Lightning Review of Deathbringer
(first five chapters)

Prologue: No
Map: Yes
Glossary: Yes
ToC: *Yes
First Person: Yes
Present Tense: No
POVs: 3
Chapter length: 10-20 pages
Typo counter: Negligible
DNF: No

So, I want to briefly note something. I bought the paperback quite awhile ago, and I was only getting around to reading it now. I thought it strange it had named chapters but no table of contents, and upon checking Amazon, it seems the newest version DOES have a table of contents. I primarily noticed this because the current version also has an entirely different cover for the book.
 
I would HOPE the book available for purchase did not entirely change from when I bought it, and these were just changes for marketing and quality of life. If so, this review would be for a story that no longer exists.

I read the first five chapters, and the book really lives up to its name in that it brings the death in the very first one. The book does not wait around to kick things off, and it doesn’t give you the chance to become too attached to all the named characters that were marked for death. This is hardly a spoiler, it’s in the book’s blurb.

The next four involve almost nothing happening. I suspect something might happen in chapter 6, but I only read to five for these lightning reviews, so I don’t know when the next big thing happens. HOWEVER, and this is a rather big however, we do get more context and worldbuilding related to the catastrophe in the first chapter. Though some of it is internal monologue, and covering the same ground from other POVs, much of it feels very grounded. Everything is tied to the main event and how characters feel about that, and though it could be better, it does it’s job well enough. I can’t complain.

I feel the antagonist’s motivations are a tad weak, but there is time in the story for that to change, and it’s written well enough that I plan to finish it to find out.