![David Lynch](/uploads/profile_image/064/ffa557c8-2c5d-4275-bab6-86912e31b064.jpg?m=1522332986)
David Lynch
Book
A key figure in the ongoing legacy of modern cinema, David Lynch designs environments for...
Case Closed
Book
Jimmy Kudo, the son of a world-renowned mystery writer, is a high school detective who has cracked...
![The Healing Power of Energized Water: The New Science of Potentizing the World's Most Vital Resource](/uploads/profile_image/4b4/9d2d5dc7-9b00-4962-9d90-11548d2ee4b4.jpg?m=1522335501)
The Healing Power of Energized Water: The New Science of Potentizing the World's Most Vital Resource
Book
Water is more than the simple liquid evoked by its scientific name H2O. The discoveries by...
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Ross (3282 KP) rated House of Sacrifice in Books
Aug 14, 2019
Anna Smith Spark broke onto the scene with The Court of Broken Knives (which always annoyed me because the place in the book is named the Court of the Broken Knife), a truly dark and gritty fantasy tale mixing magic, ambition, political intrigue and good old fashion hacking limbs off with blunted swords. Her narrative tone made her debut stand out, being much more lyrical and poetic than the rest of the genre. While this took time to get used to, it added to the immersion of the story and made the reader feel like they were experiencing the conflict themselves. The lyrical prose added to the underlying story. This continued into the second book, where Marith's journey to taking over/destroying the world continued, as did the turmoil in the heart of the empire.
Here, however, the story seems to have been put on the back-burner in favour of more literary prose. A whole lot of not a lot happens. While a large chunk of this is in favour of some character development, it is laboured and a real slog. I hated the first quarter of the book, and while I could see that what little was happening would be important in telling Marith's story, it really did take forever and was so utterly rammed home that I found it frustrating. So much so that I had to put the book aside so that my mood didn't ruin my family holiday.
The book serves as something of a conclusion to the trilogy with a lot of wrongs righted and paths ended. However, so much of it is simply gratuitous war for the sake of war (which I get as part of Marith's character but I grasped that after the first couple of unnecessary towns were razed).
However, with less of import happening, the reader starts to focus on the world-building, and I certainly started to realise how little of the "magic" in the world was explained or even described. So many instances of "shadowbeasts" just appearing and I cannot remember them being introduced in any detail at all. I really couldn't remember what was so special about Marith after all.
And the ending was so much of a damp squib I just had to laugh. After everything Marith had been through, for that to be the ending was ludicrous. While I appreciated the circularity of it, I didn't like it.
A disappointing case of style over substance in this dragged out ending to a series that could easily have squeezed into two book.
![Harper's BAZAAR Singapore](/uploads/profile_image/4c5/17f7b912-1042-4d92-8455-ab2550e8b4c5.jpg?m=1522356891)
Harper's BAZAAR Singapore
Lifestyle and Magazines & Newspapers
App
Bold, opulent and provocative, Harper’s BAZAAR is the style bible for the well-dressed woman with...
![Cicero: Letters to Friends: v. 1](/uploads/profile_image/a9d/89356c08-ec1c-45b2-8cde-696a1e430a9d.jpg?m=1522360574)
Cicero: Letters to Friends: v. 1
Marcus Tullius Cicero and D.R. Shackleton bailey
Book
Cicero was a prodigious letter writer, and happily a splendid treasury of his letters has come down...
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God in a Single Vision: Integrating Philosophy and Theology
David Brown, Christopher R. Brewer and Robert MacSwain
Book
In the ancient conversation between Western philosophy and Christian theology, powerful contemporary...
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Toxicological Evaluations: Potential Health Hazards of Existing Chemicals
Book
As part of its "Programme for the prevention of health hazards caused by industrial substances", the...
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Toxicological Evaluations: Potential Health Hazards of Existing Chemicals: 6
Book
As part of its "Programme for the prevention of health hazards caused by industrial substances", the...
![An Legal Culture in the United States: An Introduction](/uploads/profile_image/1c4/a90f2007-5268-4124-b346-b08d9e0411c4.jpg?m=1522335637)
An Legal Culture in the United States: An Introduction
Book
For law students and lawyers to successfully understand and practice law in the U.S., recognition of...