The Gullwing Odyssey
Antonio Simon, Jr
Marco the messenger boy really tries to stay out of trouble. When he is instead swept up into impersonating an ambassador, things in his life get far, far more troublesome than he could have ever imagined.
This novel had some fantastic laugh out loud parts that I couldn’t help sharing with my partner. And then she laughed as well. I really enjoyed it for those moments, and the language twists and the sheer absurdity of the fights that take place.
Light fiction that I just couldn’t put down. I’m not going to profess that it has no ‘deeper issues’, but sometimes you just want to read something to chill and enjoy. This novel is it.
Did I mention that it has dragons? And that they are personified just like humans? And that I love dragons? I felt like I could have done with more from their perspective, but you know what? I was too busy laughing to pay too much attention.
Some of the text just seemed a bit clunky (I feel like this is my favourite way of describing a novel at the moment). The main thing was that some of the storyline elements weren’t wrapped up nicely throughout the novel. For example the contents of the package. I can’t say more without giving anything away… Perhaps this is something that will be explored in the other novels of the Gullwing Series.
I’m giving this 3 stars. Or 4 stars. I can’t decide. It’s not ‘average’, but it’s not ‘outstanding’ either. Undecided.
Ah, the ending. It tidied things up nicely. Perhaps too nicely. Worlds never end like that. So it could be unexpected, except the minute a couple of people do their ‘expose’ thing, then it becomes obvious what is happening around that, and it proves to be inevitable. It was already so unpredictable, in its own way it was predictable.
This novel started so slowly and got so confusing at times that I couldn’t work out what was going on. I struggled to get into it, and found myself easily distracted. Near the end, I was finally hit with a shock of ‘wow’, but it only lasted a couple of pages.
Elspeth goes from a lonely loner to someone who dares to have friends. Funny how losing everything seems to do that to a person. She progresses rapidly from someone only concerned about saving herself to someone who can and will help others. It’s that transformation that brought me back to this novel over and over again.
I forget how much I like this novel every time I put it away on the shelf, and then when I pick it up I just can’t stop reading it. It’s fascinating to think that special extensions of senses are just evolution. Let me evolve that way! I wish I had abilities like this. But I wouldn’t want to be able to smell the rotting meat of infected people.
I remind astounded by the sheer number of convincing magic systems Sanderson can create. There are so many interesting novels about 
The characters really really get into their strides here. And well they should, as this novel neatly wraps up the first two. I don’t know how I felt about the ending. It was a little neat, but also open ended. I loved Adolin’s final gesture – finally! Get on it boy! Kal, hmm, don’t know what I think about you. Sometimes you are just so dumb, and sometimes you are brilliant.
This novel is told from a number of perspectives, and this usually urks me. I still felt irritated with this, because really, it could have been written mostly (particularly Shallan’s) in seperate parts. I didn’t have trouble keeping track of the story threads, but I did feel myself rushing through certain sections to get to the next mention of my favourite characters (mainly Kaladin).
This is the finale of The Obernewtyn Chronicles. It was originally intended to be 5 books, it extended to 6, and then 7. The 7th book in particular was delayed several times. I expected it to be polished and beautiful, and for the most part it was. Having just read the other 6 books though, I could see plot holes and unfinished business. Also Elspeth spent a lot of time ‘gnawing’, relaxing, ‘gnawing’, relaxing. It got a bit repetitive.
