Earn The Madness Of Hallen (The Khalada Stone, #1) Curated By Russell Meek Physical Book
you are looking for a new fantasy author look no further, Russell delivers a new and interesting take on magic and the struggle for power and love, This was an absolutely amazing book! I cannot wait to start the second one! This book was pretty awesome, Took me a long while to get through it, as it is pretty slow with a lot of very intricate world building, When I came to the end I was both disappointed and satisfied,
Disappointed because the story never really went anywhere I didn't feel like there was much of a climax and the ending was very much just setting up the sequel.
All that time was spent building up and introducing you to the world, but we never really got to get into the plot,
Satisfied because I really like whats been set up, I like the direction of the story, I like the characters, and I can just feel the potential for a great series oozing off the pages.
I am definitely keen to pick up the sequel, and really hoping all that build up will begin to pay off,
Overall .A SPFBOentrant. This epic fantasy, atpages, is a very ambitious tome, The complexity of the story and the magic involved made it a very interesting read, It is well written minus a handful of typos, It has many unexpected twists that kept me rather riveted, The magic system exists within stones of Khalada and their effect upon those attuned to them is amazing and dangerous, Although I was never bored by the prose, I felt the book could have been shortened quite a bit by removing some of the extra exposition involving the private relationships of the characters in a large cast.
An editing could give this the polish it deserves, Its a very slow burn, but the characters really stick with you, your personal feelings for them deepen throughout, and the good world building make it worth it.
I finished book one and intend to continue the series, Naturally it ends on a bit of a cliff hanger, and I must find out what happens next,
All in all I really enjoyed this book, I love the premise of it and the world is interesting, I like the characters and how they interact.
Albeit I find some of their dialogue a little bit too formal for what it is, my only big issue with this book is the pacing, this is why I only give itstars, The pacing is too slow, and then all of a sudden too fast, it just doesn't quite work for me,
However that said I still read bookand will most likely read numberwhen it comes out, I want to know what happens I just hope he gets better at pacing A bit of a slow start but the pace picks up enough towards the end that I will read the next book.
I think perseverance is the key to this story, This book is a good foundation to the series and it felt that way, A story with some action that concentrates more on relationships between characters great laughable/loving moments and this is definitely a good read One of the best fantasy novels I have read in many a year.
Maturely written, with vivid descriptive style, I know I am going to be frustrated waiting for the second!!!! Good concept, Characters fascinating and satisfyingly complex I do like it when you're not sure if someone is good or bad, I also liked the twists and turns in the plot, The action was a little slow to start, and continues that way throughout, the content and storyline is strong but requires patience it's a long book and you wait for things to happen.
Having said that the world building is good and feels fresh, Boring, hard to read book, The premise was great, but unfortunately it's clumisly written with POVs jumping around all over the place and I couldn't be bothered to finish it.
Terrific. I enjoyed this book and its characters and I look forward to reading the next in the series, I was really impressed with this book and would recommend it to anyone!
The plot is kind of slow but as a set up for three more books it is really good! The only issue I had was something I have not really come across in any book before the story is told from almost every character's perspective at the same time.
. . the point of view kind of jumps around and can sometimes be confusing, . . HOWEVER there is a reason for this which is alluded to around half way through the story,
Without giving too much away the 'bad guys' are well developed as characters and their motivation is understandable, they also have a highly interesting influence over the 'good guys'.
I say 'bad guys' and 'good guys' because for a while it is not entirely clear who is who, also it is entirely possible that one or two of the 'good guys' could turn, with the pervasive influence the 'bad guys' have over them.
The magic system is very interesting and well developed,
The imagery is on a grand scale with cities perched on the edges of cliffs or deep within hostile mountain ranges,
While this book is by no means 'grimdark' one character has bloody moments that would be a match for anything Abercrombie's Logan ninefingers goes through.
This author has incredible potential and I can definitely see him running in league with the bigs authors of fantasy today: Rothfuss, Sanderson, Hobb, Abercrombie, Brooks et al.
All in all I found this book highly original and very intriguing, needless to say I will be buying the next three books and can't wait for the next one to come out.
Congratulations Russell, a fantastic novel and an excellent way to start the series, It was great to meet you at the Perth Comicon and I am very glad I purchased this book, I can't wait to continue the story but I assume it will be a while, From one Kiwi to another I wish you all the best, hoping it all works out as you wish, I found the world building throughout this novel fantastic and sometime overwhelming, Overall the author thought of every aspect of the cultures living in this world, Great to come across a quality fantasy epic from a fellow Kiwi, Russell has beautifully captured the world in this series, sharing glimpses that cling to the mind and inspire further investigation, I cant stand having to wait for each book to be released but they are always worth the wait, It took too long to draw me in, The first ten chapters were really slow, alot of world building and telling instead of showing except some scenes,
I wasn't convinced with the relationship and hardship with Ohrl and Keysa, There were a lot of cringe worthy moments with grammar and unnecessary dialogue that could've been deleted,
The reason I changed my review tofromwas some of the action scenes, He shows them and it made me feel immersed in those particular moments, especially with the kaaldreer,
Overall, read the book but be prepared for a slow beginning, maybe the second book will answer a few questions and cement the history, Meek tells the readers.
Battle raged on the desert sands of the Great Depression, A land of tribal warriors, scattered and leaderless, was finally united under one mind, a man proclaimed as Husam alDin, the Sword of the Faith.
On the dark day of his death, alDins priests tore his mind apart, preventing his treacherous wife, Maymunah, from taking control of the armies.
They disappeared beyond the borders of the known lands, taking with them six harmonic stones containing the mind of alDin, leaving the tribes leaderless and united only by faith.
Revenge vowed, Maymunah set her descendants on a quest to recover the lost stones, Centuries passed as nothing was found, until twenty generations later, in an ice cave deep in the Meilvohllen Mountains, Hallen made a discovery that would change the world forever.
Unable to contain the power of the stones, Hallens mind was lost,
and for three further generations the daughters of Maymunah have only heard whispers in the wind.
. .
The Madness of Hallen is the first of four epic fantasy novels, following the lives of two brothers in their quest against the rightful heir to the mind of Husam alDin.
Finally finished it!!!! OMG! I just want to pick up the next book, I am invested in knowing how the series ends! I reckon this series would be such a good TV show! The betrayal and deception is so good! I especially love Faerl as a character and damn Na'ilah is good! I had the privilege of meeting Russell in person and to this day both himself and this series has stayed with me! Can't wait to read the next book.