Malice

The Book in 1 Sentence

The most predictable and frustratingly told fantasy story with zero originality.

Brief Review

This book is the bases of every fantasy book. A mysterious prophecy, someone who believes that prophecy belongs to them, and the perfect child who it actually refers to. Between the basic storyline, the 7 characters that it flips between, and heavily single threaded characters, I cannot tell if I have read a more boring book.

Why I Read this book

Not sure how or when it landed in my Audible library

In-Depth Review (Favorite Quotes)

My "Brief Review" really is all I have to say. There are about 7 characters that this flips between, and it reads like someone trying to copy Game of Thrones. Constantly bouncing between characters to enrich the story, only to find yourself feel that it was to fill the book rather than bring about a better story. Every single character is exactly the same from their introduction to the close statement. They never waiver from that path. This is also a problem because you are introduced to a character in the intro that plays a story beats, but isn't really a larger figure in the story telling. The bouncing between characters does nothing but frustrate rather than entice.

The story itself has to be one of the most predictable things of all time. People constantly get hurt, but don't die. The 14-year-old is the perfect warrior, fighting in a way that no one has seen before. There is a mysterious figure who is teaching him to be a better fighter that "no one" could have seen coming. Every single time a character background was introduced, I knew what the main next step for them was going to be. I even think I know exactly what the mystery is about the 14-year-old that was teased in the third act.

What this book does decently well is the action. Why ungodly one-note, it is well told. I enjoyed some scenes and just appreciated the descriptions. However, I cannot express to you how much plot armor was introduced during these fights. For every character telling their story in the book, there is a dozen point where they should have died, but no.

As I was making the poster for this, I read the tagline "Even the Brave Will Fall." First off, no shit Sherlock. Secondly, this is barely a true statement to this book. There is only one character that is for sure dead, the other will come back in the next book, which I won't be reading, guaranteed.

Rating

As you can tell, this book was not worth the credit for me, if I didn't get it in the two for one. It has been in my library for a couple of years and I mainly read it since I accidentally downloaded it at some point; I wish I hadn't. I finished this book out of spite and the need to finish what I started rather than because it was good. If you could ask my wife what my thoughts were for this book she would tell you frustration because it was a terrible book. It isn't a bad story, but it isn't good. It isn't poorly written, it is just a copy cat. It isn't a direct facsimile of a single book, but it is taking elements from all the major ones. A 5 is the best that I can give it.

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