Which is funny because I could've sworn i applied for that, but meh, not really complaining at this point since the books out and I like it.

Almost missed the Beta, too

What was the problem with Hilda. She was the best part of book 2. She was book 2's Tom. The reason I kept reading. I'm happy with the way things turned out. All too often in self published books you get some uber main character who is over powered, who just breezes through the plot with deus ex machina saves and shallow secondary characters. Terry Mancour and E. william brown are two fine examples of this. They are the Fantasy for the adolescent male who never grew up crowd. Making it not entirely about Tom lessens this. So while some of the other sections are boring as fuck, they are still worthwhile.

If I wanted to watch re-runs of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood so I can learn valuable life lessons, I would do so. Terry Mancour and E. William Brown are both fine writers and know their niche audiences well. The audience wants awesome magic battles in the vein of Buck Rogers, they don't want the plucky underdog or the hero's journey that normally goes with that. No one does. George R.R. Martin writes some wonderful fiction in the area you are looking for, so does Tad Williams. Highly detailed interwoven plots and sub-plots take decades to write correctly, as in the book came out today, sequel comes out 5 to 10 years later. I read the the first two books of the song of ice and fire back to back... 12 to 15 years ago. I don't remember any of the characters, their motivations, convictions, none of it. None. It's like asking me the name of the boy from Indian in the cupboard that I read when I was 8. I don't know and I'm not sure why I should care. I'm sure I'll give a book series with an extremely complex plot a look once it's complete.

I found Hilda to be a fine character, and her journey to be nice. But completely redundant. She was filler. It was like Goku screaming for half an episode to build a sense of awe and suspense, but mainly because they needed to stretch two comics worth of material into 6 episodes. I, personally, liked it. I can plainly see why many would not.

A mature reader reads more than the first sentence before making a personal attack.

A mature reader doesn't take things too personal.

A mature reader doesn't sit like a hawk poised to strike on internet forums trying to start silly internet fights.

See how I didn't even notice your reply for three days?

I'm separating these sentences out so they are easier to read, I know you need help with that.

Get a freaking hobby, you internet hobo.

@Flakes

The problem is, at least for me, is that she has very minor role. Not to mention, she sucks in her role.
And she is far from the best part of the book. That recognition goes to Tom.

And most are just boring, stupid, badly edited, or just plain crap.

But Hilda is almost the same. As a saint, she is OP. She breezes through the plot with her saintly powers, many which just pop up (deus ex machina), and she is surrounded by shallow secondary characters.

@The Author Guy

Well, for me, I have two problems about her. One, she has a very small role. So small that I think she fits more as a minor character than a main one. The second is that her scenes are filled with obnoxious details, especially the wines and food. Almost all of her scene includes her babbling about wines. It was interesting the first time, but it gets old and annoying very quick.

That is not exactly it. Heavenly Host is really just not good and I kinda expect it to be good.

Why not?

Predictability is not a problem. For example, I love Into the Abyss and I read again and again and again.Its already predictable because of my constant re-reading. I know it inside out but I read it again. Why?
Another would be the Romance genre. Everyone knows how it goes. Then, why is it one of the most profitable of all the genre? Why is the most predictable of all type of stories have the most audience?
Triteness is the problem of these copycats. Instead of creating they own twist and touch, they instead do a very halfhearted and lazy rehash of the original.

The second book essentially bridges the first book to the third book. Instead of telling a story, you are setting things up for the next story. My review is quite spot on. Your enticing us in the first book and you go all out in the third book, but the second book is virtually nothing. It is just a setup, a bridge.

@Korwin

Most of her scenes where she goes info hunting is not really needed (and she is bad at it). Also, so far, she is still not indespensable. She can still be removed in the narrative and the story can still work.

I'm talking about Hilda's info gathering, not the reactions.



It is not because she is bad at it. It's because those scenes are not necessary, thus redundant. She just practically rehashes those when she reports in the meetings.



And, I don't understand your like.

Yes it was'nt a second 'Into the Abyss', but we (at least I) want a proper continuation of the first book, not a hudred pages bridge or setup.



At least a proper movie and a proper sequel. It is not a bridge or setup for the next movie.



Yes, Hilda makes it less poor, but it still poor nonetheless. As for the impression, it only reflects on Hilda, not on the FoL as a whole.

See it this way, the Nazi would have some good members in its ranks, good people with good heart, in fact, there are; but would those members 'balance' the view on Nazis? Not at all. The action and trait of an individual reflect only on the individual, not the group.



I have three things to say for this:

1) I'm not dismissing it. The biggest problem I have with all these setups is that there is no clear indication for what they are setting up for. Example, there is this scene where Hilda fights the beggars. It might fun and interesting, but what is its connection to everything else? Are the Beggars going to the Abyss and fight demons? Will the Beggars become Tom alies? Maybe the Beggars would become saints too. Uhh! I don't know!

Another is this scene (which is present only in beta) where we practically have pages worth of nothing but Jenn and Gastrope having a rollercoaster ride. I don't understand how this rollercoaster is a setup for anything. Any ideas? And there are similar scenes like these.

2) The argument that these stuff are boring is valid. In fact a large part of the book is boring. Say what you want about this, but a boring book is still a boring book no matter how "needed" the setups are.

3) Three, and the most important point: Heavenly Host is just setting things up for the next story instead of telling a story. In fact, you could say, it has no story at all. Lots of things are happening but they are so disconnected that they might as well be in different books. And the worst thing? It takes hundreds of pages for all of this setup crap. The setup is far bigger than the first book. What the hell.

Edited by user Wednesday, February 17, 2016 12:22:17 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified