Clare Hooley reviewed The First Binding by R.R. Virdi
Rothfuss inspired but not bad for that
4 stars
At 10% of the way through: Before having looked at other reviews, I was a bit ummmm…. perhaps a little over-inspired by Rothfuss (which I read back when it came out and can hardly remember). The main character’s overblown prose is somewhat irritating, but still not sure how much that’s deliberate as opposed to the writer’s style - it’s clever if the former. Only just getting going with the ‘back story’, so next need to see how that works in. It’s a long book… lots to go! When finished: Much better after the back story starts; still weakest when it strays into fan fiction - we have several more scenes that even I spot as Rothfuss rewrites. Overwrought prose will pull you out of the story at times, but we do have a remarkable world, strong characters and some wicked twists as baddies are revealed. I quite like its slow-burner …
At 10% of the way through: Before having looked at other reviews, I was a bit ummmm…. perhaps a little over-inspired by Rothfuss (which I read back when it came out and can hardly remember). The main character’s overblown prose is somewhat irritating, but still not sure how much that’s deliberate as opposed to the writer’s style - it’s clever if the former. Only just getting going with the ‘back story’, so next need to see how that works in. It’s a long book… lots to go! When finished: Much better after the back story starts; still weakest when it strays into fan fiction - we have several more scenes that even I spot as Rothfuss rewrites. Overwrought prose will pull you out of the story at times, but we do have a remarkable world, strong characters and some wicked twists as baddies are revealed. I quite like its slow-burner pacing, and excellent portrayal of the value vs costs of things. Cliffhanger ending. I’ll read the next one. Thank you to @kithrup@wandering.shop for giving this away.
