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romajstorovic's review
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I wasn’t fully sure what was happening at the start of the book - perhaps that’s my fault for reading the prequel before the series - but by the end I was very firmly sure that the narrator, Kes, was in love with his master. This book is a brilliant example of a biased narrator.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
annarella's review against another edition
5.0
Even if I've reading fantasy since the 80s it's the first time I travelled to Osten Ard and this was an excellent way because it's a prequel.
Great world building and character development, a fascinating new world to explore.
I'm happy I read this book, now I have a fascinating series to read.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
Great world building and character development, a fascinating new world to explore.
I'm happy I read this book, now I have a fascinating series to read.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
marsali's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
thep's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
blacksentai's review against another edition
4.0
These "short" prequel books are way more interesting to be than the new osten ard books actually. I think there are still the typical epic fantasy shortcomings that arise when trying to flesh out a somewhat flawed skelton of the generic villain from Memory Sorror and Thorn.
neriph's review against another edition
3.0
5/10.
Story of a happy slave Changeling who serves the racist high elves (zida’ya). It is 1st person view, and he is unreliable and constantly lying to himself about his love for slavery and being a slave and love for his nice slavemaster.
He is present only to tell the story of the racist high elf brothers. One of which is a big bad in later stories. Ineluki’s motivation is basically that he makes a dumb oath causing his brother to get injured. He is too prideful to admit fault, and now wants to genocide all humans and non elven peoples. Great. Cool man.
Prose is hard to read, as Williams does not like making new paragraphs.
Enjoyable enough, though a really meandering plot with no real goal. It reads like a 1st-person travelogue.
Still, skill in crafted word, poetic license, and expository setup make this readable as part of a series. As a standalone, bleh.
Story of a happy slave Changeling who serves the racist high elves (zida’ya). It is 1st person view, and he is unreliable and constantly lying to himself about his love for slavery and being a slave and love for his nice slavemaster.
He is present only to tell the story of the racist high elf brothers. One of which is a big bad in later stories. Ineluki’s motivation is basically that he makes a dumb oath causing his brother to get injured. He is too prideful to admit fault, and now wants to genocide all humans and non elven peoples. Great. Cool man.
Prose is hard to read, as Williams does not like making new paragraphs.
Enjoyable enough, though a really meandering plot with no real goal. It reads like a 1st-person travelogue.
Still, skill in crafted word, poetic license, and expository setup make this readable as part of a series. As a standalone, bleh.
jacquihertz's review against another edition
4.0
Lyrical, beautiful, and melancholy in Tad Williams fashion. Love this glimpse of Osten Ard in the past.
gorillotaur's review against another edition
4.0
Förbannat bra. Kanske diggar jag den mest för det täta världsbygget. Tveksamt om den är en bra första Williams-bok. Eller, det är den inte. Endast för de redan frälsta.
jdhobbes's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0