Chris Eicher
What an odd book. The beginning third or so is very standard fantasy/space opera type intro to our character. And I don't say that disparagingly, it's done well and I'm excited to see where it goes by the end of the intro. Then the middle third just absolutely drags, I stopped reading this book a half dozen chapters into Emesh and almost certainly would have DNF'd it if it wasn't for everyone on booktube gassing up this series like it's the second coming of Dune. Took me nearly a year to pick this back up and power through it. Then around the beginning of the last third we get to Calagah and the plot starts happening again! The prose is excellent, the characters are (with a few exceptions) boring, the world building is fascinating and feels sufficiently convoluted to feel "real." I'll definitely get to reading book two, but don't think I'm sprinting to go start that one.
What an odd book. The beginning third or so is very standard fantasy/space opera type intro to our character. And I don't say that disparagingly, it's done well and I'm excited to see where it goes by the end of the intro. Then the middle third just absolutely drags, I stopped reading this book a half dozen chapters into Emesh and almost certainly would have DNF'd it if it wasn't for everyone on booktube gassing up this series like it's the second coming of Dune. Took me nearly a year to pick this back up and power through it. Then around the beginning of the last third we get to Calagah and the plot starts happening again! The prose is excellent, the characters are (with a few exceptions) boring, the world building is fascinating and feels sufficiently convoluted to feel "real." I'll definitely get to reading book two, but don't think I'm sprinting to go start that one.