The Flower of Manataklos

Information

Status

Hiatus

Author

Forestilling

Reviews

Community Reviews(2)

• ElitayRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  This fiction is a cut above the typical fictions on this website - it wouldn't be out of place on a bookstore shelf. While the array of characters, places, and concepts is dizzying at first, we're quickly thrown into the action, which may be the greatest strength of the story so far. I found the first chapter difficult, but I don't regret reading through it, as the writing and plot rapidly become engaging.
  Style
  Entertaining. The action flows smoothly and I wish there was more of it so far. I've had a few laughs as well.
  Story
  Original and interesting. I can't remember the last time I read a story about a mother and child fleeing a difficult political position in an interesting fantasy world. It's the classic epic fantasy "journey across an unfamiliar world" with a twist on the motivation and driving conflict.
  Grammar
  No complaints here. It's easy to read and understand.
  Character
  It's difficult to judge so early in a novel, but the characters have clear motivations and interact with each other on more than a superficial level. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next to the main characters, and I particular enjoyed the exchange in the 5th chapter, which is the last chapter published as of this review.
• NexileRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 4.5

  If there’s one thing that should be mentioned first about this story, it’s how beautiful the prose is. You’re there. In the scene. Seeing, hearing… breathing the air the characters breathe. Hard not to like that.
  CHARACTERS: Speaking of our characters… We have three POVs. All distinct and all very clear in their motivations even if they are sometimes questionable. We spend the most time with Lyrua, but since all the characters are together, their POVs help add flavour to the others. Each person sees things in a different light after all
  GRAMMAR: Nothing to say here.
  STORY: Up to the point that I’ve read, it seems to be a springboard for what’s to come, and there might even be a tease of how the endgame would look, and if that is the case, it’ll be quite epic.
  One thing that did bother me was the tension. While I could understand its absence at the very start (chapter 1), the buildup still felt too slow with the following chapters. It was only in chapter 10 that I truly experienced the tension and eagerly turned—clicked on the next chapter.
  What I did like a lot was the world. While we don’t see much of it yet, there is a promise of an expansive world rich with history and all manner of beings. Can’t forget the magic either. The magic was fun.
  STYLE: Like I mentioned at the beginning, the writing itself is absolutely beautiful. It’s art. If I had to nitpick, it would be that the writing could benefit more from the occasional simpler sentence to give variety. That also brings me to the only real issue I had with the style: sentence length. The length of the sentences was what slowed down my reading a lot and also what made it more tiring to go through the chapters. Like I said, it’s art, but even art should be marvelled at in doses.
  OVERALL: This story is beautifully made and it should be treated as such. It’s not something you’d want to rush (and you shouldn’t!) but instead something to enjoy and find thrill in the buildup and the world you’ll be transported into.
  Al