Not up to Earlier books
596646
some how Doss is losing me  for he spends to much time going  back on all that has  gone on in the earlier books.
1267644
This book not as well written as previous books.  The plot was almost too complicated (confused) to be believable making it hard to follow.  Also, the use of language changed in this book with a crudeness likely not typical of the times.
4326625
Although a good read, not up to the earlier story lines.  Seems to be more a filler for some other story.  Liked his early books much better.
1344291
Cinda Williams Chima writes excellent fantasy stories for younger readers. I didn't think this one was up to her usual standard. It didn't seem very focused
About ten years before the Dragon Heir the massacre of Thorn Hill took place. An entire commune of sorcerers was massacred. the survivors and their weirstones have mutated, which means they possess powers that are hard to control. Jonah is one of those survivors. Since the massacre his touch kills, so his career development as an assassin would seem an obvious one. In fact that is all he seems to do throughout the book. Kill people and play his guitar.
He connects with Emma on a musical level and because they share a similar history. The musical aspect seems to be linked to something other than just a talent for music.
Overall it doesn't match the previous books in the series and I found this book very disjointed and wishy-washy. The Thorn Hill plot could have been expanded upon a lot more. The mystery of who set the massacre in motion and why or looking into the new mutations instead of following around one character predominantly.
It is possible that this is what I would call an interim book, which is giving the reader enough info to lead onto the next one, which would explain the info dump and vague plot.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley.
2682024
As with most of the more recent Griffin books, written by both father and son, this book does not live up to the old standards set when the books were written by just the father.

There is a story to tell, and the back and forth between locations is still there - but, there is very little "meat" to the telling of the story and practically no character development.

I had not read one of the Griffin books in a while, and purchased three of them at the same time - this was the first of the three that I have read - I hope the others are better.
2330719
I loved all of Kay's earlier books but othe later ones are getting boring. There is no longer the relationship aspects in them that made them more interesting.
3203094
I did not like this book as well as the others that i had read before. Gave all those a five rating as I really liked them but this one took about three chapters before there was a good story line. The book from about chapter four seemed more in line with the other nine books of his that I have read.
3753920
Sorry, this one did not do it for me. The first three books were good and I really recommend them. This one seemed like she rushed it. I was very disappointed in this one.
1134157
Not as good as his past books.  It took until late in the second half to start caring about the characters.  The last part of the book moved well and I'm hoping the second book continues this way.  I want to wait until I see where the series goes to make a real evaluation of this, but if I was a new reader to his books, I don't know that I would go further.
846351
I enjoyed the previous books but this one seemed to get bogged down in reflection and waffle on what the character thought about a variety of subjects. I felt that the story line failed to develop on the previous books with too may questions raised in the previous books not answered. But it is well written and I find his style easy to read, I will buy the next in the series.
3420931
Not nearly as good as the previous books.  Waaay too many characters that are hard to keep straight.  Some even have the same name!  I'm only about halfway through reading it and I'm having a hard time making myself finish it.
2414935
Was expecting the older style book. This one was not as good as the newer styles are different in wording and illustrations
2160435
I feel that I might have missed something in the book after reading the other reviews but I didn't like this book more than the earlier books.  Bill was missing for one but I am getting too familiar with the set up.  The book always has improbable ghouls which is no problem.  One pleasurable sex scene etc.  but nothing of much depth.  It's getting old hat to me right now.  I bought the next installment so maybe that will be better to me.  Most seemed to think this was one of the better books.  Oh well.
4173338
while I love this series, the writing in this one seemed different - more rushed perhaps?  It was not at the same level as previous books in the series and no new ground was covered.  I was a little disappointed.
3872129
The previous books in this series were quite good.  This one, not so much.
2509584
I waited anxiously for this book but I am somewhat disappointed.  I did not like the 30 years jump ahead without a decent transition from the previous book.  A by-product of this lack of transition is that Chrisjen Avasarala, one of the primary characters of all the previous books did not appear until approximately the 7:30 mark of chapter 14 and then had a minor role in the rest of the book.  A good transition would have put her late appearance in perspective and made her minor role more palatable.  The same can also be said of all the main characters and the new main protagonist.

As usual when the action heats up the writing and storytelling is as good as the previous books

I do hope that the transition to the next book is much better.
4868952
Not as good as previous books in the series. The story was moving to slowly for me a lot of the time.