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The Left Hand of God #3
The Beating of His Wings
Following the bestselling novels The Left Hand of God and The Last Four Things comes the final installment of Paul Hoffman’s stark, epic trilogy.
Thomas Cale has been running from the truth….
Since discovering that his brutal military training has been for one purpose—to destroy God’s greatest mistake, mankind itself—Cale has been hunted by the very man who made him into the Angel of Death: Pope Redeemer Bosco.
Cale is a paradox: arrogant and innocent, generous and pitiless. Feared and revered by those who created him, he has already used his breathtaking talent for violence and destruction to bring down the most powerful civilization in the world.
But Thomas Cale’s soul is dying. As his body is racked with convulsions, he knows that the final judgment will not wait. As the day of reckoning draws close, Cale’s sense of vengeance leads him back to the heart of darkness—the Sanctuary—and to confront the person he hates most in the world….
Thomas Cale has been running from the truth….
Since discovering that his brutal military training has been for one purpose—to destroy God’s greatest mistake, mankind itself—Cale has been hunted by the very man who made him into the Angel of Death: Pope Redeemer Bosco.
Cale is a paradox: arrogant and innocent, generous and pitiless. Feared and revered by those who created him, he has already used his breathtaking talent for violence and destruction to bring down the most powerful civilization in the world.
But Thomas Cale’s soul is dying. As his body is racked with convulsions, he knows that the final judgment will not wait. As the day of reckoning draws close, Cale’s sense of vengeance leads him back to the heart of darkness—the Sanctuary—and to confront the person he hates most in the world….
512 pages, Paperback
First published July 18, 2013
187 people are currently reading
4174 people want to read
About the author
Paul Hoffman
14 books626 followersNote: Paul^^Hoffman
Possibly the only novelist of his generation to be born by the light of a paraffin lamp, Paul Hoffman spent much of his childhood on airfields all around the world watching his father – a pioneer of sports parachuting and European Champion – jumping out of aeroplanes. After a long battle with the English educational system which involved avoiding school whenever possible he was offered a place to read English at New College, Oxford when no other university would interview him. After graduating he worked in over twenty different jobs, including boardman in a betting shop, messenger boy to a City merchant bank and teacher. He was also senior film censor at the British Board of Film Classification.
His first novel, The Wisdom of Crocodiles took thirteen years to write. Among other things it predicted the re-emergence of international terrorism in the 21st Century and the precise nature of the collapse of the world financial system. Part of the novel was made into a film starring Jude Law and Timothy Spall. His second novel, The Golden Age of Censorship, a black comedy based on his experiences as a film censor, was published in 2007. As a screenwriter he has written or co-written three produced films and worked with, among others, Francis Ford Coppola.
Possibly the only novelist of his generation to be born by the light of a paraffin lamp, Paul Hoffman spent much of his childhood on airfields all around the world watching his father – a pioneer of sports parachuting and European Champion – jumping out of aeroplanes. After a long battle with the English educational system which involved avoiding school whenever possible he was offered a place to read English at New College, Oxford when no other university would interview him. After graduating he worked in over twenty different jobs, including boardman in a betting shop, messenger boy to a City merchant bank and teacher. He was also senior film censor at the British Board of Film Classification.
His first novel, The Wisdom of Crocodiles took thirteen years to write. Among other things it predicted the re-emergence of international terrorism in the 21st Century and the precise nature of the collapse of the world financial system. Part of the novel was made into a film starring Jude Law and Timothy Spall. His second novel, The Golden Age of Censorship, a black comedy based on his experiences as a film censor, was published in 2007. As a screenwriter he has written or co-written three produced films and worked with, among others, Francis Ford Coppola.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 328 reviews
March 29, 2015
I was happy with The Beating of His Wings. It was a good conclusion to Paul Hoffman's The Left Hand of God trilogy. If you have reached this stage of the trilogy then you will already know what to expect from Hoffman's weird writing style. It has remained consistent throughout the series. It's strangely engaging. We did have a couple of weird intros at the start of this book but I found both highly amusing.
The plot revolves around Cale forming the allies he needs to help him in his final battle to stop the mad Pope Boscco, and his army of Redeemers, plans to eradicate God's biggest mistake: humanity! The first half the book was more interesting than the second half. The battles are not half so much fun as Cale, Clist, and Vague Henri's dark and humorous interactions with the great secondary characters this series has to offer.
I did not love the ending, but it was in keeping with the dark tone of the story. The casual brutality mixed with humor and the strangely likable characters have always been this series greatest strength. The ending did leave things open for a possible sequel series in the future which I'd be quite happy to read.
Rating: 4 stars.
Audio Note: Sean Barrett narrated all three books in the series fantastically well. He understood the droll and cynical humor.
The plot revolves around Cale forming the allies he needs to help him in his final battle to stop the mad Pope Boscco, and his army of Redeemers, plans to eradicate God's biggest mistake: humanity! The first half the book was more interesting than the second half. The battles are not half so much fun as Cale, Clist, and Vague Henri's dark and humorous interactions with the great secondary characters this series has to offer.
I did not love the ending, but it was in keeping with the dark tone of the story. The casual brutality mixed with humor and the strangely likable characters have always been this series greatest strength. The ending did leave things open for a possible sequel series in the future which I'd be quite happy to read.
Rating: 4 stars.
Audio Note: Sean Barrett narrated all three books in the series fantastically well. He understood the droll and cynical humor.
December 6, 2021
Mi fermo a pagina 180, non ce la faccio proprio ad andare avanti e la vita è troppo breve per leggere libri brutti. Il primo volume della trilogia è stato, per me, un vero capolavoro, purtroppo tutte le aspettative sono state tramortite nel secondo libro e definitivamente uccise in questo terzo capitolo (sconclusionato, freddo, statico, confuso). Occasione sprecata.
May 21, 2014
I was going to make an esay on how bad this book actually is. But then i told myself that it is not worth of my time actually.
Lets make a quick summary -
1st book - briliant, sharp, well written we love our hero, we care about him etc.
2nd book - Not so good but good enough to keep us waiting and hoping for big finale
3rd book - Sigh... Not a big finale, not a single logic conclusion (effective hanging still not what we were looking for ) a trilion opened questions which of my most frequently asked was - What forced him to write this ? The whole book feels like it wasnt written becouse of any passion or interst but becouse of blunt rushing to sell another book and make some money yaaayyy...
The characters stays absolutely boring, we have 0 conclusion on Cale´s illness (at least acceptable one)No excitiment at all.
The closer we got to an actuall ending the more i just wanted this nightmare to be over. Gaps in story - HUGE... Stupidity - HUGE well that pretty much sums it up.
The book really sucks, big balls from author to actually throw that on the market for sale. I feel betrayed, dissapointed, disguised and furious at once and i can safely say that i´ve never read more dissapointing book. (there could really be 10pages about why and how it sucks but frankly i´d hate myself for caring so much about this crappy book)
And appologies for my english as im not native speaker. And for being hars but theres no way to say it gentle in a few words for me.
Lets make a quick summary -
1st book - briliant, sharp, well written we love our hero, we care about him etc.
2nd book - Not so good but good enough to keep us waiting and hoping for big finale
3rd book - Sigh... Not a big finale, not a single logic conclusion (effective hanging still not what we were looking for ) a trilion opened questions which of my most frequently asked was - What forced him to write this ? The whole book feels like it wasnt written becouse of any passion or interst but becouse of blunt rushing to sell another book and make some money yaaayyy...
The characters stays absolutely boring, we have 0 conclusion on Cale´s illness (at least acceptable one)No excitiment at all.
The closer we got to an actuall ending the more i just wanted this nightmare to be over. Gaps in story - HUGE... Stupidity - HUGE well that pretty much sums it up.
The book really sucks, big balls from author to actually throw that on the market for sale. I feel betrayed, dissapointed, disguised and furious at once and i can safely say that i´ve never read more dissapointing book. (there could really be 10pages about why and how it sucks but frankly i´d hate myself for caring so much about this crappy book)
And appologies for my english as im not native speaker. And for being hars but theres no way to say it gentle in a few words for me.
October 2, 2017
The Beating of His Wings is the conclusion of the story of Thomas Cale, The Left Hand of God (or is he)? I felt torn about the first book, ambivalent about the second, and I was bored, and irritated, by the third.
Rarely have I given a two star review, and it is hard for me to do. The author obviously (very obviously from the afterward) put a lot of himself into the book. As someone who was raised (albeit in a different time) in catholic school, I can certain emphasize. So, we know why he wrote this book, but the whole thing feels like the condemnation of the Catholic religion instead of a coherently written story.
The characters continue to be unbelievable. There are contradictions in what the characters know and understand, and we still never really get to know any of them. There was a great moment, with one character, that I thought was really well done. I also enjoyed the beginning, when Cale was struggling within a mental facility (I'm a psychologist, so that resonated). We learned about the characters there, related with them, and that's where the book succeeded.
But, women are still relegated as second-class ornaments to sit on a shelf. The one strong woman (Artimesia) was not with us long. This was bothersome throughout the series.
The plot itself really fizzled out at the end. I read the third book because I truly expected a big finale. But, the book dragged on, dealing with minutia, and then rushed through what should have been some of the most interesting plot points. And then the ending was disappointing. We simply don't know what happened to two of the major characters, including Thomas Cale. The author was very defensive of his work at the end, which always hints, to me, that an author may not have taken the suggestions of editors or alpha/beta readers.
I closed the book wondering--why? What happened in this series? Why did I keep reading? Hoffman is a talented author, his writing flowery (though sometimes confusing). I think someone looking for philosophical meanderings might enjoy this more than I did.
Rarely have I given a two star review, and it is hard for me to do. The author obviously (very obviously from the afterward) put a lot of himself into the book. As someone who was raised (albeit in a different time) in catholic school, I can certain emphasize. So, we know why he wrote this book, but the whole thing feels like the condemnation of the Catholic religion instead of a coherently written story.
The characters continue to be unbelievable. There are contradictions in what the characters know and understand, and we still never really get to know any of them. There was a great moment, with one character, that I thought was really well done. I also enjoyed the beginning, when Cale was struggling within a mental facility (I'm a psychologist, so that resonated). We learned about the characters there, related with them, and that's where the book succeeded.
But, women are still relegated as second-class ornaments to sit on a shelf. The one strong woman (Artimesia) was not with us long. This was bothersome throughout the series.
The plot itself really fizzled out at the end. I read the third book because I truly expected a big finale. But, the book dragged on, dealing with minutia, and then rushed through what should have been some of the most interesting plot points. And then the ending was disappointing. We simply don't know what happened to two of the major characters, including Thomas Cale. The author was very defensive of his work at the end, which always hints, to me, that an author may not have taken the suggestions of editors or alpha/beta readers.
I closed the book wondering--why? What happened in this series? Why did I keep reading? Hoffman is a talented author, his writing flowery (though sometimes confusing). I think someone looking for philosophical meanderings might enjoy this more than I did.
February 2, 2021
WHY??? There are times when you know something is going to happen, but you think, no way, then, it happens anyways and your left with your heart in your hand. I love/hate this. I love it because I love when a book moves me and gets to my emotions but I hate it because I want to crawl into the book and re-write it to my liking. In any case, it was a great conclusion to the series, although I'd have preferred a bit less ambiguity at the end.
December 1, 2013
A tak tu máme konec jedné skvělé trilogie... zavřela jsem knihu s jemným úsměvem na rtech. Posledních padesát stránek tu bylo velké finále, které v žádném případě neskončilo tak, jak jsem si představovala a přitom mě to nezklamalo. Možná tahle závěrečná část nepředčila první díl, ale rozhodně je svým způsobem nejlepší. Je delší, spousta věcí se vyjasnila, tedy spíše Thomas Cale "vyjasnil".
Je mi líto, že je po všem. V závěrečném díle muselo zemřít hodně osob. líbilo se mi, jak spisovatel z šestnáctiletého hrdiny opravdu dokázal udělat v očích lidí žijících v knize Boha. A i když si budete myslet, že se třeba Thomas Cale napraví a přestane cítit nenávist a jeho touha zabíjet a ničit ho začne nudit, nestane se tak. A já jsem tomu ráda. Spousta takových hrdinů v knihách svým způsobem vyměkne, to, co však bylo papežem Boscem do Thomase vtloukáno, se už nedalo změnit a vymazat. Jak si s tímto největším sokem Thomas na konci příběhu poradil, už nechám na vás, ať si přečtete sami.
Trochu mi chyběl Kleist, který sice v knize dostatečně vystupoval, ale nedostal příliš prostoru. Kdo ví, jak dopadl druhý díl, pochopí.
Váhavý Henri na mne vždy působil jako milý a trošku trdlo kluk, v posledním díle docela slušně šlapal Thomasovi na paty. Evidentně jej přestalo bavit být tím milým chlapce, který svůj život brání jen v případě nouze. Sta se z něj spíše Nekompromisní Henri. Skutečný válečník a vůdce.
Na konci knihy stojí za to si přečíst také závěrečnou esej autora Paula Hoffmana a jeho vyjádření k tomu, proč a jak vytvořil myšlenku tohoto krutého světa, na věky odsouzeného Thomase Cala a kde čerpal nápady pro popisování bitev.
Chtěla bych říct, že ačkoli vojenskému pozadí v literatuře absolutně neholduji a nevyhledávám je, tohle bylo tak bravurně sepsáno, že bych pokračovala ve čtení podobných scén sepsané Paulem dál a ráda. Autor totiž čerpal a studoval tuny materiálu největších bojovníků a bitev v historii, výjimkou není ani Jan Žižka, o kterém se právě v eseji Hoffman vyjádřil jako o unikátním mistrovi boje, jehož jméno za hranicemi České Republiky nemá důležitý význam a že je to nesmírná škoda. Kromě historických postav také čerpal jedné z největších postav vůbec, která měla na sepsání knihy neskutečný vliv - a tím byl on sám. Podstatnou část toho, co si prožíval Thomas Cale ve svatyni, byl nucen on sám prožívat jako mladý teenager na katolické škole. Jak on sám říká, rozdíl mezi svatyní v knize a školou, kterou navštěvoval, byl jen v jediné věci - nezabíjelo se tam.
Moje nutkání napsat osobní dopis tomuto vzácnému autorovi vzalo za své. Nevím, zda se moje zpráva a poděkování dostanou do jeho rukou, ale i kdyby ne, Paul Hoffman si zaslouží nejen uznání jako člověk, ale především jako autor, který jako naprostý asociál dokázal dát dohromady takto skvělý příběh a vytvořit svou vlastní mladší verzi v postavě Thomase Cala.
Je mi líto, že je po všem. V závěrečném díle muselo zemřít hodně osob. líbilo se mi, jak spisovatel z šestnáctiletého hrdiny opravdu dokázal udělat v očích lidí žijících v knize Boha. A i když si budete myslet, že se třeba Thomas Cale napraví a přestane cítit nenávist a jeho touha zabíjet a ničit ho začne nudit, nestane se tak. A já jsem tomu ráda. Spousta takových hrdinů v knihách svým způsobem vyměkne, to, co však bylo papežem Boscem do Thomase vtloukáno, se už nedalo změnit a vymazat. Jak si s tímto největším sokem Thomas na konci příběhu poradil, už nechám na vás, ať si přečtete sami.
Trochu mi chyběl Kleist, který sice v knize dostatečně vystupoval, ale nedostal příliš prostoru. Kdo ví, jak dopadl druhý díl, pochopí.
Váhavý Henri na mne vždy působil jako milý a trošku trdlo kluk, v posledním díle docela slušně šlapal Thomasovi na paty. Evidentně jej přestalo bavit být tím milým chlapce, který svůj život brání jen v případě nouze. Sta se z něj spíše Nekompromisní Henri. Skutečný válečník a vůdce.
Na konci knihy stojí za to si přečíst také závěrečnou esej autora Paula Hoffmana a jeho vyjádření k tomu, proč a jak vytvořil myšlenku tohoto krutého světa, na věky odsouzeného Thomase Cala a kde čerpal nápady pro popisování bitev.
Chtěla bych říct, že ačkoli vojenskému pozadí v literatuře absolutně neholduji a nevyhledávám je, tohle bylo tak bravurně sepsáno, že bych pokračovala ve čtení podobných scén sepsané Paulem dál a ráda. Autor totiž čerpal a studoval tuny materiálu největších bojovníků a bitev v historii, výjimkou není ani Jan Žižka, o kterém se právě v eseji Hoffman vyjádřil jako o unikátním mistrovi boje, jehož jméno za hranicemi České Republiky nemá důležitý význam a že je to nesmírná škoda. Kromě historických postav také čerpal jedné z největších postav vůbec, která měla na sepsání knihy neskutečný vliv - a tím byl on sám. Podstatnou část toho, co si prožíval Thomas Cale ve svatyni, byl nucen on sám prožívat jako mladý teenager na katolické škole. Jak on sám říká, rozdíl mezi svatyní v knize a školou, kterou navštěvoval, byl jen v jediné věci - nezabíjelo se tam.
Moje nutkání napsat osobní dopis tomuto vzácnému autorovi vzalo za své. Nevím, zda se moje zpráva a poděkování dostanou do jeho rukou, ale i kdyby ne, Paul Hoffman si zaslouží nejen uznání jako člověk, ale především jako autor, který jako naprostý asociál dokázal dát dohromady takto skvělý příběh a vytvořit svou vlastní mladší verzi v postavě Thomase Cala.
September 20, 2013
From the very first book I had no idea what to make of this series but something about it made me keep reading and so when I finished the first book I was curious to see where it would lead. The second book was even more so and now with the end of the third book I feel like I've foolishly plowed on despite knowing better that it was never going to turn out the way I wanted it.
You see the problem with this story is that the characters are entirely unbelievable, grotesque even in their eccentricity. When reading the story you don't think for even one second that it's something real, that it's something you immerse yourself in. Instead the books reads like a train wreck waiting to happen, everything points in that direction and never is there any sense that normality can be restored. And yet I kept reading, not because I liked the characters, not because I liked the story and certainly not because of the way it was written. So what was it then that made me plow on and on detesting this series all the way and yet being entranced by it all the same. Perhaps because it's so unique and so different from any other book I ever read but something about it makes you want to find out what will happen and how it will end. But save yourself the problem dear reader, don't start with this series. Though of course if you read this review it might be entirely too late for all that.
Aside from the dreadful characters and the ridiculous story the thing that irked me the most was the author's shameful use of our own cultural heritage. The author will constantly put in place names from our history, battlefields that have meanings to us, ideas and even quotes and shamelessly pass them off in the story as if a part of it. Now of course he tries to defend himself and gives credit at the end but the whole book feels like a forgery because of it. None of his ideas are original and when reading you constantly feel like the author just decided to weave together all sorts of familiar tales into his own narrative to pass himself of as some literary genius. In any case I hated it and now that the series is done and there was no mysterious reveal or great climax to make up for everything I will feel justified by saying I didn't like this book and won't recommend it to anyone.
You see the problem with this story is that the characters are entirely unbelievable, grotesque even in their eccentricity. When reading the story you don't think for even one second that it's something real, that it's something you immerse yourself in. Instead the books reads like a train wreck waiting to happen, everything points in that direction and never is there any sense that normality can be restored. And yet I kept reading, not because I liked the characters, not because I liked the story and certainly not because of the way it was written. So what was it then that made me plow on and on detesting this series all the way and yet being entranced by it all the same. Perhaps because it's so unique and so different from any other book I ever read but something about it makes you want to find out what will happen and how it will end. But save yourself the problem dear reader, don't start with this series. Though of course if you read this review it might be entirely too late for all that.
Aside from the dreadful characters and the ridiculous story the thing that irked me the most was the author's shameful use of our own cultural heritage. The author will constantly put in place names from our history, battlefields that have meanings to us, ideas and even quotes and shamelessly pass them off in the story as if a part of it. Now of course he tries to defend himself and gives credit at the end but the whole book feels like a forgery because of it. None of his ideas are original and when reading you constantly feel like the author just decided to weave together all sorts of familiar tales into his own narrative to pass himself of as some literary genius. In any case I hated it and now that the series is done and there was no mysterious reveal or great climax to make up for everything I will feel justified by saying I didn't like this book and won't recommend it to anyone.
March 10, 2014
What? is this the end of the book?
It was for so long such a promising story. I was waiting for something big to happen, but the book only drags on with no development. There are a lot of threads that have nothing-as far as I can see-with the story of the book. The whole book is giving an impression of leading to some grand finale, but it just sort of ebbs out into nothingness. It is like this third book is Paul Hoffmans first book, triving to make this and that story connect-but fails miserably.
Dont read the last book. It will disappoint you to know that there is nothing extraordinary about Thomas Cale, or Paul Hoffman for that matter (judged by the last book in the triology)
It was for so long such a promising story. I was waiting for something big to happen, but the book only drags on with no development. There are a lot of threads that have nothing-as far as I can see-with the story of the book. The whole book is giving an impression of leading to some grand finale, but it just sort of ebbs out into nothingness. It is like this third book is Paul Hoffmans first book, triving to make this and that story connect-but fails miserably.
Dont read the last book. It will disappoint you to know that there is nothing extraordinary about Thomas Cale, or Paul Hoffman for that matter (judged by the last book in the triology)
November 20, 2014
Thomas Cale has been running from the truth. Since discovering that his brutal military training has been for one purpose - to destroy God's greatest mistake, mankind itself - Cale has been hunted by the very man who made him into the Angel of Death: Pope Redeemer Bosco.
Cale is a paradox: arrogant and innocent, generous and pitiless. Feared and revered by those created him, he has already used his breathtaking talent for violence and destruction to bring down the most powerful civilisation in the world.
But Thomas Cale is weak. His soul is dying. As his body is wracked with convulsions he knows that the final judgment will not wait for a sick boy. As the day of reckoning draws close, Cale's sense of vengeance leads him back to the heart of darkness - the Sanctuary - and to confront the person he hates most in the world. Finally Cale must recognise that he is the incarnation of God's rage and decide if he will stand against the Sanctuary of the Redeemers and use his unique skill of laying waste to all things.
Cale is a paradox: arrogant and innocent, generous and pitiless. Feared and revered by those created him, he has already used his breathtaking talent for violence and destruction to bring down the most powerful civilisation in the world.
But Thomas Cale is weak. His soul is dying. As his body is wracked with convulsions he knows that the final judgment will not wait for a sick boy. As the day of reckoning draws close, Cale's sense of vengeance leads him back to the heart of darkness - the Sanctuary - and to confront the person he hates most in the world. Finally Cale must recognise that he is the incarnation of God's rage and decide if he will stand against the Sanctuary of the Redeemers and use his unique skill of laying waste to all things.
October 16, 2017
Non è il peggiore dei tre, ma è alquanto deludente.
Pazienza, sempre meglio che restare col dubbio su come potesse finire.
Pazienza, sempre meglio che restare col dubbio su come potesse finire.
January 20, 2014
So, we have reached the end of The Left Hand of God series. I have to say, a better conclusion than I thought it would be. It also explains many things that weren't quite clear in the previous books and the author himself added even more material to explain his inspiration on what made him write this or that or portray certain people. Still I am torn with this book. I wanted to like it more than I did, but it's still not bad. For that little tug of wanting I subtracted one star and gave it 4 overall, which is probably what I'd give to the series as a whole as well. This by no means is to say that it was bad. Many people have had issues with this series for various reason - me included - but I think it's all a thing of perspective and how you react to these kinds of ideas. You start reading the book with a weird extract of some fictional future Archaeological institute that talks about the series you are currently reading. It's presenting the series as a bunch of papers found someplace and translated as well as novelized by a guy (whose name will ring a bell). While they applaud the capability of translating this text they do not approve of the way in which he did - which is the novel, an attempt to make sense of things long past. What I like about these statements of the Archeology guys (the ones in front as well as the one in the epilogue), is that it raises questions that are quite valid in whichever time you live. If you find manuscripts, documents, legends or whatever other evidence of events on paper, it is very hard to reconstruct the truth. Just consider, if you read reports of something that happened even just the day before, you can never be sure if the person lied, did misinterpret something or was reacting extremely on those events. Objectivity is lost pretty much immediately once you have to write down something that happened. This gets harder the farther back you go and the less you know about the circumstances involved. Studying East Asian art history, where not only I need to inspect old documents but also need to translate classical Asian texts, I can very much relate to that. It is a wonderful job, trying to find out how things were perceived back then and constructing a whole story around certain objects. As such, putting this story into a context where a futuristic people would try to make sense of events that are, in that time, not clear at all in terms of context and chronology, it is actually a really nice explanation of the series. The only thing that bugged me about this brilliant explanation is that it wasn't introduced earlier. I'm assuming Hoffman tried to give the reader an unbiased feel of the story first, but then again, why not put the comment only at the end or have it there since the start? It's just weird that it would pop up at volume three in the front and again in the back. It just seemed odd to me.
As for Cale and his buddies, or as well as can you be his buddy, they're pretty much left off where the second volume stopped. Cale went batshit crazy and is still in the loony bin (though not
being handled which is much care as promised and supposedly provided with all the money) and as for Kleist and Vague Henri, they're separated but do find each other in due time. Cale has to
face the fact that because of his psychological condition his body is reacting with a lot of retching (and with a lot I mean A LOT) and thus is constantly dehydrated and feeling horrible. His mind does not work as fast as it used to and his strength is nowhere near where it used to be. This does not change throughout the whole volume. It is something I didn't mind, since it's interesting to see how he has to rely on others to do what he would've done himself before. He is, together with his two friends that at some point reunite with him, thrown admits a war he is not quite eager to fight, but realizes that him being the only one that seems to have a brain when it comes to strategy has to help or they will be invaded mercilessly and killed by the Redeemers. Which, by the way, are trying to annihilate all of humanity. As apparently God wants to rid us all from the face of the earth as we killed his one and only son. Bosco is not quite clear on why Cale, which he still believes to be The Left Hand of God is fighting so strongly against them, but does not waver in his belief. There follows a lot of soul searching, killing some people that are crossing paths with Cale, some new characters, more battles and the use of huge Cale puppets as he is - inadvertently to some extent - a fuel of energy to his militia, mostly consisting of peasants and the like. By the end
The story this time around was quite ok. It still lacked coherence at some points, but it was thrilling and you just couldn't quite predict some turns in there. Some, though, you could see 100 miles away . Still there were some things that annoyed me at times. That psychiatrist/vampire/ventriloquist who isn't a ventriloquist was just a character I did not understand. I guess she did try to analyze him somewhat, help Cale as much as she could, but her character as such was so confusing I just wished it would've been clearer on many points what/who she really was. Artemisia was quite ok. I really loved that she was girly in attire but would not follow any girly profession and would be intelligent too. A good match to Cale, which in the book does happen at first. I found it sad to see them split up in the end and especially part in anger, but well, what can you do.
All in all, I really enjoyed her character. Funny too, btw, in the same weird arrogant and self absorbed slightly egotistical way Cale is. Kleist's back story is really sad . If you don't go away from that much carnage and loss unscathed, you must be a miserable being indeed. Vague Henri, forever my favorite, did not have it easy either, though always remains a touch happier than our two grim companions. Arbell, gods, I really don't like her. I wouldn't have minded it too much if Cale would've strangled her earlier on just so that he wouldn't whine about her that much.
Going on. The world is transforming rapidly and politics, battles, people...everything is unstable and you never quite know who has the upper hand. Being Swiss myself, I was a bit thrown off with the Swiss king and Swiss army and Swiss everything. It confused me to some extent, since I was trying to locate all the places that sounded rather European, as well as the people (I mean everyone knows who Alois Hutler was supposed to be. It does not change the fact that Alois used to be the name of several of my teachers back in primary and secondary school). However, once the Mississippi appeared, things cleared up a bit. Having my browser in English does tend to screw up my google map searches. So I have been introduced to many European cities near and far...on the wrong continent. As such I was not so fazed about the revelation Hoffman gave in his explanation, since I knew very well that there are certainly more than just one Zurich,
Amsterdam or Paris on this globe. It just annoyed me because my brain would still try to make the connection with geography nearby. Other than that, I liked his explanation at the end, where he does get you to think about change. While the things he describes from his youth (religious dogma in schools) are, to some extent, non-existent in schools, there are still things that ring true here: The world changes every second. And while we'd like to believe that the human being is capable of change, it more often than not is not the case. We can adapt to certain things and some changes might be easier to accept than others but we have to face the fact that mankind is a creature of habit. It likes tradition, things to root him, things that always were true and always will be true, whether it is, indeed, true or not. While we - as in the younger generation - are not faced with so many religious indoctrination anymore, there are plenty of other things to throw upon young minds (and bodies) to hurt them equally. Of course we would like that with change, at least as much as we allow it or see it happen or can do it ourselves, everything gets better. What mankind fails to see is that at some point in time we will for sure make the same mistakes. Over and over again. Such is our nature. Wars won't stop: weapons and medicine might get better, but the horror will always remain. We will always want things we cannot or should not have, yet still we crave for them so strongly that we are hard pressed, by instinct, not to do anything about it. Of course, being rich or in a privileged country will always help to buffer some of that, but the last 20 years have shown that even that is no guarantee for safety and trauma is lurking around everywhere. Thus, I did like his idea of packing his life into a story that is, loosely, based on his experiences. When I look back at the first story I wrote the main character resembles me in her way of life, her character, her choices and enemies quite a lot, no matter that the story was hugely fantastic in nature. It is also why I didn't mind the recycling of many historic events or people which seemed to annoy quite many a reader. But well, to each his own, aye? Hoffman himself seems to be quite indifferent as
to how you choose to view and like his trilogy - though at the same time he is trying to defend it quite strongly.
In conclusion, I found it an apt way to end all things Cale and have to say I enjoyed it for the most part and if you are not squeamish and don't mind some confusion, you should try the series.
As for Cale and his buddies, or as well as can you be his buddy, they're pretty much left off where the second volume stopped. Cale went batshit crazy and is still in the loony bin (though not
being handled which is much care as promised and supposedly provided with all the money) and as for Kleist and Vague Henri, they're separated but do find each other in due time. Cale has to
face the fact that because of his psychological condition his body is reacting with a lot of retching (and with a lot I mean A LOT) and thus is constantly dehydrated and feeling horrible. His mind does not work as fast as it used to and his strength is nowhere near where it used to be. This does not change throughout the whole volume. It is something I didn't mind, since it's interesting to see how he has to rely on others to do what he would've done himself before. He is, together with his two friends that at some point reunite with him, thrown admits a war he is not quite eager to fight, but realizes that him being the only one that seems to have a brain when it comes to strategy has to help or they will be invaded mercilessly and killed by the Redeemers. Which, by the way, are trying to annihilate all of humanity. As apparently God wants to rid us all from the face of the earth as we killed his one and only son. Bosco is not quite clear on why Cale, which he still believes to be The Left Hand of God is fighting so strongly against them, but does not waver in his belief. There follows a lot of soul searching, killing some people that are crossing paths with Cale, some new characters, more battles and the use of huge Cale puppets as he is - inadvertently to some extent - a fuel of energy to his militia, mostly consisting of peasants and the like. By the end
The story this time around was quite ok. It still lacked coherence at some points, but it was thrilling and you just couldn't quite predict some turns in there. Some, though, you could see 100 miles away . Still there were some things that annoyed me at times. That psychiatrist/vampire/ventriloquist who isn't a ventriloquist was just a character I did not understand. I guess she did try to analyze him somewhat, help Cale as much as she could, but her character as such was so confusing I just wished it would've been clearer on many points what/who she really was. Artemisia was quite ok. I really loved that she was girly in attire but would not follow any girly profession and would be intelligent too. A good match to Cale, which in the book does happen at first. I found it sad to see them split up in the end and especially part in anger, but well, what can you do.
All in all, I really enjoyed her character. Funny too, btw, in the same weird arrogant and self absorbed slightly egotistical way Cale is. Kleist's back story is really sad . If you don't go away from that much carnage and loss unscathed, you must be a miserable being indeed. Vague Henri, forever my favorite, did not have it easy either, though always remains a touch happier than our two grim companions. Arbell, gods, I really don't like her. I wouldn't have minded it too much if Cale would've strangled her earlier on just so that he wouldn't whine about her that much.
Going on. The world is transforming rapidly and politics, battles, people...everything is unstable and you never quite know who has the upper hand. Being Swiss myself, I was a bit thrown off with the Swiss king and Swiss army and Swiss everything. It confused me to some extent, since I was trying to locate all the places that sounded rather European, as well as the people (I mean everyone knows who Alois Hutler was supposed to be. It does not change the fact that Alois used to be the name of several of my teachers back in primary and secondary school). However, once the Mississippi appeared, things cleared up a bit. Having my browser in English does tend to screw up my google map searches. So I have been introduced to many European cities near and far...on the wrong continent. As such I was not so fazed about the revelation Hoffman gave in his explanation, since I knew very well that there are certainly more than just one Zurich,
Amsterdam or Paris on this globe. It just annoyed me because my brain would still try to make the connection with geography nearby. Other than that, I liked his explanation at the end, where he does get you to think about change. While the things he describes from his youth (religious dogma in schools) are, to some extent, non-existent in schools, there are still things that ring true here: The world changes every second. And while we'd like to believe that the human being is capable of change, it more often than not is not the case. We can adapt to certain things and some changes might be easier to accept than others but we have to face the fact that mankind is a creature of habit. It likes tradition, things to root him, things that always were true and always will be true, whether it is, indeed, true or not. While we - as in the younger generation - are not faced with so many religious indoctrination anymore, there are plenty of other things to throw upon young minds (and bodies) to hurt them equally. Of course we would like that with change, at least as much as we allow it or see it happen or can do it ourselves, everything gets better. What mankind fails to see is that at some point in time we will for sure make the same mistakes. Over and over again. Such is our nature. Wars won't stop: weapons and medicine might get better, but the horror will always remain. We will always want things we cannot or should not have, yet still we crave for them so strongly that we are hard pressed, by instinct, not to do anything about it. Of course, being rich or in a privileged country will always help to buffer some of that, but the last 20 years have shown that even that is no guarantee for safety and trauma is lurking around everywhere. Thus, I did like his idea of packing his life into a story that is, loosely, based on his experiences. When I look back at the first story I wrote the main character resembles me in her way of life, her character, her choices and enemies quite a lot, no matter that the story was hugely fantastic in nature. It is also why I didn't mind the recycling of many historic events or people which seemed to annoy quite many a reader. But well, to each his own, aye? Hoffman himself seems to be quite indifferent as
to how you choose to view and like his trilogy - though at the same time he is trying to defend it quite strongly.
In conclusion, I found it an apt way to end all things Cale and have to say I enjoyed it for the most part and if you are not squeamish and don't mind some confusion, you should try the series.
May 1, 2021
Notes:
Perhaps I should have changed what I was listening to, but I was being stubborn & wanted to wrap up the series. Of the three, this was the worst book. Rambling and less sense than the first two books of the trilogy.
I'm sorry I spent money on the series to read. I need to stop being a sucker for sales. =P
Perhaps I should have changed what I was listening to, but I was being stubborn & wanted to wrap up the series. Of the three, this was the worst book. Rambling and less sense than the first two books of the trilogy.
I'm sorry I spent money on the series to read. I need to stop being a sucker for sales. =P
October 5, 2013
SPOILERS
And so we come to the end. The greatest hook about this trilogy wasn't the great writing or the amazingly twisted plot. It was the characters. Such abused and flawed creatures that no one in their right mind would spend more then five minutes with one.
And that's exactly why we read a trilogy about three of them.
So first we start off with a confusing few pages. Apparently this book, and it's predecessors, were found in an excavated rubbish tip. Surviving the Great Snowball to tell us all about one Thomas Cale. That was the only part I didn't get because is that world supposed to be ours or Cales? Because it was an Antagonist belief that the world will end with ice and...well, great snowball and all.
Either way the story starts off with the trio all separated. Cale is chewing at his strait jacket, Henri is with Pukke and Kleist is drifting between nothing and nothing. The story is clearly building up while they are all alone. Some people try to kill Cale. Pukke and Cadbury are all trying to out intrigue everyone else. But nothing much of import happens. Then all three meet up eventually and shit kicks off.
Redeemers win by the luckiest of chances. Cale gets the girl and then doesn't get the girl. Who of course then dies. Shame too since she was one of the two greatest military minds in existence.
The New Modal Army was a work of art. Loved it. Loved every moment of it. So utterly beautifully simple. So they use this, and shotguns, to turn the tide against Bosco and his delusions. And then we hit the Sanctuary wall. Full circle and all that. A genius plan to get in. And what do they find when they do?
Thousands upon thousands of dead men. No one saw that coming. No one at all. If you saw it coming you're either the author or a liar.
Saddest thing in the world was when Henri died. A simple pencil thrust. Took him through the back. Into the heart. A loss to the world of dissembling.
And Cale? Well after a showdown with the architect of his most horrible fate, he vanishes. A monster and a saint battling it out inside the body of a remarkable 15 year old boy.
Oh yes and Kleist? After teetering on the brink of suicide, grieving over the loss of his wife and child. And after SO MANY crossing of paths that left me screaming "what the fuck man?!?" He finally sees her. And such a heart warming scene I've never read. It was simple. It was brutish. But after reading how they met, an unlikely pair, and how they fell in love. How he fell apart without her. It was beautiful.
Well the book was good but I think the second was the best overall. Closely followed by the first. The second was great because we had Cale and Bosco and everyone else's point of view. But the third was still good. Also the passages about the hurricane then the butterflies then the trees then the river then the tree again just to take out Artemesia. Loved that too.
All in all damn fine book. Damn fine trilogy.
And so we come to the end. The greatest hook about this trilogy wasn't the great writing or the amazingly twisted plot. It was the characters. Such abused and flawed creatures that no one in their right mind would spend more then five minutes with one.
And that's exactly why we read a trilogy about three of them.
So first we start off with a confusing few pages. Apparently this book, and it's predecessors, were found in an excavated rubbish tip. Surviving the Great Snowball to tell us all about one Thomas Cale. That was the only part I didn't get because is that world supposed to be ours or Cales? Because it was an Antagonist belief that the world will end with ice and...well, great snowball and all.
Either way the story starts off with the trio all separated. Cale is chewing at his strait jacket, Henri is with Pukke and Kleist is drifting between nothing and nothing. The story is clearly building up while they are all alone. Some people try to kill Cale. Pukke and Cadbury are all trying to out intrigue everyone else. But nothing much of import happens. Then all three meet up eventually and shit kicks off.
Redeemers win by the luckiest of chances. Cale gets the girl and then doesn't get the girl. Who of course then dies. Shame too since she was one of the two greatest military minds in existence.
The New Modal Army was a work of art. Loved it. Loved every moment of it. So utterly beautifully simple. So they use this, and shotguns, to turn the tide against Bosco and his delusions. And then we hit the Sanctuary wall. Full circle and all that. A genius plan to get in. And what do they find when they do?
Thousands upon thousands of dead men. No one saw that coming. No one at all. If you saw it coming you're either the author or a liar.
Saddest thing in the world was when Henri died. A simple pencil thrust. Took him through the back. Into the heart. A loss to the world of dissembling.
And Cale? Well after a showdown with the architect of his most horrible fate, he vanishes. A monster and a saint battling it out inside the body of a remarkable 15 year old boy.
Oh yes and Kleist? After teetering on the brink of suicide, grieving over the loss of his wife and child. And after SO MANY crossing of paths that left me screaming "what the fuck man?!?" He finally sees her. And such a heart warming scene I've never read. It was simple. It was brutish. But after reading how they met, an unlikely pair, and how they fell in love. How he fell apart without her. It was beautiful.
Well the book was good but I think the second was the best overall. Closely followed by the first. The second was great because we had Cale and Bosco and everyone else's point of view. But the third was still good. Also the passages about the hurricane then the butterflies then the trees then the river then the tree again just to take out Artemesia. Loved that too.
All in all damn fine book. Damn fine trilogy.
April 5, 2014
Reviewing this book is a challenge. I originally had not planned on completing the series after panning the first book, however then I had to go and receive this book for christmas last year, (of course that means I had to endure read the second, yes I have a reading problem.) In light of this however I felt that maybe I should at least consider Beating of his Wings in the context of someone perhaps enjoying the first two novels.
So 3 stars was my charitable verdict, in all honesty this entire series seems to me like a a half-hearted attempt at epic fantasy, fleshed out and excused by trite historical humour.
Whoa - OK I said I was going to be understanding, that was a lump of angst that just need to be expressed. Now onto the 'fair' part of the review. The third book of this series following Mr Thomas Cale, does begin well: Cale is imprisoned in some form of asylum, much diminished from his original prowess, the torment and violence of the place is skilfully and tensely presented. The threat of the Redeemers and the newly appointed Pope Bosco, literally looms over the horizon combing to setup not a bad show of tension and curiosity about what is going to happen.
The humour of this book is for the most part, much better than previous installments, less jarring with the visceral plotline, more actual wit, some of the long-liners genuinely made me snigger.
The book still falls short however - the awkward fore and afterwords do nothing to redeem this book as anything more than a cliche fantasy held together with historic puns. The story meanders by the midpoint, the battle scenes beginning as exciting then dragging into boredom. Somehow the pacing of this piece slows at the book continues, the last two parts becoming excruciating to read and the ending completely abrupt and non-satisfying. The conclusion to Cale's status as a form of harbinger is confusing and unclear and not in a skilful ambiguous open-ended way, more in a 'what the hell just happened? This book makes no sense' way.
My feeling of this trilogy ender, is that too many elements were attempted with this book, humour in particular is difficult to fit into this genre without becoming cheesy and/or campy. Using 'real' history can backfire too if its overplayed. Ultimately the strongest part of this series which was Thomas Cale and his doomy prophecy was undernourished when it should have been the forepoint of the book.
Sigh
So 3 stars was my charitable verdict, in all honesty this entire series seems to me like a a half-hearted attempt at epic fantasy, fleshed out and excused by trite historical humour.
Whoa - OK I said I was going to be understanding, that was a lump of angst that just need to be expressed. Now onto the 'fair' part of the review. The third book of this series following Mr Thomas Cale, does begin well: Cale is imprisoned in some form of asylum, much diminished from his original prowess, the torment and violence of the place is skilfully and tensely presented. The threat of the Redeemers and the newly appointed Pope Bosco, literally looms over the horizon combing to setup not a bad show of tension and curiosity about what is going to happen.
The humour of this book is for the most part, much better than previous installments, less jarring with the visceral plotline, more actual wit, some of the long-liners genuinely made me snigger.
The book still falls short however - the awkward fore and afterwords do nothing to redeem this book as anything more than a cliche fantasy held together with historic puns. The story meanders by the midpoint, the battle scenes beginning as exciting then dragging into boredom. Somehow the pacing of this piece slows at the book continues, the last two parts becoming excruciating to read and the ending completely abrupt and non-satisfying. The conclusion to Cale's status as a form of harbinger is confusing and unclear and not in a skilful ambiguous open-ended way, more in a 'what the hell just happened? This book makes no sense' way.
My feeling of this trilogy ender, is that too many elements were attempted with this book, humour in particular is difficult to fit into this genre without becoming cheesy and/or campy. Using 'real' history can backfire too if its overplayed. Ultimately the strongest part of this series which was Thomas Cale and his doomy prophecy was undernourished when it should have been the forepoint of the book.
Sigh
May 4, 2020
Decent end to this trilogy but oddly left me a little cold. Cale is sick so his campaign to defeat the dreaded Redeemers is stalled for a long time. Kleist is still traumatized by the massacre in the last volume and Vague Henri continues to be annoying. By the time the war starts much of the book is finished and there is a lot of glossing over great battles - which had been a narrative strength. The ending is suitably tragic and brings much of the darkness of the series back to the fore. Shame it ended on a weaker note but as a trilogy it is still high quality.
September 15, 2013
once upon a time huge asap, left me a bit cold on arrival and i decided to browse through and see if it rekindles my interest or I put it down for good; after a while some great stuff that got me hooked again so back to page 1 and top current read...
finished the book and overall it was a good ending to the series but it became essentially a superhero (or anti-superhero if you want) against the corrupt world and especially the big baddies and the specialness of the first volume and to a large extent second is now banal
there is also a lot of explanation and trying to make sense of the world both through in-the-book notes and authorial notes and that ultimately subtracts from the series rather than adding to it
a bit of elaboration as I plan to do no more than that (too many interesting books to write more about): the first book which i really, really loved hinged on 4 things - strange setting, Thomas Cale, the changes in tonality and the weird characters and their habits/sayings etc
By the second book, the setting started losing its mysteries, the tonality became much more uniform (dark) and the weird characters became familiar, while here all but Thomas Cale is 'same again" so the book distills to "super anti hero" Thomas Cale against the baddies and that was not quite enough to sustain the high promise of book 1
Of the secondary characters, the best here (and I would say by far, though Arbell and Vague Henry have some good parts with IdrisPukke his cynical self) is Conn Materazzi and the most devolved to one-dimensional villain is Bosco
A more coherent FBC short review here:
http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com...
finished the book and overall it was a good ending to the series but it became essentially a superhero (or anti-superhero if you want) against the corrupt world and especially the big baddies and the specialness of the first volume and to a large extent second is now banal
there is also a lot of explanation and trying to make sense of the world both through in-the-book notes and authorial notes and that ultimately subtracts from the series rather than adding to it
a bit of elaboration as I plan to do no more than that (too many interesting books to write more about): the first book which i really, really loved hinged on 4 things - strange setting, Thomas Cale, the changes in tonality and the weird characters and their habits/sayings etc
By the second book, the setting started losing its mysteries, the tonality became much more uniform (dark) and the weird characters became familiar, while here all but Thomas Cale is 'same again" so the book distills to "super anti hero" Thomas Cale against the baddies and that was not quite enough to sustain the high promise of book 1
Of the secondary characters, the best here (and I would say by far, though Arbell and Vague Henry have some good parts with IdrisPukke his cynical self) is Conn Materazzi and the most devolved to one-dimensional villain is Bosco
A more coherent FBC short review here:
http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com...
April 26, 2016
The third book in a trilogy.
Not much point reading it if you haven't read the first two. If you have read them you know what to expect.
More mad geography, more stupid jokes, more clever jokes, more military tactics, more weapons, more death, more insane religious fundamentalism, more historical jigsaw work.
This one brings the series to a conclusion. Unlike the previous two, it is book-ended by a fictional conceit in which the author defends himself against criticism of the first two books. It's sort of funny, but also a little bitter.
I liked it. I enjoyed the whole trilogy. I found that if I assumed the author had his tongue firmly in his cheek, it was very amusing.
Most of all I liked the boys. The Redeemers did a good job of raising these lads. They were good boys with sound values and strong moral compasses. They faced their challenges with humour and bravery, and always tried to do the right thing.
Yes, a great bit of parenting. By their fruits you shall know them...
This is a satisfying conclusion to the series. I cheered, I cried, I sighed.
I really enjoyed it.
Not much point reading it if you haven't read the first two. If you have read them you know what to expect.
More mad geography, more stupid jokes, more clever jokes, more military tactics, more weapons, more death, more insane religious fundamentalism, more historical jigsaw work.
This one brings the series to a conclusion. Unlike the previous two, it is book-ended by a fictional conceit in which the author defends himself against criticism of the first two books. It's sort of funny, but also a little bitter.
I liked it. I enjoyed the whole trilogy. I found that if I assumed the author had his tongue firmly in his cheek, it was very amusing.
Most of all I liked the boys. The Redeemers did a good job of raising these lads. They were good boys with sound values and strong moral compasses. They faced their challenges with humour and bravery, and always tried to do the right thing.
Yes, a great bit of parenting. By their fruits you shall know them...
This is a satisfying conclusion to the series. I cheered, I cried, I sighed.
I really enjoyed it.
March 11, 2021
Последната част от трилогията за патилата на Томас Кейл, известен още като "Петата погибел".
През цялото време не можах да се отърва от усещането, че тази книга не е писана от същия човек, написал първите две. Малко бавно начало и шеметен, но много човешки край. До толкова, че да изглежда на моменти дори нелеп, но както това често се случва в истинския живот.
Допадна ми много играта на автора с имената на същестували или същестуващи и до днес места, държави и хора. Препратките към Спарта, Стогодишната война, Третия Райх и СССР, заедно с КГБ са повече от очевидни за мен, но са много умело вписани в интригите на историята.
Третата част е и най-философски настроената от цялата поредица. Не липсват и брутални тактики, сражения и военни похвати.
Добър край на една интересна фентъзи история. С интерес ще очаквам следващите произведения на Пол Хофман.
Цитат:
"Когато времето на някой човек свърши, той обикновено го осъзнава последен."
През цялото време не можах да се отърва от усещането, че тази книга не е писана от същия човек, написал първите две. Малко бавно начало и шеметен, но много човешки край. До толкова, че да изглежда на моменти дори нелеп, но както това често се случва в истинския живот.
Допадна ми много играта на автора с имената на същестували или същестуващи и до днес места, държави и хора. Препратките към Спарта, Стогодишната война, Третия Райх и СССР, заедно с КГБ са повече от очевидни за мен, но са много умело вписани в интригите на историята.
Третата част е и най-философски настроената от цялата поредица. Не липсват и брутални тактики, сражения и военни похвати.
Добър край на една интересна фентъзи история. С интерес ще очаквам следващите произведения на Пол Хофман.
Цитат:
"Когато времето на някой човек свърши, той обикновено го осъзнава последен."
November 3, 2013
Oh my God. Best book I've read in ages. I was dying at the end, and I don't cry easily at books. Why would you kill Vague Henri? WHY? He was so optimistic and good natured and just lovely, and you killed him with a pencil. HOW DOES SOMEONE DIE FROM A PENCIL WOUND?! To be fair, I had a feeling one of the main characters was going to die, mainly because none of them really have died, as far as I can remember. I just can't get over that ending. Why can't they all go and live somewhere nice with girls and cake, like Henri wanted? Not to mention how worried I am about Cale, swanning off into the sunset on his own like that. Yes, I am worrying about a fictional character.
I have so much praise for this series, I can't even tell you. I love the characters, especially Vague Henri, Cale and IdrisPukke. Henri for just being a lovely person after so much pain and suffering, Cale because he's such an interesting, broken character, and IdrisPukke for his witty comments and just general brilliance. I love how IdrisPukke becomes a sort of father figure to them as well. The plot is amazing, the setting so interestingly like our own world but not, the violence so fascinatingly horrible... I just think it's all brilliant. And I'm quite proud of myself for guessing about Kitty the Hare being deformed.
I love these books so much, and I will definitely be reading them again. And again, and again, and again...
I have so much praise for this series, I can't even tell you. I love the characters, especially Vague Henri, Cale and IdrisPukke. Henri for just being a lovely person after so much pain and suffering, Cale because he's such an interesting, broken character, and IdrisPukke for his witty comments and just general brilliance. I love how IdrisPukke becomes a sort of father figure to them as well. The plot is amazing, the setting so interestingly like our own world but not, the violence so fascinatingly horrible... I just think it's all brilliant. And I'm quite proud of myself for guessing about Kitty the Hare being deformed.
I love these books so much, and I will definitely be reading them again. And again, and again, and again...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2016
The final installment of what by now was clearly an over-hyped series.
Cale was supposed to destroy the world. Instead he passes most of the story drugged and convulsing, barely walking and eating, whining like no tomorrow. And then somehow, he can still kill dozens of people by himself at some point. And still elaborate a plan that pretty much would allow Switzerland to take on the world by itself.
Pretty much this was the only thing I remember. Oh, yeah, and the final moments. They weren't exactly bad (at least the part on the Sanctuary). And about the Kitty guy.
And again, this also needed more editing/revision time.
Cale was supposed to destroy the world. Instead he passes most of the story drugged and convulsing, barely walking and eating, whining like no tomorrow. And then somehow, he can still kill dozens of people by himself at some point. And still elaborate a plan that pretty much would allow Switzerland to take on the world by itself.
Pretty much this was the only thing I remember. Oh, yeah, and the final moments. They weren't exactly bad (at least the part on the Sanctuary). And about the Kitty guy.
And again, this also needed more editing/revision time.
September 21, 2021
"Desde que descobriu esta verdade, Cale é assombrado pelo homem que o transformou em Anjo da Morte: o Redentor Bosco. Arrogante e inocente, generoso e impiedoso; o garoto é um paradoxo, temido e reverenciado por seus criadores. Sua força já foi usada para derrubar a civilização mais poderosa do mundo, mas agora está fraco. Sua alma está morrendo. Enquanto seu corpo é assolado por terríveis convulsões, Thomas Cale sabe que o Juízo Final não irá esperar por ele. O desejo de vingança o guia de volta ao Santuário, para confrontar Bosco, alvo de todo o seu ódio. Cale deve reconhecer que é a encarnação da ira de Deus e decidir se é hora de lançar mão de sua habilidade ímpar de destruição? O futuro da humanidade está em suas mãos. "
O bater de Suas Asas tem a importante tarefa de finalizar a trilogia A Mão Esquerda de Deus, iniciada com o livro homônimo e imperfeito, sempre pendente para o ruim, mas sempre conseguindo se salvar e se mantendo como medíocre, e continuada com o As Últimas Quatro Coisas, que possuí uma proposta completamente diferente dos dois, por consequência, o que mais se aproxima de um padrão de qualidades. A última entrega de Paul Hoffman, porém, carrega a proeza de jogar fora tudo o que foi criado e ser o pior dos três livros.
A prosa ou é incompetente ou é amadora. As andanças de Thomas Cale e de personagens já conhecidos são aleatórias, pouco interessantes, maçantes... nenhuma ponta de planejamento, o menor que seja, é notado. E os problemas não param por aqui.
"O Anjo da Morte vagou por esta terra; pode-se ouvir o bater de suas asas"
Novos personagens surgem apenas por conveniência do roteiro, morrem ou somem pouco agregando a história, como a maioria do elenco da obra, deixando tramas em aberto, mal concluídas, abandonadas e esquecidas. Os diálogos são na maioria ruins e desnecessários para o andamento da trama, o que só agrava o problema. O esperado final é surpreendente, mas terrivelmente mal trabalhado, pouco conclui e não de uma forma boa, e a tentativa questionável do autor em dar vida além das páginas ao livro em combate às merecidas críticas é um completo desastre.
O bater de Suas Asas, como toda a trilogia, tem pouco a oferecer desde o início. Se adicionada a qualquer lista de leitura, pouco agrega. Se retirada, pouco subtrai. De fato, após tantas páginas, é inegável dizer: "o cenário é desolador. "
O bater de Suas Asas tem a importante tarefa de finalizar a trilogia A Mão Esquerda de Deus, iniciada com o livro homônimo e imperfeito, sempre pendente para o ruim, mas sempre conseguindo se salvar e se mantendo como medíocre, e continuada com o As Últimas Quatro Coisas, que possuí uma proposta completamente diferente dos dois, por consequência, o que mais se aproxima de um padrão de qualidades. A última entrega de Paul Hoffman, porém, carrega a proeza de jogar fora tudo o que foi criado e ser o pior dos três livros.
A prosa ou é incompetente ou é amadora. As andanças de Thomas Cale e de personagens já conhecidos são aleatórias, pouco interessantes, maçantes... nenhuma ponta de planejamento, o menor que seja, é notado. E os problemas não param por aqui.
"O Anjo da Morte vagou por esta terra; pode-se ouvir o bater de suas asas"
Novos personagens surgem apenas por conveniência do roteiro, morrem ou somem pouco agregando a história, como a maioria do elenco da obra, deixando tramas em aberto, mal concluídas, abandonadas e esquecidas. Os diálogos são na maioria ruins e desnecessários para o andamento da trama, o que só agrava o problema. O esperado final é surpreendente, mas terrivelmente mal trabalhado, pouco conclui e não de uma forma boa, e a tentativa questionável do autor em dar vida além das páginas ao livro em combate às merecidas críticas é um completo desastre.
O bater de Suas Asas, como toda a trilogia, tem pouco a oferecer desde o início. Se adicionada a qualquer lista de leitura, pouco agrega. Se retirada, pouco subtrai. De fato, após tantas páginas, é inegável dizer: "o cenário é desolador. "
July 3, 2018
Поредица, която започна страхотно, разви се много добре, ама последната книга почна да издиша и финала беше един такъв никакъв... Но, като цяло - много добра трилогия.
December 15, 2013
Review in portuguese by blog MON PETIT POISON
Confesso que termino essa série dando ‘graças a Deus’, todo mundo brinca que ‘pior do que está não pode ficar’, mas eu sempre falo, pode e com certeza vai. Essa série foi um caso clássico disso. Como uma série que começa bem, tem uma ideia tão interessante e diferente e acaba despencando ladeira abaixo? O final dessa série foi tão sem noção que ainda estou me perguntando por que li essa série. Deveria ter desistido no meio do segundo livro.
Os acontecimentos desse livro são insanos, Thomas não é mais o mesmo depois dos anos vivendo com os Redutores e as muitas traições, maquinações e planos de guerra, o deixaram ainda mais lunático e audacioso do que antes. A única coisa positiva nessa loucura toda é que as tiradas sarcásticas de Thomas sobreviveram, pois muitas coisas mudaram nesse livro.
O livro ficou focado em guerra e estratégias, e isso junto com o ritmo lento do livro me fez odiá-lo a cada página virada. Não sou grande fã de histórias de guerra, mas quando chegam ao ponto de detalhar estratégias e combates, realmente é quando começo a perceber que o livro não é para mim. E isso esteve presente praticamente do início ao fim, começando com pequenas ideias de estratégias e chegando a narrar páginas e páginas com lutas e batalhas.
Quanto ao ritmo lento, ele já acontece desde o primeiro livro, mas lá devido a história ter me prendido e ainda estar envolta em algum mistério, o ritmo lento não foi algo ruim, apenas demorei mais para terminar, nada além. Nos livros dois e três isso se somou ao fato da história não evoluir e o enredo antes bacana se afundar cada vez mais. Parece que tudo pelo qual Cale e seus amigos lutaram no primeiro livro pareceu ficar sem importância nos seguintes.
Termino a série com uma sensação de tristeza, pois é péssimo quando curtimos algo e ele vai caindo à medida que chegam novos livros, fiquei com a impressão que o autor enrolou demais e inventou fatos sem necessidades para ter mais dois livros e acabou desviando completamente o foco. Acho que uns dois livros seriam suficientes e talvez, a história ficasse mais na linha original.
PS: Minha vontade era de dar 0,5 neste livro.
“– Existe uma Regra de Ouro? – zombou Cale.
– Existe, sim, garoto sarcástico: tarte os outros como você gostaria de ser tratado. Tudo mais na moralidade são só firulas ou mentiras.”
http://www.monpetitpoison.com/2013/12...
Confesso que termino essa série dando ‘graças a Deus’, todo mundo brinca que ‘pior do que está não pode ficar’, mas eu sempre falo, pode e com certeza vai. Essa série foi um caso clássico disso. Como uma série que começa bem, tem uma ideia tão interessante e diferente e acaba despencando ladeira abaixo? O final dessa série foi tão sem noção que ainda estou me perguntando por que li essa série. Deveria ter desistido no meio do segundo livro.
Os acontecimentos desse livro são insanos, Thomas não é mais o mesmo depois dos anos vivendo com os Redutores e as muitas traições, maquinações e planos de guerra, o deixaram ainda mais lunático e audacioso do que antes. A única coisa positiva nessa loucura toda é que as tiradas sarcásticas de Thomas sobreviveram, pois muitas coisas mudaram nesse livro.
O livro ficou focado em guerra e estratégias, e isso junto com o ritmo lento do livro me fez odiá-lo a cada página virada. Não sou grande fã de histórias de guerra, mas quando chegam ao ponto de detalhar estratégias e combates, realmente é quando começo a perceber que o livro não é para mim. E isso esteve presente praticamente do início ao fim, começando com pequenas ideias de estratégias e chegando a narrar páginas e páginas com lutas e batalhas.
Quanto ao ritmo lento, ele já acontece desde o primeiro livro, mas lá devido a história ter me prendido e ainda estar envolta em algum mistério, o ritmo lento não foi algo ruim, apenas demorei mais para terminar, nada além. Nos livros dois e três isso se somou ao fato da história não evoluir e o enredo antes bacana se afundar cada vez mais. Parece que tudo pelo qual Cale e seus amigos lutaram no primeiro livro pareceu ficar sem importância nos seguintes.
Termino a série com uma sensação de tristeza, pois é péssimo quando curtimos algo e ele vai caindo à medida que chegam novos livros, fiquei com a impressão que o autor enrolou demais e inventou fatos sem necessidades para ter mais dois livros e acabou desviando completamente o foco. Acho que uns dois livros seriam suficientes e talvez, a história ficasse mais na linha original.
PS: Minha vontade era de dar 0,5 neste livro.
“– Existe uma Regra de Ouro? – zombou Cale.
– Existe, sim, garoto sarcástico: tarte os outros como você gostaria de ser tratado. Tudo mais na moralidade são só firulas ou mentiras.”
http://www.monpetitpoison.com/2013/12...
April 24, 2014
The Premise: Last book in the Cane Trilogy. Really, what else can one say?
Other comments: Arg. The first two books were so great it's tragic that this one falls so short. I developed a completely unsubstantiated theory that the book existed in outline form and was hurriedly written to a deadline.
This is why we shouldn't whine when books we are waiting for take a long time. Let this be a (hypothetical) example of what we get when the author is rushed.
I also suspect that the author was being possessed by the ghost of Victor Hugo insofar that there are all sorts of odd philosophical digressions, which do not seem to be relevant to the immediate text.
Right, so I'm disappointed but the series as a whole was excellent. It's just sad that that finale was so much less that the rest.
Other comments: Arg. The first two books were so great it's tragic that this one falls so short. I developed a completely unsubstantiated theory that the book existed in outline form and was hurriedly written to a deadline.
This is why we shouldn't whine when books we are waiting for take a long time. Let this be a (hypothetical) example of what we get when the author is rushed.
I also suspect that the author was being possessed by the ghost of Victor Hugo insofar that there are all sorts of odd philosophical digressions, which do not seem to be relevant to the immediate text.
Right, so I'm disappointed but the series as a whole was excellent. It's just sad that that finale was so much less that the rest.
July 5, 2016
Though this was fiction, there was a lot of it that reflected real life events ... but with a different name. If I had a chance, wold probably give this book 4.5 stars ... needed a little bit more at the end ... but wow. I learnt a lot about warfare, battle tactics and torture. What really hooked me, was the role that little normal everyday things had on major events ... how thousands of people could lose there lives because one person tripped over ... and the lift of a butterfly wing could result in 350 people drowning (chaos theory again). This book was a love-hate affair with most of the characters, including the main character of Thomas Cale. In addition, amongst all the heavy stuff, there was humour, which helped the book flow.
September 6, 2013
Everything was great and heading towards a five star...spoilerish alert...the ending left me deflated. Paul really knows how to take you into his world and show you the intricacies of it with the sort of clarity shared by Philip Pullman.
However, the ending seemed rushed. As if he wasn't clear on how he wanted to end it, or maybe an indication of pressure for a timely release. Either way I will be purchasing more of this author. The only weakness was the ending in this trilogy. Otherwise I would put it up there with the best I've ever read.
However, the ending seemed rushed. As if he wasn't clear on how he wanted to end it, or maybe an indication of pressure for a timely release. Either way I will be purchasing more of this author. The only weakness was the ending in this trilogy. Otherwise I would put it up there with the best I've ever read.
October 28, 2015
After reading all three books i have decided I like this series. I really have no idea why. Despite not liking any of the characters or the writing, I found myself sympathizing with Cale. I was fascinated and appalled by him. Damaged and harsh as he was, I willed him to succeed.
Overall a rewarding and engaging read for fans of the bleaker side of fantasy.
Overall a rewarding and engaging read for fans of the bleaker side of fantasy.
August 5, 2013
The ending was rather melancholic. However, the conclusion to the series still contained everything I love; the brutal sarcasm, the in your face quotable phrases, and the unorthodox fantasy battle tactics (how realistic it is, I can't say).
December 3, 2022
The third book in the trilogy, and by far my favourite. I've read book 1 probably four times, because I find the description of the citadel and the scablands so good. Definitely recommend all three books.
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