Jemisin's work is generally quite enjoyable, even when it's sometimes dark (this one's definitely dark)... but with this opening of a new trilogy it fJemisin's work is generally quite enjoyable, even when it's sometimes dark (this one's definitely dark)... but with this opening of a new trilogy it feels like she's hit her stride as an artist of words and stories. Touching on social issues with a deft hand and eye and then throwing in a one-sentence game-changer that had me literally stop and go "Whoa, wait, what?" (and then I had to go back and rethink earlier chapters)
Beyond that, the characters are all fully fleshed out and interesting (as is usually the case for Jemisin), the "magic" system is intriguing and the physical world itself is wonderfully crafted.
Can't recommend it enough... I'll be pushing this one on my friends. And random strangers....more
I'm being really generous and giving this two stars simply because it has dragons throwing cars at people. C'mon... IT'S DRAGONS THROWING CARS AT PEOPI'm being really generous and giving this two stars simply because it has dragons throwing cars at people. C'mon... IT'S DRAGONS THROWING CARS AT PEOPLE. It's tempting to take away one of said stars for the most annoying thing an author can do is done repeatedly here: tell me something over and over and over and over. We do *not* need to be reminded every third page that the dragons are the size of horses/city buses/airliners (depending on what kind they are). If you feel the need to remind us constantly of this, at least do us the favor of finding something else to compare sizes with.
(and please save any complaints about spoilers regarding the dragons. There's a tail on the cover and you see one --guess what? It's bus-sized-- within the first few pages.)
**Edit**
I took away the second star. As I continued plowing through the book, it became SO very redundant and cliche that I just couldn't take it. OOooh, Melty Face growled at her from a foot in front of her face! (EXCLAMATION POINT!) OOOOoooooh, something blew up! OOOoooh, someone got their head bitten off. Blah blah blah. (and my language choices here are pretty much in line with how the writing in this goes. He's very fond of using exclamation points outside of conversation, Mr Reilly is.)...more
While I couldn't finish this (I only got about 30 pages in) I'm still giving it two stars. Why? Because I think once the author hones his craft a bit While I couldn't finish this (I only got about 30 pages in) I'm still giving it two stars. Why? Because I think once the author hones his craft a bit more, he'll do some good work. The premise here is intriguing/appealing, but the language skills (the general flow and style/feel) are lacking. I'd love to read this if he had written it five (or however many) years down the road, when he had more experience....more
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