Simply a masterpiece - one of my top 10 fantasy books of all time
I really wasn't sure how Robin Hobb was going to improve upon the previous two books in this series, as they were so well done and I had literally no complaints with any part of them. But she did here, in what has turned out to be one of the all-time best fantasy books - and without doubt the best fantasy pirate story ever told.
The characters, as is typical in a Robin Hobb book, are wonderful and arguably feel more real than any other characters in any other book. They are not static characters, and they all go through dynamic growth that feels so refreshing in a fantasy book when oftentimes fantasy characters stay the same through a series of a books.
The plot is once again incredible, but what really propels this book into such a high status is the ending of this book, which was nailed so perfectly and was setup through the other books to such a great level. I absolutely love the direction the "sea serpents" have taken through this series, culminating in this book, as well as the development of the plotline in Trehaug.
There is some debate between Robin Hobb fans about which series is best, but for me - this series is the absolute best of her works....more
An absolute masterful ending to what has turned out to be a perfect fantasy trilogy.
While I have heard from many people that this series good, but not quite as good as the original First Law trilogy, this has not been the case for me at all. I loved the original series, but this book cements for me not only that this trilogy is the greater of the two, but that this book is the best book in the entire First Law universe. I didn't think it could conceivably be possible that this book could be better than The Last Argument of Kings, but somehow Joe Abercrombie has achieved the impossible.
This book is filled with chaos, political machinations, absolutely incredible characters, wonderful battles, and the genius writing quality that Joe Abercrombie is now famous for. The twists were equal parts incredible and unexpected, and the ending was literal perfection.
I don't want to go into details about this book, because I think you need to read it for yourself without knowing anything about it. Just trust me, this book is a masterpiece, and if you have put off reading this you are doing yourself a major disservice.
Series Scores
A Little Hatred: 5/5 The Trouble with Peace: 5/5 The Wisdom of Crowds: 5/5...more
I really shouldn't love this book as much as I did, as it has so many elements that I typically hate in fantasy. I don't typically care for flowing prose in my books, and while it is nice, I much prefer a good story to beautiful prose. And this story admittedly has a slow plot with not a ton happening. I don't usually enjoy teenage romance stories in my books, and a central plotline of this book is exactly that. And I think magic schools are done poorly most the time, and that's what a large majority of this book is about.
But for all that, I absolutely loved this book from start to finish. The writing is amazing, the plot is somehow fascinatingly gripping, and the characters are wonderfully fleshed out and compelling.
This is one of the few books that I have read multiple times, and will likely read it multiple more times during my life. Not because I forgot what happened, but because I just want to go through the experience once again.
This should be one of the required reading books for any fan of fantasy....more
This is the greatest book ever written. A masterpiece in every conceivable way
I'm going to break this review down into two parts. A review of this book in particular, and a review of the series as a whole given this is the last book.
First -- this book. I cannot get over how perfect this book is, and what Steven Erikson has achieved here. All of the events of the previous books culminated into one insane, glorious, over-the-top ending that will likely never be topped by any book ever. This series is known for having the ending of each book be a "convergence" of all the characters in a spectacular finale -- but this book essentially does that from start to finish. And the last few hundred pages of the book in particular is the biggest, grandest, most epic thing ever written. The very end of the book is also done with perfection, which can very rarely be said for fantasy series.
Second -- the series. This book cements for me that Malazan: Book of the Fallen is the best fantasy series ever written. There is not a single book in this series that is anything less than amazing, and did not ever feel needless. That's an incredible feat for a series that is over 7,000 pages long.
The events of all the books marches towards a definitive goal, but it did it in a way that feels truly genius. Unlike a series like A Wheel of Time (a series I love), it didn't attempt to explain every single thing and make the conflict these characters are going through feel like the only conflict that is occurring on this world. Malazan gives you the only real sense in fantasy that these events are happening across an entire world -- not in a country or a single continent, or even a couple continents -- but over an entire planet. Not all plot threads have a nice tidy conclusion. You have characters that go off to do their own thing while the events of the book move on without them, as you would expect to happen in a real world. This happens to critical characters where you think, "Wait, what is this book even about?" several times. But you just have to trust the author that he is marching you towards something that is incredible and perfect.
If you haven't picked up this series yet, or are feeling overly daunted by the prospect of both something so long, and so complicated. Just give it a try -if you get hooked on this series the payoff is unimaginably glorious.
Hands down, the best first book of a series I have ever read.
This book starts a little slow, but the worldbuilding is so wonderful that it never gets dull. Towards the end of the book I literally couldn't put it down, and I had multiple times of getting goosebumps and being teary eyed at how wonderful everything came together.
The story feels fresh and imaginative. The settings are vivid and unique. And the world feels like a mix of familiar and alien, in a good way. The story itself is absolutely magnificent, and while somewhat predictable it is written in such an entertaining way that it doesn't matter.
If you are a fan of reading fantasy, and you haven't read this book...you need to drop everything and go read it immediately....more
This is a fantastic fantasy novel that I happily can say is in my "top 10".
I loved everything about this book. The characters are wonderfully written, the world is thoroughly enjoyable (even though it's on a very small scale), the plot is extremely engaging, the twists are exciting and shocking, and the ending is fantastic.
This is also one of the rare books where the audiobook version is just as good, if not better than the physical book. The narrator does an absolutely perfect job at voicing these characters.
The most thrilling and engaging Wheel of Time book yet
In most ways, this feels like a continuation of the previous book but I actually think it exceeds that one in quality. It's the first time in any of these books where I was never bored or impatient for things to get moving. The characters and world-building remain top-notch. There were select moments and plot points that didn't 100% work for me but that is to be expected in books and end series as long as this one.
I appreciated that this book didn't attempt to give a little slice into every single character, but instead focused on a few. While I was a bit frustrated no getting to read about Perrin, Faile or Loial - it's fun knowing more about the characters that we did get, and the expectation that we will get a more thorough focus on those other characters in other books....more
Matt's Fantasy Book Reviews
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