M. B.

When I read the books, I really don't mind the contrived patterns. It's hard to come up with something new, but this patriarchal, paper, capitalist fairy world is really poorly constructed. The various courts seem to be suspended in mid-air, with no sense of their existence or how they work. They are all beautiful and incredibly powerful. For 500-year-olds, they are surprisingly dull and devoid of character. Hardly intelligent. There's a lot of talk about the characters' past, a lot of bloodshed there and explanations of why the characters are the way they are. But I didn't feel any realness or sympathy for them. They are immature and their stories exaggerated, almost caricatured. For a time of war, somehow there is little focus in this book. Only, oh, one person went on some reconnaissance, Once or twice. Beyond that, it describes tension or emotion poorly. I didn't feel the beauty of the places or the uniqueness of the experiences. I am incredibly disappointed. Finding good fantasy is like looking for a needle in a haystack. The market is saturated with weak fantasy from people who have come up with one good plot idea and think that's what it's all about.