in the army is rightfully sentenced.

While I do understand the point of the book and what it is going for, it was a read more frustrating than enjoyable. The first 150-200 pages were a nightmare and I only pushed onwards because I owed it to the kind and wonderful librarian who has not read the book, but recommended it to me because she heard good things about it and wanted me to enjoy it. Hopefully she will not be in the library when I return my borrowed copy because I have nary a compliment for this novel.

The writing style starts out a fun and new experience, but this book seems to be in love with itself and its words; after some time (roughly 50 pages), the prose lost its charm and started to feel annoying. Especially when the meta-commentary started getting peppered in. I was tempted to throw the book at a wall when it began referencing itself and the reader. Likewise, there were many tidbits here that felt rather pointless to me; as I got farther into the book, the less the scene with all the religious leaders felt relevant to the goings-on. It started to feel shoe-horned in just to ridicule religion and make some points about the human soul, which I didn't find particularly interesting or inspiring, in part because I heard all those talking points already in real-life debates that were a lot more captivating. The issue for me, with this novel, is that it discussed topics I have already explored in more depth and with more nuance through my online experience, watching other people's debates and asking questions on forums, as well as researching philosophy. As such, there was nothing novel, nothing to interest me. I didn't care for the characters, I didn't care for the topics discussed (mostly because they were so repetitive for me), and the story was less a plot and more a backdrop for philosophical meanderings.

That being said, I can see why people would like this book. I don't see why it would be life-changing, but that is my difficulty with empathy speaking. Philosophy does affect people greatly, and there is much within this book that invites the readers to consider philosophy-changing theories and hypotheses. However, for those who are well-versed in philosophy, or if they find themselves rather apathetic to the discussion of “are we real, are we not?”, this book has little to offer.

Still, Le Tellier did handle quite a lot of sensitive topics with good-hearted humor and with the seriousness they deserve. A gay Black man struggling with living and loving his homophobic culture, a young girl sexually abused by her father. Both issues are treated respectfully and without any gratuity, which I appreciate. However, while some of the characters are well-handled, I don't think they're interesting or well-executed, or memorable. By the time the plot really took off, I just wanted to finish this shit, and couldn't care less about the people I was reading about.

My overall impression is that the book is full of itself, it is not as novel as it seems to think itself to be, and I was bored until we hit the last third. This just was not the book for me, and I was not the book for the reader; this is, I think, mostly for the people who are worried, and who fear what the world means and what fate is, and I just am not that person.

PROJECT HAIL MARY by ANDY WEIR3/5 stars Minor Spoilers___________Going through the 1-star reviews, I found some common complains: the whole story is implausible; there are too many conveniences going on; the side-characters are stereotypical and shallow; the main character's wittiness and quirkiness detracts from the experience.Frankly, they're quite correct.Project Hail Mary's prose is not exciting and lacks panache, the first-person-narration being very repetitive and almost robotic when the main character, Ryland Grace (ugh), isn't busy being witty, sarcastic, and comedic. There's a lot of dry science in this, which Weir tries to spice up with Ryland's humor, and there was not a single second when I doubted the success of the mission. Ultimately, if what you're looking for is a beautifully-written rumination on the human species and interstellar life, you're not really going to find it here. At least, I didn't.What I DID find though is a lot of fun spectacle hiding behind science I didn't understand and a character whose humor was frustrating most of the time. You REALLY have to gel with the humor to stomach the writing, since Weir injects every page with it. I got used to it in about 60 pages, enough so that I laughed here and there, but if you want a serious story, it ain't it. This is very pulpy, borderline low-brow, and doesn't bother to be wholly consistent with its characters' personalities, motivations, etc. What Project Hail Mary is is an entertaining spectacle and specualtion on the panspermia theory. I didn't find more than that in here.And hell, what a spectacle it was! Yes, Ryland Grace is a Gary Stu and his name is as corny as literally everything else about the novel, the stakes are technically high but so downplayed by the Litany of Conveniences that they had no impact; the gravity of any given crisis was quickly overshadowed by Weir's writing; and the ending was abrupt and cheesy, somehow still underwhelming despite tying up loose ends. But still. It was mindless fun. My appreciation for the story might be skewed because of the fact I read it all in one sitting (which lasted too many hours for the poor slow-reader I am), and the fact it's the first book I read in a while, but hey, at least I read it!

I'm surprised I finished it. For me, The Bear and the Nightingale was a rather boring fairytale. It was supposedly driven by its characters, but the characters didn't seem driven themselves, and I found every single one of them uninteresting, boring, or lackluster, with the few characters complex enough to hold any attention being rather despicable.

My biggest gripe is the double-standards and flatlining of characters. Anna, the stepmother, seems at first sympathetic, when it is revealed she has the Sight and is used by men in different ways, as power plays and as a bride/wife, yet for the rest of the story, there is nothing done with her to sympathise with her plight, and she becomes nothing but the evil stepmother. Her Sight and her plight is undermined by her cruelty, and she becomes something one-note. Still, the book tries to have feminist themes, but those feminist themes are offered only to the special girl, the wild girl, the wood-sprite Vasya, and no other woman is given the chance to have a choice. It is especially annoying that Vasya is given the opportunity to whine about the plight of women, when she had never been squandered by it like the rest. She had been running free in the forest since childhood, she escaped bridehood and wifedom, and she wasn't sent to a convent–of all the women and girls, she's the only one that has always been free, and she is the only one who gets to be free. She's special, and freedom is only for the special ones. I don't know whether that was Arden's angle, but that's how her writing made it seem.

Another double-standard is that between Konstantin and Morozko. Apparently lusting after teens is bad if you're a priest but if you're an immortal frost-lord, you can kiss them without consent just fine and can lord your powers over them without issue.

The whole first part of the book ended up being bloated and useless. So much of it could have been cut, and what little of it was relevant could have been interspersed throughout the other parts of the story as flashbacks or tales. The only thing the book had going for it was the prose, which has a distinct lyrical rhythm to it. It wasn't particularly conducive to battle-scenes however, and so the ‘climax' didn't feel like much of anything.

Then also comes the whole Russian aspect of it all. Multiple other reviewers in the 1-star and 2-star sections have touched upon it and they're very much correct. Arden wanted to have her cake and eat it too, make the main family “rich” boyars but present them more like peasants so that they'd be more relatable and to give Vasya the freedom needed for her to do the Cool Witch Girl Shtick she had been doing her whole life. The exoticism made apparent by the Author's Note also churns my stomach. I'm not Russian, but I share their Slavic roots, and Arden's parting words have left a bad taste in my mouth.

Overall, the story doesn't do anything special, its messaging is bogged down by Not Like The Other Girls syndrome (aka misogyny), double standards, and its characters lack the charm of real people, which makes the book's lack of plot all the more troublesome. At least the prose makes the reading experience overall smooth, even if I needed to recharge my attention span every 10 pages because of the boredom.

It really shows that this was written in the old days, and is an interesting glimpse into some of the old (and unfortunately still modern) biases against people with physical differences. There is a noticeably frequent mention of deformity when it comes to Mr Hyde, and the deformity is apparently tied to the evilness and repugnance that Mr Hyde radiates. It was very uncomfortable and frustrating to read; especially since the deformity seemed to be tied to Mr Hyde's apparent short stature/dwarfism. This ‘physical difference=evil' belief is unfortunately still rampant nowadays, especially in fictional media and character design.

Beyond that, the novel is... kinda okay? It's not revolutionary nor do I really get why it is so influential. I think this is partly because I have been spoiled by modern tales that develop and explore the themes brought up in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in more depth. Despite the advanced language, this was a fine prose to read, if somewhat annoying in its wordiness; but an exception has to be made, since English at the time of writing was different than the modern-day version most use today. However, that does not change the fact there is little actually happening in the novella, and its length would have been halved-or perhaps quartered-if the prose did not run on as it does.

This was a rather underwhelming read. I'm glad I finally read what everyone seemed to rave about, but I just don't see the appeal.