Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Read this if you are on the fence about buying this book. *Spoilers and a negative review* Good afternoon, I am writing this review mostly as a warning. The main character is gay. This plot point, however, does not reveal itself until more than halfway through the book. I found this delayed reveal incredibly jarring, especially since Corin's character is by far and away the dominant point of view. Now, I can already hear the furious SJW's warming their vitriolic typing fingers, so I will explain why I believe this warning and this review are warranted. First, for many, fantasy is about escapism and role playing. It is about placing yourself in another, better, more fantastical life. It is about fantasies of power, or wonder, or mystery. When I and so many others read fantasy, we look for a main character that we can use as a focal point, into which we insert ourselves into their role. Alternatively, if I am reading about a main character that is resistant to this type of role insertion (a female MC, or a gay MC, transgendered MC or even an anthropomorphic MC) than I still read the book, but I read with an a different mindset. I read empathetically. I try to understand the character's motivations, but I do not attempt to role play as that character, as they are not characters that I would actually want to pretend to "be." Second, I do not like investing time reading hundreds of pages as a roleplaying book, and then being roughly shoved from that style of reading by the author for no other reason than the sake of being "edgy." If you think that was not what the author was doing, then you are kidding yourself. The author drops the MC's sexuality into the narrative almost as if it were an afterthought. Sexuality is one of the pillars of human experience. It needs mentioning. Character motivations, both in life and in fantasy, are heavily influenced by sexual goals. However, in this book, the author instead hides Corin's sexuality like it didn't need mentioning. It is almost as if the author was saying: "Of course the MC was gay for those first 300 pages... how dare you think or assume otherwise you homophobic cur?" So, in conclusion, I am giving this author 1 star for his book based upon my 2 previously stated points. (1) Fantasy is about exploring another world, either through role play or through empathy. (2) This author, in a deliberate attempt to be edgy, hid the MC's sexuality for OVER HALF of a 650 page book before casually dropping it in with no lead in or life-changing experience in Corin's character. With both of these points combined, they created an effect that served to eject me from my immersion in the narrative. This was incredibly jarring and unpleasant. Now, with all of that said, I am sure there are plenty of people who disagree with nearly everything I just outlined. That's fine. You are entitled to your opinion. This review merely serves as a warning to those who are like me. Now, they can either skip this book entirely and spend their time on a book that won't bait and switch them. OR, they can proceed with this novel, forewarned and forearmed that they should not insert themselves into Corin's role unless they are comfortable with his sexuality. NT