Got about halfway through this. The art's pretty nice, but nothing else about it was working for me, from the over-simplified settings and messaging, Got about halfway through this. The art's pretty nice, but nothing else about it was working for me, from the over-simplified settings and messaging, to the characters, to the humor*. It seems to be about time for me to check out Webtoon titles online myself rather than relying on others' reviews.
* the llama was the last straw that made me close the book for good....more
I can't. Even audio couldn't make it halfway entertaining, and that is depressing as hell. I think if it had leaned into being trash, rather than takiI can't. Even audio couldn't make it halfway entertaining, and that is depressing as hell. I think if it had leaned into being trash, rather than taking itself way too seriously, it would have been fun. As is, every paragraph drained my energy meter.
(full review below.)
***
When I buy a book, I expect to like it. So when a book I expect to like is a flop, a dud, a turkey, a stinker, some other slang from well over a century ago, I feel sad.
Let's shake off those blues and smile! My light novel title for this book will be:
The Incompetent Assassin and the Pushover Prince
Lara from Maridrina is one of a dozen princesses who were trained from a very young age to be spies and assassins in service to their father. A chosen girl will infiltrate Ithicana--the titular Bridge Kingdom--under the guise of a political marriage to Aren, its ruler. Lara proves her worth as the chosen fiancée by poisoning her sisters at a dinner, making her the only remaining viable candidate, even though she isn't the most beautiful* or intelligent** one.
* she's a perfect Aryan specimen ** she's a total doofus
Some elements of the worldbuilding were quite cool. I signed up for Danielle Jensen's read-along emails for this book, and learning about the "sea of stars" phenomenon, and the beautiful areas of the Philippines that she based much of Ithicana on through those mails was quite cool. The descriptions of jungle and cove were the most vivid in the book.
Unfortunately, the Bridge itself made no sense to me. It's basically a 200-mile-long tunnel made of concrete, supported by natural pillars of rock, with only one major egress on either side. Although it's 10 days' walk from end to end, it seems like anyone can get anywhere along its length in a matter of hours depending on plot exigency. It's both a major thoroughfare for trade, and a passageway for Ithicanian soldiers to quickly make their way between various secret entries/exits along the route.
Putting commercial traffic and super-secret traffic along the same thoroughfare seems like a Bad Idea. There's at least one scene where the Ithacanians need to get where they're going by sea because there's a group of merchants camping right next to one of the secret exits. I'm honestly surprised that these exits have been kept secrets for however long. Surely Lara wouldn't be the first spy that the place ever saw? Considering how beleaguered it is by the various countries who want to conquer it, that seems absolutely impossible. Not to mention that all of Aren's guards know these secrets. No need to seduce the ruler when there are a dozen immediate retainers to hand who have the same information.
Let's get into our light novel title now:
First, there's Lara, whose appearance is fairly standard blond-haired, blue-eyed, curves in all the right places, zzz. That first scene where she gains her place as Ithicana's princess-bride is quite striking, but it's all downhill from there. She has to be the most incompetent spy ever created. She's constantly just doing whatever and nearly getting caught, and is often hauled out of the fire by coincidence, most often by Aren's being called on to deal with an attack on the islands.
She's supposedly been brainwashed to prioritize "her people" above all, and to be completely ruthless when it comes to her mission. (As a side note, I got so tired of "her people" or "his people" coming up again and again, like the reader wouldn't believe it as a motivation for either Lara or Aren if it wasn't hammered home at least a couple times per page.) But it takes about forty seconds for her to be all hot and bothered over Aren, who supposedly is Maridrina's greatest threat. Maybe a little fear and terror on her part would have made her arc more convincing, or something other than horniness and the worst spycraft ever seen in fiction.
I'd have been more convinced of Lara's ruthlessness if Aren himself weren't the squishiest marshmallow that ever marshmallowed, making ruthlessness completely unnecessary. He's been king of Ithicana for a year, and aside from showing not the slightest reluctance to murder Ithicana's attackers by the hundreds, I really do wonder how he's kept his place as king, or that the Bridge hasn't been infiltrated and overrun well before now.
Here's one example of Aren as a pushover: Aren and a few of his guards are taking Lara to meet (and be intimidated by) Aren's grandmother a few Bridge stops away from Midguard, Aren's HQ. They've blindfolded Lara so she can't trace their route or learn more about the Bridge's workings. Horns sound, signaling an attack on one of Ithicana's towns. Aren and co. need to drop Lara off with Nana posthaste and rush to the defense, so they remove her blindfold so the group can move quickly.
Supposedly they can't leave her with a guard or two, still blindfolded, because they need every single person to man the defenses. First of all, if your human resources are spread so thin you can't spare a couple guys to watch after your hostage who might also be a spy, your country's in trouble. Secondly, this seems to indicate a hardline approach to secrecy that's about as sturdy as a house of cards.
We can assume that our FL and ML are horny for each other from the jump, because this is a romantasy. There's a mildly spicy scene early on in the book when Lara makes one of her several failed attempts to snoop around in Aren's stronghold, but other than that, there isn't a lot for a reader to work with. I was convinced they'd want to get into bed together, but unconvinced they could form a love relationship from the limited foundations we were given. Moving on.
The worst part of reading (or trying to read) this book is how excruciatingly slow it is. The initial setup was quite cool, and I anticipated a suspenseful and romantic read. What I got was what felt like a story with three well-established scenes, and the rest random bullshit: very little actual content, and a lot of obvious filler. The middle of this book--which wasn't all that long to begin with--sagged. At times it felt like it took an hour and a half to read 1% of the book. I even tried to read in it in audio, and it didn't help. My attention wandered again and again as the near-identical set pieces droned on.
My impression is of an author who has a good number of novels under their belt, and has confidence in setting characters and situations up and resolving them neatly, but who didn't leave enough room for their imagination to inspire and surprise them. Aside from the setting elements mentioned earlier, there was nothing there to hold my interest.
Books like this are more depressing than anything else. I had to quit at about 80% of The Bridge Kingdom because I could feel a slump coming. "Why read at all, when all books are dreary and boring, just like this one?" Of course that isn't true, and I had to escape before it managed to convince me of that for another month....more
Two pages after a hopeful update, I'm done. The prose is dry as dust, there's about 5000 places and 5000 people--all kings and generals--to try (and fTwo pages after a hopeful update, I'm done. The prose is dry as dust, there's about 5000 places and 5000 people--all kings and generals--to try (and fail) to keep track of, and I can't retain anything from one page to another, never mind attempting to do so for 500 pages. Every persnickity little factoid slides out of my brain within seconds, even after multiple rereads.
It isn't just lingering resentment of the rote, "war and power is all humanity has to say for itself" approach to history I had to cope from from 8th-11th grade that's making me DNF this, though that is certainly a factor. (I've come to enjoy some nonfiction in the intervening years, despite the false start.) All respect to the author--a woman academic who hadn't even reached age 30 when she wrote this book!--but this is of a type that I'm never going to appreciate....more
The setting of The Mimicking of Known Successes is really cool, especially how Older weaved in little details like the food the charactDNF at page 96.
The setting of The Mimicking of Known Successes is really cool, especially how Older weaved in little details like the food the characters ate, the animals, the weather, levels of tech and means of conveyance, etc., as Mossa and Pleiti moved along in their investigation. It opened up questions for me about how long it would be before new generations would consider this "place of exile" as their home, and question their entire culture's dedication to (view spoiler)[returning to Earth (hide spoiler)].
Unfortunately, the rest left me cold. I'm not a fan of mystery stories, and the main plot is one. I can manage to get through a mystery story if I like the characters, and see them grow through their personal connections and life changes. I could see hints of that, here, but....
I see Mossa and Pleiti as analogues of Holmes and Watson, in so far as there are two of them, and they are in most of the scenes together. But here Holmes's powers of observation, his laser focus on the question at hand, and so on, seem to have been split up between Mossa and Pleiti, with none of Watson's qualities to balance them out. This is not to say that H&W clones were necessary for this to work--not at all. But unfortunately, Pleiti's first-person narration was so formal and distanced that, at the point I stopped reading, I hadn't been able to build a connection either with her, or with Mossa as seen through her eyes.
After about half of a very short book struggling to bring myself to move on to the next chapter because I couldn't care less about either the mystery or the characters' lives, I gave up. Thanks to the publisher, tor.com, for the opportunity to try it. I'm sure there's an appreciative audience for this book out there, and the copy on the inside cover of this ARC makes me think that significant effort will be taken to find it....more
The Book of Salt offered the appeal of a Vietnamese man's point of view, as he makes his way from his home country to France to eventually become the The Book of Salt offered the appeal of a Vietnamese man's point of view, as he makes his way from his home country to France to eventually become the home chef for Gertrude Stein and her lover Alice Toklas. And it did provide that with episodic, and also nicely interlayered chapters about various incidents in Bình's eventful life, with food and kitchens a central focus. Colonialism and Catholicism in Vietnam, queerness in the 1930s (in both France and Vietnam), and how our upbringings haunt us, are some of the themes it explores.
This isn't your typical three-act story. The intent seems to be to gradually add details that form a picture of Bình and the various people and places he lives with and comes across. It's an interesting construction, but it left me rather unsatisfied and wondering what the point was. Bình himself comes across as a cipher, keeping a psychological distance from his own life, including the parts of it that might otherwise elicit strong emotion from either himself or from me. I admired the construction of the machine, but a machine wasn't what I had come to see.
Another issue was the level of bloody events and body horror. Before we get much further, I have trouble with those things, but if I'm otherwise enjoying the story (i.e. City of the Lost, Gideon the Ninth) I can sit through them with only minor difficulty. Here they were depicted with a light hand, and at times added to that edifice of Bình's life that the narrative was constructing. But since I wasn't particularly enjoying the rest of the book, those parts ended up disgusting me and pushing me away without a corresponding reward of enjoyment to justify them.
I got about 2/3 of the way through The Book of Salt and, with very little regret, am DNFing it. I never particularly got in synch with its combination of bloodiness and bloodlessness. It's the first book since I started on Goodreads that I got far enough (more than halfway) to both rate and DNF, so congrats, The Book of Salt!...more
This book held out the hope of seeing impoverished areas from the point of view of those living there, and getting an idea of what they might like to This book held out the hope of seeing impoverished areas from the point of view of those living there, and getting an idea of what they might like to see improved about them, and how that might be achieved. Instead I've read 80 pages about how "slum" is a deceitful term that encourages othering and an attitude of spectacle and pity toward these areas. Maybe it gets there eventually, but I'm bored....more
If you've dealt with So I'm a Spider, So What? you will find absolutely nothing new here. The main character has the exact same responses to his new sIf you've dealt with So I'm a Spider, So What? you will find absolutely nothing new here. The main character has the exact same responses to his new situation that Kumoko has; there's the same Divine Voice providing the exact same kind of skippable stat dumps (though this DV has a bit more of a sense of humor); the same evolution trees; the same fraught and tentative initial contact with humans in the fantasy world. In fact, it's worse because there's no hint that the main character had any life whatsoever before he reincarnated, so there's no mystery or suspense to his situation, just a bunch of battles and leveling up. Yawn. I read this about halfway through and skimmed the rest.
If you care at all for this kind of isekai, read the spider's adventures instead. The art's better here than in the spider's manga--the battles are easier to follow, and the humanoid figures are more appealing--but that doesn't compensate for its getting no response out of me but boredom and cynicism... or even a mild fear that So I'm a Spider might also be somebody else's ideas with the numbers filed off....more
Got only a few pages into it before realizing that this was intended for aspiring authors of self-help books. I am not that, so into the used book boxGot only a few pages into it before realizing that this was intended for aspiring authors of self-help books. I am not that, so into the used book box it goes. Sorry, well-meaning relative!...more
After having this book on my conscience for three weeks, I'm finally giving up.
Things that appealed:
- An enjoyable point of view character. SDNF @ 25%
After having this book on my conscience for three weeks, I'm finally giving up.
Things that appealed:
- An enjoyable point of view character. She had a tough past and was still willing to put herself in danger for her country. Although, is that something that a princess ought to be doing? - Writing that was engaging and easy to read. It's the kind of prose that I typically associate with YA, and it worked well here. - The story was fun. I was genuinely interested in seeing who was moving the plot behind the stolen gemstone, and why.
Things that weren't so great:
- Aggressive shallowness. Nothing goes beyond a surface level, including descriptions of trauma. - It was kind of cool that emotion was consistently expressed in similes and metaphors, both within Gemma's mind and when she was reading others' emotions. But after a while it was too intrusive and broke me out of the story. - Slipshod and lazy world building. It's one of those books that's supposedly set in a fantasy world, but if you look at it closely, people are living much like they do in the 21st century. You've got fantasy refrigerators, and fantasy light switches, and running water (with accompanying fantasy infrastructure, I guess?), and public education, and 8-hour work days, and easy access to a wide variety of food for people of all classes (fantasy logistics?). And no cars or guns, of course.
There might be times that I could enjoy a book like this, but this seems not to be one of them. Thanks--and apologies--to Harper Voyager for sending me a proof copy in a Goodreads giveaway....more
I'm at the point that I can't let guilt keep me from DNF-ing audiobooks that I can't get a refund for. I've tried this one four or five times and haveI'm at the point that I can't let guilt keep me from DNF-ing audiobooks that I can't get a refund for. I've tried this one four or five times and have gotten maybe 20% of the way through before getting fed up and bored, every time. I've given it more than enough of a chance, I think. This type of fantasy just isn't for me....more
DNF for now. I've spent three months reading this off and on, and at this point even ten pages feels near-insurmountable, much less the actual 150 thaDNF for now. I've spent three months reading this off and on, and at this point even ten pages feels near-insurmountable, much less the actual 150 that remains. I may come back to it later, whether due to a crisis of conscience, or some time off work, or a spontaneous renewed interest in seeing where this might be going on the larger scale.
I've enjoyed several of Elliott's fantasies, but much of what I appreciated in those books doesn't seem to be present here, or is too lightly sketched out. Cast is too large, culture doesn't feel solid and lived-in to me. There are a lot of action sequences and other kabooms, which are not what I read fiction for. The overall plot is on a "kings and generals, war and conquest" level, also not a favorite.
Main character Sun is a self-confident winner, and I always find that rather boring to read. (Maybe I should have read up on Alexander so I would have known that going in.) I liked Persephone's parts, since she was a more vulnerable and conflicted character, but she isn't enough to keep Sun's parts from being a slog.
This probably deserves three stars, but considering my lack of enjoyment, I've given it two, subject to change if the aforementioned completion ends up happening....more
Under other circumstances, maybe I'd have been able to power myself through at least half of this book to be able to call it "finished" and write a prUnder other circumstances, maybe I'd have been able to power myself through at least half of this book to be able to call it "finished" and write a proper review. But I'm not particularly enjoying it and don't have the wherewithal to do that right now.
+ The world seems interesting. There's incipient war, an upcoming fencing tournament, and some scary enemy creatures (or are they people?) in the present, and hints of "big" historical figures in the past, and various magic adding mystery and interest, all clearly presented without a lot of exposition to bog things down.
+ Super easy, quick-going prose with good narration from Stephen Pacey.
- What's with all the "ugh" "agh" etc., though? I guess I'm more used to "he groaned" and so forth, rather than the onamatopoeia for those sounds.
+ I have a good understanding of the major point-of-view character thus far, Glokta the ex-soldier/torturer. It was easy to sympathize with him as he struggled with his torture-inflicted disabilities.
- But then again, there's so much emphasis on the disabilities that it was getting to be off-putting. I pretty much checked out when Glokta woke up having shat his pants overnight, with a long narration as that was dealt with. Story instead please, maybe?
- Logan, his potential magic aside, wasn't that interesting a character. And Jezalle was straight-up repellent.
(neutral) Nope, I still can't bring myself to care about action and battle sequences. This isn't the book's fault, and therefore doesn't get a plus-or-minus value.
- I haven't seen much of women characters so far, but the one who shows up--Ardie? sorry, I don't know the spellings for these since I was listening to it--seems like she could be an interesting character. However, she is not seen from her own point of view as the male characters are. Maybe she will be, or she'll have a chance to be an active part of the plot later on?* What we've got so far is a pretty, spunky gal who also conveniently sets herself up for roving eyes mere moments after she's introduced. Meh.
* To be fair, the men are largely victims of circumstance, too.
I have a couple more of Abercrombie's books (the days of buying more than one book on spec before reading any of the author's work are over now), and am willing to give them a try, though I have to say I'm not anticipating great results unless there's some evolution in a direction I can more easily tolerate....more
I gave this a try for a week, but it and I are very much at odds with each other. After a while I was forcing myself to pick it up and getting nowhereI gave this a try for a week, but it and I are very much at odds with each other. After a while I was forcing myself to pick it up and getting nowhere.
I've seen books that can match gruesomeness and humor, humor and pathos. Fate of the Fallen tried very, very hard to do those things, and for me, I'm sorry to say, it failed. Its tonal inconsistency and meandering plot at first disoriented me, and in the longer term annoyed me. The humor fell flat: the mentally unsound but also preternaturally helpful horse, and the "witty" ghost, etc., made me cringe rather than chuckle.
There were a couple of things I liked about it. I liked the main character, Aaslo--now and then he would say something that was pointed or poignant, and I appreciated his doggedness in the face of the strange situations he was thrown into. I liked the idea of foresters, and the beleaguered death goddess (?) was intriguing. I was tempted to skim through to see if she eventually became a more active force in the story.
It could be just a matter of mood, since this past year or so has been "the year of DNF," a time that has made failures of several books that otherwise might have been successes. Plenty of people have liked it, so don't take this non-review as a mark in its disfavor.
I didn't get to the halfway mark, so didn't give it any stars....more
- Is this book set in an alternate universe so there's plausible deniability when it becomes obvious that little or no research went into creating it?- Is this book set in an alternate universe so there's plausible deniability when it becomes obvious that little or no research went into creating it? -What time period is this story supposed to be set in? The dress is kinda-sorta 19th century; the social mores and slang are all over the place.
There's just too much wrong with The Glittering Court, in my opinion, to make it enjoyable even for a book deliberately chosen to be silly, dumb reading during a vacation. If I thought some care had been taken with anything, from characterization, to language, to world-building, it could have been a successful summer read. Instead, I constantly found myself tripping over the mess....more
Maybe if it had existed when I was in my teens I might have appreciated it; as is, it missed the mark entirely. This blurb is here to remind me to notMaybe if it had existed when I was in my teens I might have appreciated it; as is, it missed the mark entirely. This blurb is here to remind me to not try, and certainly to not buy, this book again....more
It isn't often that I feel true regret when deciding to DNF a book. My friends carol. and Mimi liked Winter Tide a lot. Others' opinions about books dIt isn't often that I feel true regret when deciding to DNF a book. My friends carol. and Mimi liked Winter Tide a lot. Others' opinions about books don't affect me all that strongly once I get around to actually reading them, but their both being midwesterners who enjoyed this wintry tale counted for something as I went into it, at least.
I very much enjoyed the cast of outsider characters, each struggling with contemporary-to-1947 U.S. society in their own ways, each damaged by it and finding some solace in each other's company. I thought I might be fine just soaking in the character aspects of the story for 350 pages.
What actually happened was that there were too many pages focusing on stuff I couldn't care less about. The main plot with the USSR potentially using magical body possession to infiltrate the U.S.: boring. Main character Aphra's new student in magic and the scenes showing her learning: boring. Pages and pages of the characters sitting around at tables reading: boring. They always felt like tedious and frequent interruptions to an otherwise involving conversation.
When I DNF a book, it's usually because it repulsed me in some way, and that was definitely not the case here. Even a slight recalibration of the narrative elements might have made this a favorite--as is, sadly, it's another one for the used bookstore box....more
DNF at 140 pages for at least the third time. This isn't bad, it's just a terrible match. I can't bring myself to care about anything that's going on.DNF at 140 pages for at least the third time. This isn't bad, it's just a terrible match. I can't bring myself to care about anything that's going on....more
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