Great start of a series
5 December 21, 2022
Unique selling points for “The Weaver of Odds”:
- A grand and epic fantasy I found remarkably good and immersive
- Cool stuff, such as competing against alternate versions of yourself from parallel realities.
- The main character has a pretty unique ability, to control odds and circumstances
- The magic system was based on imagination
- There were elements in this novel that truly and utterly wowed me
Strong spots in the story:
- Huge open world and lovely, enchanting characters
- Good use of themes and story beats
- The main cast of characters were well-rounded and jumped off the page
- A very quotable story, with lots of little snippets of “philosophy”
- Lots of darkness but also lots of wholesomeness
Weak spots in the story:
- I could tell this was the author’s first full length novel. There were a few small details that felt superfluous.
- Some scenes felt a bit too dark and brutal for what you can expect from a Young Adult novel. Could be a strength, depending on what you’re looking for
- Pacing can be a bit off in the first half of the novel. It really gets going fast in the second half.
- The illiterate Martha Burlington, the lady running the orphanage/ Children Shelter/ Ala Spuria shelter for strays, was a bit of a one-dimensional character. I understand this is a dystopian world, destroyed by water, but sometimes she was cruel and sadistic to kids for no real reason.
- A grand and epic fantasy I found remarkably good and immersive
- Cool stuff, such as competing against alternate versions of yourself from parallel realities.
- The main character has a pretty unique ability, to control odds and circumstances
- The magic system was based on imagination
- There were elements in this novel that truly and utterly wowed me
Strong spots in the story:
- Huge open world and lovely, enchanting characters
- Good use of themes and story beats
- The main cast of characters were well-rounded and jumped off the page
- A very quotable story, with lots of little snippets of “philosophy”
- Lots of darkness but also lots of wholesomeness
Weak spots in the story:
- I could tell this was the author’s first full length novel. There were a few small details that felt superfluous.
- Some scenes felt a bit too dark and brutal for what you can expect from a Young Adult novel. Could be a strength, depending on what you’re looking for
- Pacing can be a bit off in the first half of the novel. It really gets going fast in the second half.
- The illiterate Martha Burlington, the lady running the orphanage/ Children Shelter/ Ala Spuria shelter for strays, was a bit of a one-dimensional character. I understand this is a dystopian world, destroyed by water, but sometimes she was cruel and sadistic to kids for no real reason.