Although I'm choosing not to finish reading this book, it's an issue of taste, not quality. Rollins' world building is fantastic right from the start, and his prose is a pretty perfect balance between description and action. I did find one of the main cast fairly boring (the thief, for the record) but the rest of them are pretty fabulous, right down to the tertiary characters (by which I mean, they're not all good or interesting people, but Rollins makes every one of them come to life in the best way). The book is clearly building up to something seriously epic, and I'll probably come back to Starless Crown in a few years because I DO want to know how it all goes down.

What didn't work for me was the grittier edge to things; characters being crude, futures looking bleak, not flinching away from the gross-but-honest details. And more of that is bad writing: like I said at the start, it’s just not quite my cup of feel, rather than any actual flaw in the book.

I suspect it's going to be very popular, and I think it deserves to be. I'm just not the right reader for it.

If you enjoy epic fantasy, insane world building, unique magic systems then this book needs to be put on your to read list! The story's main character is a blind girl named Nyx. She was found by a family in the swamps when she was only six months old. She is now 15-16 years old and a student. What she does not realize is that she may also be the one foretold in an old story, that will bring about the end of the world. When fate brings her together with a cast of characters, from a fellow student, an outcast prince, a living bronze statue, Nyx begins a journey that she could have never imagined.
It definitely has a Lord of the Rings vibe with the group traveling together to solve a quest. Cities that reminded me of Lthlorien where the elves lived among trees with suspended bridges. Magical and terrifying creatures, which Nyx discovers she can communicate with.
I absolutely loved this book. I dreaded reaching the end knowing that this was the beginning of a series and I will have a tortuous wait until the next book comes out. Highly, highly recommend for readers of epic fantasies!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you’re an epic fantasy fan like me, then The Starless Crown is definitely worth your time. I really enjoyed this one. There were certain familiar elements, like creatures that have a special bond with a particular human, conniving nobles plotting away, and a religious system riddled with problems and corruptions. And yet, I never once felt bored or like it was a story I had read before. The winged denizens of Myr are a fascinating take on a real-world creature writ large and their mystical abilities add an interesting layer to their already formidable presence. Rollins also does something I enjoy in a fantasy series which is to have a few main characters whose stories start out separate and slowly spiral towards each other, though it only works when done well, and to me Rollins managed it nicely. He successfully built a world with layers and textures that I could imagine as reading, again not a feat all authors can manage. If you’re looking for a story of imperfect characters going up against a nearly insurmountable challenge with powerful, mysterious magic, then you won’t go wrong picking up this book.

Not sure why, but this was not what I expected from Rollins. It is really good fantasy. Guess because I have always read his thrillers I was surprised by the world he created in this book.

DNF. Rollins is an all time favorite of mine, but I could not get into this one so I stopped reading.

The Starless Crown by James Rollins wasn't a favorite of mine. I have read most all of his previous works with
enjoyment. This one took me numerous tries to get into and briefly considered .giving up but I did end up finishing. .Thank you for the opportunity!

"Untold millennia ago, the world ceased its turning. It left one side frozen, locked in eternal darkness; the other a blasted ruin, forever facing the sun. Continents shifted, oceans boiled away, lands sank under miles of ice. To survive, life evolved in strange and unpredictable ways to fill the harsh niches of this new landscape. Even its people were forced to retreat to the only inhabitable region of the globe: to the band of twilight lands trapped between the burning brightness and frozen darkness. Within these lands, tribes and kingdoms struggle against one another, vying for power among the magic, myths and prophecy that grip their lives. But a young girl foretells a new apocalypse approaching, one that will end all life for all time. Her reward is a charge of grave heresy, punishable by death.

As she flees, she gathers an unlikely alliance of outcasts to join her cause to save their world. The journey will take them into lands both burning bright and eternally frozen, to face creatures unimaginable and enemies beyond reason. All the while, hostile forces will hunt them. Armies will wage war around them. To stop the coming apocalypse, it will be up to this group to form a fellowship strong enough to move a planet, to melt the amber that forever traps their world—and set it turning once again."

Another great gripping and totally addictive James Rollins novel! I like the story very much and just burn through it. I recommend it!

I adore fantasy stories and series that have a wide range of main characters, especially when they're all so different and diverse from one another, and THE STARLESS CROWN did not disappoint. I have not read a book from James Rollins before and I felt this to be a great entrance to his work. In this, we follow a group of... interesting characters as they uncover secrets of the past in their world and how they relate to each character individually. There was much to adore in this story, and I especially enjoyed the world building and humor found in this. I burned many a candle staying up late reading this.

This eARC was sent to me by Tor. Thank you so much to Lizzy from Tor for connecting with me!

According to Goodreads, the release date for this book is January 4th, 2022.

This was a very interesting book.

This is a multiple POV epic fantasy story with a handful of vastly different characters. I really liked the concept of this book, especially with all the astronomical world-building aspects. This books has a somewhat unsettling atmosphere that goes hand in hand with the creatures, gods, and prophecies revealed early on. I always felt like there was more I wanted to know about the world and lore. Each character was unique in his or her circumstances, lifestyle, and goals. Throughout the book, I kept wanting to know more about how everything tied together with the prophecy and main problem in the story, and that kept me reading and guessing and making theories.

Though the characterization was done very well, yet I do wish we had more insight to the characters’ true thoughts and feelings in order to connect with them better.

The other thing I did not love about this story was the writing style. I find that most authors are either character-focused or plot-focused, but this author is neither. This author is description-focused. I really felt this made the story weaker, as the author did a lot of “telling” and not “showing.” The descriptions were long-winded and not needed. I feel that what was needed was better insight to the characters’ thoughts and feelings, and more drive for the plot. At times, I felt bored while reading this due to the endless descriptions of things I did not care about. The things I DID care about (gods, lore, religion, character feelings, the world) we’re not described, but things I did not care about were overly described (clothing, what happened between time jumps, weather, time of day, characters thinking about what they might do rather than actually doing it,etc).

I have never read a book quite like this before. I think people who are lovers of epic fantasy and Tolkien-esque writing styles will really enjoy this new addition to the fantasy genre. However, if you prefer a fast-paced character-driven story, this might not be the one you’re looking for.