This one was good. Unfortunately I did not enjoy the others as much, it felt like a genre shift.
An excellent sci-fi novel, beautifully written with an engaging storyline. Probably will need to read again (and will still get more out of it). Lots of twists and turns.
I really wanted to like this book - it sounded so promising. But it just didn’t land. It kept jumping around too fast to follow, and tons of world building was mentioned once and then ignored for the rest of the book. Characters are introduced and then killed off faster than I could follow, and the timeskups are disconcerting. Things that should be given multiple chapters are described in a single paragraph. I would have loved to know more about the world given the interesting premise - an Asian fantasy novel set in an archipelago?! - but all I got was bits and pieces that were never relevant.
Sped through the last half of this on a flight. Pretty solid, but J felt like I didn’t understand some of the world building. Harrow and Gideons relationship was neat, and I also loved the ending as a show of how their relationship evolved over time. However, i did feel like the last third of the book was too many things happening at once, perhaps because i was blazing through it on a plane. Will give the next book a try.
Really enjoyed this book. I didn’t realize how much I liked evolutionary sci-fi until now. Despite jumping around both POV-wise and timeline wise, the story remains understandable and compelling, though I feel it could have been better executed on at least one front. I didn’t really feel like there was one side or the other that I didn’t want to read, which often happens with books like this. The creative takes on technology are fascinating. Not thrilled with the ending, but I look forward to the next book. Eventually.
I forgot how good this book is. Even though the scope is massive, I felt attached to all of the main characters, and found myself cheering them on throughout the book. The worldbuilding is on-point (arguably one of my favorite parts of the series) and while there’s a lot of information, I never feel overloaded or confused, only curious to learn more. The book is about 1000 pages long, but it doesn’t feel that way. The climax (last 200 pages or so) flies by.
Even better than the Way of Kings. I do feel like some character aspectsweren’t as fleshed out as they could have been, but the world building and plot more than make up for it in my mind.
Another BANGER. On par or better than words of radiance, and the Sanderlanche is unparalleled. Love love love the world building. I’m going to be sad when I’m done with this series.
I love this book. Perfect combination of action and buildup, with a Sanderlanche to end all sanderlanches. The worldbuilding is as impeccable as ever. Only almost cried three different times. Lots of big realizations and twists.
The incredible conclusion to the first half of the stormlight series. Blew Rhythm of War straight out of the water. The entire second half is nonstop revelations and emotional damage, I barely had time to breathe. Incredibly satisfying to watch 5000+ pages of world building come together. Deeply saddened that I have to wait until 2031 for the next book.
Really intriguing world building, though I felt it dragged a bit in places. Solid read.
It just felt all over the place. It was interesting and I enjoyed reading it, but it felt like the author tried to cram 37 plots into one book.
Somewhat of a departure from the first books in the series. However, I think the difference in tone was used very effectively. Really enjoyed how much this book made me speculate, and the ending allows for even more. Asks some interesting questions about intelligence and autonomy.
Another Brandon Sanderson banger. Loved the worldbuilding and the premise. A nice change from the epics Sanderson normally writes, but the worldbuilding still completely delivers. Very fun read. My one gripe is that while it’s technically a standalone, there’s a good number of things that would be pretty confusing if you haven’t read most of the Cosmere books. Definitely would read again though.
Solid. Some of the pacing felt wonky, but otherwise pretty good read. Wish the worldbuilding was explained more but maybe that’s just because I’m coming off of a Sanderson binge.
I wanted to like this, but it just felt so… disjointed? Like there’s a lot of plot points but they don’t fit together well, and some decisions seem pretty irrational. The worldbuilding is an interesting concepts, but nothing is as elaborated on as I’d like. Hoping book 3 redeems this.
I love this book, more than I remembered. It’s a heist novel and also fantasy. The world is pretty unique, and I have so many questions I want answered. It’s full of twists and there’s never a dull moment.
I love this series. So many twists, I’m always on my toes even on a reread. World is interesting. Well paced. Never a dull moment.
Oh this is so good. Sometimes it feels that Locke gets out of things too easily, but it’s always really entertaining to see HOW he does it. I really liked how the flashbacks added to the main storyline. The twist about his background at the end… i’m not sure how I feel about it it. I think it could have been done better but maybe I just need more from book 4. Devoured this book. Would read again.
Forgot how good this was! I love the world and the writing style.
It was alright. I had high hopes, given how much I enjoyed the Children of Time series, but it felt a little disjointed. I didn’t feel as attached to the characters. A lot of it felt like the “band of misfits” trope, with little else. Might pick the series up again later, but I’m not sold.
It was alright. Not quite as engaging as I’d hoped it would be. I’m ambivalent about going on to the next book.
Very enjoyable modern/low fantasy about a teacher at a private school for magic. I loved the writing style. I felt very engaged from the beginning, even when the stakes were just students knocking around. The ending felt a little rushed, but I think it worked overall. Would read again.
Interesting from a prose perspective, but I didn’t feel like I was able to get very attached to the main character. I didn’t sympathize or pity her, she just existed. While developed, I just didn’t find her compelling. Shame, because I thought the premise was interesting.
Eh. It had potential but it didn’t really commit. Jokes fell flat.
Alright. Picked up at the end. Might read book 2 because it had higher ratings. The premise was really interesting, and I liked the worldbuilding, but the plot felt like it dragged for the first half of the book, and then all came together in the last hundred pages.
I knew exactly where this was going the whole time, but that didn’t make it unenjoyable. While certainly… overwhelmingly YA at times, I did enjoy reading about an LGBT protagonist struggling with faith, rather than one who just rejects it completely. Certainly resonated with many of my own experiences.
Got good near the end. I think the prose style is very interesting, and definitely helped immerse me. I felt the female characters were well written. The worldbuilding wasn’t the focus, and I didn’t find myself looking for explanations beyond definitions which is my one complaint - the author throws around loads of terms and expects you to know what they mean from the get-go. This made it hard to start. Refreshing to see fantasy that isn’t just 1400s Western Europe copy paste.
Solid and entertaining. Not quite as out there and satirical as I’d hoped it would be, but still pretty enjoyable. I saw some of the twists coming, but was still occasionally caught off guard.