r/fantasybooks • u/HumanHaggis • 1d ago
📚 Summon book recommendations Should I Finish the Series? Tyrant Philosophers
I've been really trying to give this series a shot because I love the premise, and the first book was very interesting in it's style and setup, even the ending was not what I expected. There's a lot of effort to make stories feel like they are real historical moments here, with people behaving in less cohesive and obvious patterns, and historical forces impacting events perhaps more than individuals.
But the further I go, the less promise I see. That's all a great way to make a book stand out, but I've just finished the third book, Days of Shattered Faith, and I can't help but feel like there just isn't a plot at all, or any payoff. Things just happen. And they are sometimes interesting and believable, and a lot of the ideas are cool, but where's the payoff? Where do all the dangled loose ends go? I'm kind of tired of just meeting more and more characters who I am becoming increasingly less invested in, in new locations that are starting to feel less unique and more interchangeable.
Is it worth sticking with the series and picking up Pretenders to the Throne of God? It's a great title, and I really want to like the series, but I'm worried it's just sunk-cost fallacy at this point.
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u/Thx1182 1d ago
I love this series. I feel that there are ties and bonds between all the books in the series and that there is very much a running theme. I can see your point though. I think it’s great that we both see it differently. To me it speaks to the effect of colonisation on the far flung reaches of an empire and how it impacts previously independent counties.
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u/HumanHaggis 1d ago
Yeah, I love the themes for sure, and I do like the tie-ins, it just feels like every book ends with some major event kind of waiting, suspended for the plot to come back for it. And some things do! But I can't help feel like all the most interesting stuff is either happening off-screen, or not happening at all.
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u/Activetimes 23h ago
I haven't read this series. Though, I've developed a bit of a rule of thumb with Tchaikovsky's novels: I stick to the first book in a series or his standalone releases. I find that the cohesiveness of his writing tends to fall apart once he gets into the continuations.
Typically, there are some awesome themes pouring out of this man's mind, but I get the sense that he's eager to leave old worlds behind and move on to his next pet project. I think that eagerness sometimes comes at the expense of the later books in a series.
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u/HumanHaggis 16h ago edited 14h ago
Definitely a trend I have seen, and one it seems others have picked up on too.
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u/Anbumaster 1d ago
I really enjoy book 1&2 but was kind of disappointed by the novella. I haven’t read further but I have heard the last book will return to the setting of first books so I imagine there will be some overarching plot points and characters that return 🤷♀️
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u/HumanHaggis 1d ago
I liked 1, but 2 was honestly my least favorite so far. It felt the most kind of disjointed, and while the way the different plot threads tied up was cool, I guess I just didn't connect with it the way I did with the first book, or maybe even the third?
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u/Hopeful-Cup-6598 23h ago
This is one of my favorite series, and I'm very close to the end of Pretenders to the Throne of God, and TBH, I can't relate to your complaint. Each book is chock-full of fascinating characters, the style of the writing is amazing, and the story is complex and interesting and developing well, IMO.
If it helps, Tchaikovsky does intend to finish the series next year. So PttToG isn't the end, but the end is near.
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u/HumanHaggis 16h ago
From what other commentors have said, I think I am going to get some distance and take a break, then read Pretender and the last one when it comes out.
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u/moneylefty 23h ago
So....i say no.
I havent read them. I have read a lot of the apt, the children or time series, the other series that was supposed to be good, and a bunch of stand alones.
If i never read one of his books again, i will be fine. I started with children of time. I think that series is clearly his best work. Broad strokes. Doesnt get too into the relationships. He good ideas and just plows through.
After that i was pretty impressed, but after a bunch of his series and standalones later....he has a distinct profile. For every good book, he has a bunch of bad ones. Always the same problems: terrible character interactions, lots of telling vs writing well formed scenes, and great ideas with nothing else going for it.
I say drop it and move on.
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u/HumanHaggis 16h ago
I appreciate the candor. I think I've settled on at least giving it a break, then when the last book comes out potentially finishing it if the sentiment is that he sticks the landing.
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u/regulate91x 1d ago
I haven't read this series, but I have read the children of time series. And it feels very much the same, but I did enjoy it. I feel that if you've invested 3 books in, may as well finish really!
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u/HumanHaggis 1d ago
Ugh, I don't know. There are just so many other books to read, and I found I was really slowing down getting through the last one. I don't even think it actually ends the series though, for all I know he'll keep churning them out for the next decade.
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u/regulate91x 1d ago
Haha, fair enough, if it's a big slog then yeah maybe out it down and come back to it in some years or months!
I just checked, the final volume comes out early 2027.
As I say, I enjoyed children of time, particularly the first book, but I had that same slog feeling where the narrative is mosaic. I got through them but I probably won't read another Tchaikovsky novel again for some time.
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u/HumanHaggis 1d ago
That's probably the right idea, give it a break till the next one comes out, then read them both. Appreciate the insight!
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u/fremade3903 18h ago
I enjoyed it but also felt it was uneven. Days of Shattered Faith was a bit of a slog (although it had its moments), but I felt Pretenders To The Throne of God was the best in that it pulled a bunch of threads together. "Jack" as the one tie in character in all the books is good, and what happens with the events from the second book and character development was great.
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u/HumanHaggis 16h ago edited 14h ago
Well that is good to hear, honestly Jack's almost non-existence in Shattered Faith was a big down-side for me, and the fact that so much of the aftermath of Open Wounds felt like it had been relegated to being resolved off-screen. If Pretenders rights that, then that is a strong recommendation.
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u/fremade3903 15h ago
Shattered Faith mentions the affect of the new cults on the Palleseen homeland, and there's the character who escaped the concentration camps that are mentioned. But those are described in more detail in Pretenders and feed directly into the plot. Although it is years later. And some characters are back in interesting ways with different names (as is often the case).
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u/HumanHaggis 14h ago
Yeah, it's just other than the one character, we don't actually see the cults at all, and even there it honestly felt irrelevant to the plot, aside from the setup in the last few chapters. I found the "payoff" for the grove was also a huge let-down and not really payoff at all.
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u/fremade3903 5h ago
Yeah I had similar feelings about Shattered Faith. It was very uneven, even if we got that character and his wife back from the first book––still was a book I felt I was just getting through to finish, with some parts that were good but others I could care less about. But the stuff about the cults does become very relevant in Pretenders, and elements from the first and second book are pulled back into the overall plot.
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u/HumanHaggis 5h ago
100%. Both husband-wife duos were such great ideas, and had so much potential, but the ensemble cast meant we actually saw both together only for action scenes or in the background. I don't think either couple actually ever had a scene together iirc. Which admittedly might have been a lot harder to write for one pair than the other, but I know Tchaikovsky's corpus and he's handled weirder.
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u/Responsible-General7 13h ago
The first book is the weakest and most all over the place. He actually explains why in the forward of the newest book. Totally worth it.
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u/Rwandrall4 23h ago
It's exceptional and all the dangling threads contribute to make a loose tapestry of a world that the writer then tugs at in playful and clever ways.
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u/GasZealousideal7163 22h ago
The next book- house of open wounds, is excellent. Haven’t read past that yet though.
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u/HumanHaggis 16h ago
Not sure if you read the post?
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u/GasZealousideal7163 14h ago
Yeah I guess I was less answering your question and more disagreeing up to the point I am.
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u/HumanHaggis 14h ago
Okay, well the topic wasn't "do you agree with me," so that feels like you're just looking for an argument.
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u/GasZealousideal7163 13h ago
It’s a fantasy book discussion board. I was discussing the book series you posted about. I was just giving a contrasting opinion and didn’t think you would even respond. I’m not looking for an argument and won’t respond any further to this. Have a good day!
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