Post by devilinthedetails on Nov 18, 2021 11:23:51 GMT 10
So kind of the sister thread to the one I made for tier-ranking the Tortall books, because why should the Tortall books have all the fun?
Basically, just feel free to offer your own rankings and to invent your own tier systems or to use one based on my system.
I'd love to see all the different ways people rank the Emelan books!
My Tier-Ranking of the Emelan Books
Amazing and Most Moving to Me-Daja's Book for how it really delved into Trader culture (which I found truly fascinating) and how it dealt with disability with Polyam. (I have a disability myself and really related to Polyam, who I think is a wonderful character.) I also put Shatterglass in this category since I love the city-state setup of Tharious and Tris having to mentor someone older than herself, which creates an interesting dynamic, and Cold Fire since the winter cityscape of Kugisko is so atmospheric and there is something quite chilling about Ben as a villain.
Very Good-I put Briar's Book in this category because I really like how it deals with pandemic. I also place Magic Step and Street Magic in this tier because I do like seeing Sandry and Briar become mentors, and Pasco and Evvy are great new characters.
Good Despite Being Slow-Sandry's Book has a lot of sweet moments of friendship building and bonding, and I do like how we have the chance to be introduced individually to every member of the Circle. This book is definitely a nostalgia re-read for me, and it does put warm feelings in my heart. There isn't much in the way of plot but there is a lot of character and setting development that is endearing in this story and creates a strong foundation for later books in the Emelan universe.
Good Despite Some Frustrating Moments-Will of the Empress is in this category for me because I enjoy the court intrigue and getting to see more of Namorn and its culture, but some of the interactions between the members of the Circle in the early part of the book irritate me.
I Enjoy It But It Doesn't Feel Too Noteworthy in Any Way-This is Tris's Book for me. The pirate plot does have some excitement and connection to Tris but to me it really gets overshadowed by the next two books in the series.
Does Some Interesting Stuff But Disappointing For How Great It Could Be And Isn't-This is the tier custom made for Battle Magic. I think the book was a bit constrained by the fact that it was YA, because it couldn't really be as dark as it needed to be to explain Briar's level of trauma in Will of the Empress and the main villain is treated like the villain of an adult book but sort of behaves like a cartoonish, children's book villain, which creates a strange narrative dissonance. I also just feel like so much more inspiration could have been drawn from just about any dynasty of Imperial China to do more justice to the Yanjing empire.
Some Light and Fun Moments But Also Times I Want to Yell At The Characters For Being Fools-Yep, this is Melting Stones for me. Evvy felt like a bit too much of a brat sometimes, and it was very aggravating how otherwise intelligent adult characters could not figure out that they were on a volcanic island on the cusp of eruption despite realizing that all the other islands in the chain were volcanic and generally having anvil-sized hints continually dumped on their heads to this effect. It just felt like an inch of plot was stretched to cover a mile of book, and, well that didn't work for me.
So, what are your thoughts and rankings for the Emelan books?
Basically, just feel free to offer your own rankings and to invent your own tier systems or to use one based on my system.
I'd love to see all the different ways people rank the Emelan books!
My Tier-Ranking of the Emelan Books
Amazing and Most Moving to Me-Daja's Book for how it really delved into Trader culture (which I found truly fascinating) and how it dealt with disability with Polyam. (I have a disability myself and really related to Polyam, who I think is a wonderful character.) I also put Shatterglass in this category since I love the city-state setup of Tharious and Tris having to mentor someone older than herself, which creates an interesting dynamic, and Cold Fire since the winter cityscape of Kugisko is so atmospheric and there is something quite chilling about Ben as a villain.
Very Good-I put Briar's Book in this category because I really like how it deals with pandemic. I also place Magic Step and Street Magic in this tier because I do like seeing Sandry and Briar become mentors, and Pasco and Evvy are great new characters.
Good Despite Being Slow-Sandry's Book has a lot of sweet moments of friendship building and bonding, and I do like how we have the chance to be introduced individually to every member of the Circle. This book is definitely a nostalgia re-read for me, and it does put warm feelings in my heart. There isn't much in the way of plot but there is a lot of character and setting development that is endearing in this story and creates a strong foundation for later books in the Emelan universe.
Good Despite Some Frustrating Moments-Will of the Empress is in this category for me because I enjoy the court intrigue and getting to see more of Namorn and its culture, but some of the interactions between the members of the Circle in the early part of the book irritate me.
I Enjoy It But It Doesn't Feel Too Noteworthy in Any Way-This is Tris's Book for me. The pirate plot does have some excitement and connection to Tris but to me it really gets overshadowed by the next two books in the series.
Does Some Interesting Stuff But Disappointing For How Great It Could Be And Isn't-This is the tier custom made for Battle Magic. I think the book was a bit constrained by the fact that it was YA, because it couldn't really be as dark as it needed to be to explain Briar's level of trauma in Will of the Empress and the main villain is treated like the villain of an adult book but sort of behaves like a cartoonish, children's book villain, which creates a strange narrative dissonance. I also just feel like so much more inspiration could have been drawn from just about any dynasty of Imperial China to do more justice to the Yanjing empire.
Some Light and Fun Moments But Also Times I Want to Yell At The Characters For Being Fools-Yep, this is Melting Stones for me. Evvy felt like a bit too much of a brat sometimes, and it was very aggravating how otherwise intelligent adult characters could not figure out that they were on a volcanic island on the cusp of eruption despite realizing that all the other islands in the chain were volcanic and generally having anvil-sized hints continually dumped on their heads to this effect. It just felt like an inch of plot was stretched to cover a mile of book, and, well that didn't work for me.
So, what are your thoughts and rankings for the Emelan books?