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The Lightcursed
For eons the Order of the Arbour has trained paladins in the Light with their living gods present at their side. Peace reigns in the known world and all is well until one day the gods themselves vanish. Kovi, Elis, and Carvard - three paladins of the noble Arbour - set out on a journey alongside one another to seek answers and find their fate in a world thrown into war.
90 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 28, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 28, 2024
I am so disappointed that I didn't love this. I went in thinking I would. I thought it would be exactly what I've been looking for. It's a fantasy novella...and I love novellas...and I love fantasy...so I thought this would be the thing I've been missing in my life because I struggle these days when it comes to reading big fantasy epics. Maybe I built it up too much in my head...but I didn't end up liking this. I actually found myself actively disliking it as I went.
I want to start by saying this book has a very interesting premise. I like the whole concept behind the world and I think there was definitely potential there. And when it comes to the writing...there weren't any technical issues with typos or grammar problems or anything like that.
There are two main reasons that this just didn't work for me, personally.
1. I did not care about any of these characters. There felt like a lot of info dumping. We see inside the characters heads but it felt to me like I was just being fed their character outline. I didn't FEEL anything. If we've got a main character who we are supposed to believe has inspired a group of people to action, that they will follow him anywhere, then I want to feel that way about him too. I don't just want to be told it...I wasn't to FEEL it. And I just didnt...I didn't feel anything about any of the characters. And it frustrates me because I think the ending would have been brilliant...if I'd cared...if I'd felt anything about the people who were involved in these events. Onjectively...I can look at it and say thats a great idea...but it just didn't work for me.
2. This novella tries, in my opinion, to tell a story that is just too big for the space it's given. Things feel rushed, things feel info dumpy, etc because I think it just tries to tell too big of a story. Chapter one...on its own...could have been a 90 page novella. Done well, making thr characters come alive, making us actually feel the things we are told they are feeling...I could have eaten it up. There are enough characters who are just shadow outlines that could have been fleshed out...it could have been so interesting the idea of having this faith and it suddenly disappearing and how that impacted these people. And then Kovis revelation would have been so much more powerful. We could have seen him become the thing we are told he is...could have felt it. I use chapter 1 as an example...but really almost any of these chapters on their own could have been told that way and made for a great novella.
For me...novellas really are much more impactful when, instead of trying to tell the whole epic tale in under 100 pages, they take just a slice of that tale and tell it really really well. I don't need to know everything that came before that moment and everything that comes after...I just need to feel invested in it and in the characters.
Not that my opinion is the end all be all (it's definitely not), but I just feel like if you want to tell the whole epic tale then you either do it in a series of novellas that can stand on their own but also give you the full story if you read them in order. Or...you ditch the novellas and give this story the space it needs to be something special.
So...not one I'd recommend but I do have some more from this author on my TBR. I hope that I end up enjoying them more because I do think there is potential here...this one just wasn't for me.
I want to start by saying this book has a very interesting premise. I like the whole concept behind the world and I think there was definitely potential there. And when it comes to the writing...there weren't any technical issues with typos or grammar problems or anything like that.
There are two main reasons that this just didn't work for me, personally.
1. I did not care about any of these characters. There felt like a lot of info dumping. We see inside the characters heads but it felt to me like I was just being fed their character outline. I didn't FEEL anything. If we've got a main character who we are supposed to believe has inspired a group of people to action, that they will follow him anywhere, then I want to feel that way about him too. I don't just want to be told it...I wasn't to FEEL it. And I just didnt...I didn't feel anything about any of the characters. And it frustrates me because I think the ending would have been brilliant...if I'd cared...if I'd felt anything about the people who were involved in these events. Onjectively...I can look at it and say thats a great idea...but it just didn't work for me.
2. This novella tries, in my opinion, to tell a story that is just too big for the space it's given. Things feel rushed, things feel info dumpy, etc because I think it just tries to tell too big of a story. Chapter one...on its own...could have been a 90 page novella. Done well, making thr characters come alive, making us actually feel the things we are told they are feeling...I could have eaten it up. There are enough characters who are just shadow outlines that could have been fleshed out...it could have been so interesting the idea of having this faith and it suddenly disappearing and how that impacted these people. And then Kovis revelation would have been so much more powerful. We could have seen him become the thing we are told he is...could have felt it. I use chapter 1 as an example...but really almost any of these chapters on their own could have been told that way and made for a great novella.
For me...novellas really are much more impactful when, instead of trying to tell the whole epic tale in under 100 pages, they take just a slice of that tale and tell it really really well. I don't need to know everything that came before that moment and everything that comes after...I just need to feel invested in it and in the characters.
Not that my opinion is the end all be all (it's definitely not), but I just feel like if you want to tell the whole epic tale then you either do it in a series of novellas that can stand on their own but also give you the full story if you read them in order. Or...you ditch the novellas and give this story the space it needs to be something special.
So...not one I'd recommend but I do have some more from this author on my TBR. I hope that I end up enjoying them more because I do think there is potential here...this one just wasn't for me.
April 15, 2024
I want to see more of this world! The characters were vivid and this was so promising. I'd have loved it even more as a chunky novel
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews