David Ellery > Recent Status Updates

It wasn't my mood. It's a combination of a character, Maeve's mother, who cuts far too close for me, personally, and this being one of the most heavy-handed books I've ever read.

Not enjoying this as much as I hoped I would, but that could well be down to my current less-than-stellar mood. Also how much this book loves to tell rather than show.

Not so much "taking my time", right now, as "life keeps getting in the way", but hey, not complaining.

Taking my sweet time to savour every word.

Still enjoying it every bit as much as I did the first book. Particularly like what I've seen of L0hengrin. The one small criticism I have is the LGBT+ stuff is a little clumsily handled thus far; not fixating so much on sex would have helped a lot with that.

Well, so far, just as good as the first. Setting everything up very well, the core conflicts and themes are clear, and Wade's behaviour makes sense given the flaws he had in the first book, and how suddenly getting everything he ever wanted and so much more, and then a technological Pandora's Box on top of that, would exacerbate them. It all rings true.

So darn good I've already ordered the sequel. Actually gonna be sad to finish this.

Slow start, but I appreciate a story that's willing to take its time getting everything in place. It makes it so much more satisfying when it reaches the top of the lift hill and the roller coaster truly begins. So far, this coaster's been an infectiously vibrant ride, and I have a feeling it's not nearly reached full power yet.

So far in book four, same as before, just in Welsh, with added evil foxes because reasons. At least there's no Merriman, in this one. I'm pretty much reading on autopilot, now, just wanting to get it all over with so I can move on to better things.

Third book read. A lot shorter than the prior two, but mostly the same issues, to the point it almost feels like a retread, just with both casts together and a different MacGuffin. Really hoping book four finally breaks the formula, not least since the feeling of all these kids just being tools and puppets for the Light is unsettling.

Book two done. Leans really heavily on the crutch of purple prose, neglects the plot and characters, especially inert protagonist Will, who's just led around so Big, Dramatic Things can happen to him, with very little agency for a Chosen One. Book three is so far much more sparing with the descriptive indulgences, and is better for it, though Merriman is still off-putting.

Am I supposed to dislike Merriman as much as I do? He's a hypocrite. Overblown speeches about responsibility, never seems to take any. Stresses the costs, never pays any, never suffers for his choices and actions; other people do. Beautifully written, but really heavy-handed, and pretty bleak in its mindset. Frustrating.

A definite improvement on the first book, but I also now remember why I couldn't get through this one before: a near-suffocating weight of capital-letters DESTINY, which always feels like a narrative strait-jacket to me, and the always off-putting theme of "nasty things must be done for the greater good", a pretty bleak and limiting mindset. Quite worrying, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

First book of the Sequence done. Generic Blyton-esque plucky kid leads, decently menacing but hollow villains, a bit predictable with an ending relying on an unexplained convenience, but also great descriptive prose and good use of British mythology, not least in a Carnival sequence. Really hoping the other books fulfil the potential only partly realised here.