Another massively hyped and favourited book darling. But, somewhat surprisingly, I was quite into this. A slow start hampers it somewhat, but overall the author does a great job of hitting satisfying tropes coupled to a nostalgic fantasy setting mixed with the historic. So much happens and it is so frenetic, it really does become a ride. But perhaps the most overt success is the plotting. Near the end there is a reveal I actually didn’t see coming, which happens very little nowadays, with how much I read, and this being commercial fiction. So much so, I find myself eagerly awaiting to sequel with the masses.

The gripe I have with this book that will probably always exist however, is in the character work. The protagonist has a reason he’s so good at everything but it does become laughable at times. I am not sure he’s bad at anything. Thankfully, he does still require help and success comes at some price, but it does get a bit masturbatory, reminding me of Kvothe(particularly the second book), where it’s all but writerly godhand guiding the equivalent of a male Mary Sue.