The Way of Edan (Philip Chase) Book Review

My thoughts on The Way of Edan by ‪@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy‬
00:00 Intro/Why Review?
02:21 Why Read?
03:01 Plot
04:09 Characters
07:03 Setting/World-building
08:56 Prose
10:35 Themes
12:27 Likes/Dislikes
14:22 Outro
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Thanks for watching!

[@MacScarfield]

Loved the many nods to real life history and myths, Tolkien, Le Guin (Asdralad in perticular), Robert Jordan (The Way gave me major Whitecloaks vibes!), Lloyd Alexander, John Gwynne (died laughing for the mention of Troll ⚽️ 🏀 😂) etc. The Wizard Galdor in ElLond=Galdor, member of ElRond’s Council as representative of the Grey Havens: I see what the Good Professor did there😉! Orvandil in King Earconwald’s hall “Sigseld”: Beowulf in King Hrothgar’s Hall “Heorot”. Chase mentioning “Beowulf”: “I’m shocked, shocked I tell you!» 😂 A failed redheaded Kingkiller? A subtle nod to Rothfuss, Hobb and Sanderson? 🤔 And I loved the nods to "Beowulf", the tale of Kullervo from the "Kalevala" and Wagner's "Ring Cycle" about the heroes Seigfried and Brunhilde, in the in-universe story of Wilfar and Aelfscyn!

[@vaughnroycroft999]

Nice review. Elephant out of the comment section, I consider Philip a friend too. So, yes, I immediately clicked. But I do enjoy single book review videos, and watch them fairly regularly (although they seem to be growing more scarce as the years pass, for obvious reasons). It's funny, you mentioned seeking escapism, and avoiding "real world" issues when choosing fantasy books, and at first I was jarred by that assertion. One of my favorite things about fantasy is that it provides immersion that allows me to appraise real world issues from the perfect literary distance. But then I thought about what first drew me to the genre, and how I gain that immersion. And, yes, it really comes down to escapism. Thanks for getting me thinking. Oh, and I agree--great book one, can't wait to read on.

[@RedFuryBooks]

Yes, I guess the escapism cuts both ways! I see your point, and do love when modern social commentary is tackled in fantasy novels. But for some reason the religious aspects for me always take me out of the story a bit. At least in the small amount of books I've read with this specific topic. Chances are that it won't be an issue in the rest of the trilogy for me since I will have already been immersed in the world.

[@vaughnroycroft999]

@@RedFuryBooks That's understandable, in regard to religion. It's such a personal aspect of our lives, and I doubt that any of us likes the idea of feeling at all judged over our feelings on the topic. Here's to immersion as the cure for what ails us! (and sorry for the flagrant typos in my comment--done on the fly). I'm a fan. Keep up the good work!

[@Johanna_reads]

Great hearing your thoughts, Josh! It’s too bad to hear your discouragement from doing single book reviews, which I can understand. Glad you had many positive things to point out about the book!

[@bigaldoesbooktube1097]

Amen. With reviews of this quality the booktube community would benefit.

[@RedFuryBooks]

I won't stop doing single book reviews, but will likely only do them for books I feel really strongly about reviewing, and if I feel I have something to add to the conversation. (Hopefully the latter applied here!). It's just I've felt the time that it takes to do those versus other videos that I wasn't getting a return on my effort (with a few outlier videos like my Shogun review). But no regrets doing this one as I wanted to get my thoughts out there.

[@bigaldoesbooktube1097]

@@RedFuryBooks Time is a precious commodity and it certainly makes your monthly warp ups all the more special

[@RedFuryBooks]

Time is indeed the most precious of commodities!

[@bradleymier2167]

I just started this while on vacation in Scotland. I imagined The Mark as being similar to the Scottish countryside in my head 😊 I’m enjoying it so far!

[@RedFuryBooks]

I hope you continue to do so! It's great!

[@jorgemedina8083]

Thanks for the video! I am definitely going to check it out. You seem to have a lot of similar thoughts with other readers and reviewers. Nice!

[@RedFuryBooks]

Great - I hope you enjoy it as I did!

[@scottferris2686]

Yep, I’m one of those that love and watch individual book review videos. My tbr is a little bit long at the moment so probably won’t read this one for another six months or so but I will read it.

[@bigaldoesbooktube1097]

The TBR struggle is real 😅

[@RedFuryBooks]

I totally understand that!

[@BookishChas]

Great review Josh! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. This is definitely the best self-pub book I’ve ever read.

[@RedFuryBooks]

Thanks, Chas!

[@geauxreadbooks]

I finished this book last night as well. It’s interesting that some of your thoughts were mine as well. Specifically the part that acted as the catalyst that changed Day’s original quest. But other than that, this was one of my favorite reads of the year so far if not my favorite. I know it’s been said already, but I was blown away by Chase’s prose. Having just finished the Farseer trilogy and and Ship of Magic, the character work was obviously different than Hobbs but I still felt very connected to the characters.

[@RedFuryBooks]

Glad you enjoyed it as well!

[@BooksWithBenghisKahn]

Loved the review and it's definitely getting me excited to try it out once I have the audio for it in a few months' time! I also just read a new epic fantasy self-pub that Philip recommended on his channel, The Severing Son by Vaughn Roycroft, and I have a strong inkling that you're going to enjoy that one also (it has the same kind of matte cover as the Way of Edan that like you I just love holding as I read).

[@RedFuryBooks]

I'll likely do a reread when the audio comes out, just to hear Allen's work! The Severing Son has been on the TBR since Philip's review awhile back, so I'm looking forward to it. Thanks for checking out the review!

[@creativelytorn]

I just started this, but I definitely agree about the naming system. They feel like they have a purpose and a history to them, unlike just some random letters I put together. The writing style is great too. I'm definitely more onto the Tolkien/classical side there, but a happy medium is probably ideal.

[@RedFuryBooks]

Glad someone understood my comment about the naming system! Oh, and unrelated, I just subbed to you because of the Steelers hat! 😂 Haha looking forward to checking out your content. AND Go Steelers!

[@creativelytorn]

@@RedFuryBooks Woo hoo! Here we go Steelers!

[@jeremyfee]

I enjoyed hearing your thoughts about The Way of Edan. I also recently read the book and really enjoyed it. I'm already making predictions about how the 2nd book in the series will begin and what sort of attitude Dayraven will have.

[@RedFuryBooks]

This one is ripe for predictions! But I think Chase has done a great job at masking where the story is going. I'm definitely intrigued!

[@bigaldoesbooktube1097]

That was an excellent review. I loved how you let us into your state of mind before making your points. I found I agreed with all the technical points you made. It is a book that lacks a little in areas we are currently spoilt on but it is almost unimportant when the book is so strong in prose, structure and world. It feels like a throwback but not in the way you expect but in a literary sense. You summed up the feeling when you said ‘polished’. It just feels like it came out exactly as intended with nothing lost. Again, great review 👏

[@RedFuryBooks]

Thank you, Al! Yes, polished is the best descriptor I could come up with. Pretty impressive for both a debut and self-pub debut!

[@akellerhouse83]

I really liked this book too. I started reading it the day it was released. I seriously can't wait to read the next one. I'm interested to see what happens with Sequara and Dayraven. There are a couple of priests who are intriguing too.

[@RedFuryBooks]

I'm most intrigued about Sequara's story - I really enjoyed the last third of the book and her POVs.

[@tomsativa]

Ty!! I enjoyed the book, excited for the trilogy

[@thefantasythinker]

Loved hearing your thoughts on a book I liked a lot as well. I wish I would have remembered the word "polished" for my own review because that is spot on!

[@RedFuryBooks]

I honestly feel that "polished" was the best descriptor I could think of for this book. Such a strong debut, and even more so for a self-published work IMO.

[@MichaelRSchultheiss]

I started reading this and I've enjoyed it so far, but I've been so busy working on my own fourth book of The Rosteval Saga that I haven't had as much time for it as I'd like. Also, I've been trying to read different genres: since I write epic fantasy/sword & sorcery, it can be refreshing to read other things. All of that said, great review, and I very much look forward to getting back to this book! Cheers!

[@RedFuryBooks]

Understood! I just watched Tad Williams on Jimmy's channel (a video from a few months back) talking about how he doesn't read epic fantasy when writing, which I found really interesting. But I guess if you are immersing yourself via the writing process it's good to be in other places.

[@MichaelRSchultheiss]

@@RedFuryBooks that's fascinating! It's awesome that I'm not the only one who thinks this way. I'll probably read a lot more epic fantasy once I get done with this book I'm writing!

[@curtjarrell9710]

Looking forward to reading it myself.

[@RedFuryBooks]

It's a very strong debut!