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Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller's Reviews > The Silverblood Promise
The Silverblood Promise (The Last Legacy, #1)
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Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller's review
bookshelves: upcoming-releases-with-covers, arcs
Feb 22, 2024
bookshelves: upcoming-releases-with-covers, arcs
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[2.5/5 stars] I really wish I’d enjoyed this more.
Some really good scenes early on had me bouncing with anticipation for what was to come, but many of those cool ideas that I thought would play a bigger role in the story were never revisited. In a way it felt like promises never fulfilled in the name of packing too many things into one book. A lot of good ideas, mind you, but perhaps they could’ve had more of an impact on the story in the long-run.
The book was marketed as “a must-read for fans of Joe Abercrombie, Nicholas Eames, and Scott Lynch,� three authors I love primarily for their strong, distinctive writing voices and brilliant splashes of dry humor� neither of which I got from the Silverblood Promise. Perhaps the setting and the underground politicking had glimmers of similarities, but I found it more comparable to Sullivan’s Riyria Revelations and Weeks� Night Angel trilogy.
At times the book read more like a mystery set in a fantasy world than it did a fantasy with mystery components. Unfortunately, as almost the entire book revolved around the mystery, it wasn’t a very good one. Too many conveniently placed pieces to the puzzle. Too many thinly-veiled setups. Too easy to deduce. And then you add a character who isn’t particularly suave or clever with too many implausible “close calls,� and you can see why I didn’t like this one as much as I hoped to.
Additionally, some things just felt off. Even near the end there were a couple of odd POV switches (after we’d been following a single POV the entire book) that made it seem like the MC was no longer the center of the most interesting things happening, temporarily irrelevant. It killed the momentum and left me wishing he’d been written closer to the action the entire way through.
Overall, the combination of all of these minor things kept the story from feeling completely composed. It had a lot of potential, but for me it didn’t quite get there.
Recommendations: A story that started out strong eventually turned into a struggle to finish. Many of the things that bothered me don’t seem to be phasing other early readers (it currently has a 4.42 average rating and some high praise from other reviewers I respect), so if you’re excited to read this, take my opinion with a grain of salt (and let me know what you think when you read it)!
Thank you to my : Dave, Katrin, Jen, Frank, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, Mike, and Elizabeth! <3
Via The Obsessive Bookseller at
And thank you to TOR Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of The Silverblood Promise!
Other books you might like:
[2.5/5 stars] I really wish I’d enjoyed this more.
Some really good scenes early on had me bouncing with anticipation for what was to come, but many of those cool ideas that I thought would play a bigger role in the story were never revisited. In a way it felt like promises never fulfilled in the name of packing too many things into one book. A lot of good ideas, mind you, but perhaps they could’ve had more of an impact on the story in the long-run.
The book was marketed as “a must-read for fans of Joe Abercrombie, Nicholas Eames, and Scott Lynch,� three authors I love primarily for their strong, distinctive writing voices and brilliant splashes of dry humor� neither of which I got from the Silverblood Promise. Perhaps the setting and the underground politicking had glimmers of similarities, but I found it more comparable to Sullivan’s Riyria Revelations and Weeks� Night Angel trilogy.
At times the book read more like a mystery set in a fantasy world than it did a fantasy with mystery components. Unfortunately, as almost the entire book revolved around the mystery, it wasn’t a very good one. Too many conveniently placed pieces to the puzzle. Too many thinly-veiled setups. Too easy to deduce. And then you add a character who isn’t particularly suave or clever with too many implausible “close calls,� and you can see why I didn’t like this one as much as I hoped to.
Additionally, some things just felt off. Even near the end there were a couple of odd POV switches (after we’d been following a single POV the entire book) that made it seem like the MC was no longer the center of the most interesting things happening, temporarily irrelevant. It killed the momentum and left me wishing he’d been written closer to the action the entire way through.
Overall, the combination of all of these minor things kept the story from feeling completely composed. It had a lot of potential, but for me it didn’t quite get there.
Recommendations: A story that started out strong eventually turned into a struggle to finish. Many of the things that bothered me don’t seem to be phasing other early readers (it currently has a 4.42 average rating and some high praise from other reviewers I respect), so if you’re excited to read this, take my opinion with a grain of salt (and let me know what you think when you read it)!
Thank you to my : Dave, Katrin, Jen, Frank, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, Mike, and Elizabeth! <3
Via The Obsessive Bookseller at
And thank you to TOR Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of The Silverblood Promise!
Other books you might like:
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Reading Progress
October 24, 2023
– Shelved
October 24, 2023
– Shelved as:
to-read
October 24, 2023
– Shelved as:
upcoming-releases-with-covers
October 25, 2023
–
Started Reading
December 17, 2023
–
20.0%
"Oooh. Okay I was already liking it, but now I’m REALLY liking it. This could be a great recommend for those needing something to tide them over until the next Hierarchy book comes out� hope it stays this good."
January 12, 2024
– Shelved as:
arcs
January 16, 2024
–
Finished Reading
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Horsegirl
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Jan 22, 2024 03:46AM
Did you like it in the end?
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Other books you might like:Theft of Swords - Michael Sullivan
The Way of Shadows - Brent Weeks
The Will of the Many - James Islington
We Ride the Storm - Devon Monk
Age of Ash - Daniel Abraham
Horsegirl wrote: "Did you like it in the end?"Unfortunately I got more and more dissatisfied as it went along. But looking at all the other great reviews out for it, I'm in the minority!
Just finished it up and this is exactly how I felt! The POV switch was pretty jarring for me as well. Chalking it up to how the following books in the series will be written, but still found it odd to be introduced at all in this first novel. Hoping for some stronger plot with less hand holding in future books, but not sure if I’ll ever get over how dumb idiotic Lukan acts if that trend continues.
Chase wrote: "Just finished it up and this is exactly how I felt! The POV switch was pretty jarring for me as well. Chalking it up to how the following books in the series will be written, but still found it odd..."It's such a bummer, but I'm at least glad to hear I'm not out on an island by myself!
Great review and let me tell you you’re not alone alas. I had so many hopes for this book the last ten chapters was hard for me. It’s a good story I think he should address the issues like too many minor characters the constant banter we almost forgot the initial plot like finding his father’s murderer. Too bad really too bad
I agree completely with your review although I found the critiques didn't really affect my enjoyability of the story. I've got a feeling the sequel will be sharper as the author hones his craft.
I'm surprised this has been so well received on GR. I think it's a solid first book for sure, but nothing stood out as particularly great to me, and there were a few parts that annoyed me (I keep harping on the chapter where he overhears the the villains reveal their plots via forced exposition) and like you said, the random POV changes in the latter fourth of the book.
