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secre's review
4.0
All in all this is an excellent read that has just about the right balance of grit and humour throughout and is brought together with a strong cast of characters and an immersive writing style. I really enjoyed following Aaron, our lead character, through the journey. He may not be the most likable character but with his cutting and sardonic ways, he is certainly entertaining. The dark and mysterious hero angle is carried well here and I found myself drawn into his inner thoughts and monologues as much as the banter and the action.
There are certainly a few cliched tropes rolled out here with a kingdom at war, a disillusioned anti-hero, a rebellious princess and some pirates thrown in for good measure... but in all honesty, I was enjoying myself too much to care. My interest was sparked right from the opening pages and it never really waned due to the well crafted characters and tension filled narrative. It was interesting to watch the characters develop throughout and see how their actions reverberated in the future. This is also a cutting analysis of human nature at its best and its worst, and the are moments that sting like a physical slap.
All in all, this is definitely one to recommend and I look forward to picking up the second in the series. I suspect that the weaves of the narrative will truly start coming together as the story progresses and I am interested to see where Peppers goes with it.
There are certainly a few cliched tropes rolled out here with a kingdom at war, a disillusioned anti-hero, a rebellious princess and some pirates thrown in for good measure... but in all honesty, I was enjoying myself too much to care. My interest was sparked right from the opening pages and it never really waned due to the well crafted characters and tension filled narrative. It was interesting to watch the characters develop throughout and see how their actions reverberated in the future. This is also a cutting analysis of human nature at its best and its worst, and the are moments that sting like a physical slap.
All in all, this is definitely one to recommend and I look forward to picking up the second in the series. I suspect that the weaves of the narrative will truly start coming together as the story progresses and I am interested to see where Peppers goes with it.
reaper_hound's review
1.0
1 ⭐
the book was complete garbage . I was intruiged by this book when i first saw the synopsis but when I read it the first20 pages or saw was good and the rest was downhill from there. I liked the protagonist at first but after the ship scene he was just a completely different man when i mean by different he got infactuated by a typical I will save the world princess and he lost all his ideals teachings and all to it . No likable characters , action sequences were okay , world building was intriguing but done poorly, All was a complete hot mess
the book was complete garbage . I was intruiged by this book when i first saw the synopsis but when I read it the first20 pages or saw was good and the rest was downhill from there. I liked the protagonist at first but after the ship scene he was just a completely different man when i mean by different he got infactuated by a typical I will save the world princess and he lost all his ideals teachings and all to it . No likable characters , action sequences were okay , world building was intriguing but done poorly, All was a complete hot mess
fredtyre's review
3.0
I liked this book, but it felt like the author never resolved the issue of how does a warrior given the attributes of compassion beat an opponent who has superhuman strength. Steelheart by Sanderson does a much better job of having a weakling overcoming a superhuman, while putting his own spin on things. It wouldn't bother me that much, but Peppers actually puts the question in his book; forcing the readers to look for the answer. The story moved forward, but was unresolved at the end. Unless the true climax was something altogether different? He did at least confront what the plot seemed to point out as the main villain, even if that villain wasn't defeated.
vailynst's review
3.0
Notes:
Popcorn adventure story that started out rough and ended up as entertaining as long as you don't think about it too hard.
Got the audio on sale. Maybe listen to the rest if there's a good sale or via library.
Popcorn adventure story that started out rough and ended up as entertaining as long as you don't think about it too hard.
Got the audio on sale. Maybe listen to the rest if there's a good sale or via library.
kittyg's review
3.0
* I read this as it's an entry into the #SPFBO this year and I'm a judge *
This book was actually the most-rated of all the titles I had to read this year for my batch so I did expect to like this one and I think I can see why it's had a lot of love. This is certainly a 'classic' fantasy in that it tells a story using magic, and medieval settings, a backdrop of a fractured land and a sellsword as the main character. We also have some tropes such as the princess who is beautiful beyond belief and some lesser-seen magic in the form of a little orb who bonds with the sellsword, Aaron.
I think that readers of fantasy would certainly like this, but I struggle to pinpoint something hugely unique about this story. There's the orb-creature, but I have see this in other series, some done better, and there's the Rebellion. I did like the scenes involving the smugglers, but I think there just wasn't one thing that stood out enough from the crowd for my liking.
Pacing in this was good and I managed to read it over just a day so that was enjoyable. However there were some grammatical errors in the story, but these didn't take me out of it much.
Overall I think it has a lot of potential and I imagine the series would grow as the story goes on, but for me it was just likeable and less memorable than some of the others. 3/5*s which is 6/10 for #SPFBO.
This book was actually the most-rated of all the titles I had to read this year for my batch so I did expect to like this one and I think I can see why it's had a lot of love. This is certainly a 'classic' fantasy in that it tells a story using magic, and medieval settings, a backdrop of a fractured land and a sellsword as the main character. We also have some tropes such as the princess who is beautiful beyond belief and some lesser-seen magic in the form of a little orb who bonds with the sellsword, Aaron.
I think that readers of fantasy would certainly like this, but I struggle to pinpoint something hugely unique about this story. There's the orb-creature, but I have see this in other series, some done better, and there's the Rebellion. I did like the scenes involving the smugglers, but I think there just wasn't one thing that stood out enough from the crowd for my liking.
Pacing in this was good and I managed to read it over just a day so that was enjoyable. However there were some grammatical errors in the story, but these didn't take me out of it much.
Overall I think it has a lot of potential and I imagine the series would grow as the story goes on, but for me it was just likeable and less memorable than some of the others. 3/5*s which is 6/10 for #SPFBO.
bryophyte's review
3.0
Solid, fun adventure. Setting is grimdark but characters aren’t—interesting mix. I’m hopeful for the rest of the series!
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