LemmiSchmoeker reviewed The Sum of All Men by David Farland (The Runelords, #1)
A series of missed chances, maybe too much ambition with too little planning ahead
2 stars
It starts out well enough, with a measured pace, a unique concept (which is rare enough in the genre), and a meticulously crafted storyline. Unfortunately, that's as good as it gets.
Very soon it turns out that the characters are bland, to say the least. The only trait the good people have is that they constantly try to find ways to do even more good (or question their deeds as being not good enough), while Farland helplessly tries to counter this by giving the bad people a conscience.
After a third of the book, the story starts to meander in all directions. The plot, which seemed tightly controlled in the beginning, loses cohesion, and most of the middle part is characters traveling from place to place in search of other characters. In addition, every character gets an own paragraph every now and then, which quickly becomes a mess of randomness. …
It starts out well enough, with a measured pace, a unique concept (which is rare enough in the genre), and a meticulously crafted storyline. Unfortunately, that's as good as it gets.
Very soon it turns out that the characters are bland, to say the least. The only trait the good people have is that they constantly try to find ways to do even more good (or question their deeds as being not good enough), while Farland helplessly tries to counter this by giving the bad people a conscience.
After a third of the book, the story starts to meander in all directions. The plot, which seemed tightly controlled in the beginning, loses cohesion, and most of the middle part is characters traveling from place to place in search of other characters. In addition, every character gets an own paragraph every now and then, which quickly becomes a mess of randomness. This is a general weakness at this point: the writing grows ever more careless throughout the book so that there are repetitions, strangely unfit similes, and overlooked details.
The result is a series of missed chances, maybe too much ambition with too little planning ahead. What could have been an outstanding tale turns into a drab collection of clichés that invokes a feeling of wasted time more than anything else.
