Author: Steven Erikson
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 666 Pages
Release: 1999
Review
There are some books that it's really hard to write reviews for. This is one of those books.
I don't know what I expected going into this, but somehow what I got wasn't it, but in a good way. For some reason I had imagined that this book would be really dark and depressing. I don't tend to enjoy grimdark novels all that much and I think that's what I expected from this. So while this definitely had some dark tones, I didn't find the writing or the story itself particularly depressing. I hope that holds up as the series continues.
This novel follows a lot of characters, which I really enjoy. Large casts of characters always make things exciting for me. In the beginning I had a hard time connecting with the characters, though I found them all interesting. The more I got to know them, however, the more I started to appreciate them. There is no standout character that I became attached to, but there are several that I like for different reasons. Paran was an early favorite. Then there were Toc and Kruppe. Then I started to really enjoy Kalam, Quick Ben, and Rallick. And from there it kept building until I really liked them all, in some way. Even the ones that didn't seem all that likable.
This isn't a typical good versus evil story, at least not on the surface. In the beginning I was searching for who the good guys were, only to discover that we were getting perspectives from nearly every angle and while some of the actions taken were questionable, there was still no clear line separating the "good" from the "bad." At first this was odd for me, but the more I read the more I liked it.
The plot is very involved and I'm sure will continue to expand as the series progresses. I am positive that I did not catch all of the nuances throughout, but the details that did come together were pretty great. And there are still plenty of questions for later, without leaving me feeling unsatisfied with the ending.
I really enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it to those who enjoy epic and high fantasy with large casts of characters and a plethora of characters and perspectives. It's well written, exciting, and a lot of fun.
I don't know what I expected going into this, but somehow what I got wasn't it, but in a good way. For some reason I had imagined that this book would be really dark and depressing. I don't tend to enjoy grimdark novels all that much and I think that's what I expected from this. So while this definitely had some dark tones, I didn't find the writing or the story itself particularly depressing. I hope that holds up as the series continues.
This novel follows a lot of characters, which I really enjoy. Large casts of characters always make things exciting for me. In the beginning I had a hard time connecting with the characters, though I found them all interesting. The more I got to know them, however, the more I started to appreciate them. There is no standout character that I became attached to, but there are several that I like for different reasons. Paran was an early favorite. Then there were Toc and Kruppe. Then I started to really enjoy Kalam, Quick Ben, and Rallick. And from there it kept building until I really liked them all, in some way. Even the ones that didn't seem all that likable.
This isn't a typical good versus evil story, at least not on the surface. In the beginning I was searching for who the good guys were, only to discover that we were getting perspectives from nearly every angle and while some of the actions taken were questionable, there was still no clear line separating the "good" from the "bad." At first this was odd for me, but the more I read the more I liked it.
The plot is very involved and I'm sure will continue to expand as the series progresses. I am positive that I did not catch all of the nuances throughout, but the details that did come together were pretty great. And there are still plenty of questions for later, without leaving me feeling unsatisfied with the ending.
I really enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it to those who enjoy epic and high fantasy with large casts of characters and a plethora of characters and perspectives. It's well written, exciting, and a lot of fun.
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