Scan barcode
rogue_runner's review
4.0
I first came across the Fourlands when I was maybe 15, and really didn't appreciate these books. They were full of all sort of adult fantasy themes that I'd never come across before- lots of gore, sex, drugs and freakish hallucinations (if the Shift can be called that). But I think it's a testament to these books that I remembered it so well when I picked up the second one at maybe 20 (and again, didn't quite understand it), and finally managed to find the third in the series after maybe 10 years of this series. And now, finally, I think I appreciate these books the way they should be appreciated.
Let's start with Jant. What an interesting character, not just by looks, but by narrative style too. He's unreliable, both as a narrator and personality, but unabashedly himself, faults and all. I love how he's grown through this series, his immaturity showing through at points, but also taking on his responsibilities properly. His interactions with the others are excellent at points, and how, even though he is an immortal, he's still very fallible.
The world building in this series is another thing that's drawn me back time after time. At points uncomfortably grotesque or crude, it's a tantalising, weird mixture of typical fantasy and the modern world smashed together; archery and swordsmanship are highly thought of, guns unknown, yet the characters wear jeans and t-shirts. Every so often the weird world of the Shift appears and, although not as strange as I remember it, it's still like nothing I've ever read. It does make me want to go back to the previous two and give them another chance, because I think I might appreciate them better now.
Let's start with Jant. What an interesting character, not just by looks, but by narrative style too. He's unreliable, both as a narrator and personality, but unabashedly himself, faults and all. I love how he's grown through this series, his immaturity showing through at points, but also taking on his responsibilities properly. His interactions with the others are excellent at points, and how, even though he is an immortal, he's still very fallible.
The world building in this series is another thing that's drawn me back time after time. At points uncomfortably grotesque or crude, it's a tantalising, weird mixture of typical fantasy and the modern world smashed together; archery and swordsmanship are highly thought of, guns unknown, yet the characters wear jeans and t-shirts. Every so often the weird world of the Shift appears and, although not as strange as I remember it, it's still like nothing I've ever read. It does make me want to go back to the previous two and give them another chance, because I think I might appreciate them better now.
More...