Not what I was expecting
This is pitched as a historical fantasy novel with no mention it is very religious. It has many, many bible verses in it and that's not what I was expecting based on the blurb and it was not a fun surprise.
It feels much more for fans of historical fiction than fantasy. Even with the fantasy aspects it reads more like a very long historical essay. Something that adds to that feeling is it's full of end notes, over 100 of them. Several are definitions of words which seems strange to include and many others are bible verses as mentioned above. They are very tedious, slow down the flow of the story considerably, and are entirely unnecessary.
The books is beautifully illustrated and has several maps, but unfortunately that did not make the writing any more enjoyable for me.
Overall I just don't feel like I got the story pitched on the back of the book and did not have a good time reading it.
It feels much more for fans of historical fiction than fantasy. Even with the fantasy aspects it reads more like a very long historical essay. Something that adds to that feeling is it's full of end notes, over 100 of them. Several are definitions of words which seems strange to include and many others are bible verses as mentioned above. They are very tedious, slow down the flow of the story considerably, and are entirely unnecessary.
The books is beautifully illustrated and has several maps, but unfortunately that did not make the writing any more enjoyable for me.
Overall I just don't feel like I got the story pitched on the back of the book and did not have a good time reading it.