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LaneDrapt
Posted August 6, 2012
At times Siregar's Black God's War feels like a great Homeric-style epic, yet it maintains fast pace and action of a good ol' fantasy novel. It reminded me of Dan Simmon's Olympos in many ways, which in my book really saying something. I look forward to reading more this author.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 16, 2011
Something refreshing in fantasy lately: a book that moves along at every page. This story continuously rocks. If you've read the novella you know what it's about. It got better. Enough fantasy elements for my taste without these elements being the end-all and be-all. It's still about real people with real experiences, and told nicely. Loved the characters. For not having to skip pages to get to the plot like the past couple of best seller fantasies I had to slog through it gets 5 stars from me.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 14, 2011
I read the novella to this story. It was great. The one thing about the writer is that he has gone above and beyond to promote this book. I have read several of the pubit books and have yet to read anymore by that writer
A fresh look on epic fantasy and in my opinion I loved this book
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 7, 2012
Written in a very simplistic style, this book was easy to put down. The story line is very confused. Adjectives often appear inappropriate and incongruous. One could imagine that the author laid down the story line using very simple sentences with nouns and verbs. Then, realizing that additional words were needed, a computer program was used to select from lists of adjectives and adverbs to "flesh out" the story. The result is that the book appears to have been written by a very inexperienced writer.
On page #376 of the book, the author asserts that "The sun sank too quickly toward the northern horizon." Then, on page #891 the books states that "The sun rise in the north created long shadows behind the little hills and shrubs ..." It seems that, in this strange world created by the author, the sun both rises, and sets, in the north. How does that comport with our understanding of Physics?
Weird similes abound, such as this one on page #574: "His mind had been like a monkey stung by bees since the tragedy two nights ago." Or this one on page #280: "The branches were razor-sharp, curling around in wild circles like an assassin spinning with curved swords." On page #651, the author asserts that "Rao felt a wholesome and cool sensation in his mind, like minty, sweet milk."
Not content with inappropriate adjectives and similes, the author also offers comic book-like sound effects. On page #294 he presents a magical explosion with the word "BOOM!"
This incomprehensible sentence can be found on page #323: "Steaming air pressed against Rao's cheeks, adding palpable sensation to the weight of leading men to face the storm."
On page #340, the sentences: "Their prince is here with us. I feel his presence. It's evil. It's him." are duplicated on the page in two different places. This appears to have been intentional, but it is confusing.
On page #505, one of the characters thinks: "Rao's out of that neurotic hellbox, away from Narayani ..." leaving us to wonder how a character in such an ancient setting could possibly know about neuroses, and what it might mean for a "hellbox" to be "neurotic."
On page #513, the author has one of the characters tell his associate that he must keep a secret "because you know I'd have to kill you." This 20th Century American idiom seemed completely out of place in the setting of the story.
On page #514, the author tells us that "A warm round of contagious laughter bubbled up from Aayu's chest." I'm still struggling with that image.
On page #520 "The goddess halted and watched the three speed along the desert trail." On the very next page, however, "... the horses made it through the sparse forest ..." It appears that the desert magically transformed into a forest.
On page #638, the chapter title appears as "Chapter 58: Silent Misunder-" Misunder- what? Clearly, the editing was deficient for this book. There were more editing errors than one should expect from a full-length novel.
This author needs to master the English language before undertaking another book. He also needs to spend more time on preparation, using solidly-structured sentences to present his story. Parsimony is not, necessarily, a vice when writing good fiction. Unless, of course, this is a simplistic and direc
2 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 24, 2012
I Also Recommend:
I was continually amazed at how such a high quality book could be an author's debut. The specific description he uses to paint the scenery, fill us in on characters' inner experiences, illustrate one of the most fascinating magic/religious systems I've read or seen, and blow my mind with complex characters (including snippets inside the point of view of various gods) made this read an absolute pleasure. Add to that a plot that was so intense I was astonished at how much happened by the 50% mark, and then only got better, throwing twists left and right as if Moses were some kind of magician samurai.
In the first half of the book, you are put into main characters from both sides of a war. I was intrigued by how Moses made me care about both sides, and became immediately pulled into figuring out how he would conclude the potential war. No spoilers here, so I'll just say that I was impressed with Moses going the extra mile to keep me on my toes till the very end.
I commend Moses for such a well-written book. This being his first actually weighed more heavily on my rating being a four (because I am very confident he'll write a better book), but I was thoroughly impressed. I'm still a little shocked at how much Moses opened my eyes to the expanse of one's imagination as seen through his unrelenting style, plot and characterization. I cared about every single person in this book. I was engulfed in the description of every paragraph. And I never knew what was going to happen next.
I know that took a ton of work, Moses. If you can do that again, I'll be there to read it. I read for about 8 hours today to finish this, and it was a treat I won't forget.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 23, 2012
Excellent read and very thought provoking. Moses Siregar has a great deal to offer fans of epic novels.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 18, 2012
This was a compelling fantasy set in a world that isn't modeled on western medieval Europe. The characters were complex, the combat gripping, and the story surprising. I strongly recommend this book. It kept me up late more than one night.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 10, 2012
I liked the story line but some of the war scenes was long and often. Though some may like this I found them to be a little boring for me.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 17, 2012
Well worth the time and far better than many first novels. I look forward to more from this author.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 13, 2012
Loved this book
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I was fortunate to receive an early review copy of The Black God’s War, a very interesting fantasy debut from Moses Siregar III.
The Black God’s War is an interesting take on fantasy tropes in that there is not really a clear cut “evil” to overcome or a clearcut “good” to overcome it. Both sides in the battle have their own viewpoint and it’s never clear what would constitute a victory for either side.
The writing is consistently good and the characters feel real and interesting. The system of magic is certainly different, but ultimately not very well explained. One side in the conflict, the Rezzians, calls upon the powers of the gods, who are present if not often seen, or at least seen by many, yet whether or not they choose to manifest their powers as called upon is somewhat arbitrary. The other side in the conflict, the Pawelons, rely on powerful sages. These sages use a form of concentration and mantras to manifest their powers. Several things about this system of magic are never made clear, however. Some sages study for years, but can apparently teach their powers to others with no apparent training in a matter of days or hours. It is also never explained what makes some sages more powerful than others or how those powers compare to the powers wielded by the Rezzian gods.
The plot moves steadily forward and maintains interest, but the results of the battles and the strategies employed are unreliable. The feelings and motivations of some, but not all, of the main characters seem to change almost randomly. It is hard to become invested in the outcome of the battles when there seems to be no permanence or consequence to them.
Maybe the point is that motivations for starting and continuing a war are murky and clouded by personal feelings of those in charge. Or that the outcome of battles and maybe even entire wars is irrelevant and inconsequential. As a story, though, it is ultimately unsatisfying.
The level of the writing and some of the concepts involved make this an interesting read. The holes in the plot and the arbitrariness of some of the outcomes make it less satisfying. 3 stars.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 7, 2012
It had been a while since I had read any fantasy, but I'd heard lots of good things about The Black God's War (and the cover and title made me want to get at it), so when I got some time over the Christmas holidays I dived in.
This is a BIG book, truly deserving of the EPIC description. King's, Prince's, Princesses and the Gods that are aligned with them, are the characters, with a supporting cast of soldiers, whores and the masses. All set in a conflict which has been dragging on for decades in a land, well detailed, and carefully mapped.
This is no "beach read", I found that I had to retrace my steps a few times to check a plot point (the plot was tight) simply because there is a lot going on.
One thing I loved was how the God's appear to the one that they are aligned with but not to others. I confess that I have not read Homer, so I came to this without any preconceptions and I was not disappointed.
Highly recommended.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 4, 2011
As I read this book I continuously felt torn between both fighting factions. Each character was so well crafted that I felt that they were more than just vehicles to move the plot along, they were complex, with varied backgrounds that led to their different approaches to the war being waged. Even the gods were more than just omniscient beings, they have story to tell to and I really hope that it will be told along the way in the following books in the series.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 31, 2011
I enjoyed the book. A twist on some Roman/greek classics. I would recommend this book to fantasy readers. Well writen with a nice flow. I look forward to more works by this author.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 7, 2013
What an Amazing Book!
I just love it!
Definetly a Must Read!
Anonymous
Posted December 24, 2012
A story that gets better as it goes along. Well worth your time.
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Posted September 20, 2012
Not as good as expected from the reviews.
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Posted June 26, 2012
If there were more than five stars to give, i would have given this story more. Great story. I can barely wait for more from this fine author!
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 12, 2012
I was very excited for the finished novel and now I can't wait to read the next book. I love Lucia from the beginning and can not wait to see what is in store for her and I came to love Rao as the story unfolded.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 22, 2012
Is there more to say?
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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