altlovesbooks
I'm apologetic and sad that it took me this long to read this book.
I won't summarize the plot here, because it's a very hard book to summarize convincingly. In brief and using not-book-specific terms, earth mages (sort of) are the crux of an empire about to fall. We get three narrators of this falling, and three different points in time telling the story. Nothing is quite as it seems up front.
It's dense to start, but I didn't find it unreasonably so. I thought the author does a really good job of onboarding the patient reader; if you give the story a chance to unfold and hold your questions for the end, you'll be rewarded along the way. The magic system is incredibly unique, and the author does a good job of explaining it and layering on complexity as the story goes along using the plot. This book is a journey in all senses of the word, and I never really found myself bored, even during the middle part that receives mixed reviews. Several moments in the story drew an audible noise from me, both in realization and in shock. The use of the different narrators was especially fun (if you can use fun to describe this bleak book), in that it kept me wondering how things tied together.
Just a really great complex, interesting, engaging, (insert additional awesome adjectives here) book. Can't wait to start book 2.
I'm apologetic and sad that it took me this long to read this book.
I won't summarize the plot here, because it's a very hard book to summarize convincingly. In brief and using not-book-specific terms, earth mages (sort of) are the crux of an empire about to fall. We get three narrators of this falling, and three different points in time telling the story. Nothing is quite as it seems up front.
It's dense to start, but I didn't find it unreasonably so. I thought the author does a really good job of onboarding the patient reader; if you give the story a chance to unfold and hold your questions for the end, you'll be rewarded along the way. The magic system is incredibly unique, and the author does a good job of explaining it and layering on complexity as the story goes along using the plot. This book is a journey in all senses of the word, and I never really found myself bored, even during the middle part that receives mixed reviews. Several moments in the story drew an audible noise from me, both in realization and in shock. The use of the different narrators was especially fun (if you can use fun to describe this bleak book), in that it kept me wondering how things tied together.
Just a really great complex, interesting, engaging, (insert additional awesome adjectives here) book. Can't wait to start book 2.