Matt Ellis

I finished this book a few weeks ago and I still cannot stop thinking about it... Wow!

What I liked:

• Pacing: It is fairly long but it kept my attention the whole time.
• Magic system: I think it's a fascinating concept that we just got a glimpse of in book 1.
• Ending: I need book 2 now, I keep thinking of the possibilities of what happened at the end.

Minor complaint: There are times when it feels like the MC can do no wrong. I would love to see a little more character flaw in the books to come.

Overall, I would recommend this book to any SFF reader. Really well done and I can't wait for the rest of the series!

This was my 2nd Blake Crouch read (Dark Matter) and I enjoy his style of writing. Dark Matter was good, but this book was incredible! The plot line is very unique and I was hooked trying to figure out how this was going to end.

I also listened to this via audio book and the reader was excellent.

5/5 would recommend!

Ok, I have mixed feelings of this book.

The issues:
1. Pacing. It felt like there were 3 parts to this book: Character intros, main conflict, character development. This stuff in these parts were not bad, but it didn't always feel like a uniform story.
2. The Japanese style language in the book was a bit hard to read sometimes. Also, there is a lookup in the back for a lot of these. This style might be a pro for some, but it took away from the story for me.
3. The 3rd part of the book seemed to drag on too long.
4. The ending. I turned to the next page to keep reading and the book just seemed to stop. It didn't seem the story was resolved at the end.

All that being said, I still really liked the book. Incredible character developments! And the conflict in the middle was really well described.

4/5 stars and I would recommend to a friend after prefacing some of the issues I described above.

Overall, this was a really interesting story. I thought the plot was intriguing and kept me hooked.

Not 5 stars because there were several dialogue moments in the book that were a bit confusing and took me out of the story.

That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed this and would recommend.

I really loved Words of Radiance. Moving from it to Oathbringer was not fun. It took me a while to read this whole book because I kept stopping/starting.

The issues:
1. Parts 1-4 are extremely slow. Looking back there are a lot of needed character building moments, but maybe it could have been done in less than 1,000 pages. I would say the first 4 parts of this book are 2 stars.
2. I'm guessing the Ghostbloods are important later on, but every part involving them in this book I think is just a waste of time. I just don't care. I'm probably wrong for that, but it is what it is.

But, then you get to Part 5... Wow! Incredible! 5 stars! Part 5 is my favorite section of the Stormlight Archive so far. This book ends with a bang and Sanderson's writing style paints a perfect depiction. Your heart will be racing at the climax of the story when Dalinar says the thing.

In summary, Part 5 makes this book worth reading. But be warned, most of this book is very slow.

This book is for anyone who loves science fiction! Look no further, just go ahead and read it.

This book has such an interesting concept, and a completely different take on what might happen if humans met an alien civilization.

Minor complaint: I which there were some better character development throughout this book. I also had a harder time at first with the names, but this was originally a Chinese based book, so that is expected.

After getting 40% through this book, I couldn't go any further. I really wanted to like this series but it just isn't for me. If you liked this book, great!

I really like the premise of this story and I think it could have been exceptional. However, I just find myself not caring for any of the characters - even Darrow. I thought Red Rising was OK, but this was a step back for me.

My issues:
1. As in Red Rising, Darrow can again do no wrong. Or when something doesn't go his way he just magically is better and saves the moment and everyone loves him.
2. Way too many characters to try and keep track of, many of which don't seem to play much of a role.
3. I can't see any reason to root for Darrow at the moment.

I had high hopes for this book. I have read a lot of reviews that really praised it... I must be missing something because it was just ok for me.

The issues:
1. Character developments. We really don't get to see our protagonist develop in this book. Stuff happens to him, but I wanted his character to struggle more with his choices. Some of these big defining moments were just done and then moved on. Also, we are introduced to a TON of other characters and get zero development from them.
2. Our protagonist seems to be perfect in everything he does. He is missing some character flaws for me.
3. The middle part of the book gets a little repetitive. It is a different conflict of the same flavor.

After getting past some of those issues, I must say, I enjoyed the book. I was hooked at the beginning! I just fell off the “this is incredible” bandwagon shortly there after. I also love the overall plot of the book. I just need a little more. It was good enough that I will continue on with book 2.