tishke

3.5 stars.What authors really need to understand is when you write so much about brutal violence in any form taking place in a character's life, the readers eventually become desensitized. That is unfortunately what happened to me by the time Styxx was 16. In the first 25% of the book, I retained a capacity for shock, revulsion and dismay when faced with violent rape and other sadistic, inhuman cruelty in his life. My mind's ability to be disturbed by more of the similar atrocities vanished by the time I was at 28%. Imagining the sight of a blood soaked Styxx was no longer provoking any response beyond a dismissive yawn. This numbing effect basically continued until I was done reading this book.Furthermore, Eleven thousand five hundred and thirty-nine years worth of history was resolved and concluded within the last 5% of the book, not nearly enough time spent for a 1600+ page manuscript.