charlietnus

A fun read

Revisado: 04-17-25

This was a fun read. If you’ve read the Cradle series, there’s not much else you need to know.

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Worst book in the series, but still worth reading.

Revisado: 05-23-24

A few large sections of this book could have been replaced with “they fight.” Which is unfortunate. But I really like the ending. And I really like that it does end. This wasn’t the capstone that the author intended, but at least it is a capstone on a series I really love. And despite what the bloopers say, I think a good story is a completed story. So I still like listening to this book even though I’ve already heard it twice.

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A good one

Revisado: 12-27-23

Overall, this series is like a mashup of D.Gray-man and Cradle - the prologue is just like a major scene from the former, and much of the plot and characters are like the latter. But I like it, and want to read more of it.

The story seems to me to be a bit rough around the edges, with some things appearing tropey without depth behind them. For example, a character wants to use gravity magic to crush enemies and fly. It comes across as something only they can do because of their knowledge of science. But we know from science that gravity is one of the weakest forces in nature, so it breaks immersion for me when it ends up being really powerful for that character. And the challenges that the main character faces feel kindof arbitrary. And the hook at the end of each book comes across like a money grab rather than a necessary part of the story. And the author writes many times that someone is soulcrafting, but since soulcrafting is different from meditation or practicing a technique or kata, it feels wrong to just say “they’re soulcrafting” and leave it at that. Like, if someone is a potter in real life, would you just say “they’re crafting” over and over? It seems to me like it needs more context, or fewer mentions.

Speaking of things being arbitrary, why did the characters at the end of the first book join the main character in the second book? And how did they end up where they were? I felt like I missed a mini-story that filled in the gap.

On the other hand, I love a good story where characters get stronger or more skilled, and I think this is one. I like the main characters’ motivations and choices. And the characters and plot are engaging. The scene where the main character tells more advanced soul crafters to smash a fish demon and they listen because he knows what he’s talking about is great.

I think it’s a bit of a plot hole that a self-admitted misanthrope is also a charismatic negotiator, but I don’t mind letting it slide for the story.

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Good story, but hard to follow

Revisado: 07-30-23

I was hooked at many points of this story, and I’m glad I picked it up. Lingqi starts out as someone who runs away from home to avoid being controlled by others, and ends up as someone able to protect herself and others.

One big thing that bothered me though: you must not give everyone foreign-sounding names that all sound the same. I still can’t tell the difference between Suying and Suling without the “Li” in front. And I think the redhead barbarian had a similar name, but I can’t remember it at all. Was the redhead the same character who was trying to create a small government and invited Lingqi to tea? I had no idea who anyone in the final battle was aside from Lingqi, Bai Mae, and Gu Sholan. The way the narrator threw on a foreign accent when reading those names made this worse, as did the 3 syllable names - that just made them more complex. For an example of xianxua with names that are easier to distinguish and remember, look at Will Wight’s Cradle series.

A smaller issue was that a lot of things seemed arbitrary. Like: why does Lingqi have a flute? As a thief, the absolute last thing you want to do is make noise or draw attention to yourself. And she never plays it outside of battle. It’s like she doesn’t even like playing the flute, but the author is forcing her to use it. When I looked up the characters online, I saw that that’s exactly how it is - the authors liked the idea of a character who uses a flute. But this discrepancy is never addressed in the book, and that took me out of the story whenever it came up. The decisions characters made about their growth seemed arbitrary as well. And entire characters seemed arbitrary, like: remember the guy with the hammer and sickle? Whatever happened to him?

One other thing: what was the cause of that final battle? I don’t remember it being explained. And after the battle, one character was ejected for doing something, but what was it?

At least this didn’t end on a cliffhanger. Thank you for that.

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Ends on a cliffhanger

Revisado: 07-16-23

The story was mostly alright up until the ending. If I had known I wouldn’t have read it, even though it’s free. I hate this.

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Not my cup of tea

Revisado: 07-12-23

I listened for 30 minutes and then didn’t want to continue. Nothing was happening and it was taking a long time to do it.

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Not my favorite of the series

Revisado: 06-26-23

Mostly this series is my favorite that I’ve read. But for whatever reason this one wasn’t. Maybe it’s coming off of Wintersteel, which was probably my favorite with a couple really fantastic scenes. Or maybe it’s that I didn’t like the politics. Though one thing this book does well is illustrate how poor is the character of the weak people in Sacred Valley compared to the strong people outside it - it sortof inverts the plot of Soulsmith.

Anyway, I still reread it. It’s by no means bad and still has scenes I liked.

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An excellent conclusion

Revisado: 10-24-22

In stark contrast to the boring Tide of Victory, Dance of Time was a gripping read and I loved it.

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Not as good as the previous books, for me

Revisado: 10-15-22

I really liked the earlier books in this series, with their supernatural elements. But while those are still here in a token way, this book was more like a 19th century account of a lot of troop movements. Lots of minutiae. I found a lot of it too boring and kept wandering off to read other things.
Still, it basically has what I like - intelligent people doing intelligent things, comedy, action, etc. I’m hoping the last book will be better, and have more Belisarius vs Narses

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Excellent book. Unfortunate ending

Revisado: 03-12-22

This series is easily 5/5 stars. I wouldn’t call it one of my all time favorites, but I think the author does almost everything right. It was easy for me to keep listening for hours on end.

Once again Annev makes many bad decisions. Though I prefer a story with a wiser protagonist, it was still a good read.

One thing I didn’t like was the ending, because unlike the first book, this one is very much unfinished. I’m never happy with a “to be continued” ending. That said, this book is twice as long as the first one, so I can understand the need to finish it. But the story of Myjun (sp?), for example, could have been saved for the next book, because it didn’t matter in this one. Neither did Kenton’s, really. They were good reads too, but at the end of the day they were 2 more cliffhangers, and I don’t like that in a book.

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