Florian Armas

Focused mostly on Codrin's viewpoint, this 3rd book in the Chronicle of the Seer series continues the power struggles, tangled plots and intrigues from the previous books. Conspiracies and political maneuvering, deception and betrayals all swirl around and entangle Codrin and the many other factions.

Like in the previous books, there are a lot of characters involved, all with their own plans and allegiances. Sometimes it was hard to keep them straight. The story did well at reminding the show more reader who the main characters were but was less effective at that for lesser characters. It moved at a leisurely pace and many descriptions were splendidly detailed. The magic remained very subtle but was a little bit more of a factor than previously.

At times, odd phrasing, incorrect and missing words, typos, and random tense changes made for some rough reading and interrupted the flow of the story. I disliked the insidious, repeated theme of control and disregard for so many of the women in the story. The consistently molest-y inclinations of antagonists quickly grew tiresome. While the various intertwined plots did move forward in this book, little was resolved. And while settings regularly received elaborate descriptions, too often battles passed in just a paragraph.

Overall, the story did hold my interest, with its complex plots within plots and characters playing their own games. It'll likely appeal to fantasy fans who enjoy intrigues that take a while to come to fruition.

3.5 stars, rounded up. show less

This complex medieval-style fantasy novel of intrigue and conflict centers mainly around Codrin, last of his family, and Jara, widow and mother. Their individual stories weave together against the backdrop of this world of struggles over power.

There's a lot going on in the story and the many characters, each with their own allegiances and plots, at times interact and other times oppose each other. The world in which these characters move is rich in culture and detail, and the magic that is show more present is subtle. The myriad intrigues that the many different factions supported held my interest and kept me reading to see how they would intertwine and succeed or fail.

Unfortunately, the numerous characters were hard to keep straight - who supported and who opposed whom. The narrative introduced them quickly, often with little to distinguish them, and many disappeared from the story just as quickly. The ending came abruptly and did not give a sense of closure, no satisfying conclusion to even part of the story. That leaves the story with not even the slightest feeling of anything having been resolved, even if only temporarily.

Many instances of odd phrasing, incorrect words and typos, and random tense changes made the reading difficult, usually requiring re-reading sections to try to discern the meaning, which often remained just out of reach. There are instances of multiple voices smashed together into a single paragraph, and sudden time jumps from one paragraph to the next. These issues interfered with the flow of the story and sadly worked to obscure subtleties and nuances. It became a struggle to follow what was going on.

Overall, this is an intriguing story of plots, betrayals, and conflicts. But it's held back by word-usage errors and grammatical and other problems in the writing. An interesting read that's tough to follow at times. show less

In a war in the future, Vlad and his fellow soldiers face an overwhelming enemy force. Something extraordinary happens and Vlad finds himself somewhere else: a world new to him with cultures strange to him, in which he must learn to survive.

Elements I liked:
The compelling story quickly drew me in and for the most part, the pace flowed well to keep me interested in finding out what happened next. I liked how the story incorporated the idea of quantum consciousness and some of our current show more understandings around the influence of certain foods on the body. Vivid descriptions painted wonderful pictures of the settings, such as '...the hill resembles a half-bald man's head...'. The story's unique mystical elements were intriguing, and the ancient cultures that Vlad encountered were well-developed, believable, and peopled with credible characters with their individual desires and agendas.

Elements I struggled with:
At times the dialog came across more formal and stilted than seemed to fit the situations in which the characters found themselves. Odd verb tense changes, some typos, and instances of missing and incorrect words popped up from time to time and hindered the story's flow. The story's conclusion didn't really provide much closure, and it ended with a bit of a frustrating cliffhanger.

Overall:
I enjoyed this mystical time-travel adventure. It's an original, engrossing story with an interesting twist near the end, before the bit of a cliffhanger. show less

Brilliant.

Perhaps it is because I am still relatively new to sci-fi, and certainly am new to works about metaphysical transcendent time travel, but this book felt extremely original to me. The writing, especially in the beginning, was vague and confusing. But here's the thing: it was the GOOD kind of vague and confusing. It felt like Armas was purposefully making me ask the right questions, the same ones he was going to hint at answering- later. The philosophy of things, of life and show more consciousness, were also addressed well.

Perhaps my only real complaint is that there was a lack of emotional connection between me and the main character. Perhaps that was the point, however. show less