MaxxQ wrote:Bluesqueak wrote:I think that's why I wasn't disappointed: I'd only recently got into the Honorverse while waiting desperately for At The Sign Of Triumph in the Safehold series, so I didn't have huge expectations about how it would advance the plot line.
I really liked Shadow of Victory, enjoyed the backstory to the various rebellions and was glad that Indy and Max succeeded. In fact, I was a bit puzzled when I came a lurking on this forum and discovered that I seemed to be the only person who actually liked the book.
And the Czech wasn't
that bad.
In fact, RFC seemed to have deliberately selected phrases that were reasonably close to English, or could be guessed from context.
You're not the only one that liked it. It's just that those who did/do are pretty much a minority. I liked it, despite having some expectations of something along the lines of what most were hoping to see in this book.
Shortly after the eARC was released, there was a thread started about how disappointing the book was, and I commented that I thought the reason was because of the high hopes/expectations people have had over the past few years in anticipation of it. There were many discussion/speculation threads in the leadup, and so people got hyped. Then David threw everyone a curve, and people were naturally disappointed.
In a way, it's nice that this thread popped up, as it validates my thought about people's expectations vs. what they got.
<shrug> Whatever. I read for enjoyment, and frankly, had little expectations beyond it being decently written. David delivered on that, so I am satisfied.
There's a theory in the Wheel of Time fandom that everyone's worst book is the first one they had to wait for. In my case, that's
Crossroads of Twilight which feels like it did as little as SoV to advance the main plot but without the interesting story. We've waited a long time for this book and there's been even less movement in the main plot line in the preceding books. Just being a good book isn't enough in those circumstances.