Soul of the World

Likes

• If you like epic fantasy, you’re going to love this book. It has everything you want from your traditional epic fantasy, except that all of it is…elevated? I was sucked into this immersive and detailed world, its complexities shown by how different the lives, cultures, situations and beliefs were for each of our main characters. The political structure is intense and complicated, but in a good way. It complicates and pushes the plot forward as each of our characters have no idea about what needs to happen next. And they go after their beliefs and their hopes without abandon. It was impossible not to root for each of them. I definitely couldn’t pick a favorite, between Arak’Jur, Erris and Sarine.
• And that’s by far the strongest element of this book: the characters. Their depth is inspiring. Honestly, I’d love to work with Mealing on how he creates such detailed, complex, three dimensional characters. Especially since, over the course of the entire book, we see them grow and change, and feel it happening.
• There is a lot going on in this book. And I love it. There is never a dull moment and the battle scenes? The military prowess and the way Erris thinks and works as a tactician? I will never get over that and not be impressed by how war was portrayed here. Or the entirely of Arak’Jur’s culture and how excited I am for the direction they are hopefully moving towards? (Because there were some aspects that I, as a woman, was not particularly fond of.) Yet that didn’t detract from how fascinated I was about his culture. Plus, how much I admired Arak’Jur as a person, leader and warrior. Or the fire and passion in Sarine and what she goes after, almost in single-minded determination.

Dislikes