G Rawlins

I didn't think it was possible to enjoy reading a book about travel so much. As someone that was reading it while also navigating japan for the first time, it was very funny and extremely accurate. I would definitely recommend it irrespective of whether you intend to visit japan soon.

This book is extremely slow at the beginning and then finishes like a sprint, with the bulk of the action and actual plot occurring in the last 4 chapters. Instead of drawing out the fall-out from the excitement into a grand chapter of redemption and remorse, the last two pages read more like a Wikipedia summary. Economic problems and thoughts of revolution that have been building over the course of the book are miraculously resolved by essentially saying 'and then it was all better again'. There are some imaginative concepts, and the growth arc of the main character is complex and interesting, but in my mind this does not make up for the poor pacing and the lack of depth to some characters. There is also conspicuous lack of intelligent female protagonists which is so often the case in medieval fantasy writing. There is a fleeting love interest with the candlemakers daughter, but this tails off into nothing as she is suddenly cut from any interesting scenes at the end of the book. The next most notable female character, the step mother, is portrayed as mildly hysterical, and not in the good sense. The only interesting character with potential, Jonqui, is introduced in the last couple of chapters and plays a minute role. I feel there is a lot left to be desired here and I ferverently hope Hobb has addressed some of this in the later books. It is also worth noting that these books touch on a number of quite dark topics, including rape (and obviously murder), physical abuse and cult conditioning, so this book may not be suitable for younger teens, although older teens will likely be fine with it. All in all, I would recommend the wheel of time as a more balanced and engaging series.