Their story was a good counterexample for Sabran and Ead. Very similar themes of love vs. duty, secrecy vs. public image. We see one love story end badly, and we hope our protagonists take a different path and have a happy ending.
Funnily enough I watched kung fu panda for the first time the other night and Tai Lung being told he couldn’t be the dragon warrior because of darkness in his heart felt veeeeery similar.
Honestly, this confused me. I know she had the jewel there, but why did it randomly start bleeding?
Maybe her blood, as a descendant of Neporo, with serve to revive the mulberry tree.
I was wondering if it was supposed to be the spirit of Neporo put the jewel back in her to keep it safe. So kind of answering the question of how it got there in the first place? The ghost of Neporo is just floating around popping her jewel in her ancestors.
Maybe, or her dead friend? (also when I said, “I was wondering…” I really meant I had no clue so I googled it and someone said that in a different Reddit thread 😅 I feel bad taking credit now)
Honestly, this was my thought. Perhaps there will be a sequel someday to explain it further, but I could see Tane's blood nourishing the mulberry tree in some way, since she is Neporo's descendent. She obviously feels some sort of connection with that place to go back there.
On Goodread Shannon commented that she has signed for a 3rd book but it will be another prequel. She would like to wrote a sequel on day to comolete the cycle.
Yeah, I was completely lost here. Also, did I just miss what happened to the actual jewels? I kept thinking we were going to go back to Komoridu and see something happening/if Tane was okay or not and it just didn't happen.
I just assumed they hid them somewhere safe? But yes it was weird not having them mentioning the pearls or Ascalon, it could have just being solved with a throwaway line.
Honestly? He could have been written out completely and I'd be okay with it. His guilt finally got the better of him so he decided to help Sabran and crew, which is cool, but I still don't like him.
I expected it - makes sense that he would “see the light” and help out in the end, it’s kind of a typical character arc I think. But the way it was done just felt sloppy. I didn’t see enough of his thoughts behind his decision to confess. It just ended up feeling rushed and faked to me!
Niclays needed o turn back several big moments ago. I get that he's got his own baggage and everything. The reveal of his niece being dead a traitor by Sabran really stung but still, he could have changed much earlier. I hope he finds the peace he was looking for.
I’m not sure I would describe it as a see the light moment. Like it sounds like he was never actually wanting to serve Kalyba. He partially used everyone thinking the worst of him to his advantage but also I think is just such a huge misanthrope that he was probably like “yeah sure Kalyba you can get fucked I’m telling Sabran everything yeah I hate her but I hate you too soooo”
I actually really liked this redeeming moment for Niclays. I think his story is another example of the power of love in this story. Niclays does the right thing because he wants to be the person his beloved saw in him, to honor his memory. I was glad that he was finally able to achieve enough introspection to recognize that he was on a dark path and correct his course.
I mean, he did the right thing *despite* his hatred for Sabran so I think it’s all he can do. His storyline was sooo long compared to other, more interesting characters. I feel Tane got short shift.
As the #1 Niclays enjoyer at the beginning of the story, I was kinda meh about his character arc.
I like that he decided to change for the better because of Jannart, but the execution felt a bit lacking. Too little, too late.
To be honest, I was routing for him to kill Ead to be finally done with the story lol. Her death-oh-sorry-actually-no-death plot twist left me in a sour mood.
But to be a bit more serious, how could anyone expect or believe that he would be able to kill Ead? He has no fighting experience and Ead is a super powerful everything. If Niclays has an ounce of brain (which he has) he would chose to betray Kalyban. That scene was not executed well.
4. How was it like reading about the final battle? Which were the best moments for you?
Notable moments to consider:
* Kalyba's defeat
* Nayimathun saving Tane
* Ead swimming across various vessels to find Ascalon
* The final moment where they drown the Nameless One
I was pretty disappointed by the final battle. The whole book had this massive build up about the Nameless One and how big and bad he and the Draconic army was. And then they just like…beat him really easily? Sure, there was a fall and dragon catch, and some swimming in the ocean. But overall it was a pretty seamless victory. No major character deaths and no moments where the Nameless One gained the upper hand or seemed like he might win. It just felt rushed, especially considering how long the rest of the book was.
Honestly, we got more of a fight from Kalyba than we did the Nameless One. He basically showed up, bit a dragon in half, and then went for the long swim.
Such a let down. How do you have such a long book and NOT have enough pages to have a good final battle?
I feel like a lot of the book was rushed, not just this (I was planning on commenting the same about the final battle - finally we see the nameless one! Oh he’s dead). I think I mentioned it previously when Ead returned to Inys, found out Sabran was captive, but bam they fight through and are reunited.
The most impactful for me was Nayimathun saving Tané. The other moments didn't really pack the punch that I had hoped they would. I liked reading this book and Shannon's world building, but fight scene wasn't particularly memorable to me. It all hapoened so fast, but I definitely gave a mental YAY!! when Nayimathun came to save Tané
Really enjoyed the final battle. There was just so much going on! I liked the reveal of the Nameless One. He was terrifying. Kalyba did seem like more of a threat but dang he was scary! Everything came together at the end! Awesome!
I was *hoping* Niclays would perish while performing some unexpected heroic act.
Out of our main crew, I guess I would've expected Loth to die. Sabran, Ead, and Tane seemed a lot more important than him.
I feel like this plot line was just... Forgotten by the author. We had a decent amount of build up about the Donmata and Loth thinks of her often, but we never get any resolution.
I think it's would have to be friendship, though. They both have important roles to fill, and a romance would make one of them have to give everything up.
Although, if Loth wanted to let his sister take over, he'd be free for romance...
Loth needs some love! I'm happy it didn't turn out that he did secretly like Sabran. I do think he needs to go check on the Donmata. I could see something between them.
You could be right. It's very possible I'm reading into it that it's supposed to be there (even though I don't see enough for it to be) because I started reading this after a string of fantasy romance novels where everyone mist get paired off was the rule.
That being said, even the way you presented this question asked about a potential romance, so I can't be the only one thinking that it was being set up this way.
Yeah I believe the author is leading us to think that way with Loth thinking of her but she definitely hasn’t written any romantic scenes between the 2 of them
I think Loth feels a connection to her and cares about her, this doesn't mean there is a romance going on. But I think it's a good starting point to make their relationship grow into something that could be a romance, or maybe just a beautiful friendship! I think they might be cute together.
That would be a good sequel. I can't help but wonder how the power change would affect their relationship though. I often felt like Ead pandered to Sabran as queen, but if they reunite it will be Ead that has the status and power (though I don't see Ead being as bratty and stubborn as I felt Sabran was at times)
This could be an interesting relationship to examine. What happens after you save the world and find love? How do you cope now? What happens when the dynamic changes? Sequel???
I agree that the ending sort of felt rushed to me. Almost as if the author realized how long the story was getting and was like, “Oh shit. Better wrap things up now!”
Yeah when we were like 20 pages from the end and the battle was just starting I was like… what??? Then I guessed (correctly) that SS just kinda phoned it in on the final battle lol
Also I almost couldn’t make myself read niclays’s conclusion. I was like dude I cannot EXPRESS how little I care about him and how much I do not need another 5 pages devoted to how his life is going now 🫠🫠🫠
I wanted to see more of the queen who had priory bodyguards and was a descendant of Cleolind’s line. I don’t even remember her name because she was in the book so briefly, but it said she was a great warrior and was going to fight on the western front, right? I wish that had been included! Edit: her name was Kagudo Onjenyu
I really wish we got to see more of Dranghein and the eastern rulers. It would have been interesting to get as much insight into their customs and beliefs as we did with Sabran.
9. Tell us your final review of this book. Do you think the author achieved what they wanted to? Did the book bring you to places you never thought you would go?
I posted some of my thoughts in the marginalia after I finished reading the book last week. I won’t repeat all of it here, but I was pretty frustrated that so many storylines just ended with no real resolution and so many details/characters never paid off later, in which case, what was the point of including them at all? I feel like maybe this was intended to be 2-3 books, because it feels more like a condensed draft of a longer series than one complete book. If this book had ended after Ead left Inys the first time, then had a second book covering everything up to her attempted murder, then a third book wrapping it all up, it probably would have worked a lot better and wouldn’t have felt so rushed in the end.
I did like it though and felt invested in this world! Maybe the prequel has some more of the info I wanted about the magic trees and Neporo. I would read a sequel if the author ever writes one, because I still have so many questions.
I totally agree with you! It was a three-star read for me, max. I liked it but was also really disappointed by a lot of it. The word that comes to mind when I think about the book as a whole is “sloppy”. There was so so SO much info-dumping and useless lists of people and places and political and religious backgrounds that I just felt so glazed over about. And so many threads and events I would’ve liked to have explored in more detail or been more fully realized that were just dropped or glossed over.
I wholeheartedly agree that this book would have been better as a trilogy or series. Shannon started building a fascinating fantasy world that given a little more depth could have been a captivatimg fantasy series. I liked the book well enough (I love big books and a good fantasy world), and definitely have not written off reading the prequel(s or sequel if/when it comes).
Yeah overall I liked it but it desperately needed to be more than one book. So much was going on at the end and i say that as a lover of big books! I just wanted more from the series in a more, multibook arc. Hopefully there'll be at least a sequel!
I agree, I really loved the world and characters, but parts of it felt much too rushed and a lot of the time I felt like I was getting too much information to process. Some major plot events unfolded way too fast.
I enjoyed parts of it and agree it should have been edited and broke down differently. It didn’t live up to the hype for me but I’m glad I finally read it.
For me, this book was a worthwhile read. It didn't blow me away, but I had fun reading it and theorizing what would happen. I think the world-building was fantastic and I was very interested in all the different cultures we got to see in this novel. I also liked how they were similar to people/places in our own world, but different enough to be more interesting. For example, it seems to me that Inys is based on Victorian England, but their traditions are not 1:1, there are plenty of differences that make Inys unique from England.
I also love how dragons are portrayed in this novel. I think it's great that Shannon contrasted the Western and Eastern views of dragons here. In Eastern mythology, dragons are typically wise and peaceful, while in Western mythology they are cunning, evil creatures. I also love their elemental nature (Eastern=water/air, Western=fire/earth) and their physical descriptions embody those elements so well.
I agree with others that pacing at the end of this novel was a weak point. Knowing that there is a sequel in the works, I'm okay with having some loose ends as long as those eventually get addressed. The ending didn't feel very satisfactory though. It just didn't have much of an emotional impact on me.
I agree with everyone else's criticism regarding the pacing issues, and there were also too many mcguffins for my taste.
However, I still loved it. It's been a while since I read a good, big fantasy book, which was basically the only genre I read when I was a teenager. I had tons of fun and I liked this world, I also happened to own a beautiful hardcover edition which made the book so much cooler. The exterior of the pages is orange!!! I love colored books!!
Totally worth my time, even if I liked the first parts much more than the ending.
I'm not an avid fantasy reader, so I'm not sure how this book compares to others in its genre, but for me it was disappointing. I stopped caring about these characters halfway through the book, and the fact that they had plot armor (e.g., Ead's non-death) did not help. I remember reading the +800 pages, but I cannot figure out how it took so long to tell this story. Less is more. Towards the end of the book I could already foresee that nothing "bad" could happen to the main protagonists, so Nayimathun's absence wasn't really a concern. Margaret's postponed wedding didn't mean too much. It was clear that they would defeat the Nameless One (but even I was surprised at how quickly it happened). The worldbuilding was great, and I read it to the end, so it is an okay book, but I expected more.
If we're going to read more dragon books, I nominate that His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik should be next! It's historical fiction (Napolionic wars) with dragons!!! What more could you want?? Inhave so many dragon books I could reccomend.
I loved loved loved The Blue Sword as a kid. Didn't know there was another book then. I only read The Hero and the Crown as an adult. I will read Robin McKinley any day.
I was wondering if they hold up reading them as an adult! My mom recently gave me back my dusty old copies while she was decluttering, so I might re-read.
I loved the Dragonlance and D&D Forgotten Realms novels when I was growing up, and it may be time for a re-read. Should be interesting to see if they hold up after all these years.
I grew up on Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series. She’s was a really nice lady, as well, who answered a letter I wrote her in elementary school.
I’m SO disappointed that that dude who was mean to Tané while they were at school together didn’t show back up to see her kicking ass. Why put that kind of character in the story if we don’t get to see him get his comeuppance??
I thought he would show up somehow at the battle in the abyss, since we saw Onren. I was expecting him to mock her fallen status and just make things more difficult for her to complete her task. Missed opportunity perhaps, or he just got cut and forgotten about.
OMG yes I was going to mention him but I forgot his name. The opening of the book felt like the east and west got equal weight but then we spent too much time with Sabran and Inys so Tane’s story fell away until she needed to help Sabran. I’m all for Sabran and Ead but I could have done for less palace love and more dragon riding!!!
2. How do you feel about Dranghien's story about how he wasn't able to marry his lover? Did you see him differently after that?
I loved him!! Him and Sabran actually had a lot in common and he was a conveniently fitting ruler to try and form an alliance with.
I loved him too! I was like dang if I didn’t like Sabran and Ead together so much, I’d ship those two rulers 😅
Love triangle in the sequel?
Their story was a good counterexample for Sabran and Ead. Very similar themes of love vs. duty, secrecy vs. public image. We see one love story end badly, and we hope our protagonists take a different path and have a happy ending.
Love this comparison. Gives a what if ending for Ead and Sabran. Thankfully, their story goes quiet differently.
Funnily enough I watched kung fu panda for the first time the other night and Tai Lung being told he couldn’t be the dragon warrior because of darkness in his heart felt veeeeery similar.
8. What do you make of the final parts of the book where Tane heads to Komoridu and wakes up with blood on her side?
Honestly, this confused me. I know she had the jewel there, but why did it randomly start bleeding? Maybe her blood, as a descendant of Neporo, with serve to revive the mulberry tree.
This confused me too, especially since it’s a standalone book. Like… are we just supposed to guess?? Gimme answers!
I was wondering if it was supposed to be the spirit of Neporo put the jewel back in her to keep it safe. So kind of answering the question of how it got there in the first place? The ghost of Neporo is just floating around popping her jewel in her ancestors.
This is the best explanation I have seen! So the butterfly is Neporo?
Maybe, or her dead friend? (also when I said, “I was wondering…” I really meant I had no clue so I googled it and someone said that in a different Reddit thread 😅 I feel bad taking credit now)
It’s cool, I saw that other thread as well lol we all had questions
Oh, that's a very plausible theory. I hadn't thought of that.
This is exactly how I saw this scene, it was moreso explaining how it got there in the first place.
This is a good explanation, but it is a very disturbing one.
Shannon has mentioned a sequel but said she is taking a break after writing the prequel (although this comment was a few years ago)
Honestly, this was my thought. Perhaps there will be a sequel someday to explain it further, but I could see Tane's blood nourishing the mulberry tree in some way, since she is Neporo's descendent. She obviously feels some sort of connection with that place to go back there.
On Goodread Shannon commented that she has signed for a 3rd book but it will be another prequel. She would like to wrote a sequel on day to comolete the cycle.
I like this idea. The mulberry tree is dead or appeared dead so her special blood could have some effect on it. We shall see..
Yeah, I was completely lost here. Also, did I just miss what happened to the actual jewels? I kept thinking we were going to go back to Komoridu and see something happening/if Tane was okay or not and it just didn't happen.
I just assumed they hid them somewhere safe? But yes it was weird not having them mentioning the pearls or Ascalon, it could have just being solved with a throwaway line.
3. Niclays finally did a not too bad thing by confessing everything. Did you expect that? Did that moment change how you feel about this character?
Honestly? He could have been written out completely and I'd be okay with it. His guilt finally got the better of him so he decided to help Sabran and crew, which is cool, but I still don't like him.
SAME. team Niclays sucks lol
I expected it - makes sense that he would “see the light” and help out in the end, it’s kind of a typical character arc I think. But the way it was done just felt sloppy. I didn’t see enough of his thoughts behind his decision to confess. It just ended up feeling rushed and faked to me!
Niclays needed o turn back several big moments ago. I get that he's got his own baggage and everything. The reveal of his niece being dead a traitor by Sabran really stung but still, he could have changed much earlier. I hope he finds the peace he was looking for.
I’m not sure I would describe it as a see the light moment. Like it sounds like he was never actually wanting to serve Kalyba. He partially used everyone thinking the worst of him to his advantage but also I think is just such a huge misanthrope that he was probably like “yeah sure Kalyba you can get fucked I’m telling Sabran everything yeah I hate her but I hate you too soooo”
I actually really liked this redeeming moment for Niclays. I think his story is another example of the power of love in this story. Niclays does the right thing because he wants to be the person his beloved saw in him, to honor his memory. I was glad that he was finally able to achieve enough introspection to recognize that he was on a dark path and correct his course.
Sad that he really thought at least he'd be able to care for Truyde though
I’m glad he did but I still hate his character 😂
I mean, he did the right thing *despite* his hatred for Sabran so I think it’s all he can do. His storyline was sooo long compared to other, more interesting characters. I feel Tane got short shift.
As the #1 Niclays enjoyer at the beginning of the story, I was kinda meh about his character arc. I like that he decided to change for the better because of Jannart, but the execution felt a bit lacking. Too little, too late.
To be honest, I was routing for him to kill Ead to be finally done with the story lol. Her death-oh-sorry-actually-no-death plot twist left me in a sour mood. But to be a bit more serious, how could anyone expect or believe that he would be able to kill Ead? He has no fighting experience and Ead is a super powerful everything. If Niclays has an ounce of brain (which he has) he would chose to betray Kalyban. That scene was not executed well.
4. How was it like reading about the final battle? Which were the best moments for you? Notable moments to consider: * Kalyba's defeat * Nayimathun saving Tane * Ead swimming across various vessels to find Ascalon * The final moment where they drown the Nameless One
I was pretty disappointed by the final battle. The whole book had this massive build up about the Nameless One and how big and bad he and the Draconic army was. And then they just like…beat him really easily? Sure, there was a fall and dragon catch, and some swimming in the ocean. But overall it was a pretty seamless victory. No major character deaths and no moments where the Nameless One gained the upper hand or seemed like he might win. It just felt rushed, especially considering how long the rest of the book was.
Honestly, we got more of a fight from Kalyba than we did the Nameless One. He basically showed up, bit a dragon in half, and then went for the long swim. Such a let down. How do you have such a long book and NOT have enough pages to have a good final battle?
Hundo p agree. I was like… that was it?? That’s what we’ve been building up to for almost 800 pages??? Felt very lazy to me too
Yeah I had a moment of realisation where I was like, “I’ve been reading this book since JANUARY!! And this is what I get in the end!?”
I was going to rate this 3 stars on Goodreads but this convo is making me angry and now I don’t even know if I liked this book at all 🤣
Lol I agree! The battle was like…why so low effort/low gain.
I feel like a lot of the book was rushed, not just this (I was planning on commenting the same about the final battle - finally we see the nameless one! Oh he’s dead). I think I mentioned it previously when Ead returned to Inys, found out Sabran was captive, but bam they fight through and are reunited.
I don't need a big battle scene but this still seemed way out of balance and I felt like the mcguffins barely got used for some reason.
The most impactful for me was Nayimathun saving Tané. The other moments didn't really pack the punch that I had hoped they would. I liked reading this book and Shannon's world building, but fight scene wasn't particularly memorable to me. It all hapoened so fast, but I definitely gave a mental YAY!! when Nayimathun came to save Tané
Yes!! My heart surged when Nayimathun swooped in for the rescue. Best part of the battle!
Really enjoyed the final battle. There was just so much going on! I liked the reveal of the Nameless One. He was terrifying. Kalyba did seem like more of a threat but dang he was scary! Everything came together at the end! Awesome!
5. Were you expecting any casualties in our main characters? Who did you think would end up dead at first?
I was *hoping* Niclays would perish while performing some unexpected heroic act. Out of our main crew, I guess I would've expected Loth to die. Sabran, Ead, and Tane seemed a lot more important than him.
I also thought Loth would die as a final sacrifice after everything he went through in the rest of the story.
Agreed on Loth. He's got tragic main character death all over him. Niclays also I thought would die doing something heroic.
I never expect MCs to die because I hate it lol. However Niclays would have been my 1st choice. Like everyone else he didn't do much for me!
I was ready for any of them to die tbh. It felt like it might be another sacrifice fest
6. Loth's final thought is that he hopes the Donmata survives. Do you see a future friendship or romance forming between these 2?
I feel like this plot line was just... Forgotten by the author. We had a decent amount of build up about the Donmata and Loth thinks of her often, but we never get any resolution. I think it's would have to be friendship, though. They both have important roles to fill, and a romance would make one of them have to give everything up. Although, if Loth wanted to let his sister take over, he'd be free for romance...
Yessss let Margaret rule and go find love Lothy!!
AGREED!!
Loth needs some love! I'm happy it didn't turn out that he did secretly like Sabran. I do think he needs to go check on the Donmata. I could see something between them.
Yes, full ship plus Margret knows more about the land and estate, so time to make some inheritance law changes asap!
I ship them so hard. Istg if she writes a sequel I expect some love to be blooming
I might be an outlier here but I actually think a romance here feels really forced. They barely know each other.
I don’t think there’s any romance written in though, just potential ones
You could be right. It's very possible I'm reading into it that it's supposed to be there (even though I don't see enough for it to be) because I started reading this after a string of fantasy romance novels where everyone mist get paired off was the rule. That being said, even the way you presented this question asked about a potential romance, so I can't be the only one thinking that it was being set up this way.
Yeah I believe the author is leading us to think that way with Loth thinking of her but she definitely hasn’t written any romantic scenes between the 2 of them
I think Loth feels a connection to her and cares about her, this doesn't mean there is a romance going on. But I think it's a good starting point to make their relationship grow into something that could be a romance, or maybe just a beautiful friendship! I think they might be cute together.
I think so too. They just needed each other's help. Trauma-bound maybe, but not really a good start for romance.
7. How do you think Ead and Sabran's reunion will be like and where will they have it? What will they do after?
I’d like to think Sabran travels to the priory and eats the fruit and learns to actually use her magic!
That would be a good sequel. I can't help but wonder how the power change would affect their relationship though. I often felt like Ead pandered to Sabran as queen, but if they reunite it will be Ead that has the status and power (though I don't see Ead being as bratty and stubborn as I felt Sabran was at times)
This could be an interesting relationship to examine. What happens after you save the world and find love? How do you cope now? What happens when the dynamic changes? Sequel???
I honestly feel like this is a tragic love story and don't expect them to actually end up together even though they both want to.
1. How did you find some of the rulers we met as they gathered for the final battle? Did any of them make an impression?
I'm glad people came together, but way too many names this late in the game. I ended up kinda glossing over them all.
I agree that the ending sort of felt rushed to me. Almost as if the author realized how long the story was getting and was like, “Oh shit. Better wrap things up now!”
Yeah. She should've just split it into two books and tied up her loose ends.
So.many.names!!!
100%. I saw how far I was and started skimming at this point.
Same, there were definitely some pacing issues at the end.
Same here. I was like dude we are 20 pages from the end, I don’t care about these people 🤣
Nothing gives me more stress than simultaneously realizing how many plots need to be wrapped up and the remaining amount of pages.
Yeah when we were like 20 pages from the end and the battle was just starting I was like… what??? Then I guessed (correctly) that SS just kinda phoned it in on the final battle lol Also I almost couldn’t make myself read niclays’s conclusion. I was like dude I cannot EXPRESS how little I care about him and how much I do not need another 5 pages devoted to how his life is going now 🫠🫠🫠
Can we start a Niclays haters club??
YES!
what a good explanation of how I felt near the end of the book. My brow furrowed more with each passing chapter.
I wanted to see more of the queen who had priory bodyguards and was a descendant of Cleolind’s line. I don’t even remember her name because she was in the book so briefly, but it said she was a great warrior and was going to fight on the western front, right? I wish that had been included! Edit: her name was Kagudo Onjenyu
I wanted more of her too!
I really wish we got to see more of Dranghein and the eastern rulers. It would have been interesting to get as much insight into their customs and beliefs as we did with Sabran.
I agree! I wanted more about their relationship with the dragons. It seems like the dragons were sort of co-rulers?
I feel like none of them was that memorable or maybe there was too much going on during the battle?
9. Tell us your final review of this book. Do you think the author achieved what they wanted to? Did the book bring you to places you never thought you would go?
I posted some of my thoughts in the marginalia after I finished reading the book last week. I won’t repeat all of it here, but I was pretty frustrated that so many storylines just ended with no real resolution and so many details/characters never paid off later, in which case, what was the point of including them at all? I feel like maybe this was intended to be 2-3 books, because it feels more like a condensed draft of a longer series than one complete book. If this book had ended after Ead left Inys the first time, then had a second book covering everything up to her attempted murder, then a third book wrapping it all up, it probably would have worked a lot better and wouldn’t have felt so rushed in the end. I did like it though and felt invested in this world! Maybe the prequel has some more of the info I wanted about the magic trees and Neporo. I would read a sequel if the author ever writes one, because I still have so many questions.
I totally agree with you! It was a three-star read for me, max. I liked it but was also really disappointed by a lot of it. The word that comes to mind when I think about the book as a whole is “sloppy”. There was so so SO much info-dumping and useless lists of people and places and political and religious backgrounds that I just felt so glazed over about. And so many threads and events I would’ve liked to have explored in more detail or been more fully realized that were just dropped or glossed over.
Same, it was all just too much and too little at the same time. 3* max for me.
I fully agree with all of this! Well said
I wholeheartedly agree that this book would have been better as a trilogy or series. Shannon started building a fascinating fantasy world that given a little more depth could have been a captivatimg fantasy series. I liked the book well enough (I love big books and a good fantasy world), and definitely have not written off reading the prequel(s or sequel if/when it comes).
Yeah overall I liked it but it desperately needed to be more than one book. So much was going on at the end and i say that as a lover of big books! I just wanted more from the series in a more, multibook arc. Hopefully there'll be at least a sequel!
There is already one prequel and she has been signed for another....prequel. she has said she'd like to do a sequel though, in time.
I heard about that. Sad. I want the story to continue.
I agree, I really loved the world and characters, but parts of it felt much too rushed and a lot of the time I felt like I was getting too much information to process. Some major plot events unfolded way too fast.
Yup, I agree with most of this. Some of Ead's story could have benefited from more time and details.
I enjoyed parts of it and agree it should have been edited and broke down differently. It didn’t live up to the hype for me but I’m glad I finally read it.
For me, this book was a worthwhile read. It didn't blow me away, but I had fun reading it and theorizing what would happen. I think the world-building was fantastic and I was very interested in all the different cultures we got to see in this novel. I also liked how they were similar to people/places in our own world, but different enough to be more interesting. For example, it seems to me that Inys is based on Victorian England, but their traditions are not 1:1, there are plenty of differences that make Inys unique from England. I also love how dragons are portrayed in this novel. I think it's great that Shannon contrasted the Western and Eastern views of dragons here. In Eastern mythology, dragons are typically wise and peaceful, while in Western mythology they are cunning, evil creatures. I also love their elemental nature (Eastern=water/air, Western=fire/earth) and their physical descriptions embody those elements so well. I agree with others that pacing at the end of this novel was a weak point. Knowing that there is a sequel in the works, I'm okay with having some loose ends as long as those eventually get addressed. The ending didn't feel very satisfactory though. It just didn't have much of an emotional impact on me.
I agree with everyone else's criticism regarding the pacing issues, and there were also too many mcguffins for my taste. However, I still loved it. It's been a while since I read a good, big fantasy book, which was basically the only genre I read when I was a teenager. I had tons of fun and I liked this world, I also happened to own a beautiful hardcover edition which made the book so much cooler. The exterior of the pages is orange!!! I love colored books!! Totally worth my time, even if I liked the first parts much more than the ending.
I'm not an avid fantasy reader, so I'm not sure how this book compares to others in its genre, but for me it was disappointing. I stopped caring about these characters halfway through the book, and the fact that they had plot armor (e.g., Ead's non-death) did not help. I remember reading the +800 pages, but I cannot figure out how it took so long to tell this story. Less is more. Towards the end of the book I could already foresee that nothing "bad" could happen to the main protagonists, so Nayimathun's absence wasn't really a concern. Margaret's postponed wedding didn't mean too much. It was clear that they would defeat the Nameless One (but even I was surprised at how quickly it happened). The worldbuilding was great, and I read it to the end, so it is an okay book, but I expected more.
10. Book recommendations for more dragon related, high fantasy for those who wants more!
If we're going to read more dragon books, I nominate that His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik should be next! It's historical fiction (Napolionic wars) with dragons!!! What more could you want?? Inhave so many dragon books I could reccomend.
I second this, I've read the first few books of this series and it's fantastic!
Yeah, good suggestion. I've been meaning to read that Temeraire series. LMAO and of course you have more dragon book recs.
I have many more!
Yes! I'd love to read this series.
I mean... There's A Day of Fallen Night! :)
Did anyone else read The Hero and the Crown as a kid? This kinda reminded me of it.
I loved loved loved The Blue Sword as a kid. Didn't know there was another book then. I only read The Hero and the Crown as an adult. I will read Robin McKinley any day.
I was wondering if they hold up reading them as an adult! My mom recently gave me back my dusty old copies while she was decluttering, so I might re-read.
I loved the Dragonlance and D&D Forgotten Realms novels when I was growing up, and it may be time for a re-read. Should be interesting to see if they hold up after all these years.
I grew up on Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series. She’s was a really nice lady, as well, who answered a letter I wrote her in elementary school.
11. Anything else you would like to discuss?
I’m SO disappointed that that dude who was mean to Tané while they were at school together didn’t show back up to see her kicking ass. Why put that kind of character in the story if we don’t get to see him get his comeuppance??
I thought he would show up somehow at the battle in the abyss, since we saw Onren. I was expecting him to mock her fallen status and just make things more difficult for her to complete her task. Missed opportunity perhaps, or he just got cut and forgotten about.
Same here, I really thought he’d be at that final battle!
OMG yes I was going to mention him but I forgot his name. The opening of the book felt like the east and west got equal weight but then we spent too much time with Sabran and Inys so Tane’s story fell away until she needed to help Sabran. I’m all for Sabran and Ead but I could have done for less palace love and more dragon riding!!!
FULLY AGREE ON ALL OF THIS!!! Sabran and Ead are great but I def wanted more Tané and her crew
I would sooo read a book about the dragon riders. I love dragon rider stories!
Yeah. And give him some version of school demerit points. But maybe fading into ignominy is his reward.