fantasticquest's reviews
309 reviews

Worldbuilding: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐⭐
Plot:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐⭐
Characters:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐
Writing style:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐

Zevin's writing style is great. I had some minor issues pace-wise: some points / game phases were told a bit too fast or too slow. 
The Pioneers chapter was a bit confusing and I'm not sure if I have liked it.
I liked the characters but sometimes Sam and Sadie annoyed me a bit.

They have so many communication problems. Why aren't you talking to each other, for years, multiple times?!!?

I loved the ideas of the games and also the overall story. Some aspects were so tragic.

Worldbuilding: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot:⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters:⭐️⭐️⭐️
Writing style:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Worldbuilding: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐
Plot:⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters:⭐️⭐️⭐️
Writing style:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐
Drawing style:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Okay I hate dnf'ing this, because I have the next four books sitting on my shelf. But I have to. 

My main reason is this book is just boring.
The concept of the book sounded so good, I hoped for a lot of battles and action scenes. Nope.

This book is very slow-paced, not much is going on. So far I'm 60% into the book: Laurence found a dragon egg after battle. You never see the sea battle itself.

After some time they have to go to training camp, but also there are no real battles insight. Instead a lot of time in which Laurence either talks with other captains or Temeraire. I heard from other reviewers that there is only a tiny battle at the end of book 1.

Also the writing style does a lot of telling. Sometimes were are pages after pages of descriptions or dialogs between characters. Most of the dialog bored me out, it's written in a historical accurate manner.

The one thing I liked the most about this book is the relationship between Laurence and Temeraire. I also understand the choices of Novik to make the dragons, especially Temeraire, very smart from the beginning. But I had a lot of problems with this aswell. I couldn't really understand how a creature could be this smart and speaking so well from day one. Next Laurence: I didn't like him at all. Either he could do anything without problems that other captains couldn't do or he showed some character traits I didn't like.
All other characters (humans and dragons) were a bit meh or had very bad character traits.

I only liked the woman a bit, but probably because it was the only one.

I liked the critism of injustice in this book,

that Temeraire is the only dragon who gets care and the others are more used as a war tool than seen as a living creature.

And the feminist aspect.

One thing I had problems with as a fantasy reader is the little fantasy in this book. Beside the dragons it is just a normal historical book during the Napoletan war. 

Worldbuilding: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐⭐
Plot:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐
Characters:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐⭐
Writing style:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐

I liked the last 1/3 a lot more than the beginning. 
Funny that the author wrote in the afterword that he changed at exactly this point his writing location from alone in the nature to beside his friends.

I first tried reading this book as a child around 15 years ago and stopped reading around 30%. I thought I give this book a second try...
It seems my younger self had the same problems with the book.

First of all I really liked the premise of three orphans going from orphanage to orphanage and finding a magical book. I also like the magical book itself as a device. But there are so many weaknesses. 

Most characters are really flat, most of the time I didn't feel any emotion from them.

Come on guys your brother is missing why aren't you more mad or sad about it?!

Also the adults don’t really care about the children and their wellbeing. There are a couple of characters who remind of characters of other classic children's books:

like Dr. Pym as Dumbledore and the villian as the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland.

Additionaly, the plot is also a bit boring, because it happens to much. I don't know if this makes any sense haha. There is not really a progression but more like problem after problem. 

And last the "magical world" in the book didn't feel magical to me. This was a big problem. I wanted

time-

traveling to a whimsical and mystical world with magical creatures and so on.

And yes you could also have a gruesome queen in a whimsical world (see Alice in Wonderland)

 

And everything is a bit forgettable. I mean I only remembered three children going with a magical book into another world after 15 years and I read 30% of the book.

All this other stuff with the orphanage, pictures, monsters and queen I just didn’t remember anymore.

So this time I DNF this book for good.

Worldbuilding: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐
Plot:⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐
Writing style:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐
Drawing style:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really liked the world, but wished to get to know it a bit better. Too much historical, not enough magical world in my opinion.
There are so much questions after finishing the book.

The illustrations are gorgeous.

Worldbuilding: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐⭐
Plot:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐
Characters:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐
Writing style:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐
Narrator:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Worldbuilding: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot:⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters:⭐️⭐️⭐️
Writing style:⭐️⭐️⭐️
Drawing style:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Worldbuilding: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Writing style:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Drawing style:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️