Top critical review
2.0 out of 5 starsHas potential but ultimately wasted
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2020
I wanted to like this book. The premise is a good one, the backstory and world building is great. That being said, there are too many little things wrong. For one, even though George R.R. Martin does it, changing view points every chapter is a very jarring way to read a book. In this book, it's terrible. Wisehart writes well enough to get you invested in the plot of a particular character, then poof, end of chapter and somebody else is doing something totally unrelated. Which brings up another point: there are way too many unrelated plot threads. Literally, each story arc is completely unconnected. Then there are a lot of plot holes (minor spoilers?). Why would an all wise wizard turn a 16 year old boy loose with totally vague instructions and a complete lack of direction? That makes zero sense. Realistically Wisehart probably wrote it this way to allow for other (unecessary) drama, but it's so ridiculous as to make the book unreadable for me. The child that he risked his life to save 16 years ago? Oh, no big deal, I'll leave him to his own devices and let him get into trouble that a 4 year could see coming from miles away. Every reader was thinking it: "Don't touch the evil book. Don't touch the evil book. Don't touch the evil book." Sigh. He touched the evil book. And then did what the evil book told him to do.
Those things listed above would be enough, but there are other little things that made it worse. Every backwater village has an inn that is always completely full of people. Newsflash, people it rural farming communities work for a living. They don't have the money or the time to drink ale in smokey pubs all day.
In the middle of the ultimate fight scene, one of the main characters starts crying. Seriously? I've never fought a demon, but I would imagine adrenaline probably kicks in. That fight or flight response prevents the body from making tears in a situation like that. Those tears were right after the character just resolved to let everyone die to accomplish the mission.
There are others, but that's a sample. It wouldn't have taken much for a good editor to tighten up some of these things to make it a better book. As it is, I won't be reading the 3rd.
