A Marvellous Light

This might be the most supremely average book I've ever read. That's not a bad thing because - with few and notable exceptions - I would rather read an average book than one I actively hate.

The few things I found above average (Edwin's character, the last 10-15% of the book, the inventiveness of the magic system) are easily balanced by the things I found below average (the first 15-20% of the book, the primary uses for magic in this book being mostly really horrible, several characters being totally irredeemable slugs) leaving me with, as I said, an average book.

I would like to mention that, for me, the romance kind of ate the rest of the plot. And, unfortunately, I wasn't totally sold on the romance - which probably contributed to the average-ness of the book. And, really, I know they didn't, but it just felt like they had a lot of sex. I guess that's because I would have preferred if, instead of sex scenes, we would have actually had scenes that did something with the plot. Or if, maybe, the romance had been a slower burn, or not there at all, because the speed in which they go from hating each other to wanting to have sex with each other - no, sorry, they still hated each other even while they wanted to have sex with each other, there for a while.

Thankfully the romance does get a bit better for me, but really, the romance is just something else that is (in this case, barely) average.

I did wind up enjoying the book enough that I may continue the series - especially with the proper expectations in place.

Expectations of an average sequel to this average book.