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cultneophyte7's review
4.0
And it's over, and I'm one of the first few to finish it! :D This was one hell of a (train) ride.
Guns. Frigging Guns.
I haven't had much experience with westerns but have read enough fantasy to mark this down as an amazing work. I really liked this book. For one, the characters were amazing, but that is to be expected from Mark. The chapters dedicated to detailed backgrounds were really interesting. I especially loved Jenna's complex character and her relationship with Mikeos and what it could have been (You HAD to do that thing, didn't you?). Also, the action sequences were amazingly written and perfectly paced.
I only picked up this book after finishing the Broken Empire trilogy earlier this summer. The two were starkingly similar in many aspects and yet too different. I will admit that I liked the trilogy better, but maybe that's because I read it in continuity and could make more sense out of it. I do wish that Mark releases this as a single book. I kind of liked the second half better than the first. What seemed incoherent at the beginning started fitting together like a charm as the story progressed. I would really love a second book, if Mark decides to write one (Please do, please!). There are just so many things unanswered!
As ConradVan would say it, Loving the twists and turns. Thanks for sharing. (Readers on Wattpad will know :P)
Guns. Frigging Guns.
I haven't had much experience with westerns but have read enough fantasy to mark this down as an amazing work. I really liked this book. For one, the characters were amazing, but that is to be expected from Mark. The chapters dedicated to detailed backgrounds were really interesting. I especially loved Jenna's complex character and her relationship with Mikeos and what it could have been (You HAD to do that thing, didn't you?). Also, the action sequences were amazingly written and perfectly paced.
I only picked up this book after finishing the Broken Empire trilogy earlier this summer. The two were starkingly similar in many aspects and yet too different. I will admit that I liked the trilogy better, but maybe that's because I read it in continuity and could make more sense out of it. I do wish that Mark releases this as a single book. I kind of liked the second half better than the first. What seemed incoherent at the beginning started fitting together like a charm as the story progressed. I would really love a second book, if Mark decides to write one (Please do, please!). There are just so many things unanswered!
As ConradVan would say it, Loving the twists and turns. Thanks for sharing. (Readers on Wattpad will know :P)
lindetiel's review
4.0
"Trust'll get you shot quicker than looking for a fight"
Gunlaw is a great wierd west story. It has a unique setting, a great range of characters and it raises more questions than answers in the first part of the novel.
The world is quite intriguing with the large, mysterious pillars protecting inhabitants, very rich and different races and the gunlaw protecting everyone from mysterious sect.
The reader is not indulged by one simple story, but rather a tangle of plots which go back as far as history of our kind. They are all intertiwned and make the reader appreciate the intricacy of the story-building so much more.
Sadly tohugh, I believe that this story is too large and overwhelming for its current form. The environment, the races inhabitng it, the history - it's all so rich that it begs for a proper setting, whilst the pace of Gunlaw was too fast for my taste, to give it all justice.
Very interesting reading nonetheless, I'd love to know what happens next.
Gunlaw is a great wierd west story. It has a unique setting, a great range of characters and it raises more questions than answers in the first part of the novel.
The world is quite intriguing with the large, mysterious pillars protecting inhabitants, very rich and different races and the gunlaw protecting everyone from mysterious sect.
The reader is not indulged by one simple story, but rather a tangle of plots which go back as far as history of our kind. They are all intertiwned and make the reader appreciate the intricacy of the story-building so much more.
Sadly tohugh, I believe that this story is too large and overwhelming for its current form. The environment, the races inhabitng it, the history - it's all so rich that it begs for a proper setting, whilst the pace of Gunlaw was too fast for my taste, to give it all justice.
Very interesting reading nonetheless, I'd love to know what happens next.
iam_griff's review
1.0
I really tried to get into this book & I just couldn't. I don't know if it was due to the format as only being available on Wattpad & seemed to be posted as individual chapters or I'm not understanding what the author's intent is for the novel. I'm not going to bash the writer's style there seem to be a lot of people that enjoy Mark Lawrence's published works, but this novel just wasn't for me as I was expecting the storyline to go in a different direction. The world building just wasn't there for me. DNF 39%
lanko's review
5.0
"... the sweetness of life comes... because it is fleeting. Without change, and age, life's an empty pantomime. The days get thin. You spread yourself over too many years and it's them that shape you, not you that puts a mark on them."
This was really surprising and an excellent story.
I have to praise the worldbuilding here, as it was really creative and meshed many things effectively to make it a very unique Western.
But Gunlaw doesn't have only a curious worldbuilding to move the story forward. I say this as more often than not, whenever I praise the worldbuilding of a book as being a major part of what made me read it beginning to end, it tends to be because characterization, plot and tension isn't on the same level which often causes the sensation of a decent read that really lacked something more.
Not the case with Gunlaw. Characterization is very well done and the plot is very deep and ambitious.
With characterization I have to add that characters that appear shortly and get killed in the main storyline actually also have deep and hard lives of their own.
For example, Sykes Bannon made his appearance, killed Jenna's brother then got killed. Later we have his backstory (through another character mainly) and see how important he was and pretty much a victim just as the others.
The same for a character named Remos Jax, who appears pretty shortly, leaves his mark on a young Mikeos and then we get to know him better later.
I really liked this, because even if the protagonists don't get to know those characters or even kill some of them, nobody lives or lived in a vacuum. Something got them to stand where they are today, even the most meaningless secondary or tertiary characters.
However, the structure of the flashbacks maybe wasn't the best.
In the Broken Empire trilogy we had one present day, one flashback, so even the backstory being very gripping and visceral, we were never far from the main story for too long.
In Gunlaw the flashbacks sometimes were pretty long and covered various chapters.
And worse, when something pretty big happened and the group of characters really, really gripped me, then I was thrown into those flashback chapters with entirely new characters/situations and pretty much had to start from zero again.
While they provided the depth I mentioned before, and some had very nice foreshadow and situations, the structure did make it feel like a bucket of cold water more than once.
This almost took a star from me but I really liked the ending and the fact that it's actually book 1, not a standalone (that made me fear the ending was gonna be rushed).
And being fair, it also provides a nice option for a re-read, to really get all the nuances and implications.
And of course, also have to mention Mark Lawrence's prose, which made for a smooth reading, specially for me, who can only read this story at home staring at a LCD monitor with a long-day tired eyesight.
And that Wattpad doesn't even have a bookmark option, something its users are asking in the same vein Goodreads users had been asking for the re-read feature (later I opted in for some beta test option and apparently a "Continue" option was added, as previously I had to write down which chapter I was in).
Hopefully he'll one day make it available as an e-book for those of us who need to bathe in the blessings of electronic ink.
Oh, yes, prose. Here's another quote:
She knew why she was angry. For missed chances. For not being the person to take them. For being as wrapped in her business as Mikeos was in his. Bound up with saving people that didn't even know they needed saving and wouldn't consider her offer to be saved even if they did. Too bound up with saving humanity to actually take the time to be human.
I expect more great things in the future.
This was really surprising and an excellent story.
I have to praise the worldbuilding here, as it was really creative and meshed many things effectively to make it a very unique Western.
But Gunlaw doesn't have only a curious worldbuilding to move the story forward. I say this as more often than not, whenever I praise the worldbuilding of a book as being a major part of what made me read it beginning to end, it tends to be because characterization, plot and tension isn't on the same level which often causes the sensation of a decent read that really lacked something more.
Not the case with Gunlaw. Characterization is very well done and the plot is very deep and ambitious.
With characterization I have to add that characters that appear shortly and get killed in the main storyline actually also have deep and hard lives of their own.
For example, Sykes Bannon made his appearance, killed Jenna's brother then got killed. Later we have his backstory (through another character mainly) and see how important he was and pretty much a victim just as the others.
The same for a character named Remos Jax, who appears pretty shortly, leaves his mark on a young Mikeos and then we get to know him better later.
I really liked this, because even if the protagonists don't get to know those characters or even kill some of them, nobody lives or lived in a vacuum. Something got them to stand where they are today, even the most meaningless secondary or tertiary characters.
However, the structure of the flashbacks maybe wasn't the best.
In the Broken Empire trilogy we had one present day, one flashback, so even the backstory being very gripping and visceral, we were never far from the main story for too long.
In Gunlaw the flashbacks sometimes were pretty long and covered various chapters.
And worse, when something pretty big happened and the group of characters really, really gripped me, then I was thrown into those flashback chapters with entirely new characters/situations and pretty much had to start from zero again.
While they provided the depth I mentioned before, and some had very nice foreshadow and situations, the structure did make it feel like a bucket of cold water more than once.
This almost took a star from me but I really liked the ending and the fact that it's actually book 1, not a standalone (that made me fear the ending was gonna be rushed).
And being fair, it also provides a nice option for a re-read, to really get all the nuances and implications.
And of course, also have to mention Mark Lawrence's prose, which made for a smooth reading, specially for me, who can only read this story at home staring at a LCD monitor with a long-day tired eyesight.
And that Wattpad doesn't even have a bookmark option, something its users are asking in the same vein Goodreads users had been asking for the re-read feature (later I opted in for some beta test option and apparently a "Continue" option was added, as previously I had to write down which chapter I was in).
Hopefully he'll one day make it available as an e-book for those of us who need to bathe in the blessings of electronic ink.
Oh, yes, prose. Here's another quote:
She knew why she was angry. For missed chances. For not being the person to take them. For being as wrapped in her business as Mikeos was in his. Bound up with saving people that didn't even know they needed saving and wouldn't consider her offer to be saved even if they did. Too bound up with saving humanity to actually take the time to be human.
I expect more great things in the future.
dmeantit's review
5.0
Gunlaw by Mark Lawrence
Many of you who read Lawrence are aware that hidden under the dark “swords and sorcery” fantasy he writes, he often tackles difficult societal issues. He is best known for his ground-breaking series The Broken Empire Trilogy which dealt with parental rejection, AI and the definition of life and the role of tech in a post-apocalyptic future.
Gunlaw, which is available on the Wattpad app for free, is no different, if anything Lawrence goes even further peering into the society’s treatment and opinion of “broken” children who are severely disabled, the role of tech and its contribution to the breakdown of society and the role of religion as a motivator and cause of that breakdown.
Honestly, it is a heartbreaking read in many ways. This novel is obviously very personal to Lawrence who has a severely disabled daughter. You can feel the pain and hope and love and frustration and desire spilling off of him and into his words as you read this book.
You can also see Lawrence confronting and dealing with the possible consequences of his career as a research scientist who specializes in AI. He questions the impact technology has on undeveloped cultures and in doing so delves into the ramifications of those who play “god,” knowingly or unknowingly, when creating such sophisticated machines.
That said, this book is a great adventure. The veneer is similar to Stephen King’s Dark Tower series but that is all they have in common. I enjoyed Gunlaw much more than I did the Dark Tower series. I like fiction that functions as more than escapist fantasy; that instead makes me think about the world I live in.
Gunlaw is set on an unknown world where everyone and everything has become stagnant and there is no cultural or technological evolution. Humans inhabit a world that is run by actual “gods,” who maintain a balance through the gun law where gunslingers keep world order in a Wild West setting. There are three other races; domen, taur and hunska – sentient versions of dogs, cattle and cats. There is magic as well as living human corpses who can’t die.
I’ve read most everything Lawrence has written, he has the incredible ability to cast a spell with very few words and transport me to a world far away and yet so close. I get lost in his writing but never forget where I am. That to me is real magic. I highly recommend this book. There are typos and a few flaws, but the story itself is worth overlooking these small issues.
Many of you who read Lawrence are aware that hidden under the dark “swords and sorcery” fantasy he writes, he often tackles difficult societal issues. He is best known for his ground-breaking series The Broken Empire Trilogy which dealt with parental rejection, AI and the definition of life and the role of tech in a post-apocalyptic future.
Gunlaw, which is available on the Wattpad app for free, is no different, if anything Lawrence goes even further peering into the society’s treatment and opinion of “broken” children who are severely disabled, the role of tech and its contribution to the breakdown of society and the role of religion as a motivator and cause of that breakdown.
Honestly, it is a heartbreaking read in many ways. This novel is obviously very personal to Lawrence who has a severely disabled daughter. You can feel the pain and hope and love and frustration and desire spilling off of him and into his words as you read this book.
You can also see Lawrence confronting and dealing with the possible consequences of his career as a research scientist who specializes in AI. He questions the impact technology has on undeveloped cultures and in doing so delves into the ramifications of those who play “god,” knowingly or unknowingly, when creating such sophisticated machines.
That said, this book is a great adventure. The veneer is similar to Stephen King’s Dark Tower series but that is all they have in common. I enjoyed Gunlaw much more than I did the Dark Tower series. I like fiction that functions as more than escapist fantasy; that instead makes me think about the world I live in.
Gunlaw is set on an unknown world where everyone and everything has become stagnant and there is no cultural or technological evolution. Humans inhabit a world that is run by actual “gods,” who maintain a balance through the gun law where gunslingers keep world order in a Wild West setting. There are three other races; domen, taur and hunska – sentient versions of dogs, cattle and cats. There is magic as well as living human corpses who can’t die.
I’ve read most everything Lawrence has written, he has the incredible ability to cast a spell with very few words and transport me to a world far away and yet so close. I get lost in his writing but never forget where I am. That to me is real magic. I highly recommend this book. There are typos and a few flaws, but the story itself is worth overlooking these small issues.
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