Wow. Really good book, amazing debut. I fell in love with the world building. The only plot point that I did not find convincing was the fact that Rin became the "bad" guy in the end. Even though she was always putting power above anything else, I feel that it was a bit weak. Also, her connection with Speer made me raise an eyebrow. I felt she had better reasons to be vengeful than that. (Not that this point will stop me from devouring the next one).

This is a book that depicts war in all it's depths. It's great. It's important. It's also very hard to read. The depictions are REAL and GRUESOME and though you understand the choices that are being made you can't help but feel appalled, even though at some of them you think you'd act similar. This is not just another fantasy book involving war, this is a book about war involving fantasy.

Das Buch ist wirklich ein Hoch und Runter der Gefühle gewesen. Würde man die Hauptcharakterin Rin zu Beginn und zum Ende hin vergleichen, wäre sie nicht wiedererkennbar. Die Charakterentwicklung ist so faszinierend. Es ist nicht so, dass man dachte, wieso, warum machst du das? Die Entscheidungen die Rin trifft sind nachvollziehbar, was die Geschichte in sich glaubhafter macht. Der Schreibstil der Autorin ist sehr angenehm. Sie beschreibt die Szenen, mögen sie auch noch so grauenhaft sein, genau. Die Charaktere sind gut durchdacht, jeder hat einen Hintergrund und die Gründe, was ihn antreibt. Die nächsten Bücher der Reihe sind natürlich auch schon im Regal. Ich empfehle das Buch für junge Erwachsene. Manche Szenen im Buch sind wirklich grauenvoll, so wie Krieg halt ist. Außerdem spielt die Autorin gerne mit der Geschichte und Mythologie und lässt diese Elemente in ihre Geschichte mit einfließen. Absolut empfehlenswert! // The book really was a rollercoaster of emotions. If you were to compare the main character Rin at the beginning and at the end, she would be unrecognisable. The character development is so fascinating. It's not like you thought, why, why are you doing this? The decisions Rin makes are understandable, which makes the story more believable in itself. The author's writing style is very pleasant. She describes the scenes accurately, however gruesome they may be. The characters are well thought out, each has a background and the reasons that drive them. The next books in the series are of course already on the shelf. I recommend the book for young adults. Some scenes in the book are really gruesome, just like war is. The author also likes to play with history and mythology and incorporates these elements into her story. Absolutely recommendable.

Finally a real fantasy book … incredible detailed world and interesting characters. You could really feel with Rin, who is not the regular main character. She has up and downs, a lot of flaws, but also an amazing inner strength. You could feel the tension building up across the chapters. I loved the side characters which are all so unique and I am so sad about every loss. Autor Kuang writes with a lot of wits and rawness. It’s not an easy story and after reading about the back story (a lot of the war scenes were taken from the basics of the Japan- China conflicts during the Second World War and shows it’s brutality) it is even harder. The story plays in Nikan, but it has so many similarities to real world problems. Gonna think about it for a while. Looking forward to part 2

Das Buch war für mich deutlich einfacher zu lesen an Babel - und dennoch sehr ähnlich: Die Protagonistin muss sich in einem Umfeld behaupten, das ihr sehr negativ zugetan ist. Auch hier heiligt der Zweck wieder die Mittel und grenzt an Radikalität. Last, but not least, ich baue keine sonderlich enge Verbindung zu irgendeinem Charakter auf, sondern fühle mich regelmäßig als Zuschauer. Es ist kein schlechtes Buch, es lässt sich gut lesen, hat ein spannendes Thema und ist kurzweilig, doch Kuang wird einfach nicht meine große Liebe in Sachen Schriftsteller.

For me this book had an amazing start. I loved the setting of part I and the evolution Rin got through. The beginning of Part II was a mess for me. You don‘t know where you are, you don‘t know the person, the author just throws you into a situation, feeds you an important thing and throws you back to the normal setting - just two years later. This just isn‘t for me ... Than there is part III - it‘a brutal. The enemy shows so much brutality, it ripped my heart. At some points I personally thought it wasn‘t necessary to be this brutal... I really liked the setting of shamans talking to their gods and bringing their strength to earth. Unfortunately the plot itself has not gotten me into it. Looking back I think the book was okay, with some really good parts, but I don’t feel the pressure to read the next book in the series.

A really good book though not as exceptional as I'd expected after all that I'd heard. Some parts/characters felt very reminiscent of other fantasy books I've read. Other parts were unexpectedly explicit in their brutality and gore. But I'm very happy that the author did not cram in a love story for Rin, come hell or high water, and I'll continue with the trilogy in time.

This blew my mind, and i have difficulties finding words for my thoughts and feelings, so let's just start with a quick summary of what this is about: When orphaned Rin is just ahead of being forced to marry an older man, she registers for the Keju, an Empire-wide test to find the best and most talented students to attend the academies. She passes the exam with flying colors and gets into the academy of Sinegard, the most prestigious military school in the Nikara Empire. Struggling with her courses and the bullying of her classmates, Rin has to fight and prove her worth on a daily basis. When she discovers the mythical art of shamanism, she starts to study under a seemingly insane master, using drugs to explore her gift and the world of Gods long thought dead. But nothing could've prepared her for what is coming when the Federation of Mugen attacks, and everything is not about surviving school anymore, but surviving and winning war that's threatening to destroy everything. This book is phenomenal. Written perfectly, with a world building that blows your mind away, deep characters with amazing development and a story that takes your breath away with both horror and amazement. It shows the terror and most brutal ways of a war that knows no morality and no confines. It's not like anything I've ever read before. It deserves every praise it gets. I was on the edge the whole time, desperately needing to know what happens next while at the same time dreading to know. This book has a lot of trigger warnings and I would advise to look them up before reading, but if you think you can handle it, definitely go on and read this book.