Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
Very cool world and mythology that grabs the reader early on. The story is perhaps not unique, a man with a baby and a magical sword trying to find their way to safety, but the author has a unique voice, and manages a pretty unique sense of humor. Also, very few things are explained, allowing for the readers to find out for themselves. Of this I approve. Another big plus is that the author doesn't go for the easy ways out.
Overall enjoyable and fresh, and I will definitely read more by the author.
Overall enjoyable and fresh, and I will definitely read more by the author.
More like 4.5 stars. Wow, I’m shocked how much I actually ended up loving this. The world is so unique and feels like a weird mix of sci-fi and fantasy and dystopian that I feel like I’ve never seen before. Also, I was so surprised at how sweet and wholesome this was at times? Like the main trio, are you kidding me??? The plot is definitely a little bit hard to follow (especially for me who has a terrible memory) but I just kind of enjoyed the ride anyway, even when I was lost or confused. I think this is a trilogy but I am so damn bad at finishing series, and even though the story doesn’t really get resolved, I’m happy with where the characters are at the end so I honestly don’t know if I’ll keep reading. I am curious about the developments and changes that happened at the end though, so that might end up motivating me to read more. I just don’t want my heart broken, cause I really love these characters a lot.
All I remembered of the recommendation I was given about this was that the goat is amazing. I have to say that was correct but I enjoyed the whole thing immensely. This was a little on the dark side but there was also humor to balance it out. I enjoyed the weird world and it's players despite having to have to work at what was going on and how things functioned. It was intriguing to see a main character who doesn't speak and how he communicated with others and managed to navigate this wasteland world. All in all a good read and I will definitely continue on in the series.
I hesitate to rate this poorly because it’s not a bad book. It’s a little like mad max, If mad max we’re a supremely slow and boring silent film. But the characters are interesting, it just never spends enough time on any Of them. Not my cup Of tea
What a book. What a fantastic book.
Newman delivers the perfect balance of mystery and information - the world the Vagrant walks is twisted and broken, but we're never exactly sure how and why, and we don't need to be. Just enough is given to sate our curiosity, while leaving questions burning for later. What are the Seven? What exactly is the Breach? What was the world like before? We get answers - but not all of them.
Having a silent protagonist is hard to pull off - having a silent protagonist who doesn't even speak in the flashbacks is even harder, but Newman does it and does it very well indeed.
I'm so glad this turned out to be a trilogy!
Newman delivers the perfect balance of mystery and information - the world the Vagrant walks is twisted and broken, but we're never exactly sure how and why, and we don't need to be. Just enough is given to sate our curiosity, while leaving questions burning for later. What are the Seven? What exactly is the Breach? What was the world like before? We get answers - but not all of them.
Having a silent protagonist is hard to pull off - having a silent protagonist who doesn't even speak in the flashbacks is even harder, but Newman does it and does it very well indeed.
I'm so glad this turned out to be a trilogy!
The debut novel from Peter Newman, The Vagrant is a genre-straddling, expectation-defying book that represents both an assured debut and an impressive willingness (from author and publisher) to take risks. Set in a world that’s equal parts dystopia, fantasy and science fiction, where living swords and ephemeral demons coexist with futuristic firearms and vast sky-ships, it follows the titular Vagrant as he journeys through lands long corrupted by a conquering foe bearing a sentient sword and incongruously caring for a baby. Never speaking, communicating through body language alone, he stubbornly makes his way ever northwards in search of home, and safety.
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2016/06/24/the-vagrant-peter-newman/
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2016/06/24/the-vagrant-peter-newman/
It was an interesting book, I really enjoyed it. It has a well-depicted world and a rather unusual cast of (main) characters - a man who doesn´t talk, a toddler, a goat, and a man who talks enough for all of them :) It was easy to read and fast-paced. I look forward to more.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ahh, I so badly wanted to like this story!
It began with such promise. The premise of a speechless main character, carrying a child and ancient sword, on a mission to reach... somewhere. The world strangely infested by corrupting demons - a post-demon-apocalyptic wasteland if you will.
I had thought this would be a fantasy story, and much of it is. But it actually is more like a Warhammer 40k novel with the names filed away. A very well written 40k novel, but still not quite what I like to read. This has strange science, remnants of science and modern cities and the rare hi-tech transport. Mixed with mutating demons, undead body modifications, and what amounts to Templar Knights.
Its a wonderful melange of borrowings which has made its own world, which is (to give some credit) quite interesting. Unfortunately the characters themselves are completely uninteresting. I made it a bit over half way through this book, but found myself constantly distracted by other things, like re-watching old TV series, cleaning, etc. I still don't know why this Vagrant refuses to talk. I don't know why the baby is so important. Honestly found the goat to be a more enjoyable character! Its just a damn goat!
I'm sorry to say, that while the writing is excellent (really really excellent - clear, concise, interesting) but I was unable to gain any interest in the characters, or any reason to continue following their quest.
It began with such promise. The premise of a speechless main character, carrying a child and ancient sword, on a mission to reach... somewhere. The world strangely infested by corrupting demons - a post-demon-apocalyptic wasteland if you will.
I had thought this would be a fantasy story, and much of it is. But it actually is more like a Warhammer 40k novel with the names filed away. A very well written 40k novel, but still not quite what I like to read. This has strange science, remnants of science and modern cities and the rare hi-tech transport. Mixed with mutating demons, undead body modifications, and what amounts to Templar Knights.
Its a wonderful melange of borrowings which has made its own world, which is (to give some credit) quite interesting. Unfortunately the characters themselves are completely uninteresting. I made it a bit over half way through this book, but found myself constantly distracted by other things, like re-watching old TV series, cleaning, etc. I still don't know why this Vagrant refuses to talk. I don't know why the baby is so important. Honestly found the goat to be a more enjoyable character! Its just a damn goat!
I'm sorry to say, that while the writing is excellent (really really excellent - clear, concise, interesting) but I was unable to gain any interest in the characters, or any reason to continue following their quest.
Hey, I have a booktube channel (youtube for book reviews, etc.), and I include The Vagrant in my Top 10 Underrated Books list here. Please subscribe if I earned it!
I actually accepted a copy of The Vagrant from the publisher knowing just about nothing about the book. The synopsis coupled with an intriguing, if somewhat cliche, cover (but wait, a baby?!?) sold me alone. This doesn't happen all the time and usually when this is all that sells me on a book, I end up about as disappointed as you can get.
That's why I scour blogs and Goodreads so regularly. I can't trust my gut reaction on these things...normally.
The Vagrant is a hard book to nail down. It involves a mysterious man, the Vagrant, who can't speak and who's on some kind of pilgrimage with a baby in tow as well as a goat he picks up. He carries a huge, mythical sword and it seems like he's trying to save the world or some such thing.
Right away, you're thinking, epic fantasy right?
Well, that's not quite it. It obviously also takes place in some type of futuristic landscape because there are neon lights and all kinds of other technologies the reader begins to meet along the way.
The closest I can put it is probably Mark Lawrence's Broken Empire series. A good mix of fantasy and science fiction and lots of dark, unspeakable doings. I think I can firmly put it in grimdark at the very least ... whatever that means.
In a book where the main character can't speak, I'm quite impressed at the degree of emotions I felt, almost on par with Janny Wurts, who really gets the feels out of me.
The Vagrant, as mentioned, is on a quest and many are out to stop him. Demons have taken over the land, corrupted the people with a taint, though not all, and submitted humanity to their wills.
With their own factions vying for power, the demons have different ways of subjugating humanity. However, they end up hurting their cause with all the infighting. Filled with grotesque monsters, one which has literally built itself out of masses of dead humans, The Vagrant is dark and twisted and make for excellent juxtaposition of the goodness of The Vagrant and those who follow in his wake.
The novel itself is broken into chapters with interludes going back to the beginning of the demon infestation, starting with "Eight Years Ago" and moving up to the present. One of the things that threw me for a bit was during these sections, the action would go back to the present without a chapter break in between. This only happened a few times and I found myself wondering if it was an accident. It's not a huge deal, just an odd thing I wanted to discuss with anyone who's read it.
Though dark, more likely because of the dark, The Vagrant emphasizes the light. The emotions were deep, I was amazed how deeply I felt for this character who can't even speak. And then there's the goat, who also can't speak (he's not some magic goat, just a run-of-the-mill one) which was probably one of my favorite characters in this book.
I can't recommend The Vagrant enough. It's different than anything else I've read. It's dark and brooding, but filled with so much beauty at the same time. Peter Newman is an author to watch.
4.5 out of 5 Stars (very highly recommended)
I actually accepted a copy of The Vagrant from the publisher knowing just about nothing about the book. The synopsis coupled with an intriguing, if somewhat cliche, cover (but wait, a baby?!?) sold me alone. This doesn't happen all the time and usually when this is all that sells me on a book, I end up about as disappointed as you can get.
That's why I scour blogs and Goodreads so regularly. I can't trust my gut reaction on these things...normally.
The Vagrant is a hard book to nail down. It involves a mysterious man, the Vagrant, who can't speak and who's on some kind of pilgrimage with a baby in tow as well as a goat he picks up. He carries a huge, mythical sword and it seems like he's trying to save the world or some such thing.
Right away, you're thinking, epic fantasy right?
Well, that's not quite it. It obviously also takes place in some type of futuristic landscape because there are neon lights and all kinds of other technologies the reader begins to meet along the way.
The closest I can put it is probably Mark Lawrence's Broken Empire series. A good mix of fantasy and science fiction and lots of dark, unspeakable doings. I think I can firmly put it in grimdark at the very least ... whatever that means.
In a book where the main character can't speak, I'm quite impressed at the degree of emotions I felt, almost on par with Janny Wurts, who really gets the feels out of me.
The Vagrant, as mentioned, is on a quest and many are out to stop him. Demons have taken over the land, corrupted the people with a taint, though not all, and submitted humanity to their wills.
With their own factions vying for power, the demons have different ways of subjugating humanity. However, they end up hurting their cause with all the infighting. Filled with grotesque monsters, one which has literally built itself out of masses of dead humans, The Vagrant is dark and twisted and make for excellent juxtaposition of the goodness of The Vagrant and those who follow in his wake.
The novel itself is broken into chapters with interludes going back to the beginning of the demon infestation, starting with "Eight Years Ago" and moving up to the present. One of the things that threw me for a bit was during these sections, the action would go back to the present without a chapter break in between. This only happened a few times and I found myself wondering if it was an accident. It's not a huge deal, just an odd thing I wanted to discuss with anyone who's read it.
Though dark, more likely because of the dark, The Vagrant emphasizes the light. The emotions were deep, I was amazed how deeply I felt for this character who can't even speak. And then there's the goat, who also can't speak (he's not some magic goat, just a run-of-the-mill one) which was probably one of my favorite characters in this book.
I can't recommend The Vagrant enough. It's different than anything else I've read. It's dark and brooding, but filled with so much beauty at the same time. Peter Newman is an author to watch.
4.5 out of 5 Stars (very highly recommended)