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The Legend of Eli Monpress


AonEne

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I’m on a slow-going reread of the series right now, and I need people to scream excitedly with. Please let there be other fans on these forums. If you haven’t read it, think about checking it out! It’s great epic fantasy with a fun magic system, great characters...okay honestly I could praise almost anything from this so I won’t go on generically professing my love forever; but if you like Sanderson you should try it. It’s by Rachel Aaron. 

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just looking over the basic plot summary is enough to read it! 

Magician-thieves are the best! (the Magic Thief was amazing, especially for a preteen audience! that was a great book in 6th grade, and I still love rereading it!)

Edited by GoWibble
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13 hours ago, GoWibble said:

just looking over the basic plot summary is enough to read it! 

Magician-thieves are the best! (the Magic Thief was amazing, especially for a preteen audience! that was a great book in 6th grade, and I still love rereading it!)

I definitely need to reread that series too! You’re right, they’re really enjoyable, and it’s been a few years but if I remember correctly they’re still good even reading them when you’re older, like you said. 

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  • 5 months later...

Alright @AonEne I finished the series.

Wow, ok so that was great.

Spoilers for the series

Compliments

Spoiler

I like how it shows the various reasons why people find themselves in opposition to Eli.

I also really liked the way shaping got tied into the other magic.

I also really liked book two and the Duke of Gaol's reason to hunt Eli. The magic was interesting (even if it did feel like a Cosmere copy, awakened blades? Really?) I liked how it was built to be a very visual magic system.

Criticisms

Spoiler

So there where several times when a character death could(should) have happened, Melinor during The Spirit War, and Nico staying outside the Shell would have added a whole other level of feels to it that I felt it missed out on, after book two I stopped worrying about character deaths. 

Also one thing about the magic that gets me is why Spirits can move only when it's convenient for the plot, Eli can make a support beam bend and twist, but an awakened door can't put itself back into place.

 

And my biggest problem, the ending, two big pieces there, 

1. Eli doesn't have his bounty yet(not too bad I suppose but it's still a little disappointing that the main goal was never accomplished)

2. Destruction is still inevitable, I would have liked for the Creator to have returned with a way to kill Demons or something like that, feels hollow in a way.

So that's what I have for you I would recommend it, it's a good series.

Has anyone read 'The Griffin Mage'? It was recommended at the back of 'Spirit's End'

Edited by Frustration
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  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/6/2020 at 11:04 AM, Frustration said:

Has anyone read 'The Griffin Mage'? It was recommended at the back of 'Spirit's End'

Ages ago. It didn't really stick out to me but it wasn't awful.

Eli Monpress...In short, it was my introduction to Rachel Aaron, and I checked all the books out from the library.

Spoiler

I like Rachel Aaron's worldbuilding. She often takes concepts we're already familiar with and puts a different spin on them. A smooth-talking conman thief was fantastic. I felt that the world was kind of rather anime-based, too; reminded me a bit of Pokemon and Bleach. Names like Benihime were very jarring.

I feel Rachael Aaron needs to work on her pacing. She talks about her belief in the 'knife test' from One Piece a lot and I think it really clogs her writing. Aaron describes the knife test as a test of your character's convictions: what would make them walk forwards, even onto a knife pointed at them. And making your characters be tested in their convictions isn't a bad thing, but it kind of is when no character growth results from this (Joseph got tested so many times on his storming convictions that I was rolling my eyes by Book Three or Four) and you continue to throw the same test at them to the same result. It really bogged down the series's pacing and character arcs and felt kind of repetitive at points.

I don't dislike Eli Monpress - it's fun, but the pacing issues I mention really frustrate me. I like her Paradox series (also fun) but I'd say she at least balances out that tendency a bit in Heartstrikers. Probably my favourite of all her books, especially since she did a Shadowrun-type world :) 

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On 8/5/2020 at 9:04 PM, Frustration said:

Criticisms

  Hide contents

So there where several times when a character death could(should) have happened, Melinor during The Spirit War, and Nico staying outside the Shell would have added a whole other level of feels to it that I felt it missed out on, after book two I stopped worrying about character deaths. 

1. Eli doesn't have his bounty yet(not too bad I suppose but it's still a little disappointing that the main goal was never accomplished)

 

Agreed about Mellinor, though not Nico. Personally I think it should have happened to Josef in the war. 

That’s fair :P I actually liked it because it gave the characters something to keep working toward, and it felt like they’d continue to be doing things and living even after the series’ end - something which I can’t say for a lot of stories. 

On 8/15/2020 at 8:06 AM, Kasimir said:

Eli Monpress... 

  Hide contents

Names like Benihime were very jarring.

...no character growth results from this (Joseph got tested so many times on his storming convictions that I was rolling my eyes by Book Three or Four) 

 

I think it was supposed to be? 

AGREED. 

I haven’t read her other works, I’ll need to check those out! 

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On 8/24/2020 at 5:55 AM, AonEne said:
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If I’m remembering correctly, it makes sense that the bones from an arm would contain more metal than his heart? Been a while since I read that last book though. 

 

Spoiler

It was a hand

Also I just got my friend to read the first three books!

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I read the first book, and my goodness.  That was so good!  I've got the second one on the way, and the third one will hopefully be coming soon as well.  (Why did the covers change?  Where can I find the white background ones for the first three?)

That lady at the end, Bellhime?  Belehime? gave me creeps.  Something's up there, am I right?

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2 hours ago, Spren of Kindness said:

I read the first book, and my goodness.  That was so good!  I've got the second one on the way, and the third one will hopefully be coming soon as well.  (Why did the covers change?  Where can I find the white background ones for the first three?)

That lady at the end, Bellhime?  Belehime? gave me creeps.  Something's up there, am I right?

The first three are all bound together for their white cover, since they're shorter. And something's definitely up with Benehime. I'm so glad you liked it!

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28 minutes ago, AonEne said:

The first three are all bound together for their white cover, since they're shorter. And something's definitely up with Benehime. I'm so glad you liked it!

I thought so, but I wasn't sure.

I spent pretty much the whole book thinking simultaneously thinking 'Eli reminds me of Kelsier' and 'I think I might die for Eli'.

Also, because I forgot to mention this, there isn't romance!  And that makes me so happy.  It's just a heist story, it doesn't need romance.  Very refreshing.

Edited by Spren of Kindness
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  • 3 weeks later...
On 8/27/2020 at 8:31 PM, Spren of Kindness said:

I spent pretty much the whole book thinking simultaneously thinking 'Eli reminds me of Kelsier' and 'I think I might die for Eli'.

Also, because I forgot to mention this, there isn't romance!  And that makes me so happy.  It's just a heist story, it doesn't need romance.  Very refreshing.

Yeah, I’ll just echo both of those things. There’s something later on that could be interpreted as romance, but could also easily not be. 

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7 hours ago, AonEne said:

Yeah, I’ll just echo both of those things. There’s something later on that could be interpreted as romance, but could also easily not be. 

I'm guessing you're talking about 

Spoiler

Josef and Nico?

I kind of guessed that was going to happen.  But it didn't bug me, even though it kind of came out of nowhere, at least that's what it felt like.  More spoilers for the last two books in the next box.

Spoiler

I wasn't right about Benehime, thank goodness.  I was a little (very) worried about her actions toward Eli.  So thank goodness that turned about to me being worried and not what actually happened.  Speaking of, Eli needs therapy, but so does every character I've ever adopted.  He can join the club I guess.  The fact that his bounty was unresolved was a great touch.

Nico... I didn't really like.  No, scratch that, I just didn't really care.  Part of that is that I almost never latch onto female characters for some weird reason (as a female, you'd think so, but no...), but there wasn't anything I found interesting about her.  I would have been happier if she went into the void.  It would have been a good way to add consequences.

Josef I liked, especially once he became king.  I have a soft spot for the 'no nonsense, I-don't-know-what-the-protocol-is-and-I-don't-care' nobility or royalty.  In the first three, he got a bit repetitive, but I can push past that.  (I'm not a very good critic.)

Overall, I think the series was great.  It's a fun concept, and it was done very well.

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1 minute ago, Spren of Kindness said:

I'm guessing you're talking about 

  Reveal hidden contents

Josef and Nico?

I kind of guessed that was going to happen.  But it didn't bug me, even though it kind of came out of nowhere, at least that's what it felt like.  More spoilers for the last two books in the next box.

  Reveal hidden contents

I wasn't right about Benehime, thank goodness.  I was a little (very) worried about her actions toward Eli.  So thank goodness that turned about to me being worried and not what actually happened.  Speaking of, Eli needs therapy, but so does every character I've ever adopted.  He can join the club I guess.  The fact that his bounty was unresolved was a great touch.

Nico... I didn't really like.  No, scratch that, I just didn't really care.  Part of that is that I almost never latch onto female characters for some weird reason (as a female, you'd think so, but no...), but there wasn't anything I found interesting about her.  I would have been happier if she went into the void.  It would have been a good way to add consequences.

Josef I liked, especially once he became king.  I have a soft spot for the 'no nonsense, I-don't-know-what-the-protocol-is-and-I-don't-care' nobility or royalty.  In the first three, he got a bit repetitive, but I can push past that.  (I'm not a very good critic.)

Overall, I think the series was great.  It's a fun concept, and it was done very well.

Yep, them. And yeah, the first time I read it I was like ? They got together? Okay then... 

Spoiler

What were you worried about that didn’t happen? Sexual assault and child abuse on the same guy is pretty traumatizing, and that’s not even counting the war or all the other stuff... 

Eli really does need therapy. At least he’s happy at the end and has people to support him...he still needs hugs though :P 

Nah, I get what you mean about Josef. He does get repetitive, but in the end I like his character, so it’s something that we put up with because we like him instead of a problem adding to an already unlikable character. 

 

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5 minutes ago, AonEne said:

Yep, them. And yeah, the first time I read it I was like ? They got together? Okay then... 

  Hide contents

What were you worried about that didn’t happen? Sexual assault and child abuse on the same guy is pretty traumatizing, and that’s not even counting the war or all the other stuff... 

Eli really does need therapy. At least he’s happy at the end and has people to support him...he still needs hugs though :P 

Nah, I get what you mean about Josef. He does get repetitive, but in the end I like his character, so it’s something that we put up with because we like him instead of a problem adding to an already unlikable character. 

 

 

Spoiler

I was concerned that Benehime was going to go... a bit farther than she actually did.  I get really uncomfortable talking about that, so I'll just let you extrapolate from the first thing on the trauma list in your post.

He didn't actually get a hug in the series.  *screeching*

I can't believe I didn't mention Miranda.  Anyway, her becoming Rector was excellent.  She doesn't want to be, but she has to be.  That's the kind of sacrifice I like to see.  Mellinor... again, the consequences thing I already mentioned.

 

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