Farhan

Great read and imo this a series that has the potential to compete with Cradle, but who starts a book with a prologue that doesn't even happen until after the events of the book? Aka an epilogue...that was a ??? choice. If you're going start with a flashforward to some surprising event, and then flashback like what happens in TV shows, at least actually resolve the flashforward in the book :/

Eh I don't know, I feel like there was less of a focus on progression this book so I was less interested in this. If I look closely at the narrative I think I would say not much of substance actually happens here, like I don't really feel like Aiden ends this book all that much stronger even if it is true on paper. I think part of the strength of this series is that it tries to be more character focused which is rare among progression fantasy, but the continuous focus on Mei's complex of being super attractive and not being able to trust men feels kinda menwritingwomen. Still, it's nice to see the Aiden/Mei relationship grow naturally. As of yet the series has not had any compelling villains take the stage so the stakes fall flat a little with one dimensional young master-esque villains, but there have been some hints dropped at more going on in the background. So, I will probably still read the next book, but I left this book feeling less positive on the series than the last one.

This was a fun read and tbh, I do not think I have related to a character more than Alice in a long while. I am kinda disappointed there's no explanation for the invisibility thing it's just like yeah it happens go with it so that was like..okay? But anyways great debut from an author still in college

I have to say I wasn't pulled in like the previous book. I figured out some major twists within the first few chapters so the rest of the book became a slog waiting for the narrative to catch up. Also there were really questionable relationship decisions that occurred?? Also also a lack of Orion screen time. I did like the ending and the atmosphere of the book so not a complete dud, but leaving the magic school left some of the magic out of the story too.

Just like the last book, this one is riddled with plot holes and narrative inconsistencies. I think my biggest issue is that a lot of the major plot drama is driven out of sheer human incompetence, and I just don't think humanity is as incompetent as the caricature of it portrayed in this book. Also the main character of the book is maybe its weakest character in more meanings than one. Her biggest relevance to the story is being the sole person to make a decision where if she makes the wrong one, all of humanity will die. Literally fate of the world kind of stuff. And she makes the wrong decision... TWICE. And it's supposed to be out of “love” so her decisions are supposed to be “okay”. But no, the real world doesn't work like that... And for the record the second time she has to make the decision, it did in fact lead to complete annihilation of humans in the solar system, so she's basically responsible for the genocide of the human race?

Anyways given all that, this book I still rate at 4 stars because I guess its not really the point of the novel, it was still a very gripping read, and has really interesting science fiction concepts.

I would still recommend the series as a whole for anyone interested in sci-fi for its interesting concepts and world, and all the books are page turners. I just think the literature gets lost in the spectacle.

I feel kinda bad for giving this book this rating because most everyone speaks very highly of it, but I was actually so bored reading the majority of this book. I almost feel like there's something wrong with me as a fantasy fan because I think this is perhaps the first major fantasy series I have such a differing opinion from what's commonly held..but yeah this story didn't do it for me. There were only a couple characters that interested me, Felisin (who sucks but that's what made her interesting), Mappo/Icarium, and Kalam. Everything else I was a little eh on. I enjoyed the first book more than I did this one when it's usually the other way around from what I've read. I'll still read the third book since it's supposedly the best or near best in the series, and probably still read all the books just so I can say I did.

This is like a 3.5 because I enjoyed a lot about the book, was really satisfying to see Theo and Jessica working together after their respective series have ended. Except Jessica who is supposed to be a genius in her own right is nerfed and Theo does like all the thinking...So that was disappointing. Also another really anticlimactic ending..this author just does not know how to write them!! I really liked the character interactions though so not a terrible read, and I'll continue with the next one.

This book was literally such a slog to get through sorry. I had to power through because I did not care about like anything about it. The plot? Basically YA LOTR. Evil dude called “Who Waits” I think idek if that was his name because it was as bland as the rest of the book but ya know is basically Walmart Sauron is probably trying to destroy the world but our merry band of heroes including the chosen one who wields the All Powerful Blade are the only ones that can stop him. The characters? I did not care about any of these characters at all as one dimensional as it gets. Like Corayne is special and and feels quirky 24/7 we get it. Dom is immortal woahh that's cool bro. Andry is a nice boi. Saransa (was that her name idk) is an edgy assassin with a #mysterious past. That completely sums up their personalities. Erida aka the royal one was the only character remotely interesting for spoilery reasons. Def an Erida stan may she get everything that is rightfully hers!! The setting? There were a lot of names said and places spoken but that is all I could tell you about them. Anyways this book was just boring and uninspired but I guess it wasn't the worst thing ever and someone out there might like it.

It's been awhile since my last Sanderson book, enough that this really made me remember that no one does fantasy like Sanderson!! So many cool things in this book with wider connections to the larger cosmere. Also reading this made me realize how out of touch I've become with the cosmere as a whole and that I really need to reread some things and read the novellas I haven't read. Like there was a MAJOR twist in Stormlight 4 that I completely missed until now... Anyways fantastic end to Era 2 and excited for what's to come!

I really liked how time travel worked in this book with each “flux” collecting all the people in the town of the current time period and sending them back together. Leads to people of different time periods hobblin through time periods, even versions of the same person which was interesting. Definitely not your typical time travel story. I liked the characters for the most part, I think Owen's leadership capabilities keep everyone, including the reader, grounded with all the wackiness happening. I didn't really know where exactly the plot was going, a lot of this author's works read like he's discovering where to go next as he writes but it worked here and I was solidly entertained. I did think it wraps up a tad bit too nicely, although I wasn't really unhappy with it. The subtle (and overt) connections to the author's previous books in this universe are also neat and I'm excited to see it potentially come together in future books.