Tenk deg å være et ikon for et fryktet folk. Symbolet som samler dem rundt hat og hevntørst. Som datter av en likfødt hærfører i eksil, er din skjebne å markere begynnelsen på slutten.
Hirka forbereder seg på å møte det rådende huset i en kald, hierarkisk verden der forakten for svakhet regjerer. Motvillig aksepterer hun sin skjebne, i håp om å holde Rime i live og Ymslanda trygt. Men de likfødtes tørst etter Evna er altoppslukende, og Hirka innser at krigen hun ville stanse, er uunngåelig. En innsikt som snart vil utfordre alt hun har trodd på og kjempet for. Evna er den tredje og siste boka i den kritikerroste fantasyserien Ravneringene. En spektakulær finale som utforsker røtter, makt og hovmod.
Siri was born in 1971, under the northern lights of Norway, with a severely overactive imagination. It survived countless attacks from the outside world, rendering her an expert escapist, frolicking in a wide range of media: Design, web, comics, illustration, animation and text. Anything for a good story. In 2002 she won a national comic contest with "Anticlimax", the comic strip that made her "Newcomer of the year" in the Norwegian Sproing Awards. Siri has worked as an Art Director for many years, but she is now writing full time, devoted to her fantastical worlds.
4.5 stjerner. // Jeg har prøvd å spare så mye som mulig på denne boken siden jeg startet på den, men nå er det altså over.
Og for et eventyr det har vært.
Det er så trist at det er over, men samtidig kom en skikkelig gladnyhet hin dagen: Ravneringene blir til FILM!! Så mye å glede seg til, til tross for at serien er over i bokform. (Jeg kommer dog garantert til å lese den igjen en dag.)
Siri skriver som alltid fantastisk, og jeg synes hun har en helt egen skrivestil. Oppbyggingen av de ulike verdenene er imponerende, og jeg har elsket å lese og lære om dem. Karakterene er også så utrolig bra. Og ikke minst dialogene! Dialoger kan jeg være litt kresen på av og til, men i Ravneringene føles alt som om det skulle vært ekte. På en måte. Vanskelig å forklare.
En annen ting jeg setter stor pris på i disse bøkene er at handlingen er så utrolig uforutsigbar. Ellers når jeg leser klarer jeg som oftest å tenke meg til hva som kommer til å skje, men i disse? Ikke i det hele tatt! Jeg prøver ikke å tenke meg til det engang. Jeg lar meg selv heller bare bli med på reisen som kommer. Enkelte av tingene som skjedde i denne boken hadde jeg aldri sett komme, og det er så gøy når man blir overrasket. Selv om det ikke alltid er positive overraskelser, sånn sett. Jeg føler heller ikke bøkene inneholder klisjeér, som så mange gjør nå om dagene. Det setter jeg også stor pris på! Det er bare noe veldig annerledes og originalt ved denne serien jeg ikke helt klarer å forklare.
Jeg er vanligvis ikke glad i "kjærlighetsdelen" som ofte kommer i bøker, uansett hvilken sjanger det er, da det ofte kan føles urealistisk, lite ekte og klisjéfylt i mange bøker for min del, og siden jeg er mer interessert i alt annet enn de romantiske innslagene, men Hirka og Rime er et eneste stort unntak. Jeg elsker dem! Så bra karakterer, og jeg må bare heie på dem. Det at forfatteren har klart å få kresne og ikke-så-veldig-romantiske meg også til å like disse bitene av historien er bare så gøy, for det skal en god del til før jeg smiler, blir engasjert og føler varme overfor den slags i bokform!
Nei, jeg vet egentlig ikke hva jeg skal si, annet enn en stor, stor takk til forfatteren som har skrevet disse originale bøkene jeg har hatt så stor glede av å lese. <3
PS. Jeg tror omslaget må være et av favorittene mine noensinne. Så utrolig vakkert.
Holy moly what a book!! What a series!! What an ending!!! Im so happy with the ending! Yet sad to let Rime and Hirka go, but I can always come visit them again. I love love LOVE this series. So. Freaking. Much.
Undoubtedly, one of the best fantasy books I've ever read. I hope it gets translated into English very soon -- and I hope it will be incredibly successful, because it deserves millions of readers. As someone who has always dreamt about writing a book, I would love mine to be as good as this.
Firstly - characters. Let me tell you about Hirka. She's proving you - page after page - that not only villains can be interesting. She is clever, intelligent, she knows what needs to be done and yet she's very moral. She just has a good, sweet heart. This is so simple, but there aren't many characters like Hirka. I am obsessed with her, she is amazing. Rime? Another marvellous character. He has his flaws, he does immoral things and then he feels bad for it. Normally, this situation could get infuriating - the constant self hate of a character is often something that kills the joy of reading - but Rime isn't like that. He knows what he had to do & he doesn't love himself for that, but he's also not going to be too whiny. And the way he treats Hirka? Kill me. He's perfect.
I love the Scandinavian vibe going on here. Nordic mythology is something I adore & this book satisfies me in that matter. The climate and atmosphere of this book - so good. SO GOOD.
Recenzja może zawierać spoilery do poprzednich tomów.
“Evna” to już ostatni tom serii, która z pewnością zostanie na dłużej w mojej pamięci. Już od pierwszego tomu zostałam porwana do świata Hirki i Rimego, który okazał się nie być jedynym, jaki wykreowała autorka. Uwielbiam nordycką mitologię i bardzo doceniam świeże spojrzenie jakie rzuciła na nią Siri Pettersen.
Zakończenie serii nie zawodzi. Choć tempo wyraźnie zwalnia w porównaniu do poprzedniego tomu, to liczne intrygi, nowy świat i odkrywane po kolei przed czytelnikiem tajemnice sprawiają, że od książki nie sposób się oderwać. Autorka aż do samego końca trzyma nas w niepewności czy Hirce uda się wszystkich ocalić czy jednak wszystkie światy runą.
Bardzo podobało mi się jak przez całą serię przeplatane były wątki Hirki i Rimego. W tym tomie ponownie widać, że wszystko to było w jakimś stopniu przemyślane i żadne wydarzenie nie było przypadkowe. Pojawia się tu też wiele nowych postaci, ale nie oznacza to, że wcześniejsze zostają zapomniane. Mam wrażenie, że każdy z nich ma wkład w finalne zakończenie tej trylogii.
Na wskroś czuć w tej powieści brutalny nordycki klimat. W szczególności widać go w świecie, do którego tym razem trafia Hirka. Mimo bycia “w domu” nie potrafi się tam odnaleźć. Sama nie wie już, gdzie tak naprawdę jest jej dom.
Samo zakończenie było wprost idealne do całej trylogii i pozostawiło mnie z uczuciem satysfakcji.
Jeśli lubicie mitologię nordycką i macie ochotę na coś co potrafi porwać czytelnika, zapiszczie sobie tytuł serii “Krucze pierścienie”.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Die "Gabe" ist eine den Ymsländern angeborene, magische Fähigkeit. Mal stärker und mal schwächer ausgeprägt, bestimmt sie in vielerlei Hinsicht die Zukunft jedes einzelnen. Doch die Herkunft dieser Gabe war lange Zeit eine Lüge.
Siri Pettersen entführt uns auch im dritten Band wieder in eine ferne Welt, in der alles fremd ist, zumindest auf den ersten Blick. Hirka lernt ihre Heimat kennen, ihre Familie, aber mehr als das Blut verbindet sie nicht mit ihnen. Ihr Zuhause ist dort, wo Rime ist. Allerdings sind die Umpiri fest entschlossen sich das wieder zu holen, was ihnen vor so langer Zeit gestohlen wurde: Ymsland und die Gabe.
Für Rime sieht es ähnlich düster aus, denn sein plötzliches Verschwinden hatte Folgen, deren Entwicklungen kaum noch aufzuhalten sind. Seine Trauer und Verzweiflung wandeln sich in einen eisigen Zorn, der ihn zwingt, zu handeln.
Die Autorin hat wieder unglaublich viele originelle Ideen mit eingebracht! Alle Handlungsstränge werden ineinander verwoben und streben auf ein aufregendes Ende zu! Dabei schreibt sie eher in ruhigem Tempo und legt den Fokus auf die vielen wunderbaren Details, die diese Geschichte so lebendig wirken lassen.
Ich hab mit beiden mitgelitten, mit Hirka und mit Rime. Beide auf ihre Art versuchen, das Richtige zu tun, doch das ist nicht immer für jeden das gleiche.
Gerechtigkeit war wie ein Stein. Alle glaubten, er sei solide. Ewig und konstant. Aber sie hatte etwas anderes gesehen. Er war eher eine zufällige Ansammlung von Sandkörnern, die vorübergehend zusammenhingen. Flüchtig und veränderlich, unter den richtigen Umständen. Zitat Seite 436
Hirka bleibt sich treu. Sie ist Heilerin. Sie will niemanden verletzen, geschweige denn töten. Ihr Ziel ist es, Leben zu erhalten. Jedes Leben. Doch auch sie bekommt zu spüren, wie Erfahrungen verändern. Wie seelischer Schmerz, Trauer und Zweifel sich in Wut verwandeln, in Hass, der in einem brodelt. Der einen zwingt zu handeln, weil man keinen anderen Weg mehr sieht, weil einen dieses Gefühl völlig ausfüllt. Sich gegen die eigenen Überzeugungen zu stellen kostet unheimlich viel Kraft - egal ob man das in dem Glauben macht, gutes zu tun. Ein Wunder zu vollbringen, zu retten, was verloren war...
Aber auch Rime muss sich die Veränderungen vor Augen halten, die um ihn herum passieren und die ihn erschüttert haben. Ihn, der schon tot ist, der sich dem Schwert verschrieben hat und sich nun einem unausweichlichen Krieg gegenübersieht.
Ich bin absolut begeistert von der kompletten Trilogie und auch der Abschlussband war wieder großartig inszeniert. Manchmal hätte ich mir vielleicht mehr Tempo gewünscht, aber das ist einfach meiner eigenen Ungeduld geschuldet, weil ich wissen wollte wie es endet :) Ein absoluter Lesetipp für alle, die im Fantasybereich mal etwas wirklich außergewöhnliches lesen wollen!
Wenn Licht bedeutete, dass andere dafür leiden mussten, wollte sie lieber im Dunkeln leben. Zitat Seite 163
Åh, den tog slut alldeles för snabbt. Har väntat på Kraften i storpocket i över två månader och så läste jag ut den på 7 timmar :( Den hade lätt kunnat vara typ 200 sidor till med lite mer ingående krigsskildringar och detaljer i överlag. Älskar världarna och Hirka så mycket, jag kommer verkligen sakna den här serien.
Kraften är precis som de föregående böckerna välskriven, tät, oförutsägbar och framåtdrivande. Hirka är både stark och svag, men behöver aldrig räddas och det älskar jag. Alla karaktärer känns välarbetade och mångfacetterade, de är inte onda bara för den onda sakens skull, och ingen är heller outtröttligt god.
Jag är jättenöjd med slutet, tycker att det var fint och värdigt (om än lite väl kort). Är verkligen ledsen av att behöva säga hejdå.
Così si chiude un'altra trilogia. Quest'ultimo volume è stato interessante e scorrevole come i primi due, Siri Pettersen ha indubbiamente uno stile di scrittura meraviglioso. Questo finale sarebbe potuto essere perfetto se solo delle questioni non fossero state lasciate in sospeso. Sarebbero bastati un paio di capitoli in più, mi è quasi sembrato che l'autrice non sapesse proprio che scrivere. Nel complesso comunque è una trilogia fantasy conosciuta a pochi, ma che secondo me potrebbe davvero conquistare tante persone.
Ah, so freaking good! Great conclusion to the trilogy, read the whole book in two sittings. Can't wait to read more by Siri Pettersen. AND this needs to be translated to English soon, so the whole world can love on it.
Další díl a další nový svět patřící mrtvorozeným. Většina knihy se odehrává právě zde a já měla pocit, jako bych tam s Hirkou opravdu byla a mohla cítit ten strach, všudypřítomných chlad a drsnost vyzařující z mrtvorozených. Z tohoto světa mi už od začátku nejvíce přirostl k srdci Kolail. Na této sérii oceňuji hlavně vývoj charakterů Hirky a Rimeho. Oba ušli kus cesty a já jim to všechno věřila. Finále bylo velkolepé. Tohle bylo opravdu parádní zakončení celé série a já jsem si užila každé procento příběhu opravdu s chutí. Víc takovýchto sérií, prosím...
Z malej, nenávidenej a odstrkovanej dievčičky v prvej časti prešla Hirka dlhú cestu... až do sveta mrtvorodených, slepých, nábyrn, umpriri. A jej prerod bol nielen duchovný, ale aj doslovný a vďaka tomu zmenila svety. Či sa mi to páčilo? Jasné, veľmi! Opis iného sveta, záverečná vojna, vzťah Rimeho a Hirky, jej rodina... Celá séria sa týmto krásne zavŕšila (aj keď tam ostala možnosť pre pokračovanie), ja som spokojná.
Jeg har lyst til å fortelle om alle de herlige små scenene i Evna som fikk meg til å smile eller le høyt, men jeg vil ikke spoile boken for dere som ikke har lest den. Så jeg håper hva jeg faktisk skriver klarer å vise hvor godt jeg likte alt med denne boken. Karakterene, handlingen, Hirka, Rime, Kolail, alt! Noen ganger trenger jeg en femti sider på å komme inn i handlingen i en bok, men her var jeg hekta fra første side. Det er noe av det som jeg liker så godt med disse bøkene, de tar tak i deg og slipper ikke før du er ferdig (og egentlig ikke da heller), og man elsker hvert sekund av det!
Evna er i seg selv en skikkelig bra bok, og den er den perfekte avslutningen på fortellingen om Hirka, Rime og Ravneringene. Og selv om jeg nå sitter her og skulle så gjerne ønske meg en ny triologi satt i denne fantastiske verdenen Pettersen har skapt, så er jeg også helt fornøyd med hvordan det ender. Jeg er ikke uenig, misfornøyd, eller en smule skuffet. Jeg skulle ikke ønske det endet anderledes. Jeg elsket serien, med slutt og det hele.
Jag har alltid haft en kluven inställning till avslutande delar i serier. Alltid har jag velat veta hur det slutar, hur författaren knyter ihop trådarna, men också haft en ovilja att faktiskt avsluta och därmed skiljas från karaktärer, världar eller något annat som gjort att jag läst vidare.
Som helhet betraktat är Korpringarna den mäktigaste trilogi jag läst på bra länge. Huvudkaraktärerna - våra outsiders Hirka och Rime - är synnerligen vältecknade och komplexa personer. Och tack som fan för att vi slipper ytterligare en kärlekstriangel! Världbyggandet är suveränt och vävs skickligt ihop med hur karaktärerna agerar.
Evna är en bra avslutande del (även om jag gillar bok två -Röta- bäst) och trådarna knyts skickligt ihop. Det är ett satans driv och ös i berättelsen utan att för den sakens skull kännas stressande. Som läsare går det att slappna av i vetskapen att författaren vet vad hon sysslar med. Att jag sedan hisnar under läsningen av andra orsaker är såklart bara att applådera, haha!
Letar du efter en verkligt genomarbetad, bra och fascinerande fantasyberättelse ska du kolla in Korpringarna. Jag vågar i det närmaste lova att du inte blir besviken.
I think this was the first time ever I've read a fantasy trilogy and loved the ending. It wasn't rushed or felt wrong. It was just the perfect ending to a great story. This third book of The Ravenrings (there's now an English translation of the first volume: Odin's Child) was an immensely enjoyable and satisfying read. I loved the first book and unfortunately couldn't really get into book two, but it was all worth it because of this last installment of the series. Great work of fiction!
Hirka återvänt till sin fars hemland i hopp om att kunna rädda Ymslandet. Men trots att hon inte har höga förhoppningar visar sig Dreysil vara en kall plats där styrka och makt är viktigare än allt annat. Den enda släkting som verkar acceptera henne någorlunda på riktigt, inte bara hoppas att hon ska kunna ge deras hus en högre ställning igen, är hennes farfar. Men det är konstigt att tänka på honom som det. För även om hon till hälften tillhör deras värld är de så olika; det är inte som i Ymslandet där endast en svans saknades för att hon skulle kunna riktigt platsa in.
Hon hamnar mitt uppe i deras maktspel samtidigt som hon snart inser hur stark deras törst efter Kraften är. Att försöka hindra ett krig inser hon snabbt kommer vara omöjligt. Det är oundvikligt. Att det kommer ske är ett faktum. Men det finns fortfarande en chans att se till att Ymslandet står kvar som segrare. Men det kommer kräva mer styrka och uppoffringar från Hirka än någonsin tidigare.
Det kändes lite bittert att börja på den här boken, att veta att det är sista boken, villket möjligtvis är anledningen till att det tog en sådan lång tid för mig att äntligen läsa den. Men även om jag kände mig ovillig att säga hej då till dessa karaktärer, deras värld och berättelser så var otåligheten om att få veta hur det hela slutar starkare.
Att äntligen få träffa de blindfödda, de första, på deras hemmaplan var spännande. Det är svårt att inte finna dem intressanta, även om jag snart insåg att jag föredrar Ymslandets politik. För det är ett hårt klimat i Dreysil där makt och ställning är viktigare än något annat. Svaghet föraktas till den grad att det är löjligt men är något som ständigt sätter Hirka i farozonen då hon ständigt misslyckas att hålla sig på samma våglängd som Dreysils invånare.
Hirka som karaktär och person har verkligen utvecklats under denna bokseries gång och det är inte svårt att medge att jag älskar henne. Hon har vuxit upp till något som definitivt kan klassas som en av mina favoritkaraktärer inom litteraturen. Detsamma gäller Pettersens författande. Det har inte varit några brister i de tidigare böckerna i trilogin men denna bok visar oavsett på att hennes berättande har utvecklats. Och jag tackar fan för det. Hennes språk är underbart och levande med karaktärer som inte bara andas på egen hand utan som även gör det färgglatt.
Men det bästa var utan tvekan Siaren och hans bakgrundshistoria. Det är nog det som jag kommer minnas mest av denna serie om tio år, och varför den alltid kommer ha en plats i mitt hjärta. Trots att han var mer eller mindre en bakgrundskaraktär så vann han mitt hjärta på de få sidorna han var med och lyckades få mig att skicka iväg ett emotionellt röstmeddelande till en kompis mitt i natten. Så tack, Pettersen – inte endast för en otrolig berättelse utan för den otroligt vackra karaktären som Siaren visade sig vara.
Aspettavo questo libro da un anno, e finalmente la biblitoeca lo ha recuperato. Grazie! Sciocca però io, a non aver riletto il secondo volume. Infatti, all'inizio ho trovato difficile ricordarmi nomi, e cose successe, e nel libro precedente ne succedono di cose. Non che non mi ricordassi nulla, però alcuni particolari purtroppo me li sono persi. Per questo le 4 stelle.
Seguiamo parallelamente le vicende di Hirka, che è nel regno degli Orbi, e Rime tornato ad Yimslanda. Parte lento, ma mai noioso, per poi riprendersi da metà in poi. E li succede di tutto. Bello davvero, peccato solo che non me lo sia potuto godere appieno, per non aver colto tutti i collegamenti.
Questa trilogia è stata strana. Ammetto di non essere una lettrice di fantasy puro e per di più con radici nelle leggende nordiche , ma questa storia mi ha catturato da subito. Ho letto con foga tutti i libri, senza mai staccarmi. E' stata una bella sfida per me, e sono contenta di averci provato.
Ho amato tutti i personaggi, ma sorpattutto Rime e Hirka, che in questi tre volumi, crescono e prendono coscienza di loro, di cosa vogliono, e cosa è giusto fare. La fine semplicemnte meravigliosa *_*
Sono davvero contenta di averla letta. Grazie come sempre alla bilbioteca che esaudisce i miei desideri.
You know how things just go to sh*t for the main characters and you are certain they've hit the bottom, but they just continue falling? That was basically half of this book. Nothing went the right way and I just couldn't see how the situation was supposed to turn around. But when it did turn, om my, it did turn.
So, this was the last book in the Ravneringene (Raven Rings) trilogy. I am a bit sad it ended already, but it was a good ending, no, a great ending. It tied everything together and gave the main characters what was needed. I will definitely revisit this world many times and hope Siri Pettersen will publish more books soon. I also hope this series will be translated into English soon (saw a few days ago the cover for the Hebrew translation, and oh my it looked awesome).
Not much more I want to say since this is the third and final book. But if you have the chance to some day pick this up I urge you to do so. Norway is a beautiful fantasy setting.
What a series, what a conclusion, what a book, what a STORY! I'm in awe. This entire series is incredible. The world-building is phenomenal and completely sucks you in. The characters are complex and flawed, exactly as they should be! I had high hopes for the final book in this trilogy, and it definitely delivered! If you haven't read this yet, you should. I can't believe it took me this long.
Hat mir persönlich nicht so gut gefallen wie die ersten Beiden Teile. Die Aufklärungen und das Zusammenführen aller losen Enden war trotzdem sehr gut gemacht und hat die Trilogie zu einem würdigen Ende geführt! Das Ende ist genau so wie es ist gut geworden und vor allem könnte ich mir kein anderes und besseres vorstellen. Alles in allem ein gutes Buch.
4,5 ⭐️/5 Miluju jak autorka staví světy a jak umí vytvořit plastické a úžasné postavy. Jen mi někdy nesedí práce s tempem, ale ten konec byl fakt skvělý!!!
This whole series was a disappointment. I'm upset that I held out to the end. The world concept was so unique, I kept holding on hoping for the changes this book needed so badly. They never happened. This book has all the same problems of the first two and more.
*Spoiler warning beyond this point*
First off, why are Hirka and Rime still filled with self-doubt? If they had proper character growth, they would've gotten over that in the first book. I almost threw my book when I read, "[Rime] never wanted to sit on the Council in the first place. All he'd wanted was change. But what kind of change?" Right there. That is what is so, so wrong with this series. The two protagonists don't have goals. They just float around doing what they think is right in the moment and then think back on every action for the rest of the series wondering if they did the right thing. That entire question was the entire plot of the first book, it should have been asked and answered already.
He WAS in the position to bring change. Multiple times. Did he bring said change? No. He just reinstated the existing powers with himself as the head, made no changes, and made no attempts to make Eisvaldr stable. He shirked his responsibilities while there and quickly abandoned the entirety of Eisvaldr to go through a portal he had no way of knowing he'd come back from. He got so many chances yet never acted on them.
As for Hirka, she gets an entire chapter dedicated to her getting over herself and finally deciding to be and do what she wants. And then that's immediately followed by two chapters where all of that character development is thrown out the window. Both Hirka and Rime are weak-willed and have no driving force, yet somehow they both have the fate of infinite worlds teetering on their fingertips.
Lack of a clear, primary goal isn't a small flaw. It's huge. Giving your characters a primary goal is creative writing 101. Petterson didn't give them one. And the series suffered deeply because of it.
The only thing I can guess their goals were, were that they wanted to get into each other's pants. I'm serious. They couldn't be together because of The Rot, so they ran away for answers, to get rid of the power systems that would keep them apart, etc etc. That's why they never truly acted on anything, because they didn't know what they were truly doing it for. All those lives lost, the war, the massacres, it was all for that moment they had in that ice cave. And I didn't realize until the end, because the plot was the most unnecessarily convoluted thing in the world. If you think that's a primary goal, you're wrong. It needs to be something a lot stronger and clearer than that.
Petterson's shallow treatment of her main characters extends to all of her other characters as well. Lindri, Kolail, Graal, Skerri, Damayanti, Urd, all of Hirka's family, etc., all suffered from two dimensional writing.
Lindri felt like a last second addition. I honestly think Petterson finished her drafts, went through them, and added Lindri as a makeshift father figure.
Rime and Hirka's relationship with him doesn't make sense. Hirka only knew him for a week, yet she finds herself thinking of him frequently and with the intensity you would expect someone would feel for their beloved grandpa, not a week long acquaintance with a tea shop keeper she imposed herself onto.
As for Lindri's relationship with Rime, he shouldn't have had one. Once again, Petterson made the grave mistake of not giving her characters a goal, and that lack of a goal made it easy for her to change Lindri's character and attitude towards Rime completely, without reasonable events leading to such a drastic change. He literally becomes a replacement Svarteld for Rime. He does a complete 180 and goes from hating Rime and never wanting to see him again to becoming a mentor. And why? Because for some reason he suddenly "sees the good" in Rime, despite wanting nothing to do with him last book.
It's even worse when he not only forgives Rime, but becomes an apologist for him. Rime has done some god awful things and Lindri knew that in the last book and shunned him for it. Yet in this book, he sits down with Rime over tea, and practically tells him his victims made their own choices and that Rime isn't responsible for their manipulation, suffering, and deaths. The scene was such a painfully obvious write-in that attempted to redeem Rime to the readers, and it just fell so flat.
And on top of all that, we're expecting to believe he willingly died for Hirka and Rime to protect them, when all they did for him was cause him to lose all of his business!?
Another small detail that bothered me was the incompetence of the guards of Eisvaldr. In both the first and third books, when Eisvaldr is in states of emergencies, the guards continuously let everyone in unchallenged. Petterson specifically wrote in that the gates were on lockdown both times, and then immediately follows it up with either Rime or Hirka getting through unchallenged. It happened on my copy of the book on page seven. SEVEN! You'd think Petterson would at least try to bury it a bit more into the pages. The only reason it didn't happen in the second book was because they weren't there!
The whole world of the Umpiri needed to be explored a lot more, as well as Naiell and Graal's past. I would've much rather heard their story than the grinding complaints of Rime about his privilege, or of the morally misguided, self righteous thoughts of Hirka. The former and latter were extremely repetitive.
Hirka still never developed a respect for other people or their boundaries as I so desperately wanted her to. Her lack of respect was just as gross and frustrating as it was in the first two books.
Hirka is once again thrown into a world that's alien to her and what does she do? Try to understand them before judging or attempting to make any changes among them? Try to assimilate? No. She opts to immediately disrespect them. And when she finds out this disrespect of hers is putting a man's life in danger, does she stop? No, she continues, cries about it and acts like a victim when they're obviously upset by her total disrespect, and continues to behave like a spoiled brat. She laughs in the face of her mentor trying to teach her their ways, jeers at Skerri, who desperately tries to keep her from humiliating their House, and gets weirdly sexual and touchy with the exiled Umpiri. She needs a lecture on something called ethnocentrism, and then come back to the land of Umpiri.
And back to her touchiness. Her lack of boundaries and lack of respect towards other's boundaries continues to cross so many lines. She's honestly a creep. Literally on the same day she arrives among the Umpiri, she decides it's a good idea to drink out of the claws of an exiled Umpiri named Kolail. It was so fucking weird. When she lives among them, she's always touching or admiring her male relatives or Kolail. And later with Kolail, she pulls him out of a protest, performs a surgical removel of a shard of glass while creepily admiring his body, then she decides it's a good idea to sleep with her head resting on his legs even though she knew him for less than 48 hours and he made his discomfort of her clear. At one point, Kolail tells her point blank, "Who are you trying to get killed? Me or you?" She stupidly replies, "Does talking kill?" (She knows full well it does, but it won't be her they kill since her father is a high ranking Umpiri, it will be Kolail, an exile) he knows this too and replies, "Don't play dumb." Yet play dumb she does.
She has a huge amount of power over him and uses it to get touchy and to get her way, all under the guise of "helping" him and his cause. Who made this creep the main character? And for some reason, things always go her way, even though they really, truly shouldn't.
And I didn't mind Petterson making Hirka's two main enemies women. Well, I didn't mind until I found out why they were enemies: men. She literally wrote her female characters fighting over men. While Rime and other men were fighting for a kingdom, Hirka was fighting over sausage. (Yes, I know she came to fight for the kingdom too, but it was treated as a secondary goal for her).
First it was Skerri who hated Hirka for unknown reasons, until we find out it's because...wait for it!...she's jealous! Over what you might ask? Hirka's father. It was so stupid. All that tension just for the most sexist and lazy reason ever.
Then there was Damayanti. I was so. confused. when her and Hirka came face-to-face at the end. It was so unnecessary. Hirka literally just finished liberating the kingdom, fixing the flow of The Might, and achieving the ultimate honor of becoming Ravenborn, then when she's suddenly with Damayanti (who was very secondary in this book, so her sudden inclusion was out of the blue) she gloats....gloats about doing it with Rime. It was so weird.
All I can say about this series, after wasting so many hours reading through it all, is that it was badly written and weird.
I hate DNF'ing, but this was a prime lesson to me of the importance of knowing when to put a book down. I didn't for this one and suffered dearly.
Siri Pettersen's "The Raven Cycle" Trilogy is unlike any other series I've read in quite some time. These books will immerse you in a world where nearly anything is possible, in characters whose motives are complex and development dynamic, in an intricately-woven plot that will leave you excited to read from chapter to chapter.
In each book of this series, I started a little hesitant, and this one was no different -- there is still way too much tension between Hirka and Rime that doesn't seem to be resolving any time soon, and Hirka is setting off for yet another perilous and hopeless mission. No longer in the human world, Hirka finds herself among her "own" in Dreysil. But as she has in every other place she's lived prior, she struggles to find her place in this world despite her importance to those in power there. As she navigates another difficult leg of her journey in restoring the Might, Rime deals with the fallout of leaving his own position of power. As he picks up the pieces of his army and prepares for the upcoming battle against the invading Umpiri, one of the remaining council members, Darkdaggar, plots to oust Rime once and for all, risking the lives of all of Ym in the process.
This book serves the reader more of what worked in previous books: Hirka's badass, independent, moralistic nature; historical lore revealed slowly; and plenty of sly plans made under the radar to be revealed at the final climactic battle. I adored this book mostly for the character development. Thinking back to the Hirka of book one to the Hirka in this one, it's so clear to see the lines that connected the two. Her motives are the same, as are her beliefs, but she's less jaded and more realistic. She's more willing to accept that there's evil in the world, which makes her development in this book much more complex. The romance between her and Rime is so tactful, with one of the longest slow burns in series history, I'm certain. Even Pettersen's minor characters are complex and well-developed, capable of standing on their own. Reading the resolution of long-term minor characters like Urd, Graal, and Eirik was incredibly satisfying. Even the resolution of newer characters, like Kolail and Skerri, was lovely.
If you can't tell already, I'll be reading everything Pettersen writes from here on out. Her ability to create a well-rounded major/minor characters is enough to hold even the weakest of plots together. I'd read 17 spinoff series about every character in this series and never get bored. If you're a lover of fantasy, do yourself a favor and read this series.
well she did it again! amazingly i found myself surprised again and again! The plot had so many turns and changes and surprises i had to stop reading just to grasp what i was reading and the meaning and effects of the events. Again and again the meaning of evil and good turned upside down and Hirka and Rime evolved so much in this book i could hardly recognize the ones i met in the first book - they were so different but than so much the same. I am not really sure how to summarize this trilogy, I was very much involved and invested in the characters and what happened to them and the meaning it has for and about our world as we know it today and the possibilities it offers us as an option. Brilliant!!
What the heck?! Chci pokračování. Chci vědět, co se stane s Hirkou a Rimem dál, jaká dobrodružství budou prožívat. Chci jen pár desítek dalších stránek, abych se mohl vrátit zpátky a mohl být u naplnění velkého osudu. i třetí díl je o něco jiný než předchozí díly ze série, opět je zasazený do jiného prostředí a opět přináší velké množství nových informací, záhad a zvratů. A i když není tak akční, jak byste na finále předpokládali, stále je to závěr, který vás regulérně chytne za srdce a řeknete si, že takto to mělo skončit.