I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion. My initial first thoughts? I liked the book, although it took me a little longer to read than a book of its length usually takes me because it was a bit hard to get into at first. However, once I finally did get into it, I liked it.
Parts of it were very reminiscent of the Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman Dragonlance books -- a comparison that was only furthered by the names given to some of the characters and events in the book, such as the Cataclysm and Misha'Khal. The book was hard for me to get into at first because it had SO MANY CHARACTERS in the beginning, and the book tried to introduce them one after the other, which was nice, but also kind of killed the narrative flow at times. It is kind of like that section of the Bible where Somebody begat Somebody and then that Somebody begat Somebody Else. However, once one gets past that portion of the book, it is quite a fun read.
The only other big problem I had with the book is that it does wonky things with the timeline that I really didn't like. For instance, something big will happen -- such as a character dying -- and then, I'll have to read about that exact event again, only through another character's viewpoint. I don't have a problem with shifting viewpoints, but I feel that an author who uses shifting viewpoints should do so while maintaining chronological order, such as George R.R. Martin does in his Song of Ice and Fire series.
Other than those two main problems, I really did enjoy reading the book. The characters are very personable and realistic -- despite the fact that some of them are blood demons and elves. :-p It was a pleasure to "watch" them interact with one another. They each had their own passions and foibles... Yes. The characterization was great indeed.
Overall, a good, fun read that I would recommend to readers of fantasy.
Parts of it were very reminiscent of the Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman Dragonlance books -- a comparison that was only furthered by the names given to some of the characters and events in the book, such as the Cataclysm and Misha'Khal. The book was hard for me to get into at first because it had SO MANY CHARACTERS in the beginning, and the book tried to introduce them one after the other, which was nice, but also kind of killed the narrative flow at times. It is kind of like that section of the Bible where Somebody begat Somebody and then that Somebody begat Somebody Else. However, once one gets past that portion of the book, it is quite a fun read.
The only other big problem I had with the book is that it does wonky things with the timeline that I really didn't like. For instance, something big will happen -- such as a character dying -- and then, I'll have to read about that exact event again, only through another character's viewpoint. I don't have a problem with shifting viewpoints, but I feel that an author who uses shifting viewpoints should do so while maintaining chronological order, such as George R.R. Martin does in his Song of Ice and Fire series.
Other than those two main problems, I really did enjoy reading the book. The characters are very personable and realistic -- despite the fact that some of them are blood demons and elves. :-p It was a pleasure to "watch" them interact with one another. They each had their own passions and foibles... Yes. The characterization was great indeed.
Overall, a good, fun read that I would recommend to readers of fantasy.
