Dawn of Wonder

The author knows how to use modern writing techniques to engage the reader. Accessible language, lots of dialog involving the main character, giving voice to his inner thoughts, just enough info on the supporting characters.

He takes his time to describe the scenes, and the exposition is slow, but the quality of his narrative is solid. Too bad the book lacks s properly paced plot.

The book is not about a great evil to be defeated, exciting adventures, swords and sorcery. No, this book is about the life of a young boy in a low/no magic fantasy world. The first part of the book (~6h) is about his “life until now”, we get to meet his friends, the town he lives in and who he is as a person. Then something bad happens and he moves to the big city, where he seeks training in a marshal's academy (4h+).

And that's all that happens in nearly 10h of reading. I stopped reading when it began clear that there is absolutely nothing I care about learning about the daily life of a student learning how to fight, about laws, different languages, girls, making friends...

I suspect a abridged version, 10-15 times smaller would make an interesting read. This books lacks the brevity and intelligence of Ender's Game and while resembles The Wheel of Time in structure (both are really slow paced), it's overarching plot is much more mundane.

9:40 / 61:52 16%