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snowfoxofdeath Thou errant flap-dragon! from San Francisco Suburb Since: Apr, 2012
Thou errant flap-dragon!
#1: Feb 2nd 2011 at 9:24:10 PM

I found all these gushy reviews, some of them clearly written by teenage girls. I read it and found it to be clunky, awkward, and the characters were mildly irritating, but I got through it okay. So, tropers, how did you like it?

edited 5th Feb '11 9:14:58 PM by snowfoxofdeath

Warm hugs and morally questionable advice given here. Prosey Bitchfest
thebarbiemonster I linger in neutrality. from somewhere warm and sunny Since: Jan, 2011
I linger in neutrality.
#2: Feb 4th 2011 at 8:54:45 PM

Its okay, I guess. I didn't Fire too much and abandoned it after five chapters. The only character I ended up liking was Leck...and he was the villain. *Facepalms.

Don't let the pink fool you.
LoniJay from Australia Since: Dec, 2009 Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
#3: Feb 4th 2011 at 10:20:40 PM

What genre is this book? I've read reviews that seemed to imply it was a fairly normal fantasy setting, but then I see covers that make it look like a vampire novel.

Be not afraid...
snowfoxofdeath Thou errant flap-dragon! from San Francisco Suburb Since: Apr, 2012
Thou errant flap-dragon!
#4: Feb 4th 2011 at 11:15:52 PM

It's generic fantasy.

edited 5th Feb '11 9:11:51 PM by snowfoxofdeath

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storyyeller More like giant cherries from Appleloosa Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: RelationshipOutOfBoundsException: 1
More like giant cherries
#5: Feb 5th 2011 at 8:12:48 PM

The first one is ok, but Fire is pretty bad.

Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play
chihuahua0 Since: Jul, 2010
#6: Oct 4th 2011 at 5:33:39 PM

Necro.

I finished Graceling—and I liked it. And I bought Fire. And I did a little cleaning up of the first part of their page. Go ahead and try killing me with a telekinesis Grace. tongue

snowfoxofdeath Thou errant flap-dragon! from San Francisco Suburb Since: Apr, 2012
Thou errant flap-dragon!
#7: Oct 4th 2011 at 6:32:34 PM

What did you think of the feminism, Chi-chi?

And since the characters bug me so much, how did they work for you?

SQUEEEE DISCUSSION TIME I LOVE DISCUSSION TIME I NEED MORE DISCUSSION TIME

Warm hugs and morally questionable advice given here. Prosey Bitchfest
feotakahari Fuzzy Orange Doomsayer from Looking out at the city Since: Sep, 2009
Fuzzy Orange Doomsayer
#8: Oct 5th 2011 at 9:45:18 AM

The main character's overpowered, but the villain's even worse, so it balances out. I didn't think the characterization was that bad, either.

That's Feo . . . He's a disgusting, mysoginistic, paedophilic asshat who moonlights as a shitty writer—Something Awful
Moth13 Since: Sep, 2010
#9: Oct 6th 2011 at 6:37:29 PM

I read both of them and couldn't really stand them. I don't remember most of my complaints, except that mind reading and romance do not mesh.

chihuahua0 Since: Jul, 2010
#10: Oct 17th 2011 at 10:28:44 PM

[up][up][up] It didn't bother me. I saw the non-feminist stuff more.

[up][up] And I think her inner conflict balanced out her powers, in both novels.

In general, I think Fire is more balanced out. While Po and Leck were the few people who could truly match Katsa, Fire had people who shielded their mind, people who hated her with an envy, and then the predators that would attack her. While the plot isn't as structured as nicely (everything with Leck seems like only a detour), I liked the world. Give it a few years, and I could live in it.

Personally, I find the mature themes in Fire and how they are presented...interesting.

...

Is it bad I have lower expectations of fiction than most people here?

edited 17th Oct '11 10:30:41 PM by chihuahua0

Matues Since: Sep, 2011
#11: May 4th 2012 at 2:33:25 PM

[up]

I liked it, too.

Katsa was formidable, but also rather self-restricted. She allowed the king to boss her around, serving as his thug for quite awhile before she stood up for herself.

EDIT: Ah, crud. I just necro'd.

edited 4th May '12 2:34:03 PM by Matues

Troliolio To whatever end from Texas Since: Dec, 2011 Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
To whatever end
#12: May 4th 2012 at 2:42:27 PM

The parts with the king actually weren't very interesting to me, because Katsa's character was the same when she was under him and it was obvious to me that Katsa would leave him eventually. The guys, except Po, are rather flat. However, I did like the plot, and it was a very interesting read overall. Fire was good too, and hearts to Leck. evil grin

Anyway, Katsa is a better name than Katniss.

Matues Since: Sep, 2011
#13: May 4th 2012 at 2:48:21 PM

Still, her explanation as to exactly what would happen if her uncle tried to stop her was fairly awesome.

"Uncle, Let me explain what will happen the instant one of your men makes a move toward me. Let's say, for instance, one of your archers lets an arrow fly. You've not come to many of my practices, Uncle. You haven't seen me dodge arrows; but your archers have. If one of your archers releases an arrow, I'll drop to the floor. The arrow will doubtless hit one of your guards. The sword and the dagger of that guard will be in my hands before anyone in the room has time to realize what's happened. A fight will break out with the guards: but only seven or eight of them can surround me at once, Uncle, and seven or eight are nothing to me. As I kill the guards I'll take their daggers and begin throwing them into the hearts of your archers, who of course will have no sighting on me once the brawl with the guards has brokwn out.

I'll get out of the room alive, Uncle; but most of the rest of you will be dead. Of course, this is only what will happen if I wait for one of your men to make a move. I could move first. I could attack a guard, steal his dagger, and hurl it into your chest this instant."

Rather frightening to have someone like that as an enemy.

edited 4th May '12 2:49:07 PM by Matues

Troliolio To whatever end from Texas Since: Dec, 2011 Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
To whatever end
#14: May 4th 2012 at 3:02:29 PM

[up] Yeah. She might be unbalanced, but usually once I start rooting for a character, the more unbalanced the better XD

CaligulaSympathizer Caligula Sympathizer from rainbowland Since: Jan, 2012
Caligula Sympathizer
#15: Jun 1st 2012 at 7:11:25 PM

The romance was better than in most YA novels. For once, the guy is actually SUPPORTIVE of the girl and actually believes in her abilities without going all macho.

But overall, it was pretty meh. For some reason, I kept on comparing Katsa with Chung-li.

I sympathize with short, angry men who have big egos.
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