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loslibrosdelosdragones's review against another edition
4.0
3,5 estrellas.
Este libro me gustó muchísimo, aunque al finalizarlo siento que me quedé con una sensación rara. Sobrecogedora. Cuando pienso en lo que leí, en la experiencia, se siente extraño.
Es un libro lleno de worldbuilding y, por eso, muchas veces tiene demasiados párrafos de info-dump. Todos ellos van construyendo el mundo y a los personajes, pero en varias ocasiones se vuelve demasiado abrumador. Páginas y páginas de cosas que podrían haber sido mostradas de otra manera mucho más... dinámica.
Eso fue lo que, más que nada, me dejó esa extraña sensación.
Los personajes y el mundo me gustaron muchísimo. La fantasía épica es un género "limitado" (entre comillas, porque en realidad no lo es, sino que nosotros mismos le damos esa apariencia). Generalmente está lleno de los mismos elementos, las mismas temáticas y los mismos mundos. Sin embargo, el autor le da un giro en este libro. Hay criaturas muy interesantes, diferentes, que no se limitan en los humanos, protagonistas, y los "otros". Hay criaturas que son enemigos, criaturas que son aliados y criaturas que son protagonistas.
La idea de un mundo rodeado de Dioses que son reales y de verdad intervienen me pareció interesante y funciona muy bien acá. La introducción de los "santos" como personajes activos, que realmente son un "canal" entre los Dioses y sus fieles me pareció genial. Es una vuelta de tuerca a algo que existe en nuestro mundo, pero vuelto "real".
La historia se va desarrollando con un poco de lentitud también, principalmente por la cantidad de worldbuilding que hay a lo largo del libro. Sin embargo, los personajes nos van llevando por este mundo extraño, lleno de misterios y de secretos. Plantea un millón de preguntas y resuelve algunas, pero la mayoría quedan inconclusas, probablemente para los siguientes libros.
Es una historia oscura, repleta de personajes interesantes, pero deshechos y un mundo tan deshecho como ellos. Se va construyendo, como dije, de a poco. Con una introducción un poco larga, un desarrollo que va construyendo la tensión poco a poco hasta que llega el final, donde todo explota. La historia termina de una manera que no tengo ni idea de cómo va a seguir o qué va a suceder en el siguiente, lo cual me da mucha intriga y ganas de leerlo.
TW: descripciones explícitas de sangre, violencia, canibalismo, body horror, discusiones de esclavitud sexual, esclavitud, asesinatos, muerte, gusanos, privación de la libertad.
Este libro me gustó muchísimo, aunque al finalizarlo siento que me quedé con una sensación rara. Sobrecogedora. Cuando pienso en lo que leí, en la experiencia, se siente extraño.
Es un libro lleno de worldbuilding y, por eso, muchas veces tiene demasiados párrafos de info-dump. Todos ellos van construyendo el mundo y a los personajes, pero en varias ocasiones se vuelve demasiado abrumador. Páginas y páginas de cosas que podrían haber sido mostradas de otra manera mucho más... dinámica.
Eso fue lo que, más que nada, me dejó esa extraña sensación.
Los personajes y el mundo me gustaron muchísimo. La fantasía épica es un género "limitado" (entre comillas, porque en realidad no lo es, sino que nosotros mismos le damos esa apariencia). Generalmente está lleno de los mismos elementos, las mismas temáticas y los mismos mundos. Sin embargo, el autor le da un giro en este libro. Hay criaturas muy interesantes, diferentes, que no se limitan en los humanos, protagonistas, y los "otros". Hay criaturas que son enemigos, criaturas que son aliados y criaturas que son protagonistas.
La idea de un mundo rodeado de Dioses que son reales y de verdad intervienen me pareció interesante y funciona muy bien acá. La introducción de los "santos" como personajes activos, que realmente son un "canal" entre los Dioses y sus fieles me pareció genial. Es una vuelta de tuerca a algo que existe en nuestro mundo, pero vuelto "real".
La historia se va desarrollando con un poco de lentitud también, principalmente por la cantidad de worldbuilding que hay a lo largo del libro. Sin embargo, los personajes nos van llevando por este mundo extraño, lleno de misterios y de secretos. Plantea un millón de preguntas y resuelve algunas, pero la mayoría quedan inconclusas, probablemente para los siguientes libros.
Es una historia oscura, repleta de personajes interesantes, pero deshechos y un mundo tan deshecho como ellos. Se va construyendo, como dije, de a poco. Con una introducción un poco larga, un desarrollo que va construyendo la tensión poco a poco hasta que llega el final, donde todo explota. La historia termina de una manera que no tengo ni idea de cómo va a seguir o qué va a suceder en el siguiente, lo cual me da mucha intriga y ganas de leerlo.
TW: descripciones explícitas de sangre, violencia, canibalismo, body horror, discusiones de esclavitud sexual, esclavitud, asesinatos, muerte, gusanos, privación de la libertad.
bibliosquire's review against another edition
4.0
I had been looking for a book that would give off the same feel as Bloodborne, and this is exactly what I was looking for! Set in a fantastical city that is inhabited by thieves, religious zealots, worms, the undead, and even men made of wax, Gutter Prayer follows a cast of characters in the dark happenings of Guerdon as they also uncover the secrets of the city. The book switches POV from a cast of characters that includes Carrilon, a girl who recently just came back to Guerdon, Spar is the son of a famous thief, Rat is a ghoul, and many other inhabitants of the city.
I really liked this book and how loved how atmospheric it was. Traveling from the churches to the underground cities to the various other locations was probably my favorite part of it all. The characters all had really interesting arcs and anytime Aleena the Saint showed up, I was most likely cheering because she was easily my favorite character to read about. The dialogue was probably my least favorite aspect of the book. Sometimes it took me out of the world completely, so it may have just been me. I still loved the writing style overall and I’m excited to see where the author’s writing goes in the sequels.
I’m excited to read the rest of this series now and see where it goes! This really felt like it could’ve been a stand-alone, but there are definitely some questions that still need answered. I'm hoping that the world and mythology continue to grow along with the characters!
I really liked this book and how loved how atmospheric it was. Traveling from the churches to the underground cities to the various other locations was probably my favorite part of it all. The characters all had really interesting arcs and anytime Aleena the Saint showed up, I was most likely cheering because she was easily my favorite character to read about. The dialogue was probably my least favorite aspect of the book. Sometimes it took me out of the world completely, so it may have just been me. I still loved the writing style overall and I’m excited to see where the author’s writing goes in the sequels.
I’m excited to read the rest of this series now and see where it goes! This really felt like it could’ve been a stand-alone, but there are definitely some questions that still need answered. I'm hoping that the world and mythology continue to grow along with the characters!
wildfaeriecaps's review against another edition
3.0
This was quiet enjoyable once I got into it. I found the beginning a bit slow, but that could just as well have been me and not the book. The imagery evoked Fallen London (the game) in my mind and that added a whole layer of fun to it. For the first in a series, it wraps up tidily - which is always a plus in my mind. Cari, Rat, and Aleena were probably my favorite characters. It'll be interesting to see where the series goes next.
lacavernadelu's review against another edition
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
kenlaan's review against another edition
2.0
There's a lot of good things about this book, that are belied by my giving it a two-star rating.
Hanrahan, when he is not writing novels, also creates tabletop RPG books, and that makes a lot of sense to me, because the world-building in The Gutter Prayer is extremely well-done and there is a lot of originality amongst those he conceived of to inhabit it. From the creepy Tallowmen - somewhat mindless servants of the Alchemists' Guild, who are waxen golem-like creatures remade from corpses of the unfortunate - to the Stone Men - those inflicted with a plague that slowly calcifies their bodies, but gives them immense strength as it progresses - to the Crawling Ones - sentient hive-mind mages created of corpse-eating worms - there's a lot of unique concepts to be found in this book.
Unfortunately, I just never really cared much about the characters or the plot, which meant I forced myself to finish this book more out of stubbornness than a desire to see what happened at the end.
The book starts in media res, a technique I'm usually fond of as a reader, since things move quickly. There's a few trade-offs though, namely that the reader might be a little lost and that the reader will not have formed connections with the characters involved. That was certainly the case for me, especially the latter. The book largely follows Cari, the orphaned daughter of a formerly powerful family, Spar, a Stone Man and the son of the former leader of the Thieves Guild, and Rat, a Ghoul who lives amongst the surface and works with the Thieves Guild. I liked the idea of these three, but they are quickly split up due to the events of the beginning and there was never enough characterization for me to grow attached to them. There's a couple of side characters, Jare and Aleena, who I actually liked more, but they aren't the focus.
And since I didn't really care about the characters involved in the plot, the story was hard to be interested in, either. There's some pretty cool ideas here concerning gods and saints that reminded me somewhat of [b:City of Stairs|20174424|City of Stairs (The Divine Cities, #1)|Robert Jackson Bennett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1394545220l/20174424._SY75_.jpg|28030792], but it never grabbed me for whatever reason.
Hanrahan, when he is not writing novels, also creates tabletop RPG books, and that makes a lot of sense to me, because the world-building in The Gutter Prayer is extremely well-done and there is a lot of originality amongst those he conceived of to inhabit it. From the creepy Tallowmen - somewhat mindless servants of the Alchemists' Guild, who are waxen golem-like creatures remade from corpses of the unfortunate - to the Stone Men - those inflicted with a plague that slowly calcifies their bodies, but gives them immense strength as it progresses - to the Crawling Ones - sentient hive-mind mages created of corpse-eating worms - there's a lot of unique concepts to be found in this book.
Unfortunately, I just never really cared much about the characters or the plot, which meant I forced myself to finish this book more out of stubbornness than a desire to see what happened at the end.
The book starts in media res, a technique I'm usually fond of as a reader, since things move quickly. There's a few trade-offs though, namely that the reader might be a little lost and that the reader will not have formed connections with the characters involved. That was certainly the case for me, especially the latter. The book largely follows Cari, the orphaned daughter of a formerly powerful family, Spar, a Stone Man and the son of the former leader of the Thieves Guild, and Rat, a Ghoul who lives amongst the surface and works with the Thieves Guild. I liked the idea of these three, but they are quickly split up due to the events of the beginning and there was never enough characterization for me to grow attached to them. There's a couple of side characters, Jare and Aleena, who I actually liked more, but they aren't the focus.
And since I didn't really care about the characters involved in the plot, the story was hard to be interested in, either. There's some pretty cool ideas here concerning gods and saints that reminded me somewhat of [b:City of Stairs|20174424|City of Stairs (The Divine Cities, #1)|Robert Jackson Bennett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1394545220l/20174424._SY75_.jpg|28030792], but it never grabbed me for whatever reason.
mcfade28's review against another edition
4.0
An excellent debut novel from Gareth Hanrahan. The world building is exceptional and unique in this fantasy book. We are introduced to world of ghouls, guards made from candles, and sorcerous worm-men. Our three protagonists are downtrodden members of a thieves guild, who get caught in a heist gone wrong in the opening pages, and soon get catapulted into a plot surrounding a war between Gods.
I found this very intriguing from the beginning and liked most of the characters. I was able to guess some of the plots twists and turns but enjoyed the payoff.
I'll definitely check out the sequels.
I found this very intriguing from the beginning and liked most of the characters. I was able to guess some of the plots twists and turns but enjoyed the payoff.
I'll definitely check out the sequels.
vsn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.0
scorpiobookfairy's review against another edition
100 pages in and I should be more invested... but I found myself zoning out and having no idea what was happening. I was not attached to any of the characters and they all seemed very dull. Shame, cause it started off with an interesting idea. Just not for me.
jorgefernandez's review against another edition
3.0
Aprobado por ser una primera novela. La idea es sencilla, la lucha del bien contra el mal que es más vieja que la tierra, pero enrevesar una historia hasta unos límites caóticos de no saber que está pasando no convierte la novela en más interesante, al contrario. Muy bien la ciudad pero le hace falta un mapa de forma urgente. No soporto que me describan las calles, los giros, los mercados, los barrios...y aún así estar perdido. Y de los personajes lo que más me ha sorprendido es que algunos de ellos de repente 'desaparecen' y... no pasa nada... La historia sigue si rumbo, sin más consecuencias.
Hay mimbres. Me costará pero espero leer la segunda de la saga cuanda salga traducida.
Hay mimbres. Me costará pero espero leer la segunda de la saga cuanda salga traducida.