![]() ![]() The Jamaican-inspired fantasy centers on a matriarchy fueled by magic, bound by betrayal, and held together by manipulation and sheer force of will. On the whole, this isn’t a bad thing, entirely – but I’m not going to fault the readers who bail before the good stuff starts. More than two hundred pages pass before we get even the vaguest hint of the vengeful witch team-up we’re promised in the novel’s synopsis. ![]() But the downside of all this is that it takes entirely too long for the story to really get going. It’s obvious that Smart has put a ton of time and attention into creating a universe that feels fully formed from its first page. Ciannon Smart’s Witches Steeped in Gold is a story so dense that it approaches overstuffed, full of the sort of rich lore and complicated worldbuilding that are a hallmark of this genre. It’s a rare series whose first tome doesn’t clock in at 500 pages, stuffed full of lore, complex magical systems, and shifting character motivations and it can be difficult to strike a balance among them all. ![]() These days, fantasy novels often feel longer than ever. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |