Reviews

The Legend of Broken by Caleb Carr

showell's review against another edition

Maybe it's the wrong time for a book like this. The story has some promise. 168 pages in, it seems like it may actually become interesting relatively soon, but this is definitely the wrong book for my summer reading goals. I may come back to it later, but right now I'm interested in reading stories that pack an emotive punch because I need to figure out how writers translate emotion into body language and body language into words, and this book, with its stiff language patterns and archaic rhythms isn't going to be a useful role model for me.

liberrydude's review against another edition

1.0

Nice cover and interesting storyline-legend meets history. But it was not to be for me. I'd read his other books and enjoyed them. I could only make it to page 8. Tiresome and tedious. Reads too much like Gibbon-boring. Numerous footnotes that it seems are longer than the actual text.

maggie73's review against another edition

1.0

(DNF, Pg. 114): Absolute tripe. It’s almost as if there’s two Caleb Carr’s: one who wrote The Alienist and Angel of Darkness and another who wrote the rest.

nicivigh's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious

• 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

4.75

stevevig's review against another edition

2.0

I only read about 100 pages before giving up on Broken. Typically, I would give a book I didn't bother to finish only one star, but Broken was fairly well written. It just didn't appeal to me.

kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review against another edition

1.0

I'm a horrible person. See my friend goes to his school's library and searches though the new book section and pick this up for me.

And I can't reach page 100. Carr's writing in terms of style is great. I still want to read the Alienist, but this. I mean honestly, why not simply write a AD&D manuel and be done. The conceit wears thing because (1) he goes overboard and (2) other authors have done it better - think Mary Gentle and [b:A Secret History|445023|A Secret History (The Book of Ash #1)|Mary Gentle|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1174842758s/445023.jpg|1371793].

argaen's review against another edition

3.0

Rompió descaradamente la regla de palabras inventadas, pero después de acostumbrarse a eso, la historia era entretenida.

aliperks's review against another edition

4.0

I've read most of Caleb Carr's novels and I've yet to be disappointed. Carr tells a fantasticaly detailed story here with excellent character development. I don't usually go for epic length novels but I got sucked into this one so easily that I was actually quite sad when it was finally over. The only thing I will say is the ending left a few issues unresolved for me, so I am hoping there might be a sequel in the future. Don't let the length deter you from reading this one, it's well worth the time.

zober's review against another edition

4.0

I really enjoyed the actual plot of this. I didn't think that the framing of the story added anything of value to it. I found it was a little too wordy. The convoluted sentences would have been much better had Carr not insisted on the pretense that this is based on an old manuscript.

I would love it if he came out with a sequel.