Helpful Score: 2
Having been a fan of Carey's Kushiel series, I was looking forward to the same sort of reading experience. Pleasantly suprising to note that this series is nothing like the Kushiel series; it is thought provoking and well written. Definitely not for the casual simpleton, though. Young or less-educated readers may need some help understanding this series. I highly recommend it as a deep and satisfying read.
Helpful Score: 1
I don't even know where to begin with this review. Overall the series was interesting and exciting, but the end was disappointing. It is worth reading once. Banewreaker was my favorite in the two books series.
Good: Ms. Carey is a great author. She has awesome character descriptions and creates a very vivid world. Her idea to tell a Lord of the Rings type of epic from the "bad guys'" point of view is amazing. I have always ended up liking the bad guys, and this story just proves you can see things from so many different angles. I also loved how she challenged the validity of following a Prophecy just because some ancient god set it up.
Bad: This series was so hard to get into. I got Banewreaker and couldn't get more than 20 pages into for months. But once I did sit down with it, I got really into the story. It just took a while. Also, the characters were a bit too preachy on the whole "you have to see it from OUR point of view. What makes YOU so right?" I thought that was the whole point of the story, so why do they have to repeat that message so many times? Another bad thing, about the series overall, was that it did not end the way I wanted it to. I was soooo sure it would turn out one way, and it totally didn't. grr.
So, with the good and the bad, I still think this was a great series to read once. It is an awesome epic fantasy with a great premise by an author I really like.
Good: Ms. Carey is a great author. She has awesome character descriptions and creates a very vivid world. Her idea to tell a Lord of the Rings type of epic from the "bad guys'" point of view is amazing. I have always ended up liking the bad guys, and this story just proves you can see things from so many different angles. I also loved how she challenged the validity of following a Prophecy just because some ancient god set it up.
Bad: This series was so hard to get into. I got Banewreaker and couldn't get more than 20 pages into for months. But once I did sit down with it, I got really into the story. It just took a while. Also, the characters were a bit too preachy on the whole "you have to see it from OUR point of view. What makes YOU so right?" I thought that was the whole point of the story, so why do they have to repeat that message so many times? Another bad thing, about the series overall, was that it did not end the way I wanted it to. I was soooo sure it would turn out one way, and it totally didn't. grr.
So, with the good and the bad, I still think this was a great series to read once. It is an awesome epic fantasy with a great premise by an author I really like.
Dark fantasy - volume 2 of the duology "The Sundering" (by the author of the "Kushiel" series). Quite good.
