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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
slow-paced
The tone of Buehlman’s writing is a great entry point for his worldbuilding, but his protagonist’s complete lack of agency (intended or not), made this a slog for me. It’s a shame because there’s so much that’s done so well here, but static story-development drowns it all.
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
slow-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
Not my cup of tea, I’m getting a little tired of these types of protagonist personalities. The fact that the main character has little agency in the plot is cool though.
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This ended up being an enjoyable story full of adventure, action, fairly good characters, and my beloved giants and goblins.
I was hesitant at first, annoyed by the writing-style of pure tell-don't-show; every single thing was explicitly explained so there wasn't an inch of room to figure out even the simplest thing from context. This really made it tricky to follow the pace of each scene at the start, but soon this thankfully dropped for the most part. Otherwise, the prose was okay - I particularly enjoyed how Buehlman wrote his action scenes.
I very much enjoyed much of the worldbuilding once I got to grips with the absolute fuckload of placenames and such dropped immediately.
Ultimately, this was a fun story with short chapters following an interesting cast of characters through a thrilling adventure in a magical world (loved the tattoo stuff btw).
Good - 7/10
I was hesitant at first, annoyed by the writing-style of pure tell-don't-show; every single thing was explicitly explained so there wasn't an inch of room to figure out even the simplest thing from context. This really made it tricky to follow the pace of each scene at the start, but soon this thankfully dropped for the most part. Otherwise, the prose was okay - I particularly enjoyed how Buehlman wrote his action scenes.
I very much enjoyed much of the worldbuilding once I got to grips with the absolute fuckload of placenames and such dropped immediately.
Ultimately, this was a fun story with short chapters following an interesting cast of characters through a thrilling adventure in a magical world (loved the tattoo stuff btw).
Good - 7/10
What a brilliant book from start to finish.
I love the way Buehlman writes his tales.
If you have read the Daughter's war, this book is not quite so brutal but there are certainly moments and yes, it will involve goblins at times :P
We see the return of some familiar names from the Daughter's War which was awesome to see.
The book, despite being quite dark and grim is absolutely full of humour. I found myself laughing out loud quite a few times. You literally cannot go more than 5 pages without a splash of funny turning up.
The main character is great. Really hope we see more of him and certainly the way the book ends, the tale is not fully told (Cross fingers)
I also read along with the audio book. The Irish accent really added to the main character. It is quite a thick accent at times so maybe listen to the audible sample before buying in case it's too strong to understand.
I have now purchased Between two fires and lesser dead because of the quality of the last 2 books I have read from the Author.
I love the way Buehlman writes his tales.
If you have read the Daughter's war, this book is not quite so brutal but there are certainly moments and yes, it will involve goblins at times :P
We see the return of some familiar names from the Daughter's War which was awesome to see.
The book, despite being quite dark and grim is absolutely full of humour. I found myself laughing out loud quite a few times. You literally cannot go more than 5 pages without a splash of funny turning up.
The main character is great. Really hope we see more of him and certainly the way the book ends, the tale is not fully told (Cross fingers)
I also read along with the audio book. The Irish accent really added to the main character. It is quite a thick accent at times so maybe listen to the audible sample before buying in case it's too strong to understand.
I have now purchased Between two fires and lesser dead because of the quality of the last 2 books I have read from the Author.
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
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:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
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
I see why everyone says this made them love fantasy again. It was funny, charming and had great scenes all up. Fantasy at its finest whilst also a breath of fresh air. Looking forward to more
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No