De Castell writes a New Fantasy, a world in which his characters can be whatever they want to be regardless of whatever and whoever stands in their way
De Castell writes a New Fantasy, a world in which his characters can be whatever they want to be regardless of whatever and whoever stands in their way
How the author has managed to create vivid realism with mysterious, otherworldly intrigues and elements is quite beyond me. It's a perfect blend of Grimdark and traditional fantasy. Game of Thrones and Throne of Glass meet. Martin weds Maas. It's the perfect literary combo.
The quick pacing allows a lot of action to be crammed between pages, and Brandon Sanderson has duly obliged.
The characters enjoyed the dizzying heights of triumph, often side by side with the despairing depths of defeat.
The world was well built, Blackcliff, the Scholar quarters, the catacombs, etc. I didn't' have to stress to understand what the author wrote; it's so unlike some YAs whose worlds are poorly built.
Not the biggest climax of an ending, but a very satisfying one. The Prophet of Akhran is written at a quick pace, with even more thrill and action than the last book. All the forces meet finally in an all-deciding clash, with plenty of intra-faction politics. The main antagonists are admittedly laid off with too […]
The authors take their time to involve everyone in the story, and the weaving of events is expertly done, providing readers with a lot of suspense and thrill, even without overwhelming violence.
De Castell's trademark masterful plot twists pervade this brilliant read. A brilliant start to a brave, brave tale.
The story has a rich, rich world that is based on Islamic Mythology. The Daevabad Trilogy by S.A Chakraborty is woven from much the same source; hence, certain comparisons can be made.
It's like the beginnings of a game of chess between two foes in which the game gets bigger than the chessboard, bigger than the players, bigger than the room they're playing in
True quality high fantasy is proving harder to find by the day. Here is one that tells a most wonderful story, all without the cliched tropes that are core to the genre. It is utterly engrossing in its unpredictability.
There's enough action and thrill in this book to fill two books, and another author might have decided to extend the series by an extra book.
