Sarp
Whoever gave this a two star can't even fathom the epicness of this series. How a single man can link so many plot points together baffles me. At the end of Sanctuary Book Eight, I was left speechless and in tears and feeling so many things, so do not stop in the first book. Give it a chance, you are merely missing out on something great.
EDIT 2024: Book 1 is definitely not as good as I remember now that I have a better understanding of narrative structure, prose and character development. It's still okay though, with memorable moments that have undoubtedly stuck with me for several years. The series does compound on itself really well though from what I can tell — maybe I'll do a full reread this year, we shall see.
Even a utopia cannot exist without the foundation of its darkness. A fascinating philosophical take — somewhat utilitarian in its approach. Would you rather have one person suffer or have a thousand suffer the same fate of depravity? If forced to make a choice, you would probably pick the one, even if they are but a child. However, if you were truly kind, you'd grant every single person of a thousand and more the same horrible fate — yourself included, the child included. So that we may all bear the burden together. But we are never so selfless and are too quick to forget injustices that we have self-wrought upon each other. This all begs the question: is universal happiness possible without universal suffering?
“For Abernathy, to look at her is to feel a new type of heartbreak. Once you appreciate someone in this manner, you always then realize how tenuous their existence is. At any moment, two lives can untwine. Abernathy cannot bear to be drawn further in or pushed further away. He can't seem to find balance.”
My heart. Is torn. Asunder.
