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Unfortunately, what did outmost, was the narration?

Reviewed: 01-05-25

This is a prime example of how narration can make or break a story. On the plus side, the narrator was pretty good with different voices, male and female accents and what not, but he has this annoying issue with breath control. He pauses in the wrong spots Like he doesn’t know how to control his breath in order to complete a sentence and it just is really distracting. Also I think part of it is the writing the lack of transition from one idea in a paragraph to another. It’s jarring when they’re talking about something and then the next sentence is a totally different idea. It was really distracting to me, which is why I couldn’t give this more stars.

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Good idea, childish writer, misogynistic with a breast fetish

Reviewed: 12-28-24

The world building was good, the magical system was interesting, but it was all downhill from there. I guess it was too much for this writer to do research to see that the plural of “CAPO“ is not. “CAPOS“ because it’s not an English word you don’t just assume that you add an S, the plural of CAPO is CAPI. In every single Paragraph until the very last, it was Wolf girls. It was girls, girls, girls, and then, but it’s Wolf men and that’s the very last paragraph all of a sudden now it’s “women.“ He has to tell us repeatedly how big women’s breasts are because I guess that’s a fetish cause this is a 13 year-old kid who never grew up and that was annoying. The good things about this is the grammar was decent. There were not too many mistakes except like so many writers, for some reason they get confused between “floor“ and “ground.“ This writer also apparently doesn’t know the word “ignite“ or “inhale“ but instead like so many other writers, insists on using “breathes in” and “catches fire.“ The good things are the complicated interactions between the glamours and the mafia was interesting. The setting was believable. It’s a shame, though that as a writer who is the God of his or her creation, without finding a more complicated and different way to create conflict, it always comes down to race. I wish somebody would use something more original than races. And then there’s the price of these books lol. What are these people think they are, Steinbeck? Yes I understand we can use credits but really? I don’t think I’m gonna continue this series but if you guys like this genre, if you like The Low-brow level a light read that doesn’t require much brain power, if you don’t mind a misogyny, this would be entertaining for you.

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If this isn’t, it should be considered a young adult series

Reviewed: 12-09-24

Like so many writers these days, this one is good at the flash not so good at the mechanics. The world building is great, the magical system is great, but every once in a while he’ll make mistakes like he’ll say “going from 0 to 100 in a few seconds“ as if this world Had had an industrial revolution. He also seems to not know the difference between a ceiling and a roof, which is very strange to me. Also, he doesn’t know the difference between the ground and the floor. Every once in a while, he’ll use the wrong word. A word that’s similar to what he meant but the wrong one. I don’t understand how he doesn’t know these words and editor misses them but again people are writing down because people are not reading books. They’re doing audible or they’re getting their information from social media so they don’t know Proper grammar. They have a very small vocabulary. As the title says, this is just like Harry Potter. You have a 16 year old wizard, who was haphazardly trained by his master who was not the best and now all of a sudden he’s in the center of the world and he’s defeating monsters Much stronger than himself. At every turn, he comes across someone who’s stronger than him but every time he prevails. Finally they mention homosexuality one time and that’s it. I grant the writer has full creative control over his or her creation, but it almost been 2025. I don’t know why people who have the ability to create an entire universe and change all of the rules Like this one women and men are totally equal, but still obviously this writer is heterosexual or he’s writing for heterosexual audience because he scared to alienate anybody because his main goal is to make money. It’s really a shame that we take two steps forward and five steps back in gender, equality, sexual orientation, sexual identity, etc. I only got these because they were on sale. I’ve read much much much much better. If you guys don’t mind these “issues“ if you just like this sub, sub, sub genre of fantasy, then I think you will enjoy this series. Once I get the fourth book, I do not think I will be continuing the series. I myself am a writer and I always like to see what others are doing to see how I can do things differently. So I have to thank him for that lots and lots of Points I would do differently and I am doing differently so thank you. Hope this helps somebody.

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Not bad, but several flaws

Reviewed: 05-02-24

I guess, as usual, I seem to be the only reviewer who cares about proper grammar and syntax and consistency. First of all, the narrator is OK, but his attempt at Irish and English accents are atrocious! I think Mr. Simmons either needs to take some classes, YouTube something, or just not even try because – terrible. Secondly, I always find it interesting when writers write about characters who have expertise in a certain field, but the writers themselves don’t have the expertise and obviously make mistakes. The main character in this series is supposed to be a philologist and a polyglot who speaks 12 languages, but he doesn’t use the subjunctive tense when speaking English, most of the time. For those who don’t know, but might care, an example is “I wish I were stronger something. That’s not a fact, I wish, desire, hypothetical situation, but Miss Hawk insists on having him and others say “I wish I was“ which is the past tense, and for those who studied English, after scratch their heads and wonder which does she mean; subjunctive, or indicative? There are other errors in this similar vein and then her version of 19 century is also. “interesting.“ I don’t know how authentic it is and I don’t know if it’s the narrator, but sometimes listening to them, for me, makes it painful, awkward, stilted, and in authentic. Having said all of that, this is a constructive feedback, not just criticism, I do like the way Miss Hawk incorporates the Kula mythos; the old ones which she calls the masters, Her nod to Frank, Belnap, Long, and the hounds of Talos, she changes the Necronomicon onto the LZ, which is cool, the plot is interesting, I find it funny that she goes into graphic detail when why born and Griffin are having sex, but didn’t give us any detail whatsoever And her girlfriend, the secretary. Interesting choice. I think Mr. Wyburn seniors change of heart was too abrupt, as was why born’s mothers but again, Miss Hawk is the God/goddess of this universe, so she has the right to do with it what she will. I like the setting, I wish there were more detail into the city, every day life, I wish she would go to more detail about what Yorn does because she’s mentioned maybe three languages he’s never spoken any of them to anyone, so he recognizes mainly, Christine in Arabic. Seems like a bit of wasted potential but again her choice. Interesting series, not the worst, not the best in my opinion, but definitely worth the time if you like this genre.

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I don’t understand why he’s so popular

Reviewed: 10-22-23

I compared this writer to modern art; lots of flash, and great ideas, but poor technique when there’s any technique at all. This writer doesn’t know how to use the subjunctive tense, his diction is poor (at one point he used.“Respectable“ when he should’ve used. “respectful.“ They are not synonyms.) He, like many others, use “ground” when it should be “the floor” and “the tunnel roof“ when it’s actually “the ceiling“ and so many others, I can’t name them all. I compare this to what I call the “Mariah Carey, Enigma.“ Either Mr. Green has gotten so popular and famous that the editor just rubberstamps his manuscript and doesn’t do any editing, or is too afraid to give constructive feedback on errors. Either way, it’s a shame. But, like Mariah Carey, after a certain point, his fans will read anything he publishes no matter the quality, and apparently the vast majority of readers aren’t as discerning as I. So, if you like Simon Green, if you like his Template where each new character is the best swordsman, like in his death, stalker series, or his nightside series, if you like that, in each story, the first few paragraphs repeatedly remind us what Hawkin Fisher look like, as if we’re going to forget, if you like that, there’s absolutely no character growth, they’re the exact same people at the beginning of the series as they are at the end, then you will love this. Don’t give me wrong, there are a lot of good things in these stories, and I don’t know when these were originally published in his career, but I was not as impressed with these, as I was with some parts of the previously mentioned books. Good luck, and happy reading!

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Not a bad return to reading Stephen King

Reviewed: 10-05-23

I stopped reading Stephen King decades ago, because I appreciated his skill, but I didn’t like the deaths and the despair, and they never seem to be a happy ending. I tried this book, because the premise sounded interesting, and it was, but either Mr. King has forgotten the rules of grammar or his editor is rubber stamping his manuscripts he or she assumes Mr. King doesn’t need editing. Basic grammatical errors abound: some of the major ones are his Calling the diamondback rattler injecting poison instead of venom, the roof of the cave was collapsing instead of the ceiling of the cave, and they were others, but I forget now. The narrator was excellent. The ending to me seemed rushed and anticlimactic. All in all, not bad, but this book did not make me feel like I was missing out for not having enjoyed Mr. King works for the past 30 or so years.hope this helps

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Good idea, but bad execution and worse editing

Reviewed: 10-04-23

I always find it difficult to leave reviews that are mixed like the one I am about to do. The premises sound, for the most part, the writing is solid, with a few glaring errors: the writer seems to not understand what “toward“ means. His characters are always looking toward someone or, shooting toward something. He doesn’t seem to understand that the word means “going in a direction“ like you’re heading toward home, but it’s ambiguous whether you actually make it or not. You don’t shoot toward someone, you should add someone he also doesn’t seem to know the difference between “lying “and “laying.” I don’t listen to books to find errors at nitpick so I don’t have more examples, but there are many. The narrator, is terrible. He can pronounce words OK for the most part, he can read OK, but his acting skills, just leave something to be desired, and the one example that stuck with me, is he pronounced “sewn“ as it was “soon.” If I were reading the book, of course, I know how to pronounce words because I studied English beyond high school, but when I rely on narrators, then to have to stop and try to park what he meant, it ruins the rhythm of the storytelling. I really really do not like this narrator. Because of this narrator, this book gets two stars when it might’ve gotten three or even four. I doubt I’ll continue this series because of all of these shortcomings. There are many many other books, in a similar genre that are much better written, and narrated.

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Good idea, but bad execution and worse editing

Reviewed: 10-04-23

I always find it difficult to leave reviews that are mixed like the one I am about to do. The premises sound, for the most part, the writing is solid, with a few glaring errors: the writer seems to not understand what “toward“ means. His characters are always looking toward someone or, shooting toward something. He doesn’t seem to understand that the word means “going in a direction“ like you’re heading toward home, but it’s ambiguous whether you actually make it or not. You don’t shoot toward someone, you should add someone he also doesn’t seem to know the difference between “lying “and “laying.” I don’t listen to books to find errors at nitpick so I don’t have more examples, but there are many. The narrator, is terrible. He can pronounce words OK for the most part, he can read OK, but his acting skills, just leave something to be desired, and the one example that stuck with me, is he pronounced “sewn“ as it was “soon.” If I were reading the book, of course, I know how to pronounce words because I studied English beyond high school, but when I rely on narrators, then to have to stop and try to park what he meant, it ruins the rhythm of the storytelling. I really really do not like this narrator. Because of this narrator, this book gets two stars when it might’ve gotten three or even four. I doubt I’ll continue this series because of all of these shortcomings. There are many many other books, in a similar genre that are much better written, and narrated.

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Interesting story

Reviewed: 09-29-23

I always find it sad when men write science-fiction. Here we have a galaxy wide empire run by a woman but yet aristocratic females are still second-class citizens, they have no control over their own lives, they are not trained to fight, etc. etc. I mean I understand that riders have the right to invent their own world, but the whole point of fiction is the writer Creates the entire universe here. She has the ability to fix any perceived flaws to change our history to make a new history and therefore a new future and yet there’s still this gender difference. It’s even worse when female writers do this. Secondly, I read the nightside series before I read this, and, this writer has this flaw, or maybe it’s a fable or a bad habit of repeating the same basic and almost inconsequential details way too much. How many times do we need to be told that I disruptor needs two minutes to recharge? How many times do we have to be told that the protagonist is “the Deathstalker“? And don’t get me started on his almost random flaws in grammar. I’ve noticed more so with British writers they don’t know or they’re not taught or they choose not to use the subjunctive tents. Paul in all this is a great read. It’s fun but I wish I had been the editorcause it could be so much better. I don’t have high hopes, but maybe the next book in the series will have some of these errors corrected.

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On par with the best fantasy ever

Reviewed: 09-07-23

I love the originality: the people, the religions, the names! I especially love that, finally, for once, the black guys aren’t the bad guys. I love that the protagonist is gay, but not portrayed as a stereo. Typical “fag.“ Absolutely loved this book. If anyone else is looking for high, epic fantasy, and is not deterred by the mirror, thought of a homosexual protagonist, or a black person who’s in charge, and no lesbian to boot, for those of you, who are not afraid to try something different, this is the series for you.

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