Mai vista una traduzione così ORRENDA!!! Il libro di per sé è già un po' pallosetto rispetto agli altri della Hobb, ma vabbè, come al solito ci sono idee interessantissime... ma la traduzione, signori, è uno SCEMPIO!!! Ho poi affiancato la versione originale ed è scandaloso, sembra fatta con un software, mi ha lasciato davvero basita. Spiacevole, distrae perfino dalla lettura.

At the end of volume one of the series, there was a slight upbeat note as Nevare and some of his friends survive the plague caused by the Specks, the forest people that his own folk are in conflict with as they drive a road through the Specks' territory. He now seems free of the magic of Tree Woman, one of the Speck Great Ones, and the Academy is under new management which begins to smooth over the bitter rivalries between the sons of Old Nobles and the New Noble soldier sons, such as himself. Yet, remembering the ex-Cavalla man he met at the freak show where the plague started, I noted one throwaway comment by the doctor that, contrary to the skin and bone state of his fellow survivors, Nevare had recovered so well he had a layer of fat.

Therefore I wasn't suprised when, in this book, the same fate begins to befall Nevare - though, in his case, it is connected with the forest magic now filling him after his reunification with that part of his spirit which was split off when he first encountered Tree Woman. As the process develops, he is ridiculed, villified and blamed for self-indulgence even when it should be obvious to anyone that it is not caused by gluttony such as when his father locks him into his room, firstly on a restricted diet and then just leaves him there during an outbreak of the plague.

Nevare's life soon starts to unravel following a visit home for his brother's wedding. His youngest sister Yaril is alienated by his new state and he has a sad eyeopener about the character of his erstwhile fiance. But things go from bad to worse and soon all his dreams are destroyed as he is set on a new path by the magic which has its own plans for him.

I found this volume rather a slog. There are large chunks which are just made up of his ruminations about what he should do and not knowing what to do, and also his denial about his state which goes on for rather a long time. (The negative views about weight in this story, with constant villification of fat and fatness, even by the character himself, would also be unpleasant reading for anyone who has issues with weight in real life.) At every stage, Nevare is passive and acted upon; any 'action' he takes is always negative as in his constant refusal to be helped by friends. Eventually he is driven down as low as it is possible to be and only then does he finally give in to the demands of the magic.

The book is rather depressing - unavoidable to some extent as a great deal of it takes part at Gettys, the town at the end of the King's road where the Speck delaying tactics involve directing either depression or terror at the community to try to halt the tree felling. But the piling on of one misery after another onto the character in the end becomes so extreme as to be almost risible: such as when the community decide hanging on its own is too mild a punishment for Nevare's supposed crimes, and he should receive one thousand lashes first, which no one could be expected to survive of course. It was just so over the top that I couldn't take it seriously any more.

The story is character based rather than action - I do understand that - but the character is such a negative person and I could only root for minor characters such as his old mentor, Sergeant Duril, his friend Spink and his cousin Epiny. So given the dragging boredom of some stretches and the endless descriptions of food - yes, I do 'get' that he is highly attuned to food because of the magic, but it wasn't necessary to reiterate quite so often - and the plodding nature of a lot of the story, I can only rate this as an OK 2 stars. ( )

I know these books aren't for everyone. They're a bit darker than a lot of the fantasy folks tend to slide nostalgically into - but I love how unique this world, these characters and this magic system is. If you're looking for a breath of fresh air - look no further than the Soldier's Son Trilogy. Just make sure you have a fresh box of Kleenex. ( )

This book seems to polarise readers and I can understand why. It’s long and slow paced, and Nevare is a difficult hero to love. Throughout the book he’s variously selfish, chauvinistic, hypocritical, and lacking a good moral compass. Even allowing for the influence of the magic it was hard to keep patience with him. I’ve noticed some reviewers complain of fat shaming. I’ve been bothered by this in other books but I don’t agree that it applies here. I don’t think that Hobb herself humiliated Nevare, or intended his weight to be a punchline, and her framing made all the difference to my mind. The use of prostitutes throughout the series by many of the male characters was a more uncomfortable aspect for me, and a further hindrance to how much I could sympathise with Nevare. On the other hand, I was glad that the main female characters came more into their own than in the first book, and I hope there will be more of this in book three. In the end, despite understanding, and even agreeing to a certain extent, with many of the negative reviews, I did enjoy this book, perhaps even more than book one. ( )

Love this series. Really well done. ( )