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Amy Norman (1042 KP) rated Cursed in TV

Sep 25, 2020

Cursed

2020 | Adventure, Fantasy

6.1

(7 Ratings)

TV Show Rating

I so wanted to like this! It has exactly all the elements I would look for in a fantasy programme.

Unfortunately, it just felt obscenely average. It was like a low budget Game of Thrones, but without half the intrigue, or interesting characters.

I enjoyed that the majority of the cast were actors I wasn't really familiar with, as it meant I wasn't lead with thinking things like "oh they will be important", or struggled to separate them from a previous role.
However, overall it just didn't work on this occasion. Most of them are forgettable, and no one in particular stood out to me as someone I either liked or hated (apart from one character but I think the audience is suppose to like them, or find them cheeky🤦🏼‍♀️).

The main antagonist was not imposing, or threatening, in any way. There is a lot of awful stuff that happens but I didn't feel that bothered by it, there was no tension, fear, or worry.

The magical and diverse creatures, looked like humans had covered themselves in glue, and rolled around in whatever environment was relevant to their clan.

The character development was flat, and almost childish for every single character. I'm not sure any of them were any different at the end, but they are supposed to have been on this 'journey'.

There were some gorgeous stylised transitions between scenes but again these feel wasted, as they were occasionally laughable to what they transitioned in to.
A great deal of the story felt very choppy, although oddly the story does flow but scene on scene felt like there was occasionally something missing in between.

The soundtrack was like some angsty young adult was selecting a soundtrack for their current break up, or favourite teen drama.

It is obviously an easy enough watch, and I think some young adults would really enjoy it, as it is uncomplicated, and some of it does look good.

As someone that loves all things fantasy, I just couldn't get on with it myself, which is a shame!
I will however be reading the book, so fingers crossed that is better.

Kudos

Ross (3284 KP) rated Legacy of Ash in Books

Dec 21, 2020

Legacy of Ash

Matthew Ward | 2019 | Science Fiction/Fantasy

7.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Epic but too lengthy

A very ambitious debut novel, epic in scope, cast of characters and plot. However, I found myself struggling to pick it up too often.
The book takes place in an empire with far-from-happy constituent parts and angry neighbours. The heirs of the traitorous Southweald "phoenix" are held captive as figureheads warning off any thoughts of rebellion. Meanwhile, a cliched corrupt council tries to keep the empire safe from impending invasion.
The book is filled with interesting magical creatures and abilities, with a demon, witches, crow-themed goth assassins and ancient spirits. These were at the fore nowhere near often enough, treated as curses and cast aside in favour of political plotting and old fashioned battle.
The first third of the book was awesome: learning about the richness of the world, its history, politics and magic. It really was set up to be an epic story of political intrigue, deception, plotting and underhand nastiness.
Sadly, this all lead to a battle sequence that lasted far too long. It was really like Joe Abercrombie had taken one of the First Law books and shoved The Heroes into the middle of it. I really struggled to get past this long, fairly boring conflict.
The second half of the book then calms down and focuses once again before taking a massive left-turn and changing to something very different.
As with many books of this size, the cast was massive and a number of characters not distinct enough to remember by name. And so many had such promising abilities to offer but were largely absent when they would have been so useful. It was like having a superstar in an amateur dramatic society and leaving them out of most of the script. Having said that, I once saw a pantomime with David Van Day in the cast and it was in everyone's best interests that he was largely absent.
The book finished well, but it was an 800-page book that read like a 1200-page one, taking me 5 weeks to read.