Jake

Nothing I’ve read in Christian literature has made me want to hang out with the author as much as this work. Augustine is raw and incredibly knowledgeable of scripture - I felt the desire to just sit with him and learn what he has gleamed. His writing embodies someone finding himself, seeking a view of Christ’s perfection that he may be made pure himself and is telling us his journey towards that end.

I have read through the entire Bible before, but this is my first time deliberately keeping track to ensure I read every passage.

Completely transformational to my faith. I cannot believe I hadn't done this sooner.

This was a blend of ESV, NKJV and CSB.

I loved the monsters, lore and ethical dilemmas of The Last Wish.

Unfortunately, these don't really exist in this book. The entire book felt like necessary backstory to be used in later books filled with, very nearly, pointless dialogue.

There are positives (Character development, political and militant motives/placement, uncovering emotions of normally emotionless characters - though briefly), but I will need a long break before I pick up another book in this series. I hope they get better or at least bring back some of the original allure.

The feel of the main character does remind me a bit of some certain small people from a place called the Shire. I felt at home in his thoughts, though it drove me mad when he focused on trivial matters - I am sure this was deliberate to show his lack of understanding the seriousness of the problems in front of him. Senlin is a person I would try to become friends with but desire to push into some form of adventure.

The only reason to lack a complete 5 star review is the setting turns out to be steampunk. This is merely a personal preference as I am not normally drawn to literature surrounding this genre. Thankfully this is not in your face as you are reading and is more of a background necessity to understand how such a monstrosity of the Tower was built during the apparent time period. I simply prefer a more classic perspective in fantasy.

Pacing, character development, wonder, writing, and apparent danger were beautifully interwoven. This is one of the few books where I have more than a handful of underlined quotes because Mr. Bancroft was able to describe humanity in ways I envy.

3.2
I liked it. It was a fun journey but it doesn't hit the heights of other tales.

Emotional Impact:
The attachment to the dog in this story is strong. I should think everyone that reads this tale will feel a desperation that she never dies. Stephen King nails what it means to love a dog and the small things these animals do to worm their way into our hearts (even if we don't want them to). This goes on strong for a solid half of the book, then King points his gaze to something larger, and while it makes sense that he made the plot decision, I missed having more of the dog - can you tell I am an animal person?
You feel angry, disheartened and proud with Charlie's dad - frustrated yet caring with a secondary father figure - rooting for the main character to do what's right. I sometimes felt a conviction at thinking, “Would I have done the same?” There is a moment of embracing the darkness within for the fuel to do what is right and the complexity of this emotional push is something we all can relate to.
Unfortunately, I felt a disconnect halfway through this tale and I never felt a real sense of danger for characters.

Characters:
The first third of the book delves deep into creating deep characters. But, after this first third of the book, it feels as though the characters become muted (literally and figuratively), to the point where their physical attributes are what define them and not much their emotional engagement. Nevertheless, each character is unique and well thought out. Their quirks lend to interesting engagements, and make them memorable even though it was obvious some (I'm looking at you Cla and Hana) were placed just to make some action and make the main character stand out.
Fun, joyful, strange, despicably evil, righteous - they run the gamut and aren't stereotyped to a sense of eye-rolling but felt genuine in their presentations (except you Cla...).
All fleshed out and having a sense of “realness” except the main character, which I found a bit strange. Charles feels like an older generation kid got ripped out of his timeline and punched into the 2010's. I have read this complaint in a few other reviews so I won't beat a dead horse.

Plot:
King makes it obvious he stole many of the ideas for this book from other fantasy stories such as Jack and the Bean Stock, Rumpelstiltskin, tales from H.P. Lovecraft and stereotypes of Disney movies. It is all blended into this tale and it works.
There are times when actions are taken from characters that felt like an afterthought by the author because what obviously needs to happen, happens and now their is a hole in the “satisfaction” of the tale (here I am thinking of Eris' visit to the hospital at the end of the book - “hooray for mercy”).
You can guess much of the storyline, the overarching cliff-notes version is something we have all read bits and pieces of, and this does hurt the book a bit but it's how we get from beginning to end that it shines. He'll save -insert character here- ... BUT HOW?

Dialogue/Prose:
Each character has a way of speaking and it is easy to visualize them saying their lines. It feels like there is a natural flow to conversation for how the characters are built and you can hear that the pacing and delivery is always consistent. King makes real people, even if they aren't of our world, and that comes out in how they communicate.
When it comes to Charles though, I can't help but feel that he randomly becomes Kings thoughts on fantasies with women. This comes out more in Charles thoughts/writing when interacting with females. There is something to be said about a young male and the realistic nature of their thoughts, but I don't want to read it or know it.


World-building:
If King had set the planet of earth in a timeline that aligned with the way Charlie felt, it would be completely spot on. The “Other” is well imagined and rich with detail. It felt simply factual in it's existence and the consistency with which it is described. You can feel the change from going from one to the other. They are distinct, different, solid. I felt myself wanting to derail at the last chapter so that I could just explore the “Other.” There are SO many secrets that this place holds which we may never know more about.