The Thousandfold Thought

I am a chronic book finisher. Even if a series is rough I'll likely continue reading till the end. This book broke my 139 book finishing streak. The entire reason I got this far in the trilogy was because I wanted to see the magic system develop, and because I sincerely hoped that Bakker's cuckold fetish would calm the heck down. It does not. There are no characters to root for. The ones I had any empathy for are stuck in arrested development. I'm no stranger to difficult books that cover topics people would rather turn their eyes from. Malazan, Black Company, etc. Even in the most gut-turning scenes in those books I never thought the author was writing the scene because it got them hard. Not so here. Bakker's female characters are mindless beings made for and pursuant of passion. Conversations quickly devolve into sex instead of meaningful character development. Because that's totally how women work. Gag me. (not in that way, Bakker!) If there are any characters worth empathizing with they are the ones without POVs that were raped in passing mention. The magic system is really cool. If you're reading the review of the third book you know that by now. But every sexual encounter, every co-ed conversation causes more and more eye rolls from this reader. I really wish he could write women with depth of character that didn't have the habit of falling on the nearest guy's phallus. Because the world-building is cool and a part of me wishes I had the ethical desensitization to be able to continue. But I don't.