Among Monsters and Men

A fantastic world that's slowly introduced to you naturally, great prose and characterization. Very much fantasy, but it comes across to me in a more blunt and low-style like David Gemmel.

Grammar and flow is good and keeps you involved and shows you the world well.

Recommended.

Story.

The king of the people is dead, killed while negotiating peace with the races of the Elder tree. King Celdan’s son declares war with cheers from the crowd. How did the king die? Is destroying a giant magic tree a good idea? Can characters put aside their differences and cooperate?

It's a pretty standard fantasy story and setting, Elves and Orcs seem to be present but with different names, its handled well. Multiple viewpoint characters are used, from royalty to boys who can’t afford new boots. Most of the first seven chapters are mostly politics and world building, it shows promise.

Writing.

I didn't spot any obvious mistakes or typos. The writing is descriptive without padding or adding in “big” words to sound more eloquent.

GOT-esque story with interesting characters. A good read for anyone who likes to read into things that portray the slighter darker side of humanity.

Style

Complex descriptions that are just written to the T. You know that feeling when you read a nicely structured sentence and it just hits that spot? You can hit that spot by reading some lines in this story. Uh. Anyways. The author obviously knows how to write descriptions and action scenes clearly and concisely.

Grammar

There are a couple of noticeable grammar hiccups like misplaced or unplaced commas or run-on sentences but nothing detracts from the experience. 

Story/Character

The story is interesting enough to catch the eye. The world manages to be filled out to a very believable degree within the first couple of chapters. Goals and motivations are laid out cleanly. But the story is just a backdrop for the extremely likable and believable characters. They all seem to have their own goals, ambitions, and internal conflicts ready to play out in the story. It'll be interesting to see how it unfolds and how their desires may result in changes that are for better or for worse.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read and I look forward to seeing what happens next. Also the Queen and Lyssa can step on me, and I'd be okay with it. 

If you like Avatar, Game of Thrones and similar realistic grim dark genre, you would like this read. Simple storyline and plot with interesting characters, good choice of words and description. Not so much of a twist until the recent chapter but storyline shows promise. Can be auspicious enough to come alive in the big screen.

A light-fantasy story with many character perspectives across all walks of life from the royals to the peasants as well as the enemy natives. Very solid writing with no obvious spelling or grammar mistakes. Only gripe was that I felt it lacked excitement in some parts, but would eventually get to a part that rekindled my interest. Would recommend it to someone who has been waiting for the next GoT to finally come out; this type of story would certainly help hold them over. 

This is another one of my weekly reviews (though I sometimes forget to mention in the review itself, oops). I read through the first 50+ pages of stories and evaluate them for how much they pulled me in.

Thirteen chapters into this story and already five points of view, each of them about the same overarching events but not really fleshing their own storylines out. Five points of view is a lot, and it’s a big deal for the introductory chapters of the story to throw readers into so many different facets of the story.

That’s the main issue with Among Monsters and Men; it has so much ambition right from the outset that it’s tough to figure out what is supposed to be focused on, what is supposed to be contextual, or just vague background info for the worldbuilding. As far as I have read, I am still unsure what the central conflict of the story is going to end up being, because there is quite a lot of stuff going on.

There’s a war starting between the humans in the south and the [elves] and [orcs] in the northern forests, so the humans are burning down the forests and attacking these other races, but there’s also treachery and politics involved with the humans and moral dilemmas about barbarism and destruction, and there’s also a young man who is the new king and thrust into power, and there’s also a subplot about young recruit foot soldiers that doesn’t seem to be important as of Chapter 13.

There’s so much going on in the setup and things feel like they are moving so fast in the plot, and yet really by about the halfway point in the book (as of this writing), still not that much has really happened for any of the POV characters so far.

It’s all well-enough written, of course. Anyone looking for a Tolkien-esque fantasy ensemble story will feel right at home with Among Monsters and Men, as well. But among things to make it stand out among the crowd. Perhaps given more time and a longer story, most of these issues will be early-story hiccups that will be padded out by the developments to come.

An excellent piece of work here on RR. The premise of the story is recognizable as the ' 'civilized' humans against 'wild' natives'. In that it is not unique, but the setting itself and the story it brings are very much worth the read with their own twist to create a unique story nonetheless.

Many details are given to bring life to the surroundings without it feeling pushy. Where I'm now (chapter 19) it feels like there is much more lore to be discovered, well done for making me curious.

The frequent shift between the PoV characters, especially early on, makes it a little harder to invest in the characters. A bit later characters get more than one chapter, which I appreciate. Speaking of the characters, they're well worth reading. Even side characters get some time to give them a personality and the main cast is deep and, if not relatable, at least understandable.

The writing itself is excellent. No grammar or spelling errors I could find. A few times where I'd have chosen a different word, but that is a matter of taste. This makes for a nice, flowing reading experience so you can get lost in the story an the world.

Style: 4

The paragraph structure is good but they are way too long, which could make the nose of some readers itch. Good choice of words and decently-written dialogue. The only issue I found is not starting a new paragraph after dialogue tags and instead going on as if they were normal sentences. I'm not sure if it's completely incorrect, still it could be solved just by being more careful of how you build your sentences.

Grammar: 4

Mostly optimal. Punctuation and tenses are on point, yet the repetitiveness of certain words sometimes create confusion. Could easily get to 5 stars after a proper revision, but it's way better than most of the works on this website.

Story: 4

The narration moves on at a steady pace, but at first I didn't find it very compelling despite loving fantasy. Maybe it's because of the overly explained introduction (something in it gives me the idea of concepts I've already seen), maybe because of how the world is presented, maybe because of the onslaught of names to remember since the first chapter. Yet, what a world.

Worldbuilding doesn't look improvised at all. Its politics and intrigues feel real. You can tell the author put much work and love into it. It could definitely shine more if its history wasn't reported all at once and came out more naturally.

Regarding the plot, I don't want to say anything other than “let it take you by your hand”. At a first glance it looks like a plain revenge story and then it evolves into something completely different. Don't be fooled by your initial thoughts and trust the author. The narrative and the ideas are probably the strongest points of this work and are worth investing time in. They always seem to develop in a clear direction, a good sign of the planning behind.

Beware, however, reading this book requires a lot of patience. The rhythm varies, and there won't be fighting scenes around every corner (a plus for me).

Characters: 5

I really enjoy the complexity of the main characters. The way they act and react according to the rules set by the world is believable and reflect their personalities perfectly. Intrigues and personal development blend in almost seamlessly. A textbook example of how a main cast should be done.

Overall: 4

Classic concept, great ideas, execution to be a little revised. I'd really want to give this a higher rating but it still needs editing, especially on the structural part. Yet, it's a promising peek into a new and multi-layered universe.

Should you read it? If you like complex, developed fantasy, yes. If you want something which focuses more on pure shut-my-brain-off entertainment, then it probably isn't for you.

It's amazing how the author's scrupulous attention to detail brought me to a whole new world of both gorgeous and grueling scenery fitting to that of an ideal fantasy setting. The story clearly depicts how a certain nation will turn out if an alien civilization forced its ideals upon local inhabitants. Some characters alone can get you hooked to the wonderful world-building this story brings while others are lackluster. Both new or old to reading fantasy novels will surely be invested in this marvel of a story.

If you like political scheming, lore and realism, you would like this book. Also if you like attention to detail, like the communal baths.

I found it a bit dry and hard to get into. The characters didn't really captivate me and I wasn't sure who was the protagonist. I know technically it's Hector but, yeah. A lot of telling. No scenes showing the king's shocking assassination, or scenes of the Natives destroying human settlements. I found it hard to sympathize as a result.