#a3c5e6
Name Colour
𝓣𝓲𝓷𝓾𝓿𝓲𝓮𝓵
Warrior Fanatic
All hail me, the flower-flushing queen of Prague
|
Post by 𝓣𝓲𝓷𝓾𝓿𝓲𝓮𝓵 on Nov 4, 2020 21:09:28 GMT -5
For me, I can only think of three things: capitalization, rushed relationships, and Darkness of Dragons.
The capitalization was funny at first, but then got annoying and unnecessary after awhile, at least in terms of the narration doing it.
I love most of the relationships, but so many of them are also pretty rushed to the point where it's almost hard to take seriously at times. Not necessarily a bad thing, I just wish it wasn't done so often.
As for DoD, I think this video sums up my thoughts pretty nicely, but basically I thought Tui was trying to do too many things at once in the last book of the second arc, which I don't mind too much since I still got alot of enjoyment out of it, but then Darkstalker was defeated in the way that he was and it was treated as a joke, and... yeah, the ending really brought this book down significantly for me.
|
|
|
Post by Tealraven on Nov 4, 2020 21:37:56 GMT -5
I don't like that every single protagonist except for Sunny has had a love interest. And Tui even stated that she had the perfect dragon in mind for Sunny. Frankly, I think it sends the wrong message to the young demographic of the series; you don't need to be in a romantic relationship to be interesting or have a fulfilling life.
If we can have gay and lesbian dragons, surely we can have aro ace dragons, too. They don't even have to be on the ace spectrum at all (although representation would be nice) -- just let dragons be single and happy lol
There's also a lack of subtlety that gets annoying after awhile. Sometimes it feels like simple things that probably didn't need to be explained are then overexplained. There are a few instances where I probably could've figured out what was going on without one of the characters having a realization moment
|
|
#a3c5e6
Name Colour
𝓣𝓲𝓷𝓾𝓿𝓲𝓮𝓵
Warrior Fanatic
All hail me, the flower-flushing queen of Prague
|
Post by 𝓣𝓲𝓷𝓾𝓿𝓲𝓮𝓵 on Nov 4, 2020 23:07:20 GMT -5
I don't like that every single protagonist except for Sunny has had a love interest. And Tui even stated that she had the perfect dragon in mind for Sunny. Frankly, I think it sends the wrong message to the young demographic of the series; you don't need to be in a romantic relationship to be interesting or have a fulfilling life. If we can have gay and lesbian dragons, surely we can have aro ace dragons, too. They don't even have to be on the ace spectrum at all (although representation would be nice) -- just let dragons be single and happy lol There's also a lack of subtlety that gets annoying after awhile. Sometimes it feels like simple things that probably didn't need to be explained are then overexplained. There are a few instances where I probably could've figured out what was going on without one of the characters having a realization moment YES, this as well! I love romance and most of the relationships in the series are cute, but come on! I'd be perfectly happy if Tui changed her mind and just had Sunny stay single. I really can't see her with anyone at all. Not to mention that at least most of them are basically the equivalent of teenagers and young adults, which of course isn't a bad thing, but you really expect me to believe that all of the DoD will end up with their respective significant others their entire lives? I know it's not exclusive to this series, but a little variety would be nice. More mutual friendships for instance, ones that don't have any romantic implications on either side at all. Anyway, I think I know what you mean by the subtlety thing, but I haven't read the books since TPJ came out, so could you give a few examples?
|
|
Asexual
#ca55a0
Name Colour
Rανєη'ѕ ƑƖιgнт
Rebel Queen
Art by Nicoletta Baldari
|
Post by Rανєη'ѕ ƑƖιgнт on Nov 5, 2020 1:17:36 GMT -5
As already said, the caps-lock gets old sometimes. It takes me out of the story, even when the dialogue is something I otherwise wouldn’t mind.
The SkyWing tribe (at least to me) isn’t as developed as the rest and I’d like to see them gain more personality besides being the grouchy ones. Same with the MudWings. Hopefully some of that will be addressed in the next few books.
More of an aesthetic thing, but I don’t really like how the tribe names are stylized. The capitalization in the middle of the names make them feel like they belong to a bad quality Warriors fanfic. Either ‘Thing’ Wing or ‘Thing’wing would be better.
|
|
|
Post by Uмвяᴀ on Nov 5, 2020 3:30:59 GMT -5
I feel like the endings in general are kind of mediocre. Both end with a magical item that wasn't previously well-established solving the problem. It feels kind of like Tui wrote herself into a corner. The endings also felt a little too..tidy? Like all the complicated problems get wrapped in a nice little bow. I feel like DoD's was worse because it was treated a little too much like a joke.
As for DoD, I didn't like the really long tangent at the beginning with Qibli and Winter looking for Qibli's grandfather. It took up around a 3rd of the book and actually made me put the book down for several months because I got bored. It's especially bad because ToP ended on such a cliff hanger.
And yeah, the caps are a little hard to read for me.
|
|
#a3c5e6
Name Colour
𝓣𝓲𝓷𝓾𝓿𝓲𝓮𝓵
Warrior Fanatic
All hail me, the flower-flushing queen of Prague
|
Post by 𝓣𝓲𝓷𝓾𝓿𝓲𝓮𝓵 on Nov 5, 2020 4:05:35 GMT -5
I feel like the endings in general are kind of mediocre. Both end with a magical item that wasn't previously well-established solving the problem. It feels kind of like Tui wrote herself into a corner. The endings also felt a little too..tidy? Like all the complicated problems get wrapped in a nice little bow. I feel like DoD's was worse because it was treated a little too much like a joke. As for DoD, I didn't like the really long tangent at the beginning with Qibli and Winter looking for Qibli's grandfather. It took up around a 3rd of the book and actually made me put the book down for several months because I got bored. It's especially bad because ToP ended on such a cliff hanger. And yeah, the caps are a little hard to read for me. I agree, though not only did TBN take its ending more seriously, there was also a more clear goal in mind for Sunny. And at least the Eye was already established in the very first book, but I do get what you're saying. I also wish we could've seen more of Thorn before Sunny gives the Eye to her, but as already said, it's at least better than how DoD handled things. Like I said, it felt like Tui was doing too many things at once with that book, which makes me wish the Onyx storyline had just been its own thing or something.
|
|
Asexual
#07B04C
star_black.png
Name Colour
Ṣanɗypaw™
The Shiny User
🎵Guess that's just the way it goes, easy come, easy go🎵
|
Post by Ṣanɗypaw™ on Nov 5, 2020 12:29:58 GMT -5
I wish the relationships were written better. All of them seemed kind of rushed, honestly. Anenome and Tamarin is a big one for me. No chemistry at all, then boom. In a relationship.
|
|
|
Post by Tealraven on Nov 6, 2020 17:18:55 GMT -5
Anyway, I think I know what you mean by the subtlety thing, but I haven't read the books since TPJ came out, so could you give a few examples? It's harder to go back and find examples to pull out, as I usually only notice it when I'm actively reading - then it can be a little jarring. But here's a couple. In Legends: Darkstalker when Darkstalker meets Fathom (179-180): "The queen led him to a roped-off area with low purple couches and tables of sparkling drinks. Four SeaWings stood awkwardly inside, looking more trapped than honored. Two of the queen's sons were making small talk with them, and one of her councilors had taken over a couch as though she'd given up. 'Prince Fathom of the SeaWings,' said the queen, indicating a green dragon only about a year older than Darkstalker. He had an oddly anxious aura, as if he were gripping the floor with his claws in order to avoid being blown away. 'This is Darkstalker.' The other animus, Fathom thought with a jolt of fear. He took an unconscious step closer to the dragon beside him. (. . .) She looked outwardly calmer than he did, but her heart was racing as fast as his and terrifying images were flashing through her head. . . they were too busy being scared to find him handsome. Darkstalker realized . . . both of these dragons had witnessed the massacre when the SeaWing animus turned violent. . . at a party very much like this one. No wonder they were terrified -- a party plus an unfamiliar animus, where they were the guests, much like those SkyWings who'd been attacked."
The underlined sentences feel unnecessary; the reader probably could have figured out why Fathom and Indigo were so scared of Darkstalker without further explanation.
Another example, this time from Talons of Power when Turtle follows Darkstalker to the Night Kingdom (202-203): "Spread out below them, outlined by moonlight, were the ruins of an ancient city that sprawled across the peninsula. Much of it was hidden within canyons and cliff faces, but at the foot of the mountain, partially built into it, stood a palace, or what was left of a palace. In front of it was an overgrown square paved in marble and studded with bits of toppled columns; a kind of platform had collapsed in the center of it and was nearly submerged in a wild tangle of vines. All around the square were more ruins: once-elegant buildings whose roofs had caved in, statues missing heads, talons, tails, or all three, sculptural details worn away by weather. Darkstalker's wingbeats faltered as he took in the devastation below him. He slowed to a stop, hovering outside the palace, staring down at the square. Bats flitted in and out of the windows behind him, like dark thoughts scattering into the air. He feels like he was just here, Turtle guessed. It's like if I returned to the Kingdom of the Sea tomorrow and found that everything I knew my whole life has been destroyed, apparently overnight. And my tribe was scattered, weakened, with no queen. And everyone I knew was dead."
Again, I appreciate Turtle's empathy here, but at the same time, when I first read this I couldn't help but think yep, thanks Captain Obvious. I know, it's very nitpicky of me. I understand that this series is aimed at younger audiences who might not be able to put all the pieces together on their own, but I wish Tui would give her readers a chance to figure things out themselves before elaborating. Subtext is kinda ruined when a character explains it two sentences later.
|
|
foxstep
loves squirrelflight way too much
|
Post by foxstep on Nov 9, 2020 13:12:31 GMT -5
The all capitalization/childish talk is a turnoff for me, there are other ways to write in an enthusastic/dramatic tone and it's not really necessary to write that way for younger audiences.
I wish the representation came earlier in the series, we had to wait THREE arcs for a main character in an openly lgbt relationship. There was no rep in arc 1, tiny hints in arc 2, and at the beginning of arc 3 we finally get same sex parents and halfway through the arc we finally get an lgbt main character in a relationship. I understand if this was a marketing strategy, build up reputation so that when there is an lgbt relationship, the books' reputation doesn't get thrown to the fire before it has a chance to develop a big fanbase. But still, I just wish we had rep earlier on.
The DoD resolution. God. It wasn't very satisfying, how they took down Darkstalker by being as cruel as him, and Winter was screwed over so bad ugh.
It was mentioned above but the way every character needs a love interest and Sunny will have her own love interest soon? Why?
|
|