Reviews and Comments

It's almost too bad that you have to read the original Mistborn trilogy to really appreciate this book, because it's a lot better than them. Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, the world has progressed. And it's a kind of Wild West situation, but with nobility and magic.

Oh and it's a pretty funny book. If you like Westerns, action, and a bit of comedy in your fantasy, this book will entertain you.

While it had better character development than the first book, this is still firmly in the fluff reading category. Enjoyable fluff.

Enjoyable fluff.

You should read this book if you like creative magical systems, compelling world building, dark fantasy, or Ancient Egypt. It's refreshing as heck to read some fantasy that's not set in fake Medieval Europe.

The book had a bit of a slow start, jumping between the characters and establishing the world. However, that seems to be the thing in contemporary fantasy so if you read a lot of fantasy you might not even notice. Once it does get going, though, the plot is compelling. What Jemisin sets up, she delivers. You'll see what I mean when you read it.

I meant to read something more serious and important but this book fell into my e-reader and then I got sucked in.

If you like Wodehouse you'll like it. Light comedy and comedy in the classic sense that everyone gets married to the person they most deserve at the end. This is not, I duly note, a Jeeves and Wooster bit. These are (apparently) stand alone characters. It's nonetheless delightful and made me laugh out loud.

This is the weakest of the Patternist series thus far. It's tightly plotted but the characters are hastily sketched. Despite this I couldn't put it down. The premise is strong and the world is both depressing and believable. The book fits into the scifi genre with both its strengths (premise, world building, plotting) and its weakness (character development). If you like scifi already it's an enjoyable read. I just know Octavia Butler can do better.