Has every single reason to be great, I just found it dragged.
3 étoiles
Have you ever heard of it where a work is doing exactly what it's supposed to do but in so doing it's just not as enjoyable? I found from very early on that this book was doing all kinds of world building and character building and maybe it's just me but I just want it to get on with it.
There's a series called Hell Mode I really enjoy, and it's intentionally slow but I like it because the world building it does feels like it is building the explanation for the next trick the main character pulls, like an eifel tower made out of toothpicks and marshmallows. By the time the trick gets pulled off, it feels like a reward, like you understand the reason why what just happened is really impressive and so you're coming along for the ride.
By contrast, it just feels like this book spends …
Have you ever heard of it where a work is doing exactly what it's supposed to do but in so doing it's just not as enjoyable? I found from very early on that this book was doing all kinds of world building and character building and maybe it's just me but I just want it to get on with it.
There's a series called Hell Mode I really enjoy, and it's intentionally slow but I like it because the world building it does feels like it is building the explanation for the next trick the main character pulls, like an eifel tower made out of toothpicks and marshmallows. By the time the trick gets pulled off, it feels like a reward, like you understand the reason why what just happened is really impressive and so you're coming along for the ride.
By contrast, it just feels like this book spends a lot of time going over details about the world that are taking us off track with the story. It's like they spend page after page talking about the history of an empire I barely care about, and then they have entire chapters where characters who aren't directly part of the story are playing cards and talking politics, and there's no pay-off.
I feel bad giving a book that's trying so hard a low score (and I've generally enjoyed this story so far in other volumes), but sometimes a plan just doesn't work out.