Brady
Fast paced, very little exposition, steadily trickles the lore, tense and mysterious, good characters. Main character is definitely a Gary Stu with seemingly infinite energy when needed, but it keeps the book moving!
My favorite sci-fantasy book I've read since Red Rising - they both have page-turning pace.
Pretentious and overly-obsessed with literary homage, but memorable anyways. Except for the poet (Silenus)'s section. He sucks and the poetry sucks, and there's way too much of it.
The book is incomplete and ends abruptly (or generously, more about “journey over destination”). I would say the next book is essential to enjoying the story, but the next book also asks more questions than it answers.
Much more action-packed and plot focused than the first book, but unsatisfactory at actually resolving the story and answering questions. The AI factions and the Shrike imagery are the best parts.
Poetry continues to detract from the writing.
This book could have been a tweet. The message (always have a reason for doing something and learn to communicate the reason) is important to warrant an essay even. But halfway through the author literally starts repeating himself. I also found the Apple worship off putting. The author also reuses too many of the same examples throughout the book and presents absolutely zero evidence for any of his claims.
Has pacing issues compared to Stormlight or Mistborn (especially the ending, just like Warbreaker), but still entertaining and classic Sanderson.
Nothing groundbreaking, but an easy, existential read with a timeless life lesson that never hurts to be reminded of and may particularly resonate with anyone who's been depressed or has existential angst.
Gifted this book upon entering University. Very personal look into one of the lost boy's experiences. Can't help but make you feel like we should be doing more for the ones who got relocated to the United States.
Somewhat generic dystopian Chosen One revenge plot. It's an action-packed, fast paced, page turner, which is what I was looking for, but not so good I'd really recommend it to others. Never got that invested in the main character - I feel like the writing didn't build up the epic parts as much as they could have, and the stakes just felt a bit low overall.
Best of the series. No Anakin and Padme to distract from Thrawn's character, plenty of battle action, Vanto, the Chiss. Great addition to Thrawn's story
This book feels like setup in retrospect. Lyria in particular is not a super interesting character. Probably the weakest book in the series, but I do appreciate the bigger scope and the Rim characterization in relation to the core.
Didn't finish, ended up reading the summary a couple years later. It was OK. I appreciate the grounded, antihero, sleuthing style of fantasy, but I didn't think the book was particularly great either. Too long, too many boring parts.
I feel like the writing and plotlines are sloppy but overall I still enjoyed it. He cleans up trying to make Lyria more interesting than she is by getting rid of Figment, doesn't mention the Abomination, and doesn't rely on Quicksilver as a deus ex, which is good, but he also introduces a lazy plot device (the bioweapon that can kill any color). Fuck Lysander.
A lot of important things happen in this book. Back to being fast paced and much more mature and unpredictable than the first trilogy of books. However, bringing back the Jackal as the Abomination sucked. I also still feel like Lyria is a mediocre character.
Read a lot of this a year or 2 ago. Really fucking long, didn't finish it. Would benefit from being edited. It was OK - there were some cool ideas and it's certainly a much more realistic take on superheroes than e.g. Marvel. Shows like The Boys give a similar vibe.
Refreshing. Compared to a lot of modern fantasy, this book was much more ethereal and almost poetic. Incredible prose centered around internal conflict. Optimistic, adventurous, and doesn't rely on any kind of war or dystopia to set the stage. Recommended for anyone looking for an influential fantasy classic.
Kind of generic dystopian / hero's journey like the Hunger Games or Ender's Game, but I'm a sucker for that shit and enjoyed this one just as much. The sequels (especially the second trilogy) get more complex
