This entire arc starts off with one question, a few pages in. Lucifer, what the fuck are you up to?
And now, let me add to that. He's retiring from being Lucifer, king of hell to just Lucifer, wandering fallen angel who doesn't have any remaining connections to the place. Hell, he even leaves the key to Hell itself with Dream.
Who's promptly mobbed by all sorts of diplomats trying to get it for their own purposes. From all sorts of mythology, including two of God's angels, Remiel and Durma. I'm fairly certain about that. This arc is mainly filled with diplomacy, and the subtle kind at that.
It's at this point I realized what an utter dick Lucifer was to Dream in giving him the key. Dream doesn't want to deal with this shit, but nope! Here he has a metric arse-load of delegates wanting the key to hell.
As before, this tale is freakishly well written. Maybe one or two of the supporting characters is weak, but the main characters and the antagonists ring stronger than ever. I'd love to say more, but this is just one of those things where if I say too much, I'm spoiling it for others! And I don't want to do that, this arc is good!
...I will say that the end left me in tears, and Dream grew up a bit in admitting he was a butt in the past.
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Sandman, Arc III
Alright, so this arc is interesting. The first four issues are short stories, really, and the last two are the start of another story arc. There's a lot of things going on, and as in the previous arcs of the world the details are stunning.
The first tale deals with the youngest of the Greek muses, Calliope, and issues going on with her being trapped in the human realm.
The second is one of my favorites-- A Dream Of A Thousand Cats. It's a tale that revolves around entirely around cats. Cats cats cats and more cats. I shan't spoil the ending-- I'm trying not to do so because wow I want y'all to read this-- but I ask you one question: What do cats dream of when their legs twitch in their sleep? Is is mice, or something else...?
The third short is also good. It's the first performance of A Midsummer's Night Dream, by Shakespear's troupe of actors themselves. Dream holds the performance on Midsummer's night, in a field, and the fey themselves join them. Oberon, here called Auberon is there, along with Titania and all sorts of other characters. Puck is there, even Titania's attendants Peaseblossom, Moss, and Cobweb are there. It's really fun.
The fourth short is already faded in my mind, but I do remember that it is a good tale.
And then the fifth and sixth issue roll around and whoa. Damn. I was not expecting this to happen. Alright, for starters, almost all the Eternals are brought together, and wow they're a dysfunctional lot. Dream and Death passively fling shade at one another, Desire is a sass-master, Despair is just. Standing there doing her thing, whatever that may be, Delirium, a new introduction, is scatterbrained and creates things to un-create things. Destiny just stands there, following his set path in his eternal life.
Desire and Death actually manage to talk some sense into Dream via snarky remarks and a heart-to-heart, and Dream desides to fix a wrong he made a long time ago. So, after gathering all his creations, saying farewell to a friend, and saying a few last things to his closest companions, he heads off to hell. Again. And, from some scenes seen earlier, Lucifer of this Hell's Trimurative is not pleased. Dream humiliated him last time, and he wants revenge.
BUT IT'S A CLIFFHANGER.
AND OH GODS WHYYYYYYYY.
I want to keep reading, but I can't.
This cliffhanger was initially only a month,
I've heard there was one cliffhanger which was a killer that had a gap of about two/three years.
Yeeesh.
I can't wait until I get to the next arc.
The first tale deals with the youngest of the Greek muses, Calliope, and issues going on with her being trapped in the human realm.
The second is one of my favorites-- A Dream Of A Thousand Cats. It's a tale that revolves around entirely around cats. Cats cats cats and more cats. I shan't spoil the ending-- I'm trying not to do so because wow I want y'all to read this-- but I ask you one question: What do cats dream of when their legs twitch in their sleep? Is is mice, or something else...?
The third short is also good. It's the first performance of A Midsummer's Night Dream, by Shakespear's troupe of actors themselves. Dream holds the performance on Midsummer's night, in a field, and the fey themselves join them. Oberon, here called Auberon is there, along with Titania and all sorts of other characters. Puck is there, even Titania's attendants Peaseblossom, Moss, and Cobweb are there. It's really fun.
The fourth short is already faded in my mind, but I do remember that it is a good tale.
And then the fifth and sixth issue roll around and whoa. Damn. I was not expecting this to happen. Alright, for starters, almost all the Eternals are brought together, and wow they're a dysfunctional lot. Dream and Death passively fling shade at one another, Desire is a sass-master, Despair is just. Standing there doing her thing, whatever that may be, Delirium, a new introduction, is scatterbrained and creates things to un-create things. Destiny just stands there, following his set path in his eternal life.
Desire and Death actually manage to talk some sense into Dream via snarky remarks and a heart-to-heart, and Dream desides to fix a wrong he made a long time ago. So, after gathering all his creations, saying farewell to a friend, and saying a few last things to his closest companions, he heads off to hell. Again. And, from some scenes seen earlier, Lucifer of this Hell's Trimurative is not pleased. Dream humiliated him last time, and he wants revenge.
BUT IT'S A CLIFFHANGER.
AND OH GODS WHYYYYYYYY.
I want to keep reading, but I can't.
This cliffhanger was initially only a month,
I've heard there was one cliffhanger which was a killer that had a gap of about two/three years.
Yeeesh.
I can't wait until I get to the next arc.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Sandman, Arc II
Back again, with a general thought dump on the second arc of Sandman, the Doll's House.
It actually jumps around a bit this time, starting with a tale of the ancient past of a love story between Dream and a human queen. Of course, such things can't happen, so there's a bunch of strife afterwards. I really love the art shifts in this story-- they're very sudden yet fitting to the tale being told.
Anyways, it turns out that that entire event was sparked by Desire, another of the Eternals. Through a conversation with him and another Eternal, Despair, it's revealed that Desire is up to something again as, while this conversation is taking place, Dream is still trapped in that magical sphere from the first arc.
Ah, so at this point in time, readers will know of six out of seven Eternals. Dream, Death, Destiny, Desire, Despair, and Delerium. One's unknown and will remain unknown for a loooooong time, apparently.
We then get to the actual start of the plot with one of Dream's main aid taking a census of the dream realms. With the census completed, it turns out that four dreams are missing. Brute, Glob, Fiddler's Green, and the Corinthian. Keep that last name in mind.... Also, there's a Vortex going on in what I'm guessing is the sea of dreaming, and Dream's keeping an eye on it.
This is shown though this arc's human protagonist, a girl named Rose. She promptly wakes up and mutters about strange dreams to her mother. They're on their way to meet a mysterious benefactor, who turns out to not only be Rose's grandmother, but also one of the minor characters from the first ark, one of those affected greatly by Dream's imprisonment.
Some private conversations between Rose's ancestors and a freaky encounter with the three fates, or three whatever they are-- who warn her about dreams and the Corinthian-- later, Rose is given the quest to find her younger brother, Jeb, who's somewhere over in south-west America. So she gets there, and is lodging in a house with a bunch of strange people. You have the plastic average people, actually named Barbra and Ken (Snigger, snigger.) The strange pair of spider-obsessed women, the hose manager who's also a drag queen, and the man upstairs, Gilbert.
While all this is going on, Dream is trying to find where the four missing dreams have gone in the human world. He starts off with finding Brute and Glob, who were attempting something I shall not spoil here. Jeb is somehow involved, and he escapes the area after Dream states something to another character who showed up. He..... Runs into the Corinthian, however, who appears to be a perfectly normal human aside from wearing shades all the time.
Something I really enjoy about this story is that the minor characters matter. Asides from two of the minor character showing up in one form or another in this arc, a fragment of plot I read in a later arc brings back two characters introduced in this arc. And I have no idea how far in the future that later arc is from where I am now. All this attention to details, no matter how small, really makes me happy. I think I probably picked up my habit of writing all the details I do from the author of this tale.
And I cannot get over the art decisions. There's one scene, where all the residents of the hose complex Rose is staying at are dreaming. All of the dreamers have their own different style of art for their dream, along with their own text font! It just subtly adds so many more details to this tale!
And detail is a critical weakness of mine.
Rose ends up working with Gilbert, the man form upstairs, to find her brother. They become friends over time, working to find Jeb whilst Dream pursues his own goals-- and the two eventually end up at a convention for Serial Killers. Yes, that's right, a convention from and for Serial Killers. It turns out that's what the Corinthian has been doing in his years on Earth. Killing people.
I really want to say what happens next, but I'll restrain myself if only to get y'all to read this story some day. It is mature, so if your parents are those that want to always protect their child-- but you want to grow up-- I'd say look in a library for them and read them in your spare time. Either way, it's a good read.
Also, there's a time-travel story of sorts in the middle of things. It's a one-shot, and has no relevance to the plot, but it's still an impressive read. And I shall probably never stop fangirling over this series.
But yeah.
Good art style, good details, surprising connections from event to event, and just overall a fascinating story to read.
I can't wait 'till I get to read the next arc!
It actually jumps around a bit this time, starting with a tale of the ancient past of a love story between Dream and a human queen. Of course, such things can't happen, so there's a bunch of strife afterwards. I really love the art shifts in this story-- they're very sudden yet fitting to the tale being told.
Anyways, it turns out that that entire event was sparked by Desire, another of the Eternals. Through a conversation with him and another Eternal, Despair, it's revealed that Desire is up to something again as, while this conversation is taking place, Dream is still trapped in that magical sphere from the first arc.
Ah, so at this point in time, readers will know of six out of seven Eternals. Dream, Death, Destiny, Desire, Despair, and Delerium. One's unknown and will remain unknown for a loooooong time, apparently.
We then get to the actual start of the plot with one of Dream's main aid taking a census of the dream realms. With the census completed, it turns out that four dreams are missing. Brute, Glob, Fiddler's Green, and the Corinthian. Keep that last name in mind.... Also, there's a Vortex going on in what I'm guessing is the sea of dreaming, and Dream's keeping an eye on it.
This is shown though this arc's human protagonist, a girl named Rose. She promptly wakes up and mutters about strange dreams to her mother. They're on their way to meet a mysterious benefactor, who turns out to not only be Rose's grandmother, but also one of the minor characters from the first ark, one of those affected greatly by Dream's imprisonment.
Some private conversations between Rose's ancestors and a freaky encounter with the three fates, or three whatever they are-- who warn her about dreams and the Corinthian-- later, Rose is given the quest to find her younger brother, Jeb, who's somewhere over in south-west America. So she gets there, and is lodging in a house with a bunch of strange people. You have the plastic average people, actually named Barbra and Ken (Snigger, snigger.) The strange pair of spider-obsessed women, the hose manager who's also a drag queen, and the man upstairs, Gilbert.
While all this is going on, Dream is trying to find where the four missing dreams have gone in the human world. He starts off with finding Brute and Glob, who were attempting something I shall not spoil here. Jeb is somehow involved, and he escapes the area after Dream states something to another character who showed up. He..... Runs into the Corinthian, however, who appears to be a perfectly normal human aside from wearing shades all the time.
Something I really enjoy about this story is that the minor characters matter. Asides from two of the minor character showing up in one form or another in this arc, a fragment of plot I read in a later arc brings back two characters introduced in this arc. And I have no idea how far in the future that later arc is from where I am now. All this attention to details, no matter how small, really makes me happy. I think I probably picked up my habit of writing all the details I do from the author of this tale.
And I cannot get over the art decisions. There's one scene, where all the residents of the hose complex Rose is staying at are dreaming. All of the dreamers have their own different style of art for their dream, along with their own text font! It just subtly adds so many more details to this tale!
And detail is a critical weakness of mine.
Rose ends up working with Gilbert, the man form upstairs, to find her brother. They become friends over time, working to find Jeb whilst Dream pursues his own goals-- and the two eventually end up at a convention for Serial Killers. Yes, that's right, a convention from and for Serial Killers. It turns out that's what the Corinthian has been doing in his years on Earth. Killing people.
I really want to say what happens next, but I'll restrain myself if only to get y'all to read this story some day. It is mature, so if your parents are those that want to always protect their child-- but you want to grow up-- I'd say look in a library for them and read them in your spare time. Either way, it's a good read.
Also, there's a time-travel story of sorts in the middle of things. It's a one-shot, and has no relevance to the plot, but it's still an impressive read. And I shall probably never stop fangirling over this series.
But yeah.
Good art style, good details, surprising connections from event to event, and just overall a fascinating story to read.
I can't wait 'till I get to read the next arc!
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Sandman, Arc I
Sorry for the lot of y'all who were expecting more posts on Scorched, but I finished that book up and I just want to leave it behind. Overplayed romance triangles that serve little-to-no-point FTL!
But hey! I'm now reading one of the more legendary stories from the amazing Neil Gaiman, also known as the comic book series Sandman. And holy freaking crap it's amazing.
So, to clarify a few things before I start, my father has collected the actual comics as they were printed, so I have to read these at the dining room table on a mat because, hey, they're pretty freaking rare and valuable these days. Also due to the paper texture they feel lovely-- the texture of weathered yet sturdy paper. It's a nice feel.
But yes, I've read the first arc, which introduces one of this world's seven Eternals, beings who are living anthropomorphic embodiment of different aspects to life. The first arc follows Morpheus, more commonly known as Dream. It starts off with him being captured and stripped of his items of power by a human, who meant to summon death.
A human lifetime passes, taking Dream from the 1920's to the 90's before he can escape the magic trap he had be caught in. After taking care of the remaining captor by giving him the "gift" of eternal waking, he departs back for his own realm to start looking for his three lost items-- a pouch, a mask, and a ruby. This takes up the first fourth of the ark-- two of eight issues.
I have to say, the writing is really amazing! As always, Mr. Gaiman has just this certain way with words. Add to that the unique art style this series has, and just-- asjd;lfkja;lweb! It's a keyboard smash of things I can't quite place descriptors to! Hell, even the covers are intricately detailed. I think it's a nice touch that some ethereal beings such as Dream and Lucifer have their own style of text boxes. Dream speaks with a slightly wavering white script in a black and ragged box, whereas Lucifer's are rounded boxes with a very stylized text in them. Extra details like this help the characters to sound certain ways in one's mind. Dream sounds quiet to me, but his voice-- despite being rusting like book pages turning-- holds a deep amount of power to it.
It seems that in this work, like the others, I'm just going to spend most of it in wonder at the weaving of things together and asdfghjkl; this story!
Anyways, Dream has to go on this quest to go get his three items of power back so he can repair his realm/actually do things since his items have a part of his soul/power sealed into them. Two of them are relatively easy, with one of them being on earth and easily retrieved with the help of John Constantine (DC "hero" of sorts-- I don't know much about him but the fragment I saw was really cool!)) and the other being retrieved after a contest in Hell.
Yes, you read that right. Hell. Dream has to go to hell and win a contest against a duke of Hell to get his mask back. It's all types of cool, and Dream has this one line that just causes all the demons of hell to part before him and let him leave. I ain't going to tell you what it is, it's one of those things you really need to read for yourself.
The last item, his Ruby Moonstone, is not that easy. It takes up 3/8 issues to get it and one of them, well.... I wouldn't recommend it for the weak of heart. There's some really messed up shit in there. We're talking more messed up than the Manhunt game series mixed with the manga Parasyte. (A game series about murder for the fun of it and the child poster for Body Horror, respectively.) It's not pretty. I might have nightmares and they'd be the worst kind of nightmares. But still, despite being a barrel of messed up, it's really well written and understandable despite twists and turns.
I ain't going to spoil the climax.
But afterwards, Dream is feeding some birds when his older sister, Death shows up. Yes, Death is a girl. She promptly throws a well-thought out sisterly lecture/tantrum-- more great moments I won't tell you about-- but it ends with Dream finally smiling, having found solace after his woes.
But yes-- this story is amazing so far! Apparently there's seven of these Eternals, and their names all start with D. Dream and Death have been seen, and Destiny and Despair have been mentioned in passing.
I cannot wait to read the second arc.
I keep talking about Dream. Here's an image of the Eternal to help y'all see what I saw, in a sense.
But hey! I'm now reading one of the more legendary stories from the amazing Neil Gaiman, also known as the comic book series Sandman. And holy freaking crap it's amazing.
So, to clarify a few things before I start, my father has collected the actual comics as they were printed, so I have to read these at the dining room table on a mat because, hey, they're pretty freaking rare and valuable these days. Also due to the paper texture they feel lovely-- the texture of weathered yet sturdy paper. It's a nice feel.
But yes, I've read the first arc, which introduces one of this world's seven Eternals, beings who are living anthropomorphic embodiment of different aspects to life. The first arc follows Morpheus, more commonly known as Dream. It starts off with him being captured and stripped of his items of power by a human, who meant to summon death.
A human lifetime passes, taking Dream from the 1920's to the 90's before he can escape the magic trap he had be caught in. After taking care of the remaining captor by giving him the "gift" of eternal waking, he departs back for his own realm to start looking for his three lost items-- a pouch, a mask, and a ruby. This takes up the first fourth of the ark-- two of eight issues.
I have to say, the writing is really amazing! As always, Mr. Gaiman has just this certain way with words. Add to that the unique art style this series has, and just-- asjd;lfkja;lweb! It's a keyboard smash of things I can't quite place descriptors to! Hell, even the covers are intricately detailed. I think it's a nice touch that some ethereal beings such as Dream and Lucifer have their own style of text boxes. Dream speaks with a slightly wavering white script in a black and ragged box, whereas Lucifer's are rounded boxes with a very stylized text in them. Extra details like this help the characters to sound certain ways in one's mind. Dream sounds quiet to me, but his voice-- despite being rusting like book pages turning-- holds a deep amount of power to it.
It seems that in this work, like the others, I'm just going to spend most of it in wonder at the weaving of things together and asdfghjkl; this story!
Anyways, Dream has to go on this quest to go get his three items of power back so he can repair his realm/actually do things since his items have a part of his soul/power sealed into them. Two of them are relatively easy, with one of them being on earth and easily retrieved with the help of John Constantine (DC "hero" of sorts-- I don't know much about him but the fragment I saw was really cool!)) and the other being retrieved after a contest in Hell.
Yes, you read that right. Hell. Dream has to go to hell and win a contest against a duke of Hell to get his mask back. It's all types of cool, and Dream has this one line that just causes all the demons of hell to part before him and let him leave. I ain't going to tell you what it is, it's one of those things you really need to read for yourself.
The last item, his Ruby Moonstone, is not that easy. It takes up 3/8 issues to get it and one of them, well.... I wouldn't recommend it for the weak of heart. There's some really messed up shit in there. We're talking more messed up than the Manhunt game series mixed with the manga Parasyte. (A game series about murder for the fun of it and the child poster for Body Horror, respectively.) It's not pretty. I might have nightmares and they'd be the worst kind of nightmares. But still, despite being a barrel of messed up, it's really well written and understandable despite twists and turns.
I ain't going to spoil the climax.
But afterwards, Dream is feeding some birds when his older sister, Death shows up. Yes, Death is a girl. She promptly throws a well-thought out sisterly lecture/tantrum-- more great moments I won't tell you about-- but it ends with Dream finally smiling, having found solace after his woes.
But yes-- this story is amazing so far! Apparently there's seven of these Eternals, and their names all start with D. Dream and Death have been seen, and Destiny and Despair have been mentioned in passing.
I cannot wait to read the second arc.
I keep talking about Dream. Here's an image of the Eternal to help y'all see what I saw, in a sense.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Book: Scorched, Part 2
Second post, same as the first. Not that much shorter if at all shorter, and full of similar complaints and comments to the last one. The last fifth of this book fell under ye old typical action-and-explosion filled ending. It flowed well, what with the pacing going at a decent clip with the different scenarios but still finishing up all the kinda loose ends that were there. So, good for the book in that case!
Other cases, not so much.
I could spend a good time listing out all the tropes that happened in the last fifth, but that'd be no fun whatsoever. Just know that there's a lot of them, but they're all the standard adventure book tropes so they fit in pretty well. The dragon is still freaking cool, as are all the other dragons that show up in totally-not-a-collective-unconsciousness-realm. And yeah, there were a few moments and things like that but they were surprisingly underplayed. I think they could have been touched on just a bit more then what they were, but eh.
Alright I'll put some of the tropes to digital paper. There's the heart-tearing reunion, the former-antagonist-of-sorts-debating-his-morals, the beast of chaos that learns to restrain itself, and the ever-used this-shall-be-a-series ending. There's quite a few besides these, though.
I do wish that this went on a bit longer in the end, if only because it seemed a bit rushed. The first few sections dragged on a bit too long, so why not cut out those not really needed pages (the romance scenes, obviously.) and add them on to the ending so things can slow down a bit and have some more detail. The scene where Trin was being beat down by the other potentials needed to go on just a bit longer instead of being cut where it was.
So, Scorched is a decent book. It ain't the new Harry Potter, but it certainly ain't the next Twilight. And thank gods for that. Sometimes it's just nice to read a book that's there, and if you're in the mood for that, I'd definitely recommend Scorched as a good read to pass the time if you like dragons and adventure and you can tolerate/ignore/like the seemingly obligatory love triangle.
I probably won't read this book again, though as I said earlier, it's just a giant meh to me.
...Snrk. Oh yeah, the lead villain's main hench-person has a name I seriously can't help but to chuckle at. Her name's Mara, and since I play a lot of SMT (Shin Megami Tensei) games, well, let's just say that Mara is a demon who happens to look a lot like something rude riding on a golden chariot. Viewer discretion is recommended, so be a bit warned if you want to look that demon up. It's a bit not safe for work.
Other cases, not so much.
I could spend a good time listing out all the tropes that happened in the last fifth, but that'd be no fun whatsoever. Just know that there's a lot of them, but they're all the standard adventure book tropes so they fit in pretty well. The dragon is still freaking cool, as are all the other dragons that show up in totally-not-a-collective-unconsciousness-realm. And yeah, there were a few moments and things like that but they were surprisingly underplayed. I think they could have been touched on just a bit more then what they were, but eh.
Alright I'll put some of the tropes to digital paper. There's the heart-tearing reunion, the former-antagonist-of-sorts-debating-his-morals, the beast of chaos that learns to restrain itself, and the ever-used this-shall-be-a-series ending. There's quite a few besides these, though.
I do wish that this went on a bit longer in the end, if only because it seemed a bit rushed. The first few sections dragged on a bit too long, so why not cut out those not really needed pages (the romance scenes, obviously.) and add them on to the ending so things can slow down a bit and have some more detail. The scene where Trin was being beat down by the other potentials needed to go on just a bit longer instead of being cut where it was.
So, Scorched is a decent book. It ain't the new Harry Potter, but it certainly ain't the next Twilight. And thank gods for that. Sometimes it's just nice to read a book that's there, and if you're in the mood for that, I'd definitely recommend Scorched as a good read to pass the time if you like dragons and adventure and you can tolerate/ignore/like the seemingly obligatory love triangle.
I probably won't read this book again, though as I said earlier, it's just a giant meh to me.
...Snrk. Oh yeah, the lead villain's main hench-person has a name I seriously can't help but to chuckle at. Her name's Mara, and since I play a lot of SMT (Shin Megami Tensei) games, well, let's just say that Mara is a demon who happens to look a lot like something rude riding on a golden chariot. Viewer discretion is recommended, so be a bit warned if you want to look that demon up. It's a bit not safe for work.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Book: Scorched
Alright, so I'm about three-fourths of the way through this book and man. It's interesting. Not quite my cup of tea, but interesting none-the-less. It starts off rather slow, but about half way through things start happening. And by things I mean the dragon egg finally hatches.
Because yes, this a book with FREAKING DRAGONS THAT ARE ACTUALLY INTIMIDATING. And there haven't been enough of them recently. So anyways. Our main character is Trinity, and she starts off as a girl who had to grow up fast. She manages all the finances for the meuseum where she stays with her grandfather, and it's an decent life.
I'm a bit iffy on remembering the early plot, it was boring as hell. The only interesting thing was that dragons existed in this word, and one egg remained frozen by the last great ice age. Of course, it shows up in Trin's life. There wouldn't be much of a plot otherwise.
And did I mention there was time-travel in this book? Because there is. A set of twins from the post-dragon-caused-apocalyptic-future show up, each with their own different goals, yada yada yada, this is trope #8346, family members opposing each other with different sides of the same tale.
Trin is eventually captured by the one who wants to save the dragon, and is taken back the layer where the Draken, a dragon rights activist group also from the future, has set up camp with several orphans from around the world because dragons are in possession of another trope: Miraculous healing blood.
Things actually get entertaining when the Draken turn out to lead by trope#160: the crazy religious-governed power that plans to lead everyone into the apocalypse. Just like the Law route in SMT IV, just like so many other things. This is why this type of plot point has become a trope. It's over done.
I do like the words that the author has used throuought the book. It flows well, and that's what matters, really. If things don't flow well, then it's hard to read it. I will gripe about the love triangle between Trin and the future twins, though. I don't like romance ruining my action books, especially when it seems slightly shoe-horned in as this triangle does.
So, this book is the first in a planned series, is full of tropes and more tropes and even more tropes, and has a shoe-horned love triangle. It's a decent read, but the only thing in it that doesn't seem to be recycled-formula-for-popular-book-series-a-go-go is the fact that there's dragons. But they're a bit too underplayed.
So, this book is a giant meh to me. Maybe I'll go reread an old favorite after finishing this iffy, iffy book....
I'm a bit iffy on remembering the early plot, it was boring as hell. The only interesting thing was that dragons existed in this word, and one egg remained frozen by the last great ice age. Of course, it shows up in Trin's life. There wouldn't be much of a plot otherwise.
And did I mention there was time-travel in this book? Because there is. A set of twins from the post-dragon-caused-apocalyptic-future show up, each with their own different goals, yada yada yada, this is trope #8346, family members opposing each other with different sides of the same tale.
Trin is eventually captured by the one who wants to save the dragon, and is taken back the layer where the Draken, a dragon rights activist group also from the future, has set up camp with several orphans from around the world because dragons are in possession of another trope: Miraculous healing blood.
Things actually get entertaining when the Draken turn out to lead by trope#160: the crazy religious-governed power that plans to lead everyone into the apocalypse. Just like the Law route in SMT IV, just like so many other things. This is why this type of plot point has become a trope. It's over done.
I do like the words that the author has used throuought the book. It flows well, and that's what matters, really. If things don't flow well, then it's hard to read it. I will gripe about the love triangle between Trin and the future twins, though. I don't like romance ruining my action books, especially when it seems slightly shoe-horned in as this triangle does.
So, this book is the first in a planned series, is full of tropes and more tropes and even more tropes, and has a shoe-horned love triangle. It's a decent read, but the only thing in it that doesn't seem to be recycled-formula-for-popular-book-series-a-go-go is the fact that there's dragons. But they're a bit too underplayed.
So, this book is a giant meh to me. Maybe I'll go reread an old favorite after finishing this iffy, iffy book....
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