The Crow of the Black Hills

Information

Status

Hiatus

Year

2023

Author

AraAtlas

• A Gambling Man
  Apr 18, 2023
• The Orphan of Woe
  Apr 14, 2023
• The Peddler
  Apr 14, 2023
• The Fifth Grace
  Apr 5, 2023
• The Dagger and the Crow
  Apr 4, 2023
• The First Light of the Black Hills
  Apr 4, 2023

Reviews

Community Reviews(2)

• A V DalcourtRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 4.5

  Style: Told in a close first person narrative with a heavy reliance on dialogue to drive the story forward. Personally there's not enough differentiation between the various characters that I often got confused as to whom was saying what, even with dialogue tags. It doesn't need to be significant, but word choice and phrasing can go a long way in creating a distinction between a character's style of speech/communitcation. The only other gribe is that I sense a general concern, if not discomfort with description, which is reasonable - because too much description leads to heavy slow chapters which is not really a fan favourite in the RR sphere. On the other hand, not learning how to manage these elements means inadvertantly creating a weakness in the writing where the setting feels too much like exposition rather than an extention of the setting, which I often advise should be treated as a character in of itself - just silent. Not learning to balance these elements means that there's a general sense of watching a pair of talking heads, which was my experience with chapter 4.
  Characters: Our principle MC is an aged Yacob whose quirks and thoroughness feel life-like and believable. The author demonstrates a good sense of nuance and attention to detail. The only real quirk I'd advise correcting in this area is to avoid too many names that start with the same sound. I had to double take in the 2nd chapter wondering if I had lost the thread, but there are two characters with Y names that sound very similar, and I think there are two characters with A names that I couldn't quite differentiate. I wasn't sure if the boy they were referencing was Alarin or if that was his mother, or someone else. Names in the void really doesn't help to anchor the character in a reader's memory (especially when mines a sieve).
  Story: A very interesting premise with an equally interesting approach. There's nothing here I'd advise fixing, as the ideas are strong. and in my opinion as a reader,
• StrahdsillystrawRoyal Road

  ★★★★ 4.0

  A wonderful read with a heavy hand towards style and less towards exposition. The characters are interesting and I enjoy the language choice Atlas uses, it forces a change in perpective you see often in the more popular fictions of its like. Yacob is compelling, and I find myself earnestly wanting to know more about him.