Reviews

The Necromancer's House by Christopher Buehlman

jedipickle's review

3.0

meh

sortabadass's review

3.0

50% of this book was quirky, funny, and peopled with fascinating characters.

50% of this book was kind of dull and could have probably met with the editor.

The Necromancer's House swung pendulum-like between these two extremes.

llaeros's review

medium-paced

4.0

pbanditp's review

3.0

Good story but I was just so confused. Not what I was expecting.
So much going on and I couldn’t keep things straight. I may try this one again at some point if I am more in a fantasy or folklore type mood

erikbail's review

4.0

What a great book. Necromancer does dead people stuff and fights Russian necromancer. Non stop action. Buehlman has a way with writing quick moving books

bookishrabbit's review

Yeah, no.

Reads like some guy's weird, edgy sex fantasy about being with a lesbian. The plot is legit incoherent, and despite some minor moments of cool descriptions, this is just too disjointed to be enjoyable.

furimbus's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I liked the story, but found the writing style difficult to enjoy at times. The novel largely consists of one-sentence paragraphs, many of those sentences being fragments. Written in the present tense. It’s primarily stream of consciousness but also shifts POV character occasionally. It makes for a disengaging reading experience at times, and for a very captivating experience at others. I would have enjoyed the story more if it had been written more traditionally. There’s a great mix of modern day witchcraft and Russian folklore and myth and a well-realized and inventive magic system that’s not quite like anything I’ve read before, all dancing around a compelling story about revenge, retribution, death, and love. I can appreciate what the author was going for with the writing style here. He accomplished it; the result just wasn’t for me. To the contrary, The Lesser Dead (also by Buehlman), is perhaps my favorite book ever.

jawakki's review

4.0

Buehlman continues to blow my mind with his original, macabre and gripping storytelling.

The setting and the take on magic was very intriguing. I also very much enjoyed most of the characters in the story.

I could easily see the necromancer's house achieving 5-stars. However, the ending was too open, and I feel a bit of potential was wasted as well, in regards to how much more the (Still amazing!) setting could have been explored.

bebe_o_liver's review against another edition

5.0

I listened to the Audible version of this audiobook. I chose it because I enjoyed another book (The Lesser Dead) by this author so much. This one was also great. I love his writing, his characters, and the stories he tells. This one is an interesting and entertaining book about witches/wizards told from the perspective of the titular character---Andrew, the necromancer. I liked the author's version of witchcraft and the various types of witches/wizards, their different powers, and how they come to develop those powers.

trebel's review

adventurous funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75