The Skull Throne by Peter V. Brett (Demon Cycle #4)

[daigoro]

Readers were left hanging on a cliff – literally – at the end of The Daylight War, the third installment of Peter V. Brett’s Demon Cycle sequence.* Some would call that a rude thing to do to readers, others might call it a bold thing for a writer to do. Regardless of what you call […]

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[Khale]

I am on Chapter 3 and already stopped reading for now. I am so over the amount of time spent not just on the Krasian culture but the endless flashbacks of different Krasian characters. We already had 1/3 of a book on Inevera growing up (along with significant portions of the story retold through her eyes) and now we get the life story of Ashia? No thanks.

I'll possibly pick the book up again if there are enough positive reviews to give me the motivation to do so.

 

[jackdaw]

I am on Chapter 3 and already stopped reading for now. I am so over the amount of time spent not just on the Krasian culture but the endless flashbacks of different Krasian characters. We already had 1/3 of a book on Inevera growing up (along with significant portions of the story retold through her eyes) and now we get the life story of Ashia? No thanks.

I'll possibly pick the book up again if there are enough positive reviews to give me the motivation to do so.

Play that past me again. He leaves third book on a "cliff hanger" then spends first two/ three chapters of next book re-visiting old stuff from a different POV character???

There is a place for that...but its becoming massively overdone....its something that any competent editor would put in a big challenge over. I'll probably take your line and wait for reviews...but think I may have reached the point where if the latest book does not wrap up the story, I may wait until series has finished, and then make my mind up what to do.

 

[Khale]

In fairness, Brett did address the cliff hanger in the first two chapters. But he then goes into yet another flashback chapter that seems to go on forever. Chapter 3 was better off left for a side novella in my opinion.

 

[suciul]

I'll possibly pick the book up again if there are enough positive reviews to give me the motivation to do so.

Same here, started, read a little and got bored, browsed it and read the ending and here and there and will pick it up again when book 5 is published though I may still only browse it for reference even then
This being said, many people who love the series seem to love this and it's been selling like hot cakes so I would look for other opinions too...

 

[jackdaw]

In fairness, Brett did address the cliff hanger in the first two chapters. But he then goes into yet another flashback chapter that seems to go on forever. Chapter 3 was better off left for a side novella in my opinion.

Cheers for gen.

Have skimmed a review, and see there's at least one more book in series after this one, so I'll probably stick to plan of waiting for series to end and then deciding want to do. (Finding a ton of stuff to read presently. But I did really enjoy first three, so may change my mind if I start struggling to find good reads.)

My test of whether events should be retold in detail from different POV's is whether it really, really adds something to the story e.g. Does it make you really revise your opinions of heroes or villains motives? (Maybe even revise your opinion of which is which.) And was a detailed retelling really the most efficient and effective way of doing that? (i.e. Couldn't you cover both points of view when telling event in first place?)

All too often nowadays "retellings" seem to fail that test.... it just comes across that author wants to increase page count, rather than move story forward at optimum pace. Probably being harsh...but I think this series has failed these "retelling criteria" at least a couple of times.

 

[StoneBurner]

I'm 80 percent done. This book seems like a long dirty joke that's occasionally interrupted by the interesting plot involving Arlen. Every other storylines are inexplicably strange. Did we really need to learn what some dude's semen looks like under a microscope?

Another promising series runs astray because the author loses focus...

EDIT: Fully finished now. This was the weakest book in the series. THe last 15 percent of the book is just a whirlwind of random stuff that is poorly developed by the preceding chapters. The last 15 percent was a strange mixture of Scott Lynch, George Martin, and Steven Erikson.

And Leesha Paper is still irritating