[Andorion]

Some finishing thoughts, specifically in regard to my post in the Reading at the moment thread
As @Chance said,

Spoiler

the ending was a literal deus ex machina. And to me this is an even bigger problem as before there is an entire chapter on the Problem of Evil and how its not actually the gods fault, its men who are to blame. And then God rides in and saves the day anyway, which immediately raises the question, why didn't he do that before?

[amphibian]

I'm not going to spoiler the following, so here goes for the last book:

I thought Weeks handled very badly the top of the tower stuff. Dazen going through a pilgrimage, assisted by the not quite prophet was actually fine. However, the day long fight at the top with Orholam as his younger brother was dumb due to the time slippage thing and also the fact that fighting in single combat all day is impossibly hard, especially for a former prisoner who just got shipwrecked and spent a week climbing.

What I was looking for was something that dealt more specifically with why Dazen as the black prism was crucial to the whole rigamarole. Having him be a conduit for a god to shoot a not-well-described giant bolus of magic didn't sit well with me. It felt non-creative, short-cutting, and boring. Learning that Andross killed his son was cool, but that could have been worked in some other way - like Kip reading the card. Having Orholam handle this the way he did - with the precious minutes thing that Rea and the other one talk about - was stupid. I get that the gods aren't quite gods and that there's multiple battles being fought in multiple worlds, but Weeks handled Rea and the other one better than he did Orholam.

I also think the multiple epilogues was not well handled, even if I understand it as a homage to the Avengers and other Marvel movies. It felt self serving, rather than linked to the characters.

I'm also aware that the gates were never closed and there's a possible series with the invasion that'll happen soon-ish.

I feel like Weeks bungled a few key sections of this book, but did great with the action sequences. I did enjoy the Ironfist and Cruxer fight because that felt meaningful.

Teia's sequences were great. Liv's sequences were good. Kip's sequences were good.

I do think that this series is better than the Night Angel series.

This post has been edited by amphibian: 10 November 2019 - 03:01 AM

[Andorion]

amphibian, on 10 November 2019 - 02:58 AM, said:

I'm not going to spoiler the following, so here goes for the last book:

I thought Weeks handled very badly the top of the tower stuff. Dazen going through a pilgrimage, assisted by the not quite prophet was actually fine. However, the day long fight at the top with Orholam as his younger brother was dumb due to the time slippage thing and also the fact that fighting in single combat all day is impossibly hard, especially for a former prisoner who just got shipwrecked and spent a week climbing.

What I was looking for was something that dealt more specifically with why Dazen as the black prism was crucial to the whole rigamarole. Having him be a conduit for a god to shoot a not-well-described giant bolus of magic didn't sit well with me. It felt non-creative, short-cutting, and boring. Learning that Andross killed his son was cool, but that could have been worked in some other way - like Kip reading the card. Having Orholam handle this the way he did - with the precious minutes thing that Rea and the other one talk about - was stupid. I get that the gods aren't quite gods and that there's multiple battles being fought in multiple worlds, but Weeks handled Rea and the other one better than he did Orholam.

I also think the multiple epilogues was not well handled, even if I understand it as a homage to the Avengers and other Marvel movies. It felt self serving, rather than linked to the characters.

I'm also aware that the gates were never closed and there's a possible series with the invasion that'll happen soon-ish.

I feel like Weeks bungled a few key sections of this book, but did great with the action sequences. I did enjoy the Ironfist and Cruxer fight because that felt meaningful.

Teia's sequences were great. Liv's sequences were good. Kip's sequences were good.

I do think that this series is better than the Night Angel series.

I mostly agree.

The Tower scene - I am still not sure why it had to be the way it was. Why Dazen was needed. And yeah the part about the daylong fight is a good point.

I would add that every single character having self doubt and reflecting on that for ages and ages made the book slow and annoying. Self conscious characters are good, but you need balance.

I would also add that keeping Zymunn alive for as long as they did made no sense. Andros/karis should have been far more decisive about him.

[Chance]

Think a large part of Weeks problem is that he was too attached to his characters and his theaterics. In my mind Dazens entire storyline was pretty unnecessary even if parts of it worked.

Zymunn is one of my pet problems with the book, someone should have massacred him and his men far earlier. Which would have made one of the most obvious resurrections ever unnecessary. That everyone condones less necessary murdering but not his feels like it is only plot saving his life from especially Andros.

There may also be a problem with intending to write 3+ more books and not being able/willing to have consequences stick when your going to read about the characters for 3+ generously sized books.

This post has been edited by Chance: 10 November 2019 - 10:43 AM

[amphibian]

I didn't care that much about Zymunn. He got more trite as the series went on, which accustomed me to how Weeks used him at the end. I thought he'd have Zymunn go wight and then get put down by Karris's brother, but whatever.

I think I'm more disappointed in how Murder Sharp slid straight into madness after the conversation with the prophet.

[Chance]

amphibian, on 10 November 2019 - 02:06 PM, said:

I think I'm more disappointed in how Murder Sharp slid straight into madness after the conversation with the prophet.

Read it more as the push over the edge to completly insane for a guy who had been functional but insane for a long long time.

[End of Disc One]

ExcrementEncephalon, on 13 February 2020 - 10:00 PM, said:

Only up to pg 150. My gawd so much more ahead. Gunner kills any progress I make. I just don’t want to read Gavin’s pov because of this jibber jabber motherfucker so I slow my roll big time when it comes and thus fuck my self over as I drag the sections out for days. I want to get past the section asap yet I can’t.

I'm halfway through and I feel like it's just starting to pick up