Wow that title's a mouthful. So I've taken a little while to read this one because at times I had to put it down--the sheer amount of character deaths can be a little overwhelming at times. Nonetheless, I finished it which goes to show it wasn't absolute garbage (actually it was far from it). This book by Marvin Amazon baffled me because I had a hard time deciding whether I liked or disliked it. (Although... I know what my opinion on the cover is... This is one book where I'll say "Don't judge the book by its cover.") In the end, I'm still undecided. Formal review:
“The Light and the Dark,” which is the first book in the “Corin
Chronicles,” is what I like to call a setup book. Think “Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows Part 1.” Sure, it was an okay movie but it was all a build-up
to the next movie, which needed a setup to be as mind-blowing as it was. In my
eyes, this is essentially what the first book of the “Corin Chronicles” is; a
setup to what has the potential to be a mind-blowing series.
It starts off pretty fast paced—a war between gods and
demigods, and you think you know who the good guys and bad guys are.
Lightning-paced battle sequences that aren’t so descriptive you want to cry
because you don’t understand—really, it was a well-done, albeit straightforward
(but lots of people hate battle strategy anyway so that’s okay) battle. Then
you have the repercussions and a five thousand year skip. Thing is, the
viewpoint we have five thousand years later is from the opposite side of the
war and we hear a whole different story. Now it isn’t really clear who the good
guys and bad guys are because both sides of the story are so biased. Which was
interesting, original, and brilliant.
So why the low rating? I can tell you it wasn’t writing style—the
writing was average and though I wished for a little more description but it
didn’t both me too much. I can tell you it wasn’t the cover because I’m not
rating the book for its cover, as much as this one annoyed me. I can tell you
it wasn’t the characters… but I’d be lying. The characters. It wasn’t that I
hated them but it was that I didn’t really care about them. Because this book
had so many and they were dying left and right, main characters and minor. This
wouldn’t be too much of a problem (“Game of Thrones” comes to mind) but the
problem was that they were in the book for so little time that I didn’t really
get attached to any of them. Just as I was starting to like a character, they’d
die and then my attention would drift. Because the points of view kept
switching and you never really stayed with the same character for long, there
wasn’t really any development.
Which brings me back to my original point—setup book.
Because the few characters that were alive will most likely make appearances in
the next book (I will cry tears of frustration if they don’t), I can see that
there will definitely be some developments and then maybe I’ll start liking
some of them. The plot was also like this—just as things started getting really
interesting, you get cut off and switched to another plot. And another setting.
With different characters. And different points of view of the original battle!
It was all over the place and nothing really connected in the end at all so the
reader is left hopelessly confused and wondering why you even had to know about
one plot. Things haven’t even started to come together, really.
The real thing that saved this book and has made me at
least consider getting the next one is the last one hundred pages or so. They’re
a quest and they all stay with the same group of characters (finally!).
Although they do keep introducing new characters and I keep tearing at my hair
and wondering why I need to know who “insert any name of a character in the
last 100 pages here” is.
So, for just this novel, I’m going to have go with a
lower rating. This is the reason I normally choose to rate a whole series;
because I know if this series settles on one plot and starts connecting the
dots—that really just look like a bunch of dots right now and have no real big
picture—it will end up going to mind-blowing proportions. Because it has the
potential to, it really does. It’s very original, as I’ve said before (I mean,
historical fantasy mixing with urban fantasy? It’s brilliant!) and that’s
something that’s so hard to find in the fantasy genre these days. But for now,
I’ll hold off on further judgement. Until I read the next few books… which I
probably will.
At this point, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. Not because it certainly isn't worth reading but because I'm still not sure if it is. Only time (and when I say that I mean the next few novels) will tell. I'll give you my final verdict on this particular book but as for the series as a whole... the judge is still out on that one. Too soon to tell.
Final Verdict: 5.4/10
Happy Reading!
~Amber
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