**spoiler alert** Well it took me forever to finish this book. I blew through the first few books of the series (especially the short story collection**spoiler alert** Well it took me forever to finish this book. I blew through the first few books of the series (especially the short story collections) but the last 2-3 got more and more of a slog. The Plot just seemed to meander with no real direction or goal, jumping around and going on long tangents with random characters as a method of larger exposition. Basically as the series goes on, it's less and less about the Witcher, the character I (and maybe most readers?) actually care about and more and more about Ciri and the wider world/history/mythology/conflict. At least her feud with Bonhart was interesting but it didn't fill much of her pages.
(view spoiler)[ And such an unsatisfying and depressing ending seriously, makes the last 2 books or so really feel pointless. (hide spoiler)]
I don't know if I'll ever read the Season of Storms, but probably not. I've never played the games but from what I've heard their plot is very different, and no wonder. I hope Netflix does their own thing and judging from the first season, I think they will take it a different direction than both the novels and the games....more
Sadly, I don't think it's gotten any better in the 2 years since this book was published. If anything it's gotten worse and the mental disease of "safSadly, I don't think it's gotten any better in the 2 years since this book was published. If anything it's gotten worse and the mental disease of "safety first"/"safetyism" and its consequence, learned helplessness, is more apparent than ever during this pandemic.
I did not actually finish this book. I think I made it a little over halfway, maybe 2/3. It has all the problems of the first book and more. Even moreI did not actually finish this book. I think I made it a little over halfway, maybe 2/3. It has all the problems of the first book and more. Even more completely unnecessary character weirdness and while I was intrigued by mystery of the why's and how's of the world and it's history, it wasn't nearly enough to make me finish the book, let alone the next one....more
The history and world building and "magic" system are interesting but the characters are mediocre at best, not to mention overly weird.
An even bigger The history and world building and "magic" system are interesting but the characters are mediocre at best, not to mention overly weird.
An even bigger issue than that is the writing style. It's the oddest thing I've ever seen. I don't think I've ever seen/read a book in this style before. It switches between 2nd person (which I've never seen before on it's own) and this strange awkward conversational tone that seems to shift between all 3 view points, 3rd, 2nd and 1st person. It's a really annoying style that distracts from the story and serves no real purpose.
If It were written in a more normal style (even with the non-linear narrative, I'm fine with that), I'd give it at least 3 stars. If it didn't have the other problems but still used this stupid style, I'd also give it 3, maybe 2.5....more
I have pretty much the same issues as other reviewers. I'd give 4 stars for what's there but I have to dock at least 1 for the problems and what's misI have pretty much the same issues as other reviewers. I'd give 4 stars for what's there but I have to dock at least 1 for the problems and what's missing.
The writing is just as good and the content that is there is fine, though not as gripping as some of the other books, especially Underlord.
My problems are the cliff hanger from the last book is given a chapter at the beginning and no resolution. The book is titled Uncrowned but ends in the middle of the titular tournament with at least 2, arguably more, separate cliff hanger issues.
Other minor issues that others have mentioned, the training does feel a little slim compared to Blackflame and some of the other books. I could understand that if it meant we got a full story with a proper conclusion and maybe there was just too much to fit into the book but that's not what happened.
(view spoiler)[ I will say that I disagree those who say Lindon does poorly or always loses in this book are missing the fact that as he said himself, losing to Yerin is the first time he's lost since Dross when he was actually trying to win and not holding back ... and he was holding back for the start of the fight, wasting madra so maybe he could have won if he'd fought full out from the beginning. Every other time he's lost since Dross, he's specifically not used Dross for training purposes (against all the Akura underlords) or he was fighting to contain not to win (against the blackflame). (hide spoiler)]...more
I've been tutoring college students since 2016 and this book and the data it presents exactly matches up with my experiences with my iGen (and occasioI've been tutoring college students since 2016 and this book and the data it presents exactly matches up with my experiences with my iGen (and occasionally late millenial) students.
The only reason I can't give it 5 stars is that it's often incredibly depressing and she sometimes bends over backward trying to find some silver lining in some of these overwhelmingly negative trends.
Whether it's the anxiety, depression, addiction to social media and their phones, or their almost complete lack of (and lack of interest in) independence and self-determination, or the fact that none of them read long form content (let alone actual books), there's a whole lot to make you a bit depressed and pessimistic about the future....more
Better than Queen of Fire and maybe even Tower Lord. Really those ones were made worse by comparison to Bloodsong. Now it's been enough time both irl Better than Queen of Fire and maybe even Tower Lord. Really those ones were made worse by comparison to Bloodsong. Now it's been enough time both irl and in the book's world that this isn't suffering as much in it's shadow....more
Sanderson is pretty consistently good, across the wide range of worlds and genre's and subgenre's he writes in. This one reminded me of quite a few otSanderson is pretty consistently good, across the wide range of worlds and genre's and subgenre's he writes in. This one reminded me of quite a few other books in general plot/setting/characters so it's not particularly original compared to some of his other stuff but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable. FTR, I read along with the audio book (at 1.5x speed), and the narrator isn't bad....more
I read this is the "The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds". It was ok but kind of a let down from the 2 previous stories and how his mysterious past and somI read this is the "The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds". It was ok but kind of a let down from the 2 previous stories and how his mysterious past and some plot elements "wrapped up". This world and this character really could have supported 6 or more full length novels, or a dozen novellas like these, maybe some short stories about very brief cases too. It'd make a great TV show too, though there's already a "Legion"....more
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