Rate this book

Wintertij (2010)

by Michael J. Sullivan(Favorite Author)

4.37 of 5 Votes: 1

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Luitingh-Sijthoff

series

The Riyria Revelations

review 1: Where to begin with this book... Trying to keep this short and spoiler free - Amelia has to be one of the worst POV characters in the genre. This book starts out great, ends great, middle section - not so much. Amelia's story (that started in the last book) began with promise - simple maid, treated badly by Nobility, etc, etc. However, instead of keeping her as a strong female POV, what we ended up with was a LOT of chapters of her whining about inconsequential, obnoxious details while the other POV characters in the story are facing actual problems and challenges. She goes from complaining about being a maid, to complaining about being nervous around nobility, to complaining about her feelings for Sir Breckton. This is compounded by the audiobook, because on more than one... more occasion I'd spend an entire hour-plus commute to work listening to a chapter entirely comprised of Amelia complaining. At one point (spoiler-free), she's complaining/crying that she can't ride a horse correctly, doesn't understand hawking, and is sad because she thinks she looks foolish in front of Breckton. Meanwhile, almost the entire rest of the cast is tied up events that are actually interesting and/or dangerous - yet we have to slog through chapter after chapter of obnoxious Amelia diatribe. It gets old really, really fast - and on top of that, it's occasionally mixed in with Sir Hadrian mingling with nobles, so you have chapters of Amelia whining bookended by chapters of nobles being obnoxious to Hadrian. If the cast of this series wasn't so likable, and if the audiobook narrator wasn't (once again) so spectacular, I'd probably have just stopped listening and moved on to a different series altogether. The book does come together in the end, but there is a LOT of nonsense in the middle that a good editor should have taken care of. Five books into a series is not the time for serious character development on a minor POV, especially if the last book was chock full of the same type of development on the same character. I honestly cringe every time a new chapter starts out and it has anything to do with Amelia, because I know I'm in for a good hour of complaining. It really brings down what is otherwise a great series.All in all, 2.5 stars for the book, plus another half star for the narrator. I'm hoping that the last book picks up the pace again, but I said the same thing in my review of book 4.
review 2: I finished this a few days ago but hadn't taken time to review it. I must say that I have enjoyed this series and can recommend it. This series and these characters are so well done I'm very glad I found it. I'd had it recommended to me some time ago but never got around to reading it. If the same is true with you try it...really.This is the 5th out of 6 volumes and it's another good story. The plot takes a darker turn (as it's been headed that way from the first). We get to know these guys and the supporting cast from book one and they fill out rather than shift or change as we go along. I wasn't actually surprised by the major turn here but I must say a part of me didn't really think "it would go that way" so to speak.This story, as Tolkien said, grew in the telling. I'm not going to run down the story as this is the fifth volume and spoilers would be unavoidable...I will simply say that if you are a fantasy fan of most any stripe, don't miss this one.Really. Highly recommended. less

Download links for: Wintertij

Advertising