Jurjen
The first two Mark Lawrence books I read, being the first two books in the Library Trilogy, I thought were pretty fantastic. I fell in love with its setting, story and most of all its characters. The Book That Held Her Heart, the final book in the trilogy, was probably the most disappointing book I had ever read. I kept thinking: “why is any of this happening? Why is the story *this*?
Unfortunately, Daughter of Crows continues that streak, as its narrative, especially in the first half of the story, is a hot mess. The Rue POV chapters for the first 150 pages followed the exact same formula 3 times in a row. Thing A happened, then B, then C, back to A. This exact sequence 3 times in a row, and I had no clue what story the book was telling. Fortunately, Rue's story in the second half of the book was much stronger with a much clearer narrative that I ended up enjoying a bit.
I think the Academy chapters were much stronger, and contained some fun character dynamics and character relationships. The setting was interesting (though it seems like it's largely windowdressing, at least in this first book), the ending came together quite nicely, and the prose was pretty good. Mark Lawrence is obviously a very skilled writer, I just felt like this book needed two more rounds of outlining, and a much clearer direction from the start.
2 hits and 2 misses.
The first two Mark Lawrence books I read, being the first two books in the Library Trilogy, I thought were pretty fantastic. I fell in love with its setting, story and most of all its characters. The Book That Held Her Heart, the final book in the trilogy, was probably the most disappointing book I had ever read. I kept thinking: “why is any of this happening? Why is the story *this*?
Unfortunately, Daughter of Crows continues that streak, as its narrative, especially in the first half of the story, is a hot mess. The Rue POV chapters for the first 150 pages followed the exact same formula 3 times in a row. Thing A happened, then B, then C, back to A. This exact sequence 3 times in a row, and I had no clue what story the book was telling. Fortunately, Rue's story in the second half of the book was much stronger with a much clearer narrative that I ended up enjoying a bit.
I think the Academy chapters were much stronger, and contained some fun character dynamics and character relationships. The setting was interesting (though it seems like it's largely windowdressing, at least in this first book), the ending came together quite nicely, and the prose was pretty good. Mark Lawrence is obviously a very skilled writer, I just felt like this book needed two more rounds of outlining, and a much clearer direction from the start.
2 hits and 2 misses.
