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thedisfiguredpeach's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
riley_rose's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
harukoreads's review
4.0
This book definitely suffers a bit from Second-Book-In-A-Trilogy Syndrome, which is to say it's not as exciting or well-paced as it's predecessor but clearly was bogged down by all the setting up it had to do for it's following book. I'd probably rate this about a 3.5 compared to the first book's 4 stars, but I'm rounding up because these books are still just so enjoyable and readable. If you enjoy gritty and grim dystopians this series is a great choice.
bent's review
4.0
A very enjoyable read. It took me a little while to get into - I was reading it as an ebook and kept finding myself surfing the 'net, especially when the story got away from Nix and started dealing with the secondary characters. That all changed after Khos and Nix met up for a drink and the actions immediately following that. Things really ramped up after that and I was hooked.
So a little slow early on, but then a very exciting rush to the end. Recommended.
So a little slow early on, but then a very exciting rush to the end. Recommended.
zivan's review
4.0
I can't remember another heroin of Nyx caliber, so weak, so strong, so flawed, so destructive to herself her enemies, her friends and anyone in her blast radius.
Yet I still find myself rooting for her.
Yet I still find myself rooting for her.
tregina's review
5.0
I look for reasons not to give books five stars, because it's not something I want to hand out to just anything, even if I like it. Five stars means the book has something special. This book has something special.
I really liked the first book in the series, God's War, but I struggled a bit with some of the characters. I don't know what was different this time, whether they were written with more dimensions that allowed me to empathize with them, or whether the change was in me. Whichever it was, I really connected with this book. It had all of the fascinating worldbuilding and plotting of the first book, and it is as harsh and ferocious and wonderful, with that little something more.
I really liked the first book in the series, God's War, but I struggled a bit with some of the characters. I don't know what was different this time, whether they were written with more dimensions that allowed me to empathize with them, or whether the change was in me. Whichever it was, I really connected with this book. It had all of the fascinating worldbuilding and plotting of the first book, and it is as harsh and ferocious and wonderful, with that little something more.
gerhard's review
4.0
How you feel about Infidel will depend largely on your reaction to God's War. And your reaction to Nyxnissa so Dasheem, a character so hard-assed she makes Ripley from the Alien movies look like a Sunday school teacher.
Infidel certainly ups the Nyx stakes by making her character even bleaker and more nihilistic than before, if that were possible. This tends to alienate her from the reader, which is a pity. There are a few moments towards the end, especially when Nyx meets up with Rhys again, where the humanity and love of this damaged creature shines through, but it is a case of too few, too late.
I think my reaction to Infidel is likely to change once I have read the concluding volume, Rapture. As with any middle instalment, Infidel suffers because it is largely setting the scene for what is to follow. Granted, there is a smoother plot progression than in God's War, but nothing dramatically reinventive.
We do get a better sense of the overall war and the role(s) of the various factions and players, as well as a (slightly) larger view of Umaya as a fully-realised alien world. However, the revelation that Nyx's ultimate aim is just to become a bel dame again rings curiously false.
Hurley has a great eye for grotesquerie, and the bug tech, though still largely relegated to set decoration, gets a few superbly gristly set pieces in Infidel. Squeamish readers take note. There is also an inordinate amount of bloodshed and general ickiness, enough to make both Quentin Tarantino and David Cronenberg dance a jig of joy.
At the end, my main feeling was, curiously, sadness. The reader really gets to fall in love with Nyx over the story thus far. She is beautiful, scarred, brave, pissed off, perpetually on a mission, and more than likely doomed (to beyond death - she does that quite a lot in Infidel).
So, roll on Rapture. It promises to be a real ride to hell and back, maybe with a little glimpse of heaven in-between.
Infidel certainly ups the Nyx stakes by making her character even bleaker and more nihilistic than before, if that were possible. This tends to alienate her from the reader, which is a pity. There are a few moments towards the end, especially when Nyx meets up with Rhys again, where the humanity and love of this damaged creature shines through, but it is a case of too few, too late.
I think my reaction to Infidel is likely to change once I have read the concluding volume, Rapture. As with any middle instalment, Infidel suffers because it is largely setting the scene for what is to follow. Granted, there is a smoother plot progression than in God's War, but nothing dramatically reinventive.
We do get a better sense of the overall war and the role(s) of the various factions and players, as well as a (slightly) larger view of Umaya as a fully-realised alien world. However, the revelation that Nyx's ultimate aim is just to become a bel dame again rings curiously false.
Hurley has a great eye for grotesquerie, and the bug tech, though still largely relegated to set decoration, gets a few superbly gristly set pieces in Infidel. Squeamish readers take note. There is also an inordinate amount of bloodshed and general ickiness, enough to make both Quentin Tarantino and David Cronenberg dance a jig of joy.
At the end, my main feeling was, curiously, sadness. The reader really gets to fall in love with Nyx over the story thus far. She is beautiful, scarred, brave, pissed off, perpetually on a mission, and more than likely doomed (to beyond death - she does that quite a lot in Infidel).
So, roll on Rapture. It promises to be a real ride to hell and back, maybe with a little glimpse of heaven in-between.
carol26388's review
5.0
“The smog in Mushtallah tasted of tar and ashes; it tasted like the war.”
I had to remind myself to breathe when I was reading Infidel. Kameron Hurley’s Bel Dame series is simply amazing. So many themes packed into each page; action, honor, faith, regret, resolve, all woven into a fast-moving plot, character exploration and innovative world-building. It feels real and harsh and heartbreaking. When I finished late at night, I felt rather the same way I felt when I finished The Last Argument of Kings, only more so.
Yeah, that.
Infidel takes place six years after the events of the first book, [b:God's War|9359818|God's War (Bel Dame Apocrypha #1)|Kameron Hurley|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1303144535s/9359818.jpg|14243275]. The countries of Nasheen and Chenja remain at war with each other, as they have been for the last hundred years. Nyx worked as a bel dame for Nasheen, a government enforcer/assassin, but after making some very questionable decisions, she’s been working a mercenary. She has a new team, a young shifter boy named Eshe and a hardened ex-veteran, Suha. The story begins in the midst of bodyguard detail for a diplomat’s daughter, in the setting dreaded by all bodyguards everywhere, the crowded shopping district. Nyx realizes they are being boxed in and manages to scare off one assassin and behead another. When she learns the assassin might be a rogue bel dame, she journeys to the headquarters of the guild and meets with a former colleague. What follows is a fast-paced hunt through the countries of Umayma.
As the second in the Bel Dame series, more details of the world are fleshed (ha-ha) out, so to speak. For those that struggled with the world-building in the first book, Hurley is kinder here, filling in more details about the neighboring countries and the history of various peoples. A little more is also filled in about the emigration from the moon to Unamya, and the unclean areas that remain even after colonizing. The insect-based magic and technology continues to play a vital role in the plot, and despite my own bug-aversion, it’s very interesting.
Plotting is fast. There’s more nation-politics than I usually like in my book, but it is built organically, connected to personal actions and motives that make it both plausible and interesting. Something in Hurley’s plotting feels unusual to me, and I think it’s partly her ability to sustain tension through small event arcs, and then repeating them at escalating frequency. It has the satisfying feeling of building to a crescendo, resolving small conflicts and then creating bigger ones. It helps too that the world she’s built allows for a certain kinds of rejuvenation, provided one has the money, connections and time. What I discovered this time was that very little of the details were predictable, and I loved that.
“‘So what the hell’s wrong with me?’ Nyx eased off the marble slab.
‘Besides your deviant moral flexibility and severe phobia of emotional commitment?’ Yahfia asked.
‘I consider those virtues,’ Nyx said.“
Characterization is outstanding. Nyx is not an easy person to like, but she has an idea of honor and protection that makes her accessible. Her cynicism brings a dry, biting humor to her character and her story. Rhys, an educated exile, provides a way for Hurley to engage in more sophisticated cultural analysis. One of the fascinating aspects of the story is the attraction that Nyx and Rhys have for each other despite enormous cultural and emotional differences.
“‘If you weren’t what you are, and I wasn’t what I am, we’d both be dead,’ Rhys said. ‘And we would have nothing to speak of.'”
Why have more people not read this series? I highly recommend it, particularly if you enjoy some of the darker fantasy such as Weeks' Shadow series, Mark Lawrence or Abercrombie. This is better than all of them. I particularly recommend it because of the nuanced character development and the unusual world-building. Definitely personal library-worthy.
kevinhanes's review
4.0
massive jump in enjoyability from the first book. solid world building, though it often raises more questions than it answers.
it's still great to have a host of characters from complex backgrounds, even if some of them could use some more fleshing out.
it's still great to have a host of characters from complex backgrounds, even if some of them could use some more fleshing out.