Dec-22-2010, 02:32 PM (UTC)
I thought the Soldier Son books were excellent (although I seem to be a wee bit in a minority here). Probably not as good as the RotE books, but then again, what is? :-). What surprised me was the hammering the series took on Amazon via the reviews, I'll be honest and say I was put off for a good year or so until a work colleague convinced me to give them a go.
I found all of the usual five star ingredients there; good characters, solid plot, exciting epic story, political machinations\intrigue, a study of morality and justice relevant to us in the 'real' word. I didn't even think the pace was slow, I thought it went just as fast as it needed to be. Nevare always came across as an introspective character (obviously), but I never found him to boring or whining - some of what happended to him would surely allow a bit of moaning! His problem was that he tried to live up to expecations of his father and his society and was found wanting through no fault of his own - again - surely a bit of selfpity is allowed here. His father was an interesting character, set up almost as a minor villain, but really just a flawed man who put duty before all and was genuinely trying to do the best for his family without understanding that, in this case, both were mutually exclusive. The first half of the second book - when things really go wrong for Nevare - was a bit of a struggle - but even then, I think that was required to build for what was to follow - so again no complaints.
The depth and complexity of the characters was up to the usual high standard, and that along with the other plus points I mentioned before give it a solid 'A' in my book. All in all - a worthy addition in my humble opinion.
I found all of the usual five star ingredients there; good characters, solid plot, exciting epic story, political machinations\intrigue, a study of morality and justice relevant to us in the 'real' word. I didn't even think the pace was slow, I thought it went just as fast as it needed to be. Nevare always came across as an introspective character (obviously), but I never found him to boring or whining - some of what happended to him would surely allow a bit of moaning! His problem was that he tried to live up to expecations of his father and his society and was found wanting through no fault of his own - again - surely a bit of selfpity is allowed here. His father was an interesting character, set up almost as a minor villain, but really just a flawed man who put duty before all and was genuinely trying to do the best for his family without understanding that, in this case, both were mutually exclusive. The first half of the second book - when things really go wrong for Nevare - was a bit of a struggle - but even then, I think that was required to build for what was to follow - so again no complaints.
The depth and complexity of the characters was up to the usual high standard, and that along with the other plus points I mentioned before give it a solid 'A' in my book. All in all - a worthy addition in my humble opinion.
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