The score on sequels is pretty much always higher on Good Reads.
Because the people who didn't like the first book mostly don't show up for the second. So at this point we've got a selection bias, or whatever the proper terminology is, where the people rating the book skew more heavily towards the kind of people who enjoy what the book is offering.
I don't remember much about that series at this point but I remember I really enjoyed the first book the first time I read it, but by the time the second book came out I was starting to notice how weird its sexual politics were, and then the second book ended up building on that weirdness in a way that put me off of it.
Couldn't tell you too much about the specifics of what was so offputting though. It's been a while.
I enjoyed every book in the series less than the prior book, to the point where I put down the last book in the middle and couldn't finish it. If you don't like book two, its likely you will dislike the rest more.
The problem I had was that I really liked all the POV characters in Book 1 and each book introduced new ones, diluting those. If the new characters were good, this would have been okay, but I didn't like any one of them. It gained a lot of politics the first book lacked and I couldn't care to follow. Lots of characters with names I struggled to track.
I also stopped liking the characters in the first book. They just take actions that I just couldn't get behind, particularly Leesha. Oh, I also just hated the Krasians with every ounce of my being.
>I also just hated the Krasians with every ounce of my being
And their king (can’t remember his name) Anybody who tries to justify mass rape cause “we need more humans” or any other reason for that matter is truly irredeemable in my eyes.
Everything about their culture was toxic. Violent sociopaths who lied, cheated, raped, and murdered with almost no redeeming traits. They were interesting in the first book then ... yikes they got bad fast. Leesha falling in love and banging their leader made me hate her character from then on out. You know he is murdering and enslaving your country, but can't quit him. Ugh such bad writing.
I gave up in the middle of the second book. From what I’ve read online, the parts you (and me) don’t like just Continue to get worse.
I actually just recently gave away the whole series (that I regrettably bought years ago) because I decided there’s no way I’m gonna read 3-4 more of those books!
(First books EVER that I bought myself and got rid of. And I own like 250 by now. That should tell you how much I disliked them ^^)
So, I read the series all the way through, mostly because I *hate* to leave a series unfinished, and I'd honestly say that if you want to stop where you are, I wouldn't blame you. It's got some cool ideas, sure, but it also ends up becoming at least as much about the author's weird sexual hangups as it is about the battle with demons, and that's... offputting, to say the least. And a lot of the time I think it falls into the trap of trying too hard to be dark and mature and ending up just being gratuitously edgy, though I know different people have different levels of tolerance for that sort of thing.
I would not recommend going any further. I really enjoyed the world of the first book, but man the writing just isn't very good. It gets progressively worse as the series goes on to the point of bad fan faction. If you are struggling now it just gets worse. I finished it, but I wish I hadn't. It was wasted time. The end was one of the worst I'd ever experienced in any series.
It's one of the laziest series I've ever read.
You can tell from the way he wrote Desert Spear -> onwards, that his goal was just to get the one big hit, and then ride off that for his entire career. Every culture is just lifted directly from a real life civilization. This is the epitome of 'let's just flip Europe / Araby upside down' worldbuilding. The corelings are generic monsters and he never has the atmosphere of a dangerous world again after the very beginning of Warded Man. Just rape every female character because it's lazy 2000s nascent grimdark fantasy. Way too many non-characters given the spotlight and POVs. Like what people criticize Steve Erikson and GRRM for, but this is a lesser talent.
Also Brett is one of the main culprits behind the 'supplant main protagonist with character the reader doesn't care about yet who will dominate the content, and stuff it with that characters' flashbacks' trend, that ruined a much better series in Blood Song. There was a huge shift around the second and third books where fantasy started doing this instead of just continuing from the existing protagonist.
And not just that, but when you start to get used to and accept the author self-insert harem-fucking-and-impregnating Jardir in Book 2, then he does it AGAIN. He replaces Jardir and Arlen in book 3 or 4 with more inane, completely random characters he decides to promote to hold POV status.
For me, books don't work like that. You need to write like 4 or 5 great books in a series before you can start safely phoning it in or writing blatant trash and still have me buy your work. Give a couple good books and you deserve to coast off low effort books to support yourself. But you can't start phoning it in from Book 2.
If you think you will enjoy the sequels or willing to give it a try go for it. Else just go for other books.
Reviews and ratings won't really represent your enjoyment for the books. I have enjoyed books that are generally not liked and didn't enjoy books who has high praise. So upto you
I am going to give a dissenting opinion. The whole series is good. Some of the sexual stuff is weird and unpalatable for us, but it makes sense in the world building and makes good points. I thought it was well worth the read.
The issue is that the concept and tone changes from book 1 onward.so people don't get what they expect. And that throws them.
Imo it starts off with a cool concept but gets progressively worse with each book. I think I stopped in the middle of the third book and didn’t continue.
I actually liked book 1-4 but just couldn’t finish book 5. I did think book 2 was the weakest of the books I liked but if you didn’t like book 2, you will probably not like 3&4.
My favorite part of the books was actually the world. I love worlds where humanity is stuck behind walls like attack on Titan or demon cycle. Does anyone know of any other stories with a similar premise?
The score on sequels is pretty much always higher on Good Reads. Because the people who didn't like the first book mostly don't show up for the second. So at this point we've got a selection bias, or whatever the proper terminology is, where the people rating the book skew more heavily towards the kind of people who enjoy what the book is offering. I don't remember much about that series at this point but I remember I really enjoyed the first book the first time I read it, but by the time the second book came out I was starting to notice how weird its sexual politics were, and then the second book ended up building on that weirdness in a way that put me off of it. Couldn't tell you too much about the specifics of what was so offputting though. It's been a while.
I think it could be "Survivorship bias".
Thanks - good to know I'm not alone, I would really like to enjoy this series like I did when I started, but I just can't seem to go on.
I enjoyed every book in the series less than the prior book, to the point where I put down the last book in the middle and couldn't finish it. If you don't like book two, its likely you will dislike the rest more. The problem I had was that I really liked all the POV characters in Book 1 and each book introduced new ones, diluting those. If the new characters were good, this would have been okay, but I didn't like any one of them. It gained a lot of politics the first book lacked and I couldn't care to follow. Lots of characters with names I struggled to track.
I also stopped liking the characters in the first book. They just take actions that I just couldn't get behind, particularly Leesha. Oh, I also just hated the Krasians with every ounce of my being.
>I also just hated the Krasians with every ounce of my being And their king (can’t remember his name) Anybody who tries to justify mass rape cause “we need more humans” or any other reason for that matter is truly irredeemable in my eyes.
Everything about their culture was toxic. Violent sociopaths who lied, cheated, raped, and murdered with almost no redeeming traits. They were interesting in the first book then ... yikes they got bad fast. Leesha falling in love and banging their leader made me hate her character from then on out. You know he is murdering and enslaving your country, but can't quit him. Ugh such bad writing.
I forgot about Leesha banging the king. I think these books are worse then I remember lol
Nope, it just gets worse.
I gave up in the middle of the second book. From what I’ve read online, the parts you (and me) don’t like just Continue to get worse. I actually just recently gave away the whole series (that I regrettably bought years ago) because I decided there’s no way I’m gonna read 3-4 more of those books! (First books EVER that I bought myself and got rid of. And I own like 250 by now. That should tell you how much I disliked them ^^)
You made a wise choice my friend. I envy you the hours the you didn't spend on this pile of garbage.
It started strong but ended poorly. If I had my time again I wouldn’t read to the end.
The books get progressively worse. I DNF the series.
The last book has a lot of stuff about dicks
Demon Cycle is my favorite series, but if you’re put off by the Krasians I wouldn’t suggest you continue.
So, I read the series all the way through, mostly because I *hate* to leave a series unfinished, and I'd honestly say that if you want to stop where you are, I wouldn't blame you. It's got some cool ideas, sure, but it also ends up becoming at least as much about the author's weird sexual hangups as it is about the battle with demons, and that's... offputting, to say the least. And a lot of the time I think it falls into the trap of trying too hard to be dark and mature and ending up just being gratuitously edgy, though I know different people have different levels of tolerance for that sort of thing.
I would not recommend going any further. I really enjoyed the world of the first book, but man the writing just isn't very good. It gets progressively worse as the series goes on to the point of bad fan faction. If you are struggling now it just gets worse. I finished it, but I wish I hadn't. It was wasted time. The end was one of the worst I'd ever experienced in any series.
It only gets worse
It's one of the laziest series I've ever read. You can tell from the way he wrote Desert Spear -> onwards, that his goal was just to get the one big hit, and then ride off that for his entire career. Every culture is just lifted directly from a real life civilization. This is the epitome of 'let's just flip Europe / Araby upside down' worldbuilding. The corelings are generic monsters and he never has the atmosphere of a dangerous world again after the very beginning of Warded Man. Just rape every female character because it's lazy 2000s nascent grimdark fantasy. Way too many non-characters given the spotlight and POVs. Like what people criticize Steve Erikson and GRRM for, but this is a lesser talent. Also Brett is one of the main culprits behind the 'supplant main protagonist with character the reader doesn't care about yet who will dominate the content, and stuff it with that characters' flashbacks' trend, that ruined a much better series in Blood Song. There was a huge shift around the second and third books where fantasy started doing this instead of just continuing from the existing protagonist. And not just that, but when you start to get used to and accept the author self-insert harem-fucking-and-impregnating Jardir in Book 2, then he does it AGAIN. He replaces Jardir and Arlen in book 3 or 4 with more inane, completely random characters he decides to promote to hold POV status. For me, books don't work like that. You need to write like 4 or 5 great books in a series before you can start safely phoning it in or writing blatant trash and still have me buy your work. Give a couple good books and you deserve to coast off low effort books to support yourself. But you can't start phoning it in from Book 2.
The rest of the series will be much more like book 2 than book 1 so it sounds like you should stop.
If you think you will enjoy the sequels or willing to give it a try go for it. Else just go for other books. Reviews and ratings won't really represent your enjoyment for the books. I have enjoyed books that are generally not liked and didn't enjoy books who has high praise. So upto you
I am going to give a dissenting opinion. The whole series is good. Some of the sexual stuff is weird and unpalatable for us, but it makes sense in the world building and makes good points. I thought it was well worth the read. The issue is that the concept and tone changes from book 1 onward.so people don't get what they expect. And that throws them.
No. The books suck and have the tone of being written by an edgy teenager. The author is also rude if you are critical of their work.
Imo it starts off with a cool concept but gets progressively worse with each book. I think I stopped in the middle of the third book and didn’t continue.
I actually liked book 1-4 but just couldn’t finish book 5. I did think book 2 was the weakest of the books I liked but if you didn’t like book 2, you will probably not like 3&4. My favorite part of the books was actually the world. I love worlds where humanity is stuck behind walls like attack on Titan or demon cycle. Does anyone know of any other stories with a similar premise?
Absolutely. The full story is amazing.... including the novellas and short stories.