Hello Fellow Journeyers,
This book was another self-published find on Amazon and Goodreads with few to no reviews or ratings. After reading a sample of it, I was definitely intrigued and chose to dive in. Being a nearly 700 page epic, I was intimidated, but ultimately glad I took up the call.
What's the story about: The Ember Child's main storyline follows a typical chosen one protagonist (and his allies) that is prophesied to be the true heir to the kingdom that a god-emperor is currently ruling. His goal is to take his throne back. The second main storyline follows the god-emperor and his followers as he tries to stop the rebellion from taking over all that he has accomplished. While this is a more traditionally stated story, the way it's told is anything but.
Mitchell's talents became apparent to me first and foremost in the form of character motivation and development and this was really exciting because I long for character-driven stories more than any others. From the first few chapters, I was deeply intrigued and beguiled by the characters he had introduced and was invested in their plights and difficulties. As the book went on, characters developed well and organically, which caused my investment to deepen and I became fully hooked before part 1 was over. Secondly, Mitchell showcases brilliant balance of easy flowing prose and well described settings and scenes. The language is not necessarily flowery, but also not simple and boring. He takes time to give you an accurate picture of what is going on and the subtle beauty of the world. I loved this.
The next point worth noting is that this story, while being an epic with changing POVs all the time, follows a mostly linked and linear plotline. It wasn't overly simplistic, but it was a solid plot that you knew how to follow without it getting convoluted and bogged down by crazy differing storylines. Halasan's quest is the main one, filled by the stories surrounding him. But the other, surrounding the emperor, is just the opposite, trying to oppose the rebellion. This left a comfortable feeling whenever I returned to the reading because I never had to remind myself of what was going on. The chapters always revolved around appropriately delineated threads that flowed well, knit together, and all contributed to the overall plot in a meaningful way.
Now that the positive has been stated, I have to mention that this story isn't altogether perfect While most of the dialogue is clean and tight, there are occasional places where the self-publishing nature shows itself. The story could've used an edit or two, having spelling errors commonly but for the most part, this doesn't take the story down very much or very often. Things seemed to always course correct and get back to mostly outstanding writing. The other part worth noting is the graphic nature of sexuality that occasionally shows itself. There is sexual content on display on several occasions that is either graphic or insinuatedly graphic. There is an occasional use of strong language that, paired with the previously mentioned aspect, I think took me out of the story just a little bit. While these things aren't deal breakers for how good the story is, it did detract my enjoyment just enough to be noticeable.
★★★★★ 4.5 Stars - The Ember Child is a brilliant and wonderful beginning to The Godsbane trilogy. The story boasts epic proportions, but the characters are real, raw, and flawed in their personalities, morals, and choices. Mitchell captures humanity at its best and worst within these pages and does a glorious job entertaining along the way. This is a character driven story and is all the better for it. Each chapter was gripping and teeming with intrigue and wonder as to how the characters would succeed in their endeavors and accomplish their own agendas along the way. While some of the dialogue issues and spelling errors do show themselves fairly often, the story itself is tight and won me over. I would definitely recommend this story!
Let me hear from you! If you like what you read, want to hear more thoughts on this book, other reviews, or talk book recommendations and Essential Reading, leave a comment below.
Rating system:
★★★★★ 5 Stars: It was amazing; I loved it. Read this book; it is definitely Essential Reading!
★★★★★* 4.5 Stars: It was nearly perfect. I really loved almost every aspect of it, but a few things kept it from being amazing.
★★★★ 4 Stars: It was very worth reading and satisfying; highly recommend.
★★★★* 3.5 Stars: I thoroughly enjoyed this story, but it was lacking in certain crucial areas.
★★★ 3 Stars: It was good, but could've been better or improved upon significantly.
★★★* 2.5 Stars: I wanted to enjoy it. Certain aspects were good, it was worth finishing, but many issues.
★★ 2 Stars: It was okay, I didn't feel strongly about it.
★★* 1.5 Stars: I finished it, but it was a chore to get through.
★ 1 Star: I did not like it. It was not worth finishing or I did not finish it.
*I round up based on the system on Goodreads.