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sarai0410 's review for:
Master of Sorrows
by Justin Travis Call
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Master of Sorrows is a strong debut and an even stronger start to an epic fantasy tetralogy, with 12 total books planned in The Silent Gods universe. While the book started off slow, I appreciated that Call chose to slowly introduce us to the world and lore in the same way that our main character Annev was learning about the world outside the village he's never left. Picking this up, I assumed that the book was an Adult fantasy, but there were moments that it read more along the lines of Young Adult (especially in the romance), however, it didn't detract from the story. Although I would have loved to see more in terms of characterization in Annev and the main side characters (personality, motivations, history between one another, etc.), the story's action packed, quick pace kept me interested and wanted to see the plot forward.
Couple spoilery things:
Couple spoilery things:
- There are a lot of moment where Annev's actions and decisions felt immature, especially in his interactions with Sodar and Myjun. BUT he's a 17 year old boy that has been living in an extremely isolating environment that watches his every move, so the immature aspects of his personality and actions is 100% expected and makes his character more believable as a teenage boy.
- Sodar was an awesome character and his death is going to greatly impact how Annev interacts with the world, his magic, and his destiny. While the character himself may be gone (who knows..he's supposedly ageless - maybe deathless too?), I hope we learn more about him either through his companions or flashback scenarios.
- Fyn and Kenton...Oh what to say about them. I like Fyn but don't understand his 180 degree switch around with Annev. I'm assuming we'll get more of his development and thoughts in the next book. At this moment, Kenton is a great character to dislike - his motivations for hating Annev are developed and well founded considering his losing Myjun and possessing magic. I'm very curious to see if he stays along the antagonist line or if he moves away from it with time.
- Myjun...my Gods I hate her. Her father, Tosan (who also sucks), absolutely poisoned his daughter and created a prejudiced brat. I predict that she'll be a long term antagonist and honestly looking forward to seeing how Annev handles this when it eventually comes to light (hopefully more maturely..).
- I love Titus - that's literally all. He's a sweet boy.
Master of Sorrows had been sitting on my TBR for far too long and I'm happy that I finally took the plunge into a new epic fantasy. Master Artificer is up next and I'm excited to see where Call takes us.