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« Qu’est-ce qu’on fait? »
« Ce que nous faisons toujours », a répondu Royce, « mais en mieux. »
Il s’agit d’une édition omnibus, ce qui signifie qu’elle contient deux livres, Nyphron montant et La tempête d’émeraude. Deux livres dans une série dense signifient beaucoup d’action, des rebondissements, des tournants et des développements (in) attendus. Comme il s’agit essentiellement un conte axé sur l’histoire, il ne sert à rien d’essayer même de vous donner un teaser de ce qui vous attend ou de l’essence de ce qui s’en vient car cela n’entraînerait que des spoilers.
Il y a deux manières fondamentales dont
Il s’agit d’une édition omnibus, ce qui signifie qu’elle contient deux livres, Nyphron montant et La tempête d’émeraude. Deux livres dans une série dense signifient beaucoup d’action, des rebondissements, des tournants et des développements (in) attendus. Comme il s’agit essentiellement un conte axé sur l’histoire, il ne sert à rien d’essayer même de vous donner un teaser de ce qui vous attend ou de l’essence de ce qui s’en vient car cela n’entraînerait que des spoilers.
Il y a deux manières de base dont vous pouvez lire ce roman:
Pour un Avis 4 étoiles Cliquez ici: (voir spoiler)
For the first time in years, Riyria have a respectable job and a steady income. Riyria, just to remind you consists of Royce Melborn who regards the law merely as suggestion and violence as means to all ends, and Hadrian Blackwater who breathes principles and dines on honour. The previous instalment focused on bromance between the two. This time, their friendship and, indeed, partnership will be tested by doubts and strife. This makes the dynamic between them more interesting, allows for character development and more nuanced character building. Although it does not mean that there will be no banter or action scenes so those of you who liked the duo will not be disappointed.
As the story progresses, more and more protagonists appear and are given voice. Among them, the most prominent are the members of the Melengar royal family, Alric and Arista, the ancient wizard Ezrahaddon and Thrace, upon whom the fortune smiled in a particularly ironic way together with her new companion, Amilia. Those of the readers who were not so impressed with Royce and Hadrian will perhaps be relived to hear that the other characters are given much wider margin to this extent that at times one might get the feeling that Royce and Hadrian are secondary to the main plot.
We learn more regarding the Riyria background and their personal stories, but also how their lives fit into other story-arcs and the grand tale of Novron’s heir. We get to know other political forces and get to visit other places on the vast map of this world. You will get battles, and duels, scheming and backstabbing, escapes and rescues (although admittedly some scenes will be familiar). There is also a sea gig (yay or nay? for me a nay, the only maritime story I adored was The Fox, and only because it was not defined by this setting).
While I enjoyed the book, I could not get over the feeling that the whole tale is told with a hefty dose of naivety that is not entirely thought through. On the one hand, you will have brutality and cruelty, on the other events will play out according to logic that is almost childish. Consequently, while it is a book that I’d hand to a middle grader without any qualms and with words of encouragement, I had to suspend my sarcastic reasoning more than once. If you are a super-down-to-earth reader, some things might be irritating for you. The scenes with Amilia, the simple girl who uses words like “inconveniencing” and “indisposed”, Hadrian taking over command in a military camp (view spoiler), les antagonistes si clichés dans leur méchanceté à moustaches ou les héros qui se lancent dans la bataille 2 jours après avoir reçu 100 coups de fouet en sont de bons exemples.
Si vous pensez trop à certaines choses, elles arrêtent de s’additionner. (voir spoiler)
De plus, bien que les livres se lisent rapidement et soient globalement agréables à lire, Je ne peux pas dire que cette prose m’a beaucoup impressionné. En fait, parmi mes notes et faits saillants, il n’y avait pas une seule phrase que j’ai soulignée parce que j’en aimais le son. Pas de réflexions profondes, pas de sages observations, pas de poésie. Le style d’écriture est succinct, parfois drôle à la manière d’une sitcom, mais il ne vous le prouvera pas avec de bonnes citations ou des lignes simples.
Les Riryia Revelations sont une révélation si vous recherchez une lecture de confort intelligente et amusante. Pas trop écrasant ou ambitieux, pas trop lourd ou déprimant. Juste avant de toucher le point faible. Et tu sais quoi? Il est dédié aux membres de Goodreads. Comment ne pas essayer ?
Pour un Avis 1 étoile Cliquez ici: (voir spoiler)
For the first time in years, Riyria have a respectable job and a steady income. Riyria, just to remind you consists of Royce Melborn who regards the law merely as suggestion and violence as means to all ends, and Hadrian Blackwater who breathes principles and dines on honour. Unfortunately for those who were pining for more bromance between those two, other characters are given much wider margin to this extent that at times one might get the feeling that Royce and Hadrian are secondary to the main plot.
Among those crown idiot princess Arista takes the precedence. In book three she nearly dominates the whole book and her POV is more frequent and longer than those of Royce and Hadrian combined.
The one and only reason why the books, yes both of them, are of the one-star quality, is the unbearable stupidity of princess Arista and her antics. Mind you, she was getting on my nerves before, but it has been nothing when compared with the tomfooleries that await here:
1. A princess of the crown after throwing tantrum at the prospect of a strategic marriage goes traipsing around as an ambassador in a dirty carriage and a crumpled dress.
2. A princess of the crown who throws yet another tantrum when it is pointed out that her ambassadorial missions were futile.
3. A princess of the crown where her family is barely holing the throne who undermines the fragile authority of her brother without a thought. Or two. Scratch that, that’s one thought too many.
4. A girl who in spite of points one, two and three believes herself to be “no fool”. Probably this is why she devises a plan that requires posing as a scullery maid.
5. A princess of the crown who takes her own responsibilities so seriously that she leaves the realm without telling anyone and travels with two men of questionable provenance. Unescorted, why not.
6. An appointed official taking her responsibilities so seriously that she saunters off when convenient without bothering to notify anyone. Oh, no, scratch that, she did leave a letter.
7. A female protagonist constantly comparing herself to other femaleswho are too stupid in her opinion to be interested in anything else beyond their looks, never had ridden a horse, etc. Also, a noble who supposedly has had three maids who dressed and undressed her daily until it was time to impress foreign officials during a diplomatic mission. In that case, check point 1.
8. A girl who is quite happy to admit that “she is lousy at being a woman”. Because being a woman equals with good makeup and a love for gossip. You see the problem here?
9. A girl who can steer the boat despite never sailing, invents magic spells on the go and leads men to battle before breakfast. Oh, and why don’t you fly an F16 while you’re at it, my dear?
10. A girl with penchant for instalove here and there. Just crawl on the bed, she tells her random plebeian sweethearts.
11. A girl who gets drunk when on a mission and babbles around all the stupidest things you can imagine.
12. A girl unable to manage one noisy maid and one surly bodyguard suddenly whips out a rebellion.
13. A super magician who had no problems with making one person sneeze but scoffs at battle-related specific spells, fancy that.
Yes, I could continue this list.
There is one honest paragraph about her in book 3, chapter 7. Unfortunately, it was a very brief paragraph and nothing came out of it. In both instalments Arista is more a hindrance and embarrassment than help. The very same mistakes and idiocies repeat chapter in, chapter out and rare moments of lucidity and reflection do not result in a change of action. The only thing that happens is that she evolves into a snowflake with special abilities.
OK, I get it: the book is written in a certain convention. Heroes do heroics, while villains die in a villainous way. Everybody behaves themselves accordingly, just as you expect people to behave themselves in a certain way during grandmother’s tea party. It requires specific cliches, stereotypes, and paradoxes in what is usually called a suspension of disbelief. But Arista’s idiocy takes this suspension business to a whole new level. The only saving grace is the fact that she is so stupid that indeed, it is impossible to predict what would she (not) do.
It is such a shame that such an awful character managed to spoiler the whole book. Without Arista, or with her kept firmly on the margins of the Riyria adventures, it would have been an altogether pleasant read. I still cannot decide whether the Author knows that Arista is an idiot and winks at me or whether he expects me to take her seriously.
I’d love to continue the series hoping for her brutal and untimely death, but I fear that the worst is yet to come.
Ma note générale est un compromis entre ces deux.
___
Autres révélations de Riyria :
* Vol d’épées: La couronne du complot & Avempartha (#1-2) ★★★★☆
* Héritier de Novron: Wintertide & Percepliquis (#5-6) ★★★★☆
…Suite
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