a) What I enjoyed most about the novel was the plot. It was very interesting and captivating. The characters all had unique personalities making them seem very lifelike. I liked it how the author Lian Hearn wrote one chapter as Takeo and another as Kaede. It gave us two different perspectives on the fantasy world in which they lived. I also liked it how the two of them met each other and their different views on life. This is what I enjoyed most about the novel. b) The story could have been improved in the introduction. It didn’t exactly hook me in. After the first chapter I had lost much interest but after that, I began to enjoy it. This may have been because the main character’s name changed from Tomasu to Takeo adding to the confusion of the first chapter. I believe that was a problem in the book; so many different events occurred in the first chapter that I became confused as to what was happening. Also because there were such a multitude of characters, it took me half a second to remember who they were and their relevance to the story. An example would be Lord Arai. He was one of the main characters at the start but then we heard and saw little of him until the final chapters. Apart from this, the book was a very enjoyable read.
a) What I enjoyed most about the story was the beginning, when Tomasu's (Takeo's) village is attacked. This sort of introduction is needed for this sort of fantasy book. As early as page 4, Takeo witnesses battle, blood, murder and hatred. These scenes of extreme violence totally hook the reader in, as everything that is happening is explained so well, it is as if we are there and can see and feel what Takeo is experiencing. Also, my favourite character - Shigeru, is introduced very closely to the beginning of the story. The style in which he is introduced is also captivating, as the first thing he does is 'show' his skill with the sword.
b) I think the one thing that let this book down could have been improved very easily. The problem was the characters' names were made so confusing to follow. For example, the transition of Tomasu's name to Takeo could have been explained alot more thoroughly, as I found myself thinking sometimes: "Why does the main character keep changing?" I thought this without knowing Takeo and Tomasu were actually the same person, because in my opinion, it wasn't explained well enough in the book. Another example: Lord Otori Shigeru was sometimes called Otori and sometimes called Shigeru, which to me was very unnecessary and stupid. It almost made me lose interest in the book as I couldn't focus on the plot but instead had to keep backtracking due to Shigeru's random name changes.
This problem may seem like a little thing, but in actual fact, not knowing 100% what character you are empathising and trying to follow can ultimately put you off reading the story.
I'd just like to add my opinion on what Ben said. It's interesting how two people who read the same book at around the same time could have a pretty different view on their most enjoyable and most 'frustrating' parts of the story. My most enjoyed part was the introduction, but Ben said the introduction was the one thing that needed to be improved! I just thought I might add this little bit because I found our different opinions pretty interesting.
Good point Jono! We had different opinions; maybe that is why Lian wrote the Introduction and Conclusion as thus. She wanted her reader’s to have different thoughts.
a) What I really enjoyed most about the book was the emotional rollercoaster that you went on. At the start of the start of the book you had a sense of how fantastic Tomasu's life was at the time. He had a wonderful family and lived in a great location. Then all of a sudden you felt the fear that he felt. His life was never going to be the same. You felt the fear of Ida Samadu and his powerful structure. You could feel the bond between Kaede and Takeo and the friendship between Muto Kenji and Lord Shigeru. You can feel the tension between Shigeru's family and the love that Takeo has for his father Shigeru. I also enjoyed as The Big Ben said the two different perspectives of the characters in the book it gave you a real chance to choose what you felt about each character. b) Although there are some really good points in the book the real letdown in the book is the middle of the book. It took quite some time before anything really happened in the book. I tuned out of the book and started thinking in some complex chain of ideas until I finally snapped back to reality and all the time I was daydreaming my eyes were skimming over the pages and I found myself re-reading pages. Another annoying thing in the book as Jono!! Said were the names of the characters. I have to admit it was really hard to keep track of all of the characters with strange names and name changes throughout the book.
These problems really ruined the story for me. It had the ingredients of a good book with a good plot and a lot of description but these small things made the difference.
a) I did not enjoy much about the book and it would not be something I would choose to read because of the medieval Asia setting. If I had to choose my favourite thing about the book it would be the whole assassin/stealth thing. I enjoyed the descriptions of Takeo sneaking round. This is mainly the reason I had myself so pumped for Iida's assassination.
b) I would have liked there to have been a chapter for when Shigeru and Kaede were meant to get married instead of skipping all of that action. I would rather have had Takeo assassinate Iida as i had myself pumped for it and was looking forward to that moment and that really ruined it for me.
A) I think that the best part of the story was during the part of Takeo's life when he was staying with Shigeru in his house. It was then when he learned how to cross the nightingale floor while also learning to harness and enhances his abilities, here he was given an education and taught the way of life outside the hidden. He learnt how to listen to the song of the house and how its moods changed from summer to spring to autumn to winter.
B)I agree with Jono about the let down of this book, I think the naming of Shigeru was also very confusing, the different names are hard to grasp and this is the same for many characters in the book, the author even continues to do this in the other books.
I completely agree with Ben on the first part of this question, because the most enjoyable part of the book was the plot, because it captivated you and made you want to read on and find out what happens, and he changes perspectives from Takeo to Kaede when one of their stories gets really interesting and it changes so you get hooked and can't really put the book down. The second part of the question I agree with Ben again, but I thought that it wandered for longer, up until he met Shigeru and stopped and met Lady Maruyama
9 comments:
a) What I enjoyed most about the novel was the plot. It was very interesting and captivating. The characters all had unique personalities making them seem very lifelike. I liked it how the author Lian Hearn wrote one chapter as Takeo and another as Kaede. It gave us two different perspectives on the fantasy world in which they lived. I also liked it how the two of them met each other and their different views on life. This is what I enjoyed most about the novel.
b) The story could have been improved in the introduction. It didn’t exactly hook me in. After the first chapter I had lost much interest but after that, I began to enjoy it. This may have been because the main character’s name changed from Tomasu to Takeo adding to the confusion of the first chapter. I believe that was a problem in the book; so many different events occurred in the first chapter that I became confused as to what was happening. Also because there were such a multitude of characters, it took me half a second to remember who they were and their relevance to the story. An example would be Lord Arai. He was one of the main characters at the start but then we heard and saw little of him until the final chapters. Apart from this, the book was a very enjoyable read.
a) What I enjoyed most about the story was the beginning, when Tomasu's (Takeo's) village is attacked. This sort of introduction is needed for this sort of fantasy book. As early as page 4, Takeo witnesses battle, blood, murder and hatred. These scenes of extreme violence totally hook the reader in, as everything that is happening is explained so well, it is as if we are there and can see and feel what Takeo is experiencing. Also, my favourite character - Shigeru, is introduced very closely to the beginning of the story. The style in which he is introduced is also captivating, as the first thing he does is 'show' his skill with the sword.
b) I think the one thing that let this book down could have been improved very easily. The problem was the characters' names were made so confusing to follow. For example, the transition of Tomasu's name to Takeo could have been explained alot more thoroughly, as I found myself thinking sometimes: "Why does the main character keep changing?" I thought this without knowing Takeo and Tomasu were actually the same person, because in my opinion, it wasn't explained well enough in the book. Another example: Lord Otori Shigeru was sometimes called Otori and sometimes called Shigeru, which to me was very unnecessary and stupid. It almost made me lose interest in the book as I couldn't focus on the plot but instead had to keep backtracking due to Shigeru's random name changes.
This problem may seem like a little thing, but in actual fact, not knowing 100% what character you are empathising and trying to follow can ultimately put you off reading the story.
I'd just like to add my opinion on what Ben said. It's interesting how two people who read the same book at around the same time could have a pretty different view on their most enjoyable and most 'frustrating' parts of the story. My most enjoyed part was the introduction, but Ben said the introduction was the one thing that needed to be improved! I just thought I might add this little bit because I found our different opinions pretty interesting.
Good point Jono! We had different opinions; maybe that is why Lian wrote the Introduction and Conclusion as thus. She wanted her reader’s to have different thoughts.
a) What I really enjoyed most about the book was the emotional rollercoaster that you went on. At the start of the start of the book you had a sense of how fantastic Tomasu's life was at the time. He had a wonderful family and lived in a great location. Then all of a sudden you felt the fear that he felt. His life was never going to be the same. You felt the fear of Ida Samadu and his powerful structure. You could feel the bond between Kaede and Takeo and the friendship between Muto Kenji and Lord Shigeru. You can feel the tension between Shigeru's family and the love that Takeo has for his father Shigeru. I also enjoyed as The Big Ben said the two different perspectives of the characters in the book it gave you a real chance to choose what you felt about each character.
b) Although there are some really good points in the book the real letdown in the book is the middle of the book. It took quite some time before anything really happened in the book. I tuned out of the book and started thinking in some complex chain of ideas until I finally snapped back to reality and all the time I was daydreaming my eyes were skimming over the pages and I found myself re-reading pages. Another annoying thing in the book as Jono!! Said were the names of the characters. I have to admit it was really hard to keep track of all of the characters with strange names and name changes throughout the book.
These problems really ruined the story for me. It had the ingredients of a good book with a good plot and a lot of description but these small things made the difference.
a) I did not enjoy much about the book and it would not be something I would choose to read because of the medieval Asia setting. If I had to choose my favourite thing about the book it would be the whole assassin/stealth thing. I enjoyed the descriptions of Takeo sneaking round. This is mainly the reason I had myself so pumped for Iida's assassination.
b) I would have liked there to have been a chapter for when Shigeru and Kaede were meant to get married instead of skipping all of that action. I would rather have had Takeo assassinate Iida as i had myself pumped for it and was looking forward to that moment and that really ruined it for me.
A) I think that the best part of the story was during the part of Takeo's life when he was staying with Shigeru in his house. It was then when he learned how to cross the nightingale floor while also learning to harness and enhances his abilities, here he was given an education and taught the way of life outside the hidden. He learnt how to listen to the song of the house and how its moods changed from summer to spring to autumn to winter.
B)I agree with Jono about the let down of this book, I think the naming of Shigeru was also very confusing, the different names are hard to grasp and this is the same for many characters in the book, the author even continues to do this in the other books.
I completely agree with Ben on the first part of this question, because the most enjoyable part of the book was the plot, because it captivated you and made you want to read on and find out what happens, and he changes perspectives from Takeo to Kaede when one of their stories gets really interesting and it changes so you get hooked and can't really put the book down.
The second part of the question I agree with Ben again, but I thought that it wandered for longer, up until he met Shigeru and stopped and met Lady Maruyama
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