The Lair of Bones by David Farland
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

You know, in general, I really enjoyed reading this. All the endowments, the whole sum of all men thing, still has its creepy-ass aspect to it but we get to see a lot more of the people who give up their best traits for the high-and-mighty elite. It may not resolve anything, but at least we know that the GOOD devotionals are doing it out of love.

Would YOU go blind so your elite leader could have super-freaking-excellent sight? Or become weak so he becomes strong? Or sleep for twenty years so he can heal super quick?

No? Well, this is a fantasy and I just have to assume that there is some cultural s*** going on.

Putting that aside, I got all giddy when so many of the main characters went all out and dived into the earth to put an end to the gigantic crab leader and stick it to the million-plus reavers pouring out of the ground to put an end to all mankind. I have no problems with that. It was awesome. :) Supermen, nature magic, massive stakes. It's all here.

It's even awesome despite the nagging questions I have after reading it. Like all those seemingly useless plot threads that seemed to be so important in the text -- only to go absolutely nowhere at the culmination of the final battle.

Ah, but at least a certain cinder-boy got a satisfyingly ignoble end. :)

You know, for four books that take place over a single week, I'm pretty impressed at the way it gets pulled off. It's epic and the magic system allows for a ton of movement and events to occur very quickly. That's fine by me. But there's just one thing... the end of this book sped the hell up in a rather spectacularly annoying way. As in, everyone lived happily ever after even though our MCs basically have to split up because they're living at different rates and OH, btw, all these young-ass characters are suddenly old men and women. Yeah, yeah, the magic system has consequences, but still, these were FOUR BOOKS taking place in a week! Until the end when everyone dies of old age. lol

I know this sounds like I have a major issue with these books but it's just not true. I have a need to complain very loudly about a series I think does a great job pulling a very interesting rabbit out of its hat and I want to bitch and moan because I actually love it and wish I could see it fixed. Or explored further.

Fortunately, there are 4 more books. Guess what I'm reading? :)

View all my reviews