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Ross (3284 KP) rated The Shadow Saint in Books

Mar 23, 2020

The Shadow Saint

Gareth Hanrahan | 2020 | Science Fiction/Fantasy

7.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

A struggle but overall good

*Book received from Netgalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review*
I wanted to love this book. I would have been happy liking it. In reality, I tolerated it.
The sequel to The Gutter Prayer takes us on a different journey, with initially very little familiar ground and people. Over time the story reflects more of the world that was covered in the first book, but it is quite a strange and unnerving start to a sequel.
The narrative follows two new characters, one a spy for a foreign country with numerous personalities at his fingertips, the other a minor noble from another country. Both find themselves in Guerdon, the scene of the first book, the city that has been mostly sheltered from the atrocities of the Godwar. Here we also are reunited with Eladora, the young historian with a hint of magic abilities.
This sees a number of new countries, Gods, races and magic introduced that were not in the first book. While one always expects something new, some of these were fairly major and important aspects of the world and should have been in the first book. For me it just came across as a late decision to write a second book and reluctantly start changing and expanding the world.
The plot is a little flimsy if I'm honest, it is just some people doing some things and then deciding to do other things, with seemingly little logic to it, or overall plot. It was quite a struggle to remember who was doing what and why when switching between PoVs in new chapters. This isn't helped by the number of new characters introduced being largely interchangeable, especially during the minor noble's story (there was one fairly important plot point late in the book where someone he had met turns out to be someone important - I couldn't remember him at all!).
The writing style is a little elaborate for my tastes and made it hard to focus on what was actually happening - there were times an event had been referred to but I hadn't even noticed it because I wasn't able to concentrate. The book is very heavy on narrative with very little dialogue, making it harder to follow the action among the flowery phrasing.
A book of this length should have taken me a little over a week to read, but this took me almost 4 weeks. Admittedly part of this was due to events in the world and at work, but also my motivation to read it was eroded and I struggled through about 5% a day.

Kudos

The Shabby Chic Home

Rachel Ashwell

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

In "The Shabby Chic Home", Rachel Ashwell brings readers into her own living space to show every...

Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated A Prophet (Un prophete) (2010) in Movies

Mar 3, 2020 (Updated Mar 3, 2020)

A Prophet (Un prophete) (2010)

2010 | International, Drama

7.0

(4 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Last, but not least, we travel to France and journey into a seedy and disturbingly real world of crime and society in modern Europe. We follow the life of Malik, a confused young Arab man forced into a life of crime by circumstance, as he grows from petty criminal to a man of real power and influence. The whole thing feels dirty, deprived and cold; there isn’t a lot of glamour here. The pinstripe is a leather jacket and a tracksuit; the weapon is as likely to be bare hands or a rusty knife as a gun. The power of this film is in wondering how this young man can ever attain peace and redemption, as he descends deeper into the mire; how he becomes both truly lost and at the same time somehow enlightened. A grim tale, told with a European eye that shuns fancy camera work in favour of forcing you to watch, and think. Not a pleasant film, but an important one.