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Nimrod Daniel's Reviews > Paternus
Paternus (Paternus, #1)
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I have a lot of patience, normally I don’t DNF a book, but after 27% I think I should.
2.5/5
I really wanted to like this book, but unfortunately I’ve been struggling since the very beginning. First chapter was boring, it's not a good way to start a book with a weak opening, as it can make readers who read the sample skip to the next book on Amazon. The following chapters were better though.
I’m 4 hours into the audiobook, but nothing interesting has happened and there was no action. The narration and the writing-style were ok, but the story didn't go in any direction. I guess a good editor could have made it a lot more cohesive though. Actually I'm surprised only the top reviewer pointed out the problem with the structure.
As for the characters - I didn’t find any of the characters appealing, especially the main character Fi. The chapters with Fi were boring and felt like a YA-ish take on urban fantasy that wasn’t well-executed.
Maybe it gets somewhat better, but unfortunately I feel that DNF this book is unavoidable.
Edit: I choose the take down the rating, mainly because petros's review,who was the only one to point on the problem with the first quarter. I give it the benefit of the doubt.
I thank the author for sending me this audiobook :)
2.5/5
I really wanted to like this book, but unfortunately I’ve been struggling since the very beginning. First chapter was boring, it's not a good way to start a book with a weak opening, as it can make readers who read the sample skip to the next book on Amazon. The following chapters were better though.
I’m 4 hours into the audiobook, but nothing interesting has happened and there was no action. The narration and the writing-style were ok, but the story didn't go in any direction. I guess a good editor could have made it a lot more cohesive though. Actually I'm surprised only the top reviewer pointed out the problem with the structure.
As for the characters - I didn’t find any of the characters appealing, especially the main character Fi. The chapters with Fi were boring and felt like a YA-ish take on urban fantasy that wasn’t well-executed.
Maybe it gets somewhat better, but unfortunately I feel that DNF this book is unavoidable.
Edit: I choose the take down the rating, mainly because petros's review,who was the only one to point on the problem with the first quarter. I give it the benefit of the doubt.
I thank the author for sending me this audiobook :)
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Reading Progress
December 26, 2016
– Shelved as:
to-read
December 26, 2016
– Shelved
December 26, 2016
– Shelved as:
fantasy
May 2, 2017
–
Started Reading
May 2, 2017
–
10.0%
"Each of the first 4 chapters could have been a first chapter in a different book. You could have changed their order however you'd like but it won't really matter that much.
Chapter 1 - boring contemporary fiction.
Chapter 2 - some action here. It was nice.
Chapter 3 - some mythological lore. It was an ok chapter with a quite promising ending.
Chapter 4 - alternate historical-fiction/urban fantasy. it was nice."
Chapter 1 - boring contemporary fiction.
Chapter 2 - some action here. It was nice.
Chapter 3 - some mythological lore. It was an ok chapter with a quite promising ending.
Chapter 4 - alternate historical-fiction/urban fantasy. it was nice."
May 3, 2017
–
20.0%
"I've been struggling my way through since the very beginning. It gets more cohesive, but nothing interesting happens...."
May 3, 2017
–
Finished Reading
June 11, 2017
– Shelved as:
abandoned
November 23, 2017
– Shelved as:
self-published
Comments Showing 1-23 of 23 (23 new)
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Nimrod
(last edited May 03, 2017 03:20PM)
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May 03, 2017 03:10PM
Normally I don't DNF a book so I'm curious - what makes you DNF a book and how much patience do you have?
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The few times it haseems happened it's because I just don't want to go back to the book. Either I'll read a different book or do something other than read. Now I'm more conscious about it and will dnf when I feel that coming on because I don't want to waste any precious reading time!
I'll DNF for a number of reasons. If I feel like nothing has happened; if I feel like the writing is particularly amatuer, etc. Sometimes a book just doesn't suit what I'm looking to read and I'll set it aside for something else.
Amanda wrote: "ow I'm more conscious about it and will dnf when I feel that coming on because I don't want to waste any precious reading time!"Yeah, time is precious.
I read Vampire of the Mists years ago and didn't like the first half and struggled through (not like in this case, though), but the second half was really good and I finished the second half in no time. On that case I think it was worth it. The downside was that it took me a very long time to finish the first half.
I feel compelled to finish books even if I don't like them, I can't ehlp it... However if I do not finish I book I don't rate it because I feel I can't judge it in its entirety.
Stephan wrote: "I feel compelled to finish books even if I don't like them, I can't help it"Me too, that's what I normally do. Putting down a book is very rare thing for me. I've put down maybe 5 books my whole life. This year it was the second time though. Both were selfpub urban fantasy with 4+ on GR, so maybe it's just me :)
Stephan wrote: "I feel compelled to finish books even if I don't like them, I can't ehlp it... However if I do not finish I book I don't rate it because I feel I can't judge it in its entirety."I don't rate DNFs for the same reason.
Jon wrote: "I don't rate DNFs for the same reason. "
I like to keep track on the books I read, and rating is part of the game.
Generally speaking, I only don't finish books with grammatical errors, or possibly writing errors that give me a headache. Otherwise, I give it time. I may pick the book up and read only a couple of pages every time, anything to inch me through to the end. I had this feeling with The Goblin Emperor for the first half and enjoyed the last half. The reason I never give up on a book is that some of my favourites were like these. I struggled through both Sailing to Sarantium and Jhereg, but these are books that I re-read up to this day. It takes a while to craft something big, especially in the fantasy genre, and my personal take here is that the author has all of the pages of their book for them to show me what the story is about.
Of course, everyone has their own reasons for stopping or starting a story. And also, I've technically been reading War and Peace for 12 years, so maybe it taught me to have patience for everything else. :)
Shame you felt this way, bro. I'm still gonna give it a go shortly :) x
Aww, hope you'll be successful with your next read ;)
K.S. wrote: "And also, I've technically been reading War and Peace for 12 years, so maybe it taught me to have patience for everything else. :) "Wow that's a lot!!
Besides the structure problems and the lack of interest I had, I really didn't like the cast characters, especially the main character. That's why I think putting it down probably was a good decision.
James wrote: "Shame you felt this way, bro. I'm still gonna give it a go shortly :) x"
I hope you find yourself among the majority of readers who liked it :)
Orient wrote: "Aww, hope you'll be successful with your next read ;)"I'm currently reading The Whitefire Crossing and I like it. My next book will probably be The Name of the Wind, so I expect my next read will be great. I like to dive into series once they're done, or at least close to completion. I gave up on waiting, I'll read it anyway :)
Nimrod wrote: "Orient wrote: "Aww, hope you'll be successful with your next read ;)"I'm currently reading The Whitefire Crossing and I like it. My next book will probably be [book:The Name of th..."
Sounds great :) i heard good things about both books! :)
You're very welcome for the audiobook, no regrets. There's absolutely nothing wrong with an honest opinion.
"Wow that's a lot!!"Yeah, in retrospect, I may have read like a page in 10 years, so I should really start thinking about whether I still want to re-read it or not. Probably a bucket list thing at this point. :P
Dyrk wrote: "You're very welcome for the audiobook, no regrets. There's absolutely nothing wrong with an honest opinion."I'm glad to see your comment here :)
I gave Paternus a shot, but it just didn't work for me. My reviews reflects my exact thoughts of the books that I read. In this case it seems like I'm in minority.
You can't satisfy everyone, I read reviews by people who didn't like books by George Martin and Brandon Sanderson so you're in a good company :)
Jon wrote: "I don't rate DNFs for the same reason. "
I took it down, thanks to petros's review.
Nimrod wrote: "Jon wrote: "I don't rate DNFs for the same reason. "
I took it down, thanks to petros's review."
Nice.
Jon wrote: "Nimrod wrote: "Jon wrote: "I don't rate DNFs for the same reason. "
I took it down, thanks to petros's review."
Nice."
He was the only one to point on what I mentioned in my review, so I take his word. I give it the benefit of the doubt.
I tend to agree, but I did finish it. It certainly did have a YA feel and FI, as written was very unlikeable.
