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The Seventh Decimate : The Great Gods War Book One
The Seventh Decimate : The Great Gods War Book One
Stephen R. Donaldson | 2017 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
6.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
A good read - if you can forgive the main character!
Prince Bifalt must be one of the most unpleasant main characters in a book that I have read in quite a while. He is 'belligerent' to say the least (see what I did there? I don't think this character trait is a coincidence, by any means. The name of his country is Belliger).
Bifalt is on a quest to find the Seventh Decimate - a type of magic which he believes has nullified the magic of the theurgists (magicians) in his country, Belliger. He believes that his country's opponents, the detested Amikans, are responsible for this.
So off Bifalt goes on his quest with his merry band of men, making an inordinately huge amount of mistakes at every turn. I have to admit that I really struggled with the first half of this book. I really didn't warm to Bifalt at all: in fact, at no point in this book did I warm towards Bifalt. It's a good story though. There's loads of action, it's really descriptive and well written. I don't know whether I ever really liked Bifalt, but I think I got used to him, and the other characters were really interesting - his fellow 'Questers' were likeable and the people he met on the way were mysterious and interesting.
I'd recommend this book to those that enjoy fantasy with this type of world building, but if you don't already like this genre, I do think that you would struggle to finish it.
I would be very interested in reading how this story progresses, though, and I shall be keeping an eye out for the next book.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for providing me with this book.
  
Heart of Thorns (Heart of Thorns #1)
Heart of Thorns (Heart of Thorns #1)
Bree Barton | 2018 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
5
7.4 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
I almost bailed on this book. It's not bad, exactly, it's just - mediocre. Mia discovers that she is the thing she's been taught to hate, discovers that maybe they're not all bad, that what she's been taught is probably wrong, but, y'know, maybe not entirely wrong - it's just one trope after another. It was rather predictable.

And there's this problem with the world. If every woman is suspected of being a witch, (sorry, Gwyrach) and they work their magic through touch - how is anyone having kids? Sure, women are required to wear gloves in public, but - the touch-magic doesn't keep men from abusing women. Not like in The Power, where men start getting actually scared to touch women for fear of what could happen.

The only character in this book that I actually LIKED was Prince Quin. And maybe Dom, the flirtatious gay boy. Mia was rather thoroughly unlikable. First she blindly accepts that she should hate and kill Gwyrach, then is appalled to find out she (and her mother) are/were Gwyrach, and refuses to accept that because of course she can't possibly be one of those reviled women. She refuses to take Quin into her confidence, despite him showing blind trust in her for most of the book. What does he have to do to prove himself to you, woman?

I've read much better feminist dystopias. This is oppressed-women-finding-their-hidden-powers-and-fighting-back clothed in a fantasy instead of a dystopia, and it's not nearly as good as it could be. Despite ending on a cliffhanger, I don't care enough about these characters to read the next book.

You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
  
    The Quest Classic Gold

    The Quest Classic Gold

    Games and Entertainment

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    * For new players we recommend The Quest! * You can now have The Quest Classic, Island of Ice and...

The Night Circus
The Night Circus
Erin Morgenstern | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.1 (106 Ratings)
Book Rating
A truly entertaining magical piece of fantasy.

All of our readers enjoyed the beautiful descriptive writing of Erin. Some found the beginning a bit difficult to follow with the abrupt changes of time and scene, though others found the whole mystery of it all utterly engrossing.

Basically, there are two ancient magicians who set their two star pupils against each other to find out who is the best. The issues are that the pupils don't know the rules, or how the winner is declared. The competition arena, is the Night Circus.

There is a great deal that is left to the reader's imagination as not everything is completely explained, which only adds to the enigmas and magic entwined in everything. This is not an ordinary novel. We first get a full view of the almost playfulness of the magic and later the darker aspects of it are explored. How everyone involved in the circus whether directly or not is caught up in it and pays a price as well as benefits from it.

Walking through the circus is so beautifully written that it feels as if you are there, smelling the caramel popcorn and watching the white flames dancing. The joy of the circus permeates the pages, people who visit the circus leave it ever changed.

The love story between Marco and Celia is restrained, elegant and ultimately otherworldly in its strength and beauty. They 'write love letters' to each other through the different tents in the circus. The demonstrations of their affection to each other are so beautiful; so dazzling as to wish that everyone could find such love.

The competition though integral to the story becomes the hardest part to reconcile as the pages flip by and the costs mount up for the magic being used, the balancing that must be maintained. Some of these costs are very heavy, burdensome and even fatal. The darker side of the competition is shown in all it's sinister aspects and we are left waiting for the 'other shoe to drop' so to speak.

To show that this book is not for everyone, half of our readers adored this book and would absolutely recommend it as a must read, and the other half were not at all convinced, conceding only that the descriptive writing was excellent but the plot felt thin.
  
    Monsu 2

    Monsu 2

    Games and Stickers

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    The fantasy exploration for the mysterious treasures is opening The sequel of Monsu, App Store Best...