Making and inventing is an ugly, stupid, random, dangerous process - just like humanity itself
Shorefall
by Robert Jackson Bennett
Genre: Adult Fantasy
About: The first of the hierophants, one of the Ancient Ones, has set the stage for his resurrection. If successful, he will have the power of a God and be able to transform the world as he sees fit. Sancia, once just a thief not likely to take risks, seems poised as the only one who might be able to stop him. But she'll need help. Most of all, she needs Clef back. He could, quite literally, be the key to it all.
The Good
I love the characters. Going back to Tevanne and this scrived world felt so easy because I remembered how much I loved Sancia and all the people she's grown to care about. Orso makes me laugh, there are so many heists and the scriving magic is just fascinating. My favourite thing to read by far is the sentient objects. I felt strangely emotional listening to the Mountain again and all the other smaller objects have such an intensity about their purpose and I really enjoyed all those different voices.
The baddies are also fantastic. Crasedes makes for a very spooky and horrifying villain. His entrance into the city is something out of a horror film. Valeria likewise is an interesting character in that we never know how much to trust her. She, Ofelia, Crasedes, all of the main players have a complexity to them that is compelling.
The Bad
Sort of the same issue as the previous book. The dialogue isn't exactly bad, but it is often used as a tool to explain things to the reader or 'catch' us up on what's happening or about to happen. And the twists don't have a huge impact as they never read as shocking. The foreshadowing is very heavy handed. There's a lot of explanations, hints, flashbacks and repetition so the reader is able to piece things together often before the characters.
The Somewhat Iffy
There were a few of the magic system rules that I didn't quite understand. It's made a big deal that Crasedes scrived time but hasn't Clef or Sancia done this when persuading a scrived object that a second is not actually a second? And then the ritual to bring Crasedes back required human sacrifices but we're told more than once that he lacks the knowledge of how to do this anymore. I'm pretty sure that if I was to write down every instance I felt confused on the magic system, Robert Jackson Bennett would have the answer as it is a very well thought out and complex world, but the way the rules are shown and seemingly broken at points, read confusing.
Overall
I really like the characters and the world. These books are full of action and compelling villains. I'm not as excited to go into the third as I was for the second as it did feel a little repetitive in the story, but I still loved reading.
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