Holy Sister marks the conclusion
to Mark Lawrence's Book of the Ancestors trilogy. On Goodreads
this book has received dozens of positive reviews and many readers
are voting Holy Sister as their favorite book of 2019. What
are my thoughts about this book? Before I dive into my review, here
is a synopsis for the story.
Synopsis:
Nona is reaching a crossroad in her
life. She must become a full sister in the order of her choice.
However war broke out before Nona and her friends can earn the nun's
habit, and Sweet Mercy must now fulfil the duty to the emperor and
join the fight.
Nona has the choice to use Shipheart
and protect her friends, but she will discover soon that sometimes
even great powers is not enough to avert the tragedies of war.
My thoughts on this book:
Legions of readers are loving this book
for its excellent characterization and compelling story. Some are
calling Holy Sister the best book written by Mark Lawrence. I, on the
other hand, am of the opinion that while Holy Sister is good but I
still prefer Mark Lawrence's earlier works.
Holy Sister is good, but it is not
great.
Some readers may say such an opinion is
blasphemy, but I have my reasons.
Firstly, while the characterization in
the book is good but I felt the storytelling suffered from an
uneven pace. Similarly to my criticism about the book's predecessor,
Grey Sister, this book also paid too much attentions to the
descriptions of the magic system. There was too much details to
explain the workings of the magic system that at times it felt like I
was reading a textbook.
Furthermore, the narratives in Holy
Sister was jumping back and forth on the timeline. This "time
jump" did not cause much confusions, but the transition was not
seamless and it often bogged down the story's tempo. I was quite
disappointed when on several occasions a build up to a climax was
followed by a sudden jump to a different time and place in
the next chapter.
It suffices to say I never
felt the "unputdownable" sentiment while reading Holy
Sister. Don't get me wrong. I like Nona and her friends and I
also like the idea behind the story, but when the book ended I did
not feel like I want to revisit it. My lukewarm response to Holy
Sister (and the whole trilogy) is most likely due to the lack of
humor in these books.
Long time readers of my blog would
know, Red Queen's War trilogy is my favorite Mark Lawrence
books, I liked it because those stories had this black comedy vibe to
it. The humor resided in reading about Jalan's actions and inner
thoughts while he lied and cheat because he was a professional
coward. To me, Jalan felt like a realistic and relatable character.
Book of the Ancestors trilogy, on the other hand, lacks this
humor and realism. Nona's story is a good yarn, but I just didn't
find it memorable.
I can understand why some readers are
loving Holy Sister and the trilogy. The idea about warrior
nuns is indeed unique and refreshing. But this time I just cannot
heap praises on the emperor's new cloth.
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