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hyrulebalverine's reviews
31 reviews
Wind and Truth (Signed Edition) by Brandon Sanderson
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Demon by Rob J. Hayes
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The "God Eater Saga" is a bit unique in it's execution as it is a trilogy of trilogies that are being written in three phases. Phase 1 is Herald (Book one in "Age of the God Eater"), Deathless (Book one in "Annals of the God Eater"), and Demon (Book one in "Archive of the Death Eater").
Through the Archive of the God Eater series, we will experience events alongside of Dien Hostain and learn the truth of humanity's first interactions with the angels, roughly 3,000 years prior to the events of Herald. What were the "Demons" that humanity and divinity joined forces to battle? What caused them to join forces in the first place?
Through the Annals of the God Eater series, we will get the story of how and why the Hostain family besieged Heaven. This takes place roughly 1,000 years prior to the events of Herald.
Age of the God Eater, the main series, takes place in the "current" time.
While these three series can be read in any order, I would suggest reading each phase starting with Age of the God Eater and ending with Archive of the God Eater. This is because each book's story will affect how you view the characters and events of the others, and starting with the main series will allow you to read the story with the least amount of influence while reading it, and will allow for a different perspective on each series than you would get reading them in a different order.
Through the Archive of the God Eater series, we will experience events alongside of Dien Hostain and learn the truth of humanity's first interactions with the angels, roughly 3,000 years prior to the events of Herald. What were the "Demons" that humanity and divinity joined forces to battle? What caused them to join forces in the first place?
Through the Annals of the God Eater series, we will get the story of how and why the Hostain family besieged Heaven. This takes place roughly 1,000 years prior to the events of Herald.
Age of the God Eater, the main series, takes place in the "current" time.
While these three series can be read in any order, I would suggest reading each phase starting with Age of the God Eater and ending with Archive of the God Eater. This is because each book's story will affect how you view the characters and events of the others, and starting with the main series will allow you to read the story with the least amount of influence while reading it, and will allow for a different perspective on each series than you would get reading them in a different order.
Deathless by Rob J. Hayes
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The "God Eater Saga" is a bit unique in it's execution as it is a trilogy of trilogies that are being written in three phases. Phase 1 is Herald (Book one in "Age of the God Eater"), Deathless (Book one in "Annals of the God Eater"), and Demon (Book one in "Archive of the Death Eater").
Through the Annals of the God Eater series, which takes place roughly 1,000 years prior to the events of Herald (book one of the main series, Age of the God Eater), we see humanity and divinity working together and are able to get a detailed telling of what events and actions led to the war between the two species.
Age of the God Eater, the main series, takes place in the "current" time.
And through the Archive of the God Eater series, we will learn the truth of humanity's first interactions with the angels, roughly 3,000 years prior to the events of Herald.
While these three series can be read in any order, I would suggest reading each phase starting with Age of the God Eater and ending with Archive of the God Eater. This is because each book's story will affect how you view the characters and events of the others, and starting with the main series will allow you to read the story with the least amount of influence while reading it, and will allow for a different perspective on each series than you would get reading them in a different order.
Through the Annals of the God Eater series, which takes place roughly 1,000 years prior to the events of Herald (book one of the main series, Age of the God Eater), we see humanity and divinity working together and are able to get a detailed telling of what events and actions led to the war between the two species.
Age of the God Eater, the main series, takes place in the "current" time.
And through the Archive of the God Eater series, we will learn the truth of humanity's first interactions with the angels, roughly 3,000 years prior to the events of Herald.
While these three series can be read in any order, I would suggest reading each phase starting with Age of the God Eater and ending with Archive of the God Eater. This is because each book's story will affect how you view the characters and events of the others, and starting with the main series will allow you to read the story with the least amount of influence while reading it, and will allow for a different perspective on each series than you would get reading them in a different order.
Herald by Rob J. Hayes
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The "God Eater Saga" is a bit unique in it's execution as it is a trilogy of trilogies that are being written in three phases. Phase 1 is Herald (Book one in "Age of the God Eater"), Deathless (Book one in "Annals of the God Eater"), and Demon (Book one in "Archive of the Death Eater").
Age of the God Eater, the main series, takes place in the "current" time, and Herald is a great introduction to this world and it's lore. As the main character, Renira, experiences events in the story, we learn about this world and it's history along with her. A world where angels are real and have been hunted to near extinction by the King and his family so that they can feast upon their bodies and blood to gain their longevity, strength, and powers. Where the God was a real being until he was killed and devoured by the Godless Kings.
We also get to see this world through the perspective of Emrik Hostain, the Godless King himself, and through his perspective we discover that he and his family have killed the God and His angels not for selfish reasons, but because they fully believe that everything that the divine beings have told humanity about themselves and their shared history has been lies in order to control and enslave humanity.
Through the Annals of the God Eater series, we will get the story of how and why the Hostain family besieged Heaven. This takes place roughly 1,000 years prior to the events of Herald. And through the Archive of the God Eater series, we will learn the truth of humanity's first interactions with the angels, roughly 3,000 years prior to the events of Herald.
While these three series can be read in any order, I would suggest reading each phase starting with Age of the God Eater and ending with Archive of the God Eater. This is because each book's story will affect how you view the characters and events of the others, and starting with the main series will allow you to read the story with the least amount of influence while reading it, and will allow for a different perspective on each series than you would get reading them in a different order.
Age of the God Eater, the main series, takes place in the "current" time, and Herald is a great introduction to this world and it's lore. As the main character, Renira, experiences events in the story, we learn about this world and it's history along with her. A world where angels are real and have been hunted to near extinction by the King and his family so that they can feast upon their bodies and blood to gain their longevity, strength, and powers. Where the God was a real being until he was killed and devoured by the Godless Kings.
We also get to see this world through the perspective of Emrik Hostain, the Godless King himself, and through his perspective we discover that he and his family have killed the God and His angels not for selfish reasons, but because they fully believe that everything that the divine beings have told humanity about themselves and their shared history has been lies in order to control and enslave humanity.
Through the Annals of the God Eater series, we will get the story of how and why the Hostain family besieged Heaven. This takes place roughly 1,000 years prior to the events of Herald. And through the Archive of the God Eater series, we will learn the truth of humanity's first interactions with the angels, roughly 3,000 years prior to the events of Herald.
While these three series can be read in any order, I would suggest reading each phase starting with Age of the God Eater and ending with Archive of the God Eater. This is because each book's story will affect how you view the characters and events of the others, and starting with the main series will allow you to read the story with the least amount of influence while reading it, and will allow for a different perspective on each series than you would get reading them in a different order.
Paths of Sona by Richard A. Knaak
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
The Other Magic (Deluxe Illustrated Edition) by Derrick Smythe
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Other Magic is a fantasy adventure about The God King Magog, born under supernatural conditions which prove him to be the prophesied savior of the world.
The story is primarily told to us through the point of view of three major characters:
Grobennar: the priest who was astute enough in his youth to have recognized the signs and helped raise the baby into the future savior he is prophesied to be.
Aynward: A young prince with a chip on his shoulder and a penchant for drunken shenanigans and embarrassing his father.
Kibure: The evil one's emissary/warrior in this world, whom the God King is prophesized to defeat: a slave boy who suddenly finds himself with abilities he doesn't understand and on the run for his life.
Derrick Smythe weaves a tapestry told through the points of view of 4 characters in total. As you learn more about each of these characters, what motivates them, and what they learn about the world around them, while the story progresses, deeper lore of this world is revealed making it clear that our prophesized hero and his priests are not the good guys in this story.
I do wish that some of the chapters (each a different character's perspective of events) were a bit longer (some are only 1-2 pages), but I really enjoyed this way of telling the story. My suspicions about the Klerol priesthood and Magog not being the good guys grew and was ultimately confirmed as we learn more of the backstory of the world and learn of other characters and events. I am quite eager to see what happens in book #2.
The story is primarily told to us through the point of view of three major characters:
Grobennar: the priest who was astute enough in his youth to have recognized the signs and helped raise the baby into the future savior he is prophesied to be.
Aynward: A young prince with a chip on his shoulder and a penchant for drunken shenanigans and embarrassing his father.
Kibure: The evil one's emissary/warrior in this world, whom the God King is prophesized to defeat: a slave boy who suddenly finds himself with abilities he doesn't understand and on the run for his life.
Derrick Smythe weaves a tapestry told through the points of view of 4 characters in total. As you learn more about each of these characters, what motivates them, and what they learn about the world around them, while the story progresses, deeper lore of this world is revealed making it clear that our prophesized hero and his priests are not the good guys in this story.
I do wish that some of the chapters (each a different character's perspective of events) were a bit longer (some are only 1-2 pages), but I really enjoyed this way of telling the story. My suspicions about the Klerol priesthood and Magog not being the good guys grew and was ultimately confirmed as we learn more of the backstory of the world and learn of other characters and events. I am quite eager to see what happens in book #2.
The Light That Burns by Karyne Norton
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Just as short story set in the world of the Half-Light Chronicles, expanding the lore slightly. It gives some insight / backstory into something seen in the other stories and a character we've met elsewhere.
The Valley of Horses by Jean M. Auel
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Persephone by Kevin J. Anderson, Jeffrey Morris
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Marked by the Dragon by Richard Fierce
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I hadn't read the Marked by the Dragon series prior to obtaining this omnibus edition from Kickstarter, so went into this story blind. I'm actually glad that I started with the omnibus as the way each of the books incorporated into this omnibus ends is very reminiscent of how Stephen King broke The Green Mile up into 6 smaller parts and released each part on a monthly basis.
The first four books of the series were released between July and December of 2021, and tell a fast paced and easily resolved story, where nearly every character seemingly exists solely to push the plot forward, with very few there to flesh out or expand upon the world itself. The story itself is decent and entertaining, if someone simplistic, but the conflicts of the story are resolved with virtually no effort from the protagonists.
While the story could have easily ended at the end of the fourth book, there were a couple of plot points that could have had a stronger or more detailed resolution, which brings us to the 5th book, which was released 2 years after the original book in the series. This serves to tie up those dangling threads and end the series on a somewhat happier note, but again, seems to end with minimal effort or action from the protagonist, and does little to explain the reasoning as to why the character that caused the resolution did what they did, which seems very counter to their nature.
The last book written in this series was the prequel, which fleshes out the backstory of the main character, and, being a short 15-page story, acts as a prologue to the first book. I do appreciate that the events that set this story into motion are not some big prophesized moment or some grand design, but rather just a simple accident that forced our main character into a situation that nobody could have predicted.
With that said, while this is probably not going to be your favorite book, and is nowhere near as complex as series such as Shannara, the Cosmere, the Wheel of Time, etc., it is a fun ride. Don't set your expectations too high and enjoy this palette cleanser story.
The first four books of the series were released between July and December of 2021, and tell a fast paced and easily resolved story, where nearly every character seemingly exists solely to push the plot forward, with very few there to flesh out or expand upon the world itself. The story itself is decent and entertaining, if someone simplistic, but the conflicts of the story are resolved with virtually no effort from the protagonists.
While the story could have easily ended at the end of the fourth book, there were a couple of plot points that could have had a stronger or more detailed resolution, which brings us to the 5th book, which was released 2 years after the original book in the series. This serves to tie up those dangling threads and end the series on a somewhat happier note, but again, seems to end with minimal effort or action from the protagonist, and does little to explain the reasoning as to why the character that caused the resolution did what they did, which seems very counter to their nature.
The last book written in this series was the prequel, which fleshes out the backstory of the main character, and, being a short 15-page story, acts as a prologue to the first book. I do appreciate that the events that set this story into motion are not some big prophesized moment or some grand design, but rather just a simple accident that forced our main character into a situation that nobody could have predicted.
With that said, while this is probably not going to be your favorite book, and is nowhere near as complex as series such as Shannara, the Cosmere, the Wheel of Time, etc., it is a fun ride. Don't set your expectations too high and enjoy this palette cleanser story.