Matt

Brandon is amazing, this book should disappoint him

Revisado: 01-29-25

Spoiler-free review.

Summary: These characters were beautifully built for 4 books. Those we care about most get about 50% of the pages as we’re forced to follow a bunch of ancillary folks who are largely shallow and who we have no emotional connection to. The payoff is half of what we should have gotten.

The bad: Awful pacing. 30% too long. Wasted rehashing of old scenes. Lays too much groundwork for the Cosmere multiverse instead of actually nailing the ending of arc one of this 10-books series. Interesting plot threads that just ended up nowhere (felt like the last season of Lost). One main character gets a nice finale, though anticlimactic. One get a fantastic payoff, it actually deserved much more “screen” time. One gets a so-so wrap. One gets a sad but brave ending. One is basically forgotten. One got wrapped and I didn’t even realize it was wrapped…so, so bad.

The good: We do get some payoff for these beloved characters. Some brilliant strategy in battles. Several slick plot twists. Brandon works in some thoughtful and beautiful philosophies throughout, many of which are mound-breaking in the genre (a bit too much tell instead of show though…not quite a lecture but a bit preachy). Brandon often avoids the cliche finale, and does it again here, making it a unique entry in the genre.

Overall: too meandering, some thoughtful and beautiful segments, but left me wanting. Brandon is a brilliant, amazing author. But I’ve heard lots of friends have a similar disappointed take on this book. No great creator works by popular vote, but I hope Brandon is still connected enough to the fans to understand and fix what went off the rails here.

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Three books in and keeps getting better!

Revisado: 03-01-24

Love the protagonists and really enjoy the unique way power is used by the good (and bad) characters. This book just made me want to dive into the next one, what more do you need to say about a series really?

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Heroes are created by their choices

Revisado: 02-09-24

Great book! Some fantasy works end up straying from their strengths. I love that this sticks with the core heroes we’ve come to cheer for. Shows off friendship and loyalty. The series is a really unique dive into free will. So much of the journey and battle is about choices, including the power to control others. Would you violate somebody’s mind if it were life-or-death? Where do you draw the line? More philosophical than many books that too often boil down to who has the most power or the best swordplay.

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