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Finished East of West
7/10
It had some high moments. Some parts were great. Loved the art throughout. But the story just had so many moving parts, it was easy to get a bit lost or more so to want there to be more focus on one area instead of it being spread so much. Initially I thought Death was the protagonist, and he probably is, but with so many characters amd their own motivations, he does get lost as a protagonist. Because everyone is in some way the protagonist of their own piece of the story.
Not a bad read by any stretch. I highly recommend it. It’s a masterclass in a chess like movement of players in a story. But it’s not in my top 10.
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Agreed.
A strength and also a flaw of Hickmans work is that he focusses on several elements/characters of the story. Sometimes he blurs who it is we are supposed to be following. Sometimes he needs to bring it in just a little so we follow the main characters.
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East of West felt it was written to be a big budget HBO type drama. It has a complex, diverse cast the thing could be a goldmine and a joy to watch if cast correctly.
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It's really good, but I wish we got a little more in the last 3 - 4 issues.
I feel like we were flying through plot so much that it didn't leave much for characterization.
I love Hickman, but I notice a pattern with him: he meticulously sets up the house of cards for years and then within a moment he knocks it down; I wish we spent just a issue or two on looking at the political landscape and what was happening in the larger world as well as the other characters that we hadn't heard from in a while.
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I thought the ending was incredibly weak and trite and it kinda soured me on the whole series. All that political buildup only for Hickman to go with the most vanilla “[B]love[/B] and [B]family[/B] are what matters!” felt pretty disappointing.
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[QUOTE=Vordan;5259223]I thought the ending was incredibly weak and trite and it kinda soured me on the whole series. All that political buildup only for Hickman to go with the most vanilla “[B]love[/B] and [B]family[/B] are what matters!” felt pretty disappointing.[/QUOTE]
I didn't mind the family ties stuff, since that was the main motivation for Death.
But I do wish we had more of the political drama and more of the aftermath.
I also wanted to see more lore stuff with the horsemen
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[QUOTE=Vordan;5259223]I thought the ending was incredibly weak and trite and it kinda soured me on the whole series. All that political buildup only for Hickman to go with the most vanilla “[B]love[/B] and [B]family[/B] are what matters!” felt pretty disappointing.[/QUOTE]
I guess I'm just sentimental but that's what sold the story by the end for me :).
I mean, there was a lot of sacrifice and hardship that went into achieving the victory in the story, so it felt earned to me.
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[QUOTE=Frontier;5259262]I guess I'm just sentimental but that's what sold the story by the end for me :).
I mean, there was a lot of sacrifice and hardship that went into achieving the victory in the story, so it felt earned to me.[/QUOTE]
The scene where they all finally reunited *cries in apocalyptic tears*
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[QUOTE=Vordan;5259223]I thought the ending was incredibly weak and trite and it kinda soured me on the whole series. All that political buildup only for Hickman to go with the most vanilla “[B]love[/B] and [B]family[/B] are what matters!” felt pretty disappointing.[/QUOTE]
It's not like he set it up as the entire point of the book from the start or anything...
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[QUOTE=Joker;5259481]It's not like he set it up as the entire point of the book from the start or anything...[/QUOTE]
I was hoping for it to not be such a straightforward story though.
[QUOTE=Frontier;5259262]I guess I'm just sentimental but that's what sold the story by the end for me :).
I mean, there was a lot of sacrifice and hardship that went into achieving the victory in the story, so it felt earned to me.[/QUOTE]
Part of it is that I’ve just read [B]so[/B] many “sad dad” stories recently that seeing East of West end up being just another one didn’t do much for me. It’s not that I can’t be moved by those, Witcher 3 is one of my all time favorite games and that game’s story is pretty similar to East of West. But it feels so widespread these days that I’m not as easily moved by them as I once was.
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[QUOTE=Vordan;5259761]I was hoping for it to not be such a straightforward story though.
Part of it is that I’ve just read [B]so[/B] many “sad dad” stories recently that seeing East of West end up being just another one didn’t do much for me. It’s not that I can’t be moved by those, Witcher 3 is one of my all time favorite games and that game’s story is pretty similar to East of West. But it feels so widespread these days that I’m not as easily moved by them as I once was.[/QUOTE]
Well, it was kind of the emotional core of the book (at least for me) so I think in that respect it makes sense for it to be relatively straightforward compared to all the machinations, politics, and Apocalyptic scheming, but that's just my take on it :).
Y'know, now that you mention it, this series kind of is like the Witcher a little :p.
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I loved the finale for East Of West. I'd definitely say the book is in my top 10, although Black Monday Murders, despite not being finished yet, ranks higher.
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[QUOTE=Ramsay Snow;5260700]I loved the finale for East Of West. I'd definitely say the book is in my top 10, although Black Monday Murders, despite not being finished yet, ranks higher.[/QUOTE]
I have the two trades waiting to be read. But with the huge amount I still have left of other things to read, I’ll let BMM finish before I tackle it. Thing is, you gotta stick the landing. What good are all the spins and twists and aerial tricks if you don’t match your finish with the rest of your routine?
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[QUOTE=Sparko;5260816]I have the two trades waiting to be read. But with the huge amount I still have left of other things to read, I’ll let BMM finish before I tackle it. Thing is, you gotta stick the landing. What good are all the spins and twists and aerial tricks if you don’t match your finish with the rest of your routine?[/QUOTE]
Can't disagree with that. A truly great story is great from beginning to end......The ride so far is greatness, but if the final trade's a dud, it definitely loses points.
In regard to you waiting until the final trade comes out, it might be a while. It's been delayed big-time, and might be delayed further due to Hickman's extended commitment to Marvel (X-Men).
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It's delayed because Tomm was having some health issues. Still not sure when it's coming back, or what the plan is, but I don't think the X books are the problem.