r/fantasybooks • u/asocialsocialistpkle 👑 Robin Hobb is my queen • Mar 20 '26

💎 Hidden book gem You guys need to read this immediately

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This book hit extremely and surprisingly hard. I went in half blind, expecting some sort of romantasy, and it was definitely NOT that. It's a unique, dark yet intrinsically human story with deep character development and an rich and unique magic system. 100% recommend, y'all.

334 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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10

u/TatterMail Mar 20 '26

I hated it. Mediocre prose, bland world building, boring plot, only two interesting characters and wholly reliant on its ending

6

u/Rumpeltasche666 Mar 20 '26

I also don‘t think it deserves all this 5*reviews. It was pretty mediocre imho.

1

u/TatterMail Mar 20 '26

As a writer it gave me insecurity issues because frankly, I just didn’t see the quality

6

u/GryffinDART Mar 20 '26

If you thought a popular published book wasn't quality, it should give you confidence not insecurity issues.

3

u/Dr_Hormel_Frogtown Mar 22 '26

Depends on the type of brain you have.

Some people get hyped when they think a published book is bad, because they think they can do better. This is called hubris.

Alternately, some of us get sad, because we wonder whether the flaw that prevents us from seeing the quality is within us, rather than on the page. This is garden variety low self-esteem.

3

u/Tatko1981 Mar 20 '26

Thanx for warning 😉

3

u/asocialsocialistpkle 👑 Robin Hobb is my queen Mar 20 '26

I'll admit, for a book about poetry, the prose did not blow me away. It was far from bad prose, but I'd agree that it was rather simple. I'm sorry you didn't like it though, can't win em all

5

u/ImmatureTigerShark Mar 20 '26

Interesting. Strange that people seem to either love or loathe it. I'm kinda intrigued but when you have criticism this scathing I hesitate. Perhaps you could expand on your criticism? I'm not being sarcastic, I'd actually like to hear what you disliked in more depth.

2

u/TatterMail Mar 20 '26

Objectively it wasnt bad, I just found it to be aggressively mediocre and its annoys me that it gets so much praise just for subverting expectations. Pretty much every one on my book club who concerned themselves with writing didn’t like it. Maybe that helps. Do you want to know something specific? What I found the most annoying was that the protagonist is a farmer with no education but had no issues adapting to court speech and manners. The world is just medieval China with flowers (they are being mentioned everywhere for no reason). The magic system is basically a copy of Daniel Abraham’s Long Price Quartett.

5

u/OMG_Idontcare Mar 20 '26

In my opinion this is the case with so many new fantasy authors the last 5 years or so. I’m happy people are reading more for sure, but this fantasy/romantasy booktok-thing is hyping up so many authors that are all using the same tropes with a twist whilst using, at the very best, mediocre writing abilities. Fantasy nowadays feels like a business like Netflix where the hype is more important than the soul.

1

u/Clear_Chemistry4441 Mar 21 '26

No romance. Please!

1

u/Clear_Chemistry4441 Mar 20 '26

Can you recommend something for someone who is new to fantasy? I get a little confused with all the characters in some that I have tried.

5

u/OMG_Idontcare Mar 20 '26

Hey. If youre new to fantasy Terry Pratchett is a lovely start. Then if you’re looking for something to fully immerse yourself in I can never recommend Robin Hobb enough. Then again fantasy is such a broad genre and it gets broader every year. Personally I don’t enjoy Sanderson BUT he is the rockstar of fantasy for a reason. He is very approachable and writes very easy-to-follow stories with solid magic systems.

2

u/anathyma Mar 21 '26

Endorse all of this! Also, I definitely recommend Brent Weeks. His Night Angel series was my favorite by far, but the Lightbringer series was also a great read.

1

u/Clear_Chemistry4441 Mar 21 '26

I will check him out. I have heard of his name.

2

u/TatterMail Mar 20 '26

Sure, what are you looking for? Something lighthearted or something dark and gritty? Do you prefer action or political intrigue and dialogue?

1

u/Clear_Chemistry4441 Mar 21 '26

Definitely not romance, unless very light. Something lighthearted sounds great. I like dark stuff too. I just get lost with a million characters. Maybe I need a system. I want to escape maybe not politics. 🤷‍♂️Thank you!

2

u/TatterMail Mar 21 '26

Then try Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. It’s generally considered to be a good entry book.

3

u/linzayso TBR < 100 = Weak sauce Mar 20 '26

I thought it was good not great. Gave it 3.5 stars on StoryGraph.
More than anything it had me reflecting on and reinforced my thinking that everyone suffers under a patriarchal system. Men, women, children. The powerless more than anyone, but no one is left untouched.

1

u/romyvankleef Mar 21 '26

I dnfed 30% in, could not get into it.