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Includes the name: Lee French

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French, Lee
Nationalitet
USA
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writer

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[b:Harbinger|23448889|Harbinger (The Greatest Sin #2)|Lee French|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1414289983s/23448889.jpg|43011603] is a bit of a tonal shift from the [b:The Fallen|20639269|The Fallen (The Greatest Sin #1)|Lee French|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390778530s/20639269.jpg|39921898]. Where The Fallen had a split feel between Chavali's life with her clan and then after her death as one of the Fallen, Harbinger is almost entirely concerned with a single mission she's sent on on behalf of her former masters.

We still have hints of Chivali's former life. How she uses her powers; occasional sad memories of all she's lost. But for the most part, she seems to be fitting into her role as something like a spy, running missions for the masters of the Fallen. It works, although I was hoping for a bit more even about the clan she'd lost, perhaps rebuilding it, and why it happened to them in the first place. We get a few answers, but really more questions than ever.

Worldbuildwise, Harbiner takes what we knew and expands on it, with a few more variants on magic (straight up mages, drowned zombies--more-or-less, and a hyper intelligent horse). Once again, we had the barest comments on Elves, without it really mattering to the world at all. If it's not going to matter to your world that there are Elves and Dwarves, then why are they there? Make something new and different (like mages and mind readers and watery undead, plenty of that to go around!).

On top of that, I'm becoming increasingly curious what exactly is the backstory with Chivali's feather and what it actually does/means. It's weird and cool... and I want to explore that part of the world.


“What’s with the feather?”

Frankly, it surprised her that it took him this long to say something about the pink feather grafted into her forehead and surrounded by a floral tattoo. People frequently stared at it while speaking to her, and given more than a few minutes of exposure, nearly everyone said something about it, either as a question or a comment. He lasted a few hours.

“I am eccentric.”


Overall, it's a neat world and solid enough writing to keep me thoroughly intrigued. I want to see what happens next!
… (mere)
 
Markeret
jpv0 | Jul 21, 2021 |
[b:Moon Shades|25464248|Moon Shades (The Greatest Sin #3)|Lee French|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1430510393s/25464248.jpg|45231673] is a bit of an odd book in that plotwise, it doesn't actually have much to do with either [b:The Fallen|20639269|The Fallen (The Greatest Sin #1)|Lee French|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390778530s/20639269.jpg|39921898] or especially the big events of [b:Harbinger|23448889|Harbinger (The Greatest Sin #2)|Lee French|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1414289983s/23448889.jpg|43011603], at least not until the last few chapters of the book. After everything, I expected more.

But it's still an interesting enough book on it's own merits. Essentially, it's a fairly standard 'something took the children... and our neighbors are WEREWOLVES!' type story (which is amusingly specific enough to be a trope) with Chivali and the Fallen as an entrypoint into the world. We learn a very little bit about magic in this world, along with the aforementioned werewolves (pretty standard).

We do get to dig a bit more into the relationships between Chivali and the other Fallen--in particularly Colby, Eliot, and newcomer Sean while also dealing with Chivali's clan beliefs as she begins to induct new members. There's a lot more going on there than even what we get in this book, so I'm glad to see it hasn't been dropped.

Which brings to mind one of the things that continues to frustrate me about this series:


Chavali hadn’t yet learned what price the Fallen paid to bring people back from death. She guessed it must be a significant, substantial sacrifice. Prior to being revived, she had no idea such a thing could even be done. The research that must have gone into discovering the process would be fascinating and probably also quite grim. At the least, she doubted that one life could be traded for another, as that made no sense.


I have a few theories... but there is only so long you can keep something that big and important to the main characters of a series hidden. There are also other questions, such as digging more into the different theories on the 'Greatest Sin' between various sects and why/how the Creator's Towers function that I'd rather see explored, but I guess I can continue to be patient.

Overall, a good read and a good sequel. I'm looking forward to the next, although hoping for a bit ... more.
… (mere)
 
Markeret
jpv0 | Jul 21, 2021 |
I have a pretty good number of less known / self published stories that I've collected through various sales and bundles that I keep meaning to work through. [b:The Fallen|20639269|The Fallen (The Greatest Sin #1)|Lee French|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390778530s/20639269.jpg|39921898] is one such book. I'm not even sure where I picked it up anymore, but it seems worth giving a try.

Structurally, The Fallen starts with Chavali (a fortune teller who just so happens to have a gift for mind reading) and her clan of travelling folk. Fascinating world building already and we just keep getting hints of even crazier things going on in the greater world as everyone dies and Chavali is brought back as one of the mysterious "Fallen". Quite a twist.

Really, the fascinating world building, truly with a 'fantastical' feel to it carries the story. You never really know exactly how things outside of her clan work, since Chavali doesn't know how things work, and it works. You get to learn about the world as she does. One thing that felt really strange was a bare handful of mentions of 'elves and dwarves'. But... why? The story would be just as strong without it; by putting that in, you feel like you're leaning against Tolkein and Dungeons and Dragons.

Worth the read. I'm really curious to see where it goes from here.
… (mere)
 
Markeret
jpv0 | Jul 21, 2021 |

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Statistikker

Værker
20
Also by
2
Medlemmer
73
Popularitet
#240,526
Vurdering
3.9
Anmeldelser
8
ISBN
65

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