The Sum of all Men / David Farland

The Sum of all Men

Runelords #1 of many

by David Farland

fantasy, dystopia

copyright 1998

read before December 2021

rated 2/10: unreadably bad

Let's be clear about that rating. The book has imagination. adventure. a unique world with unique magic.

The magic is evil. So evil that the book is unreadably bad.

If you're kinky for slavery. cruelty. absolute control by the strong... then fine. I don't like it.

Then there are the characters. They are beautiful, strong, intelligent, etc. That's because their rich and powerful parents bought all of those attributes. Literally.

Money and power are everything. With money and power you are a leech. Every named character is a leech -- or a sucked-dry husk.

It is a miserable world. With characters who would be stupid, weak and ugly -- if not for the money and power of their parents.

Then there's the logic...

The story starts with the hero in a market. Accompanied by his bodyguard and by the person whose job is to follow an important person wherever they go... and the hero is surprised that he is recognised as an important person... good grief.

I read as far as the scene where a magical supreme being does mysterious things... all very significant... and stupid.

Years ago I read more of this book. Read enough to be left with a very nasty memory of the magic. And enough to realise that the goodies... ie the not-so-baddies... have no hope.

This time I stopped a lot sooner. It is a very nasty book.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

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When the going gets tough, the smart get going ... per Ginger Meggs

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Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)

The shadow of the gods, John Gwynne

The shadow of the gods

(Bloodsworn saga #1)

by John Gwynne

fantasy

copyright 2021,

read a bit in Jan 2022

rated 2/10: unreadably bad

I understand that Norse life was bloody and brutal. As history that is interesting. As fantasy it is awful.

After about nine chapters I stopped reading. Why? Because it was just too horrible. So horrible that I hoped for a storm at sea, to drown every single character in the book.

A world of absolute might is right. Slaves treated as worse than animals. Villages raided simply because they are there. villagers killed for defending their homes. The raiders then take everything of value. Dumb brutes -- anything and everything not "one of us" -- is killed.

Then I read the last few pages. To see if the obvious people had lasted that far.

This paragraph is a spoiler... but only if you are a reader who cannot spot the bleeding obvious: One character mentions a dragon sealed in a cave. Another character laughs at the stupidity of that myth. Sure enough, the book ends with the dragon being released from its cave. To fly off and, presumably, be a focal point for the next book.

In reality... A dragon which kills and eats every person in the land... would be more likeable than most of the characters in this book.

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19jan22: No, I have not re-read this book. No way :-(

It crossed my mind... The characters are brutal. nice or nasty. unthinkingly violent or well-motivated to violence.

Underneath all the violence... Not a single character is a human being.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

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Stay cool but stop at frostbite" ... per Ginger Meggs

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Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)

She who became the Sun / Shelley Parker-Chan

She who became the Sun

by  Shelley Parker-Chan

fantasy

copyright 2021

read in January 2022

rated 6/10: read to pass the time.

In the author's thank-you section she tells of one person who argued that at least one of the male characters should be a decent human being. It's possible that one was. That would be the man who destroyed his brother. An unusual definition of "decent".

The story is set in 14th century China. It's a world of war, casual violence, betrayal and male domination. Or, more correctly: female subservience and absolute control by anyone with power... I wonder if today's China is any different.

The "hero" is a woman pretending to be a man. Her life is dedicated to pursuit of her destiny of "greatness" by which she means, absolute power. At any cost. She is an unpleasant and unsympathetic person.

It's interesting to read the descriptions of beauty: very non-European. As a book with a "different" perspective I originally rated it as seven. Having written the review -- remembered how much I dislike the characters -- it's only a six.

Oh, and it is "to be continued". Usually, that really annoys me. With this book, I don't really care... The end is conclusive enough and I don't care what happens next.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

Stay cool but stop at frostbite" ... per Ginger Meggs

===

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)