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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"Esto es la guerra. Aquí la tenemos, despojada de todos sus adornos. Sin botones abrillantados, ni bandas coloridas, ni saludos rígidos. Sin mandíbulas apretadas ni apretadas nalgas. Sin discursos ni cornetas, sin elevados ideales. Aquí está, tal como es."
Podría haber escogido cualquier otro fragmento de los muchos que he marcado en esta historia, pero creo que ese es el que mejor define lo que te vas a encontrar en este libro. La guerra. Sin epicidad, sin héroes, sin caballeros valientes ni sacrificios por una causa mayor. Con toda su crudeza, su dolor y sobre todo, su malgasto inútil de vidas humanas. En esta guerra nadie gana, todos sienten que se han dejado más en el campo de batalla que aquello que han conseguido. Y sin embargo parece que es imposible la paz en un mundo sin guerra.
La trama de "Los héroes" consiste en una sola batalla que tiene lugar entre los hombres del Norte y la Unión, y que transcurre en tres días. A través de los ojos de distintos personajes de ambos bandos (algunos ya viejos conocidos) iremos descubriendo como se desarrolla el conflicto y casi podremos sentir su miedo y su frustración. Todas las perspectivas son interesantes, desde la del joven que deja a su familia para vivir la euforia de la batalla, hasta el veterano que siente que ya ha pasado su momento de pelear, pero que aún así no es capaz de vivir de otra forma.
Es un libro crudo y pesimista, pero no especialmente dramático. A pesar de la intensa violencia, miseria humana y desesperación, Abercrombie consigue incluso que hasta sueltes alguna carcajada atreviéndose a mezclar en todo esto un inteligente humor negro. El mensaje es claro: La guerra es inútil, nuestras vidas carecen de importancia y de sentido, no hay un "gran propósito" por el que merezca la pena luchar... Así que al menos échate unas risas. Porque "la vida es, básicamente, una puta mierda" (en palabras de uno de los personajes de este libro).
Durante gran parte del libro pensaba que quizá no llegase a darle la máxima puntuación, porque no me ha gustado tanto como "La mejor venganza", que sigue siendo de momento mi libro favorito del autor... Pero mentiría si dijera que no me lo he pasado de muerte leyendo este libro. Abercrombie tiene una forma de narrar que atrapa, y es capaz de sacar de tramas aparentemente muy sencillas historias inolvidables y únicas, con carácter propio.
Una pasada, Abercrombie se sigue consolidando en mi top de autores favoritos.
Podría haber escogido cualquier otro fragmento de los muchos que he marcado en esta historia, pero creo que ese es el que mejor define lo que te vas a encontrar en este libro. La guerra. Sin epicidad, sin héroes, sin caballeros valientes ni sacrificios por una causa mayor. Con toda su crudeza, su dolor y sobre todo, su malgasto inútil de vidas humanas. En esta guerra nadie gana, todos sienten que se han dejado más en el campo de batalla que aquello que han conseguido. Y sin embargo parece que es imposible la paz en un mundo sin guerra.
La trama de "Los héroes" consiste en una sola batalla que tiene lugar entre los hombres del Norte y la Unión, y que transcurre en tres días. A través de los ojos de distintos personajes de ambos bandos (algunos ya viejos conocidos) iremos descubriendo como se desarrolla el conflicto y casi podremos sentir su miedo y su frustración. Todas las perspectivas son interesantes, desde la del joven que deja a su familia para vivir la euforia de la batalla, hasta el veterano que siente que ya ha pasado su momento de pelear, pero que aún así no es capaz de vivir de otra forma.
Es un libro crudo y pesimista, pero no especialmente dramático. A pesar de la intensa violencia, miseria humana y desesperación, Abercrombie consigue incluso que hasta sueltes alguna carcajada atreviéndose a mezclar en todo esto un inteligente humor negro. El mensaje es claro: La guerra es inútil, nuestras vidas carecen de importancia y de sentido, no hay un "gran propósito" por el que merezca la pena luchar... Así que al menos échate unas risas. Porque "la vida es, básicamente, una puta mierda" (en palabras de uno de los personajes de este libro).
Durante gran parte del libro pensaba que quizá no llegase a darle la máxima puntuación, porque no me ha gustado tanto como "La mejor venganza", que sigue siendo de momento mi libro favorito del autor... Pero mentiría si dijera que no me lo he pasado de muerte leyendo este libro. Abercrombie tiene una forma de narrar que atrapa, y es capaz de sacar de tramas aparentemente muy sencillas historias inolvidables y únicas, con carácter propio.
Una pasada, Abercrombie se sigue consolidando en mi top de autores favoritos.
I’ve read from Joe Abercrombie before and enjoyed his books, but for whatever reason this one is not working for me. It may be that I’m just not in the mood for heavier fantasy, so I may return to this at some point, but for now, I’m just going to move on.
slow-paced
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I totally read this out of order, so I don't know whose fault it was that I spent so much time confused. I will say, it definitely did not "stand alone." Also I could not for the life of me remember who was in which army,, so that didn't help with the confusion, not knowing which people know one another or who was on which side of the war. There's a reference page at the front, but that's tiring and breaks your immersion.
As always, Abercrombie's POV shifting really WORKS sometimes (like when you're in someone's head for a while, and then that guy gets stabbed, and then you drop into the head of someone else, and that person is pulling the knife out of the first guy's chest, that's sick as fuck). And sometimes I go three pages and still haven't figured who the fuck's head I'm in. I'm going to have to go back and read book 1 of the first law, and from there... I think I'll be making a decision on whether I'll DNF this series, or at least step away from it for a while. So many things are well done! And I just.. don't always get a fluid reading experience either way.
SUMMARY : There is a hill. It has some cool big rocks on top of it. I think that's the only reason anyone on either side of this war wants the hill -- for the cool rocks. It has no tactical advantage at all whatsoever, and thousands of lives are on the line.
Gorst, now that he's been demoted and shamed (and the woman he's been in love with for years has married another man) has nothing to live for except battle, and he's the best of the Union.
Caulder is the "Prince of the North", and he should have been king. If he wasn't the younger brother, that is. If Logen Ninefingers hadn't murdered his father. If Black Dow hadn't murdered Ninefingers and made himself king of the north. Now Caulder isn't much of anything, not a fighter, not a monarch, not much of a tactician. His only hope is to lie and scheme his way to the top or to his death, whichever comes first.
Otherwise, we have one single honest Northman advocating for peace. We have an ambitious woman trying to get her husband promoted. We have a young green soldier with his father's famous name to live up to and big ideas about what a war should be like : bravery, honor, glory. There's not much of that in a thousand deaths on a tactically useless hill, but at least there's some cool fucking rocks.
Okay, to be honest I had more fun trying to write that summary than I did reading the whole book. I look up at that ^^ and I'm like "hell yeah, I'd read that." So. Maybe I had a dud of an attention span this week idk. I wanted to like the book more than I did.
As always, Abercrombie's POV shifting really WORKS sometimes (like when you're in someone's head for a while, and then that guy gets stabbed, and then you drop into the head of someone else, and that person is pulling the knife out of the first guy's chest, that's sick as fuck). And sometimes I go three pages and still haven't figured who the fuck's head I'm in. I'm going to have to go back and read book 1 of the first law, and from there... I think I'll be making a decision on whether I'll DNF this series, or at least step away from it for a while. So many things are well done! And I just.. don't always get a fluid reading experience either way.
SUMMARY : There is a hill. It has some cool big rocks on top of it. I think that's the only reason anyone on either side of this war wants the hill -- for the cool rocks. It has no tactical advantage at all whatsoever, and thousands of lives are on the line.
Gorst, now that he's been demoted and shamed (and the woman he's been in love with for years has married another man) has nothing to live for except battle, and he's the best of the Union.
Caulder is the "Prince of the North", and he should have been king. If he wasn't the younger brother, that is. If Logen Ninefingers hadn't murdered his father. If Black Dow hadn't murdered Ninefingers and made himself king of the north. Now Caulder isn't much of anything, not a fighter, not a monarch, not much of a tactician. His only hope is to lie and scheme his way to the top or to his death, whichever comes first.
Otherwise, we have one single honest Northman advocating for peace. We have an ambitious woman trying to get her husband promoted. We have a young green soldier with his father's famous name to live up to and big ideas about what a war should be like : bravery, honor, glory. There's not much of that in a thousand deaths on a tactically useless hill, but at least there's some cool fucking rocks.
Okay, to be honest I had more fun trying to write that summary than I did reading the whole book. I look up at that ^^ and I'm like "hell yeah, I'd read that." So. Maybe I had a dud of an attention span this week idk. I wanted to like the book more than I did.
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes