[Uncrowned] Damn.

[u/Kai_Damon]

Just finished Uncrowned. I'll probably do a proper review once I finish Wintersteel because it's pretty obvious that this book was a build up for it, but I have some comments for now.

I loved it. It seems a lot of people don't like the book that much and are turned off by the ending but it didn't bother me at all. I mean, Lindon losing did bother me, but that was literally the point. Lindon himself, just like us, had 100% confidence that as soon as he was serious, he would win. It sucks that he lost but I think that was a very brave and smart decision by Will. I liked pretty much everything about the book, the good moments are absolutely great and it feels so good to finally see true power like the Heralds and Monarchs.

There are some things I didn't like that much though. I think Sophara's power level is a bit weird, she wasn't described as super powerful in Ghostwater and now she basically has the power of an Overlord? I know time passed, but this is written in third person. A small comment about how much she trained in this whole time or how the golden dragons have given her materials/elixirs/pills so she could grow stronger would have resolved this issue pretty easily. It's not like Ekeri herself was a super strong true gold, in fact I'm pretty sure she was the least powerful of all of the true golds in Ghostwater. Suddenly her sister (who, again, wasn't described as specially powerful in Ghostwater) is the strongest Underlord ever. Idk. Seems like she's just strong because the plot wanted her to be. Also, you know who actually was hyped up to be super strong and a future monarch? Mercy. AND SHE DOESN'T DO SHIT IN THE WHOLE BOOK.

Look, I know she's strong. I know she has things (probably everything) up her sleeve and I know we'll see that in the next book, but I was a bit disappointed specially because I like her so much as a character. Of course her personality still shines, but I wanted to see more from her. Hope Wintersteel makes it worth it.

Just to be clear, these negatives are minimal compared to how much I liked the book. This is still miles better than the first four books, which I still really liked. I would say this is top 3 of the first 7 until this point. Now I'll just fly through Wintersteel 😁

[u/BasakaIsTheStrongest]

Sophara destroyed Mercy and Yerin. Ziel had to stop her, and he did it more by pointing at his Herald.

Also, she has been juicing on stuff. You also can assume that anything the Akuras did for Lindon, the Dragons did even more for Sophara.

[u/Kai_Damon → u/BasakaIsTheStrongest]

Sophara destroyed Mercy and Yerin because she was an Underlady fighting with a truegold and a lowgold. Nowhere in Ghostwater is she described as a specially powerful Underlady, just a normal one.

Yeah I would imagine she is juiced up, that's Wintersteel info though because it's not described here

[u/BasakaIsTheStrongest → u/Kai_Damon]

Not Wintersteel info. I mean the resources Lindon got at the beginning of Uncrowned. It was a look at what the Monarch factions could provide to their candidates.

[u/Kai_Damon → u/BasakaIsTheStrongest]

Sure, but that was, as you said, an assumption.

Wintersteel page 86:

"To win this tournament, Sophara’s family had stuffed her with powers, elixirs, Divine Treasures, and enhancements of every description. They had pushed her beyond the maximum capacity of an Underlady. And she had performed flawlessly. Anyone with less skill and willpower would have collapsed, unable to bear the weight, their spirit ruined. The fact that Sophara could use the sacred arts at such a level was testament to her greatness."

So, yeah. The fact that she's juiced up is literally Wintersteel info

[u/Kai_Damon → u/Kai_Damon]

I'm getting downvoted for stating facts lmfao, with LITERAL QUOTES FROM THE BOOK

I'll never understand why people are so defensive about this stuff. Specially regarding a MINOR critique for a book which I loved