I find myself divided on Saint’s Blood.

On the one hand it has everything that makes epic fantasy epic; There’s normal men fighting Saint’s and Gods. There's retrieving people from death. There’s religious fanaticism and strong characters. The witty humor that is injected gave me the occasional chuckle and there isn’t TOO much over the top, annoying-the-hell-out-of-me, pining romance like some other books I read (cough The Wise Man’s Fear cough)

On the other hand I did feel like I had to drag myself through it a bit, granted, that could be because I’m used to progressing through stories using a combination of ebook & audiobook. Since I usually spent more time with the audiobook, commuting is boring but those make it bearable, and there aren’t any for this series, this was therefor read entirely ebook only.

There was one other thing that has been nibling at me since Traitor’s Blade and definitely throughout Knight’s Shadow and now in Saint’s Blood, and that is that I get the feeling this should be an Epic fantasy, in the genre of Wheel of Time or The Demon Cycle, but for some reason, it doesn’t feel that way to me. I’m reading all these epic things, great speeches, awesome fights and feats, but I don’t feel the sense of Awe (pun intended) that I should experience (and which I did in the previously mentioned series). It’s like there’s something of the required gravitas missing. All the words are there, the decor and the characters are present, but it all lacks weight to them. I can’t help wondering if it’s the witty humor (especially at times where gravitas is expected) that takes that edge of or if it’s something else entirely. Anyone feeling the same care to shed some light on this? Or am I alone in my experience?

Sidenote: this lack of ‘gravitas’ reminds me of The Lies of Locke Lamora and it’s successors, so maybe the humor, how witty it can be, is a major let-down for me?