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tekhunter's review against another edition
5.0
A solid new storyline within the same universe. I really like the continuation of certain characters and the addition of new set pieces including some really good seafaring parts! Cool new shifts in magic and abilities as well.
kurt's review against another edition
4.0
YES!!! I am so glad I stuck this series out so far! This is heading in a great direction, and I am really starting to enjoy this!! The series is good from the beginning, but up until now, that's all it seemed to be for me... just good. Until now! A few new characters are introduced, and some old ones are not here, and it feels fresh.
I really hope the rest of this series follows through with the formula David Farland created with this book!
I really hope the rest of this series follows through with the formula David Farland created with this book!
stevetw's review against another edition
5.0
Wow! What a kick to start the new series! I had read enough going in to know that Gaborn wasn't going to be around long, but to see Farland do a sweep out of many of the old characters, and he didn't mess around about it either! Just brutal!
I liked the change from Gaborn to Fallion. One of the criticisms that I read about Gaborn is that he was too perfect, and there was really little chance that he was actually going to turn to "the dark side," while I doubt Fallion will either since he's a Flameweaver (or potential one), I see it as a much stronger possibility than it ever was with Gaborn. It'll be interesting to see him struggle to control it as his powers develop in the next few books. It's definitely refreshing to see a much more conflicted character, much more likely to allow desires for revenge his enemies come to fruition.
The new pacing was interesting as well. The entirety of the first four books took place over a two or three week period. This had frequent jumps of months or even years with little to no coverage of the intervening time. It was ok, but it seems the polar opposite of what Farland did in the previous books. I'll have to see if I like it though the next few books.
One problem I found was in believing Shadoath's powers. After reading four books of an almost invincible Raj Ahten who couldn't be taken down, it was hard to see how she was even more evil and more powerful than him, supposedly. It's kind of like saying -50 degrees vs -60. At that point the distinction becomes meaningless. to top that off, she is then beaten by a child who had absolutely no endowments, while a lesser Runelord held off another with hundreds of endowments. I get to a certain degree that Fallion is some great being, but given how important taking Endowments are, to now make it totally meaningless kinda negates it. And then to have this seeming out of nowhere solution to prevent children from being slaughtered wholesale, seemed kind of a cop-out as if he was afraid the reader might now follow him this far.
Despite these criticisms, this is the beginning of a worthy continuation series. I was worried about liking it with a new cast of characters, and so many gone because several places I've seen that readers didn't take to them. I, however, enjoyed them, and look forward to the continuation of the story.
I liked the change from Gaborn to Fallion. One of the criticisms that I read about Gaborn is that he was too perfect, and there was really little chance that he was actually going to turn to "the dark side," while I doubt Fallion will either since he's a Flameweaver (or potential one), I see it as a much stronger possibility than it ever was with Gaborn. It'll be interesting to see him struggle to control it as his powers develop in the next few books. It's definitely refreshing to see a much more conflicted character, much more likely to allow desires for revenge his enemies come to fruition.
The new pacing was interesting as well. The entirety of the first four books took place over a two or three week period. This had frequent jumps of months or even years with little to no coverage of the intervening time. It was ok, but it seems the polar opposite of what Farland did in the previous books. I'll have to see if I like it though the next few books.
One problem I found was in believing Shadoath's powers. After reading four books of an almost invincible Raj Ahten who couldn't be taken down, it was hard to see how she was even more evil and more powerful than him, supposedly. It's kind of like saying -50 degrees vs -60. At that point the distinction becomes meaningless. to top that off, she is then beaten by a child who had absolutely no endowments, while a lesser Runelord held off another with hundreds of endowments. I get to a certain degree that Fallion is some great being, but given how important taking Endowments are, to now make it totally meaningless kinda negates it. And then to have this seeming out of nowhere solution to prevent children from being slaughtered wholesale, seemed kind of a cop-out as if he was afraid the reader might now follow him this far.
Despite these criticisms, this is the beginning of a worthy continuation series. I was worried about liking it with a new cast of characters, and so many gone because several places I've seen that readers didn't take to them. I, however, enjoyed them, and look forward to the continuation of the story.
fryguy451's review against another edition
3.0
The last third of the book seems to lose it's flow, jumping and skippering around.
gmvader's review against another edition
3.0
I read the first four books of David Farland’s Runelords series years ago and enjoyed them a lot. I remember finding them exciting and full of fun action scenes and memorable characters, if not the smoothest of prose.
Here’s the problem. David Farland writes like a first-time novelist in some ways and like a veteran writing ninja in others. His word choices and awkward sentences feel so contrived and amateur that they are occasionally worthy of a cringe and usually elicit a wince or two.
It’s the parts that he does well that save the whole thing. His world-building, for one, is top-notch. His magic system is fascinating with some very real and painful consequences. The Runelords are people who, with the help of certain runes, can take endowments from others giving them extra strength, speed and endurance as well as sight, smell and hearing or beauty. The downside is that that same quality is removed from the person who gave the endowment so Runelords are forced to maintain secret keeps of invalids who have given up their stamina or strength or health to their lord. The other consequence is that the only way to beat a Runelord is to kill his or her dedicates — murder rooms full of helpless victims. As you can imagine endowments give a person great power but come at a high moral cost. There are also other forms of magic that require the constant vigilance and control of an elemental of either Earth, Fire, Water or Air. A wizard that has control of his element is truly powerful, but when he loses control the destruction is intense.
The characters are all believable and likable — though they felt somewhat mature for their ages most of the time, I suppose you could argue that they were maturing fast because of their traumatic circumstances. The problem with the characters is that Farland is so uneven in his use of them. This might be just me but characters that I really liked were the ones that got killed, usually without a second glance. I understand that death in real life rarely contains allegorical meaning and feels satisfying to those left behind but in fiction I believe it should (unless, of course, you’re going for utter realism, which is fine but it feels out of place in the light-hearted voice of David Farland).
My other complaint about this book, and probably my biggest one, is that it feels like a fantasy retelling of Ender’s Game. There’s no battle school but Fallion is only eleven years old at the beginning and he fights demons, battles evil Runelords and learns the ways of a fire wizard all with a cold and calculating demeanor that felt very reminiscent of a certain world saving science fiction hero.
The writing quality bothered me more than I expected it to. I found myself rereading sentences on nearly every page in order to parse what the author was trying to say. It felt like it badly needed the hand of a good editor. On the other hand, I still finished it and am almost convinced to read the next book in the series.
Here’s the problem. David Farland writes like a first-time novelist in some ways and like a veteran writing ninja in others. His word choices and awkward sentences feel so contrived and amateur that they are occasionally worthy of a cringe and usually elicit a wince or two.
It’s the parts that he does well that save the whole thing. His world-building, for one, is top-notch. His magic system is fascinating with some very real and painful consequences. The Runelords are people who, with the help of certain runes, can take endowments from others giving them extra strength, speed and endurance as well as sight, smell and hearing or beauty. The downside is that that same quality is removed from the person who gave the endowment so Runelords are forced to maintain secret keeps of invalids who have given up their stamina or strength or health to their lord. The other consequence is that the only way to beat a Runelord is to kill his or her dedicates — murder rooms full of helpless victims. As you can imagine endowments give a person great power but come at a high moral cost. There are also other forms of magic that require the constant vigilance and control of an elemental of either Earth, Fire, Water or Air. A wizard that has control of his element is truly powerful, but when he loses control the destruction is intense.
The characters are all believable and likable — though they felt somewhat mature for their ages most of the time, I suppose you could argue that they were maturing fast because of their traumatic circumstances. The problem with the characters is that Farland is so uneven in his use of them. This might be just me but characters that I really liked were the ones that got killed, usually without a second glance. I understand that death in real life rarely contains allegorical meaning and feels satisfying to those left behind but in fiction I believe it should (unless, of course, you’re going for utter realism, which is fine but it feels out of place in the light-hearted voice of David Farland).
My other complaint about this book, and probably my biggest one, is that it feels like a fantasy retelling of Ender’s Game. There’s no battle school but Fallion is only eleven years old at the beginning and he fights demons, battles evil Runelords and learns the ways of a fire wizard all with a cold and calculating demeanor that felt very reminiscent of a certain world saving science fiction hero.
The writing quality bothered me more than I expected it to. I found myself rereading sentences on nearly every page in order to parse what the author was trying to say. It felt like it badly needed the hand of a good editor. On the other hand, I still finished it and am almost convinced to read the next book in the series.
trsclee's review
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
usuallydave's review against another edition
3.0
3.75 Stars
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It’s hard to kick off the “next phase” of a series, especially when the first four books can really stand alone so well. But Farland was determined to tell more of his story of Mystarria and so we get a nice 8 year time jump with most of our familiar characters serving as the plot device to introduce the main characters(I presume) for the final 4 books of this series.
It’s a fun romp that FEELS like a fairly solid continuation of the Runelords saga we’ve come to love so far.
However, and this is a BIG however, if you thought the plot armor was heavy handed before… let me tell you what. As they say, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet”.
But this book, Sons of the Oak, was very just “ok” for me. Not bad - there is a fun adventure happening with cool new magics and threats to challenge all of our new characters. We also get, in a sense, a final farewell to just about all of our beloved characters from the first 4 books in this series. While it faces an incredibly difficult challenge in trying to basically continue a series at book 5 while also essentially introducing an all new story plot and set of characters, it relies heavily on plot armor to force the action to stay fast paced and hold our interest.
Get subscribed to the Storyphoria podcast where you can hear my full thoughts, SPOILER FREE, on this and many others! Or subscribe to the newsletter if you prefer to read them!
https://solo.to/storyphoria
It’s hard to kick off the “next phase” of a series, especially when the first four books can really stand alone so well. But Farland was determined to tell more of his story of Mystarria and so we get a nice 8 year time jump with most of our familiar characters serving as the plot device to introduce the main characters(I presume) for the final 4 books of this series.
It’s a fun romp that FEELS like a fairly solid continuation of the Runelords saga we’ve come to love so far.
However, and this is a BIG however, if you thought the plot armor was heavy handed before… let me tell you what. As they say, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet”.
But this book, Sons of the Oak, was very just “ok” for me. Not bad - there is a fun adventure happening with cool new magics and threats to challenge all of our new characters. We also get, in a sense, a final farewell to just about all of our beloved characters from the first 4 books in this series. While it faces an incredibly difficult challenge in trying to basically continue a series at book 5 while also essentially introducing an all new story plot and set of characters, it relies heavily on plot armor to force the action to stay fast paced and hold our interest.
vaderbird's review against another edition
3.0
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
kagedbooks's review against another edition
5.0
OK this is where the series really picks up, not to knock the Earth King section of the series i enjoyed them. However if you are not into slow building of characters and plot you can just read the wikipedia pages for the first few books and pick up the series here. Farland does an amazing job of building a saga. He has seamlessly moved eight years forward from the previous trilogy of books and introduced us to the Heirs of the Earth King, goes deeper into his universe's history, and we finally get to meet Daylan of the Black Hammer.