The Burning Stone by Kate ElliottMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This started out as a 5-star, couldn't put it down, book. It gave me just what I had been looking for in book 2. Then... well, sprawl set in. Plot threads multiplied, and complications began breeding. This is good. This is complex. But as the sprawl unfolded before me, I found myself wishing for a tighter focus on the characters that I care about.
All of the characters, even minor ones, are so well-drawn and nuanced, and they change realistically with events. I dislike so many of them, and the ones I like aren't perfect, but are subject to their own flaws as well as to drastically changing fates. It almost made me dizzy how quickly tides could turn. It makes me impatient to see where it's all going.
I do appreciate the textures of the world-building that all these characters bring, but I really just want more of Liath, Alain, Hanna and Rosvita (I love that old woman!). I don't care much for Ivar's story (I don't like him or his group of friends), or for the visions of the Eika chief (although I know it will be important at some point). There are so many tantalizing hints about important things, I am impatient to solve it all. But, it seems I will have to bide my time because this is going to take a while.
Since it was just a bit too slow in parts and spreading out a bit too much, it ended up not being that 5 star read after all. It's such a hardship to settle for 4, but it was still very good.
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