the_pale_woman's Reviews (542)

Horror isn't my genre, but this book was great. This is my favorite King so far. I would even rate it above pet semetary. And I think it was more horrifying than Salem's Lot. Having a crazy drunk be the tool of evil forces is truly terrifying. I have to admit listening to his reasoning and watching him spiral into insanity was compelling. Great book. Would recommend to any reader.

It's hard for me to rate this book. It's not what I would call "good". However, I enjoyed reading it and I plan to continue the series. 

This falls into my guilty pleasure category. It's a little too YA for me at times, but I still enjoyed the read. My hope is that the writing will get better as the series continues. 

If you're wondering about the vibe, I would describe it as urban Harry Potter mixed with teenage Dresden.

I have to admit that I am not a big fan of novellas. If you are, I think you would rate this higher. It's an interesting world. Giant birds are cool, and the practical take on dealing with these beasts can be intriguing. 

However, ultimately, I was left unsatisfied with the story. I would give it a... meh.

I enjoyed reading this series from start to finish. It makes me so happy to read a fantasy series that had ambition. It's a full charcuterie of fantasy. Where other big fantasy series feel watered-down or simplified, the Licanius trilogy just went for it. It had so much happening that it borders on complicated. And I loved that. 

I will admit that not every scene or line of dialog is perfect, so if that is what you expect out of your fantasy, you might not love this as much as I did. Also, understand that not every named side character is gonna get a fully flushed out arch. This is not a 10 book mega giant. Be satisfied with the information you get and just internally speculate on what is left unsaid. 

I see a good amount of wheel of time mentions when describing this series. Besides it being an obvious influence, I think it relates as a reading vibe as well. It's not perfect, I'm occasionally confused, but I'm fully invested in these events and will happily debate them with you. I will now spend the rest of my day looking up fan theories. If you know, you know. 

This book has its flaws, but I loved it. It is exactly the type of fantasy that I like to read. 

However, there are consequences to liking a series this much. What if the ending sucks? 🤔

I clicked with this right from the beginning. Michael Kramer is an excellent narrator. He's half the reason I picked this up in the first place. The other half was the want of a solid fantasy epic, and in this, I found just want I was craving. 

The story itself it very much traditional fantasy. However, the writing has a more modern pace, and the magic is incredibly complex. I found some details (like character names and places) to be slightly confusing at times, but that didn't hinder my enjoyment. Parts of the story are obviously meant to deceive, so I guess that was inevitable. 

While there are technically better written books out there, I was just happy to find a story that was so intriguing as this one.

This wasn't my favorite volume of the series.