Kyle Erickson

“What is a man's life worth?”
“The slavemasters say one is worth about two emerald broams.”
“And what do you say?”
“A life is priceless.”

It took me five months of casually dipping into The Way of Kings in between other books to finish my reread. Well, not true. It took me five months to read the first half. It took me three days to read the second half. Oops.

I think this novella was a mistake in format. I would have enjoyed this much better in almost any other way. A full length novel could have really fleshed out the two characters and especially the world, which is felt was both focused on too heavily and also underdeveloped. A movie would probably be incredible, as would a miniseries. I even think if this was adapted into a graphic novel, I would love it.

But I thought it was a pretty poor novella. The writing style was nice but needlessly esoteric to the point where it was hard for me to visualize what was happening and how they got from point A to B in several instances. And the escalating “plot” just seems to kick in and be resolved and then have a twist all way too quickly. It just needed more room to breathe. It especially feels like a shame to build this whole conflict/time war/universe thing merely for this novella.

This author is completely insufferable at every point however I do think this had a good look at the working class and especially at the time it was written was important for how others viewed these jobs and income brackets and I think people who have never had to work low income jobs or grow up poor could benefit from reading this.

Just....just don't act like this insufferable author. That's my take away. Holier than thou, naive, judgmental, vain. Did you guys know that Barbara Ehrenreich is COLLEGE EDUCATED folks?!?!?!?!?!! Step back, we have a college education strolling through. The worst part is when she takes a job as a waitress in Key West but is worried that PEOPLE ARE GOING TO RECOGNIZE HER NAME AND OUT HER. Are you really suggesting that in between all of the scrounging around to put food on the table and find appropriate housing and get through a shift with a little bit of sanity intact, that these people are going to be falling over themselves to recognize a journalist's name/picture and then think to themselves, “this is a trick! A scam! A dirty scallywag, exposing the seedy underside of my lifestyle! Away with you, tramp!”? The sheer GALL of this woman

Anyways can confirm that being poor sucks

This is a one star and a two star and a three star and a four star rating all at once. I can defend each rating but simultaneously think each one is wrong. I'll land in the middle I guess.


One thing's for sure. I don't like it. I might hate it. But damn if I could stop.

This book is awesome.

Near the end of the book, some characters are proclaiming their loyalty to Mara, and I'm sitting there like “me too!!”. Mara is one of my favorite protagonists ever. The way she uses her cultural upbringing, her own perspective and intelligence, and the perspective of others to challenge the status quo and fight her enemies in ways they don't expect is just SO good.

I'm giving this 9.5/10 because it did feel a bit overlong in spots and there was a minor issue I had with the ending. But without a doubt one of the best political fantasy books I've ever read.