Hai
I picked this up hoping for a light read about magic and stones. Let's just say I did not look at the blurb long enough.
The world here ends every few hundred years with a "Season", during which human has to cope with extreme weather and such and such calamity. Among the human of this world are orogenes, who have some mysterious power on stones. We follows three orogenes of distinct ages as they wander around the land of Stillness, converging in the beginning of the end.
To be honest, I don't get how the orogenes wield control of the earth. The description lacks no details, yet my mind fail to conjure up any vivid imagery. Still, in those instances, I see the dream of taming Mother Nature, existing from as long as human has known of day and night. Even then, the Earth prevailed and denied all efforts to contain it, a bitter lesson much like real life.
Embed in the yoke of nature's indifference is a precarious society: an oppressing empire forcing unity and order, a caste formed from the fear of magical power, and a dysfunctional moral compass in apocalyptic time. Bespoke kernels of reality lie everywhere, demanding your attention, your reflection, your care. Each character feels as alive as they can be, filled with distinct traits and flaws that any mother, any lover, and any child might possess.
I did find some slight annoyances, especially with how in-you-face Essun's pain were re-iterated. They are definitely personal and in no way affect the enthralling trip you will go on till the end.
I picked this up hoping for a light read about magic and stones. Let's just say I did not look at the blurb long enough.
The world here ends every few hundred years with a "Season", during which human has to cope with extreme weather and such and such calamity. Among the human of this world are orogenes, who have some mysterious power on stones. We follows three orogenes of distinct ages as they wander around the land of Stillness, converging in the beginning of the end.
To be honest, I don't get how the orogenes wield control of the earth. The description lacks no details, yet my mind fail to conjure up any vivid imagery. Still, in those instances, I see the dream of taming Mother Nature, existing from as long as human has known of day and night. Even then, the Earth prevailed and denied all efforts to contain it, a bitter lesson much like real life.
Embed in the yoke of nature's indifference is a precarious society: an oppressing empire forcing unity and order, a caste formed from the fear of magical power, and a dysfunctional moral compass in apocalyptic time. Bespoke kernels of reality lie everywhere, demanding your attention, your reflection, your care. Each character feels as alive as they can be, filled with distinct traits and flaws that any mother, any lover, and any child might possess.
I did find some slight annoyances, especially with how in-you-face Essun's pain were re-iterated. They are definitely personal and in no way affect the enthralling trip you will go on till the end.
I rushed to write this review immediately after I finished the book, which is about the highest of acclaim I can give to a piece of art.
Following a hero journey through 14th-century Black-Death-stricken France, the story blends terror with peace, despair with hope through each chapter and each city.
I am incredulous of how Buehlman paints the most horrific ecclesiastical imageries I've known using the calmest of prose. Reading the book makes you feel like you can miss it without proper attention, but the moment you catch it, it appears so vivid, so cruel, and so gripping, you can never excise it off your mind.
A tremendous success.
I rushed to write this review immediately after I finished the book, which is about the highest of acclaim I can give to a piece of art.
Following a hero journey through 14th-century Black-Death-stricken France, the story blends terror with peace, despair with hope through each chapter and each city.
I am incredulous of how Buehlman paints the most horrific ecclesiastical imageries I've known using the calmest of prose. Reading the book makes you feel like you can miss it without proper attention, but the moment you catch it, it appears so vivid, so cruel, and so gripping, you can never excise it off your mind.
A tremendous success.