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A review by thesinginglights
A Time of Dread by John Gwynne
4.0
3.75 stars
Thank you to Tor for giving me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
There's a lot of good going for this book but it is unfortunately hampered by some fairly sloppy writing, surprising considering this is Gwynne's fifth published book; it reads like a debut at points. But! There is a good cast and a focused narrative.
The backdrop of A Time of Dread is an ongoing conflict between an angelic race of individuals, the Ben-Elim, who are allied with humans and their demonic counterparts, the Kadoshim who are beginning to spread their influence anew after being underground for the better part of one hundred years.
Told through four perspectives, the story moves across various parts of a landmass called the Banished Lands. The voices were varied enough but I was most engaged with Drem's and Sig's, in that order. Bleda's was okay but he sort of disappeared mid-book and Riv's voice was quite inconsistent, her decisions sometimes frustrating. The worldbuilding was quite spare as well. Not a lot of ground was covered but in terms of history and setting, it was mostly related to the previous series and recapping the events of that more than anything. I can tell there's a lot more interesting world but Gwynne doesn't seem to be interested in it. Again, I do appreciate keeping the POV count down. It helped the narrative stay focused and definitely helped the speedier pace in the latter half, especially as they start to intersect.
The plot is quite compelling and has some pretty decent twists but it's a slow-burn for such a small book (by fantasy standards) so that's part of the reason why it can't achieve greater marks. What is there had me slapping my mouth a few times, with a few raised eyebrows. The cast is solid and enjoyable, not overly complex but interesting enough.
Also, the writing! It was strangely uneven. In parts, it was quite nicely descriptive and economical, immersing you in the scenes and the characters, and in other places it was like Writing 101 ("Riv felt angry", "Drem felt cold"). It was often enough to draw me out of the experience sometimes and soured some of the better scenes of the book.
The latter half is the best part, especially Sig and Drem's parts, with Riv's having a good number of twists but it was uneven because it happened in quick succession with not enough early set-up. I'm left with a lot of questions but I suppose it is a series so I'll likely be returning but I won't be in a hurry.
A mixed, but ultimately very readable, bag.
Bonus points for having a cast of characters in the front of the book. Honestly it helped keep track of the characters. It's not necessary but it's a nice thing more fantasy books should adopt. (Looking to you, Brandon Sanderson!)
Thank you to Tor for giving me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
There's a lot of good going for this book but it is unfortunately hampered by some fairly sloppy writing, surprising considering this is Gwynne's fifth published book; it reads like a debut at points. But! There is a good cast and a focused narrative.
The backdrop of A Time of Dread is an ongoing conflict between an angelic race of individuals, the Ben-Elim, who are allied with humans and their demonic counterparts, the Kadoshim who are beginning to spread their influence anew after being underground for the better part of one hundred years.
Told through four perspectives, the story moves across various parts of a landmass called the Banished Lands. The voices were varied enough but I was most engaged with Drem's and Sig's, in that order. Bleda's was okay but he sort of disappeared mid-book and Riv's voice was quite inconsistent, her decisions sometimes frustrating. The worldbuilding was quite spare as well. Not a lot of ground was covered but in terms of history and setting, it was mostly related to the previous series and recapping the events of that more than anything. I can tell there's a lot more interesting world but Gwynne doesn't seem to be interested in it. Again, I do appreciate keeping the POV count down. It helped the narrative stay focused and definitely helped the speedier pace in the latter half, especially as they start to intersect.
The plot is quite compelling and has some pretty decent twists but it's a slow-burn for such a small book (by fantasy standards) so that's part of the reason why it can't achieve greater marks. What is there had me slapping my mouth a few times, with a few raised eyebrows. The cast is solid and enjoyable, not overly complex but interesting enough.
Also, the writing! It was strangely uneven. In parts, it was quite nicely descriptive and economical, immersing you in the scenes and the characters, and in other places it was like Writing 101 ("Riv felt angry", "Drem felt cold"). It was often enough to draw me out of the experience sometimes and soured some of the better scenes of the book.
The latter half is the best part, especially Sig and Drem's parts, with Riv's having a good number of twists but it was uneven because it happened in quick succession with not enough early set-up. I'm left with a lot of questions but I suppose it is a series so I'll likely be returning but I won't be in a hurry.
A mixed, but ultimately very readable, bag.
Bonus points for having a cast of characters in the front of the book. Honestly it helped keep track of the characters. It's not necessary but it's a nice thing more fantasy books should adopt. (Looking to you, Brandon Sanderson!)