cavalary's reviews
269 reviews

I’m not keen on short stories and the first four in this book more or less just proved me right once again. They are well written and it is a plus that they’re connected, with bits of a bigger story to be found inside them, but they are nevertheless pretty much just short stories, at times forced, at times striding too far either into humor or into a fairy tale, at times simply seeming to not quite fit, and overall rather missing the tone, setting and mood that I expected, and which they perhaps sought. Also, one particular reason to be angry with Yennefer sure is stressed at some point, and by that I don’t mean the one most people reading this will assume. That one just makes me feel even worse about the way what to me is the only right choice was treated in The Witcher 3.
However, I rated this the way I did thanks to the last two stories, which definitely belong alongside the proper books in the series, being properly connected and certainly finding that tone and mood and setting, never losing their way. After reading the fifth and seeing as the book is titled after it, I assumed that will be the best one, but the last then proved me wrong. That was in good part thanks to the outstanding and guttingly bittersweet scene between Geralt and Yennefer, which caused me to need to take a break and which I’ll probably need a longer time to recover from, but definitely not only because of that.

Sure, it's barely about half the minimum size of a book I'd normally look at, the events depicted are indeed rushed, the characters not particularly developed and the otherwise potentially very interesting world shown in just a few glimpses, plus that there are a few places where it could use more editing. However, this book actually was written in a hurry, insanely so, and while that isn't in itself an excuse, what is contained in it is quite nicely put together, the action carrying the reader from one scene to the next, even if it may require some suspension of disbelief.
Would the above be enough to not consider myself cheated if I'd have paid for it, or to not consider it barely worth a second thought before being dismissed if it'd have been the whole of the story? Highly unlikely. Yet Free-Wrench is given away for free and marks the start of a series which may allow the world and characters to develop more. Plus, it includes some very obvious references to things that are awfully wrong in our world and a pretty clear call to fight against them. And all of this does make me somewhat interested in the rest of the series... Though the next books in it, which aren't free, also seem too short for me to feel they may be worth paying for.

I'll say from the start that I'll disagree with myself later over this rating, as it should most probably be three stars. Can't bring myself to take away that fourth one at the moment though, mainly due to the concept of subspace energy entities pulled into real space and the way it was handled, and even more so the way the bond and the relationship between Seth and Khoe were handled. Some mental gymnastics may be required to grasp what that actually is and how it'd actually work, but makes perfect sense once you do. And bonus points for making it so that having one such entity tangle with a person with the right skills and contacts can reasonably be accepted as a plausible outcome of random chance.
The action and the setting may otherwise be considered rather typical for the genre, though the universe does hint at a reasonably promising complexity, which I hope is better explored in the other books that share it, as it'd be a pity if all would follow this one's pattern and focus almost exclusively on what's relevant to the matter at hand. Not that there's that much to really complain about when it comes to the action, but in itself, if you ignore these beings and the bond between Seth and Khoe, it definitely follows expected patterns and is also too rushed for my liking.

I’ll just say it right away: Great book, constantly growing alongside its protagonist and narrator, who’s quite a character himself and whose “voice” and style fit almost perfectly and significantly add to the experience. The perhaps simple and humble beginnings are followed by ever more captivating and impactful stages, each relevant, each with a purpose, each leading into the next until the reader may find it difficult to contain the effects of what they see and experience. I know I did, at least, and you may think you know what I mean once you reach the Night of Dragonsong & Fire… But you may wish to take that as a warning to prepare for what’s to come, because it merely marks the beginning of a series of truly powerful scenes.
I once again find myself wishing for half-star ratings, because I may have wanted to add one here. Then again, considering the very end, maybe not, as it didn’t need to go where it did and shouldn’t have done so. Other than that, it may need a little more editing, as there are a handful of things that slipped through, perhaps including the fact that the hundred keeps being added to and yet remains a hundred. Much more notably, the world of sticks and the few sticks that appear as characters may be said to be more of a sketch, or stick figures if you will, but the fact that it’s all presented from the point of view of a dragon helps with that, as it’s understandable that he neither knows nor cares much about such matters unless they directly affect him and it’d be quite out of character if he did. The fact that this also applies to the notable other dragons is somewhat more troubling, however.

The author created an interesting world here and the book does take you through a significant part of it. Does so by using a lot of shortcuts though, so I'd quite like to explore and understand more of this world, The Joined Realm being a pretty short single book that focuses on what a single character knows and sees in a relatively brief span of time. There's much that's not shown and, despite some information dumps that I'd say are more necessary than jarring, plenty not even told.
There's also the matter of the series of fortunate events that allow the characters to keep going and the fact that, in spite of a number of less typical elements, the action is steered down a pretty cliche path. Still, it is enough to keep you interested throughout and overall makes for a decent read, even if the writing style is a bit rough. There's a fair need for more editing though, to get rid of quite a number of obvious mistakes.

Since this is sadly so rare among self-published books that it pretty much requires mentioning, I'll start by saying that Enemy of Man is well edited. More notably, however, it's also properly constructed, not only in terms of the action, which keeps escalating and eventually explodes in a manner which may, in itself, be almost overwhelming, but also because greater depth and complexity is revealed to the reader as the story progresses, the characters develop, the scope expands from the initial focused heroic tale, and bits of information about the huge and intriguing planet, multiple intelligent and semi-intelligent species and even the galaxy itself begin to be presented.
The problems start from the fact that the heroic tale relies too often on the hero's luck and at times makes even less sense than that in order to allow survival, yet the bigger issue is that this greater complexity and scope is mainly only hinted at, too little actual information about the planet, the species and the events, past and present, being provided. As a result, when it should all come together, there's little reason to care, and I for one felt that the great escalation, in itself somewhat similar to events which in other books were capable of moving me to tears, pretty much only got in the way, halting or at least being a frustrating complication in the way of the story of the characters that I actually had at least some reason to be interested in. Therefore, while I obviously recognize at a rational level that species and planets and the galaxy are infinitely more important than any characters, I have little interest in the bigger story I gather the rest of the series is about, because this first book failed to make me feel involved in it.

Have to start by saying that the presentation in this book is odd. Switching between events and characters and points of view; changing back and forth while presenting one event between the words or thoughts of a character after the fact and depicting the action as it happens, sometimes following a character, which may or may not be the same one talking or thinking later, sometimes from the point of view of the omniscient author; skipping through action, even back and forth through time, a few times even throwing a quick description of a future different but related event before returning. Some events that appear to have had a certain outcome at one point are later proven to have had a very different one, some scenes are "foggy" and confusing, some clearly intended to be that way, others perhaps not so much. Can be difficult to follow and will likely benefit from being read a second time, to see what else you can figure out, knowing what you know after the first read.
But I don't reread books, so I'll make do with it as it is. And I'm inclined to say that, at least so far, following the high of Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow may be the low point of the proper series, and maybe including Sword of Destiny as well. Mainly following Ciri but not showing enough of her, or not directly, during the action. Definitely too little of Geralt. Yennefer and Triss, even less. And maybe too many traces of a fairy tale, though I guess it's nothing compared to what's to come. But still a lot about the world, still a fair amount of commentary and some words of wisdom, though sometimes not necessarily conclusions I particularly agree with. Still a good story containing a few other good stories; still a mix between pretty good action and a fair amount of depth; still characters that feel "real", call for emotional involvement and generate reactions. So, if this is the low point, may more series be like this.

Was a bit worried when I started reading this, but I shouldn't have been, as it really is good epic fantasy. Though this rather tends to keep away that, well, "magical" atmosphere that some other works in this genre have, having such a clear and clearly explained magic system is interesting as well, and this system is rather different from what you may expect, which also goes for certain particular plot twists. But that atmosphere probably wouldn't have fit anyway, as overall The Final Empire is gritty and somewhat grim despite the occasional humor. Wouldn't call it dark though.
There are some too fortunate events here and there and the characters may occasionally get away with more than they should, but until part five this is all quite fine. However, said part five does rather push it, seeming somewhat rushed and chaining together such a series of fortunate events and shockingly positive developments that tends to go too far. One crucial shockingly positive development in particular sure made me roll my eyes and shake my head...

Sanderson's mind seems to work like that of a crime writer, but on a much bigger scale. He'll take you every which way, whether intentionally or not he'll leave some things that are easy to figure out so you'll perhaps miss other clues while waiting for him to finally admit what you knew all along... And then everything will suddenly get turned on its head when it comes to the biggest matters, apparently out of nowhere until you'll think it over again and realize all signs were there all along, only you didn't pay attention.
That level of care and that attention to detail make it stranger to see mistakes slip through, yet there are some. Not talking of typos, though I actually spotted a couple, nor about the summary of the first book being placed at the end, nor even about the Ars Arcanum, also at the end, including the new characters but missing new metals. Rather, talking of things like an obviously wrong vote count or more than one instance of Vin burning a metal she should have very clearly and specifically been out of, taking more after that additional impossible burn instead of before. But, while jarring, these are little things, the main frustrating issue for me being how Vin and, to a lesser extent, Elend behaved when it came to their relationship, though that fits their characters and was fortunately stopped just before becoming truly awful.
With that out of the way, must return to the depth and detail, to how pieces keep clicking together as more is revealed, yet this time I'm referring to the world and its history instead of mere action and current events. If I pretty much took The Final Empire as just a book, albeit a good one, after The Well of Ascension I'm wondering how much am I willing to get into the extended lore, starting to dig through things not included in the main books. Not sure whether I can afford to fall into that rabbit hole, but it's enticing enough that avoiding it may require effort.

If I was saying that I wouldn't call The Final Empire dark, The Hero of Ages definitely is, despite an ending that doesn't quite fit. On the other hand, if The Well of Ascension at times seemed to me to read as I expect a good crime novel would, only on a much bigger scale, The Hero of Ages didn't leave the same impression. There is a solid direction, there are revelations that build upon each other, the scale is even grander, and the stakes, the importance and impact of actions and events, as high as possible while confined to a single planet, but perhaps it moves too quickly and goes too far, leaving behind a feeling that details, even important ones, are overlooked in the process, that it occasionally falls apart at the seams.
It definitely is written well, and it also touches upon quite a number of issues and occasionally offers arguments which may or may not be considered bits of wisdom, likely depending on whether or not the reader agrees, so I have no reservations in stating that it's a good book. At the same time... I expected more. Or, more exactly, I expected better, though I do now realize that The Well of Ascension may have set the bar too high in certain aspects and made me carefully search for certain elements, looking for flaws and dismissing potential positive aspects if they didn't mark a significant improvement, which may have been too much to ask. For example, after having correctly figured out the identity of the spy in The Well of Ascension pretty much right away, I felt that the author may have allowed me to do so in order to lull me into complacency and then surprise me with even greater revelations, while now there was no similar feeling after also immediately figuring out the identity of the Hero of Ages. Yet is that because there really was nothing greater hidden beneath, or is it because I was somewhat inoculated against that feeling, searching too carefully and expecting too much? I couldn't really say...