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4.24 AVERAGE
4.24 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Logan NineFingers is back. It's about time.
You know what he did this time? Who?, you ask. Joe Abercrombie, of course. He wrote a Western.
A Western?
Yeah, this guy took the greatest fantasy anti-hero of our time, complete with his sword and angry attitude and put him right smack dab in the middle of a western. There aren't six-shooters, but there is an outpost, goldminers, a dire shortage of lawmen, and a quest to rescue children stolen by bandits. He made a fantasy into a classic Western, complete with the "get out of town before dark or we'll meet at sunrise for a showdown."
I love it.
You know what he did this time? Who?, you ask. Joe Abercrombie, of course. He wrote a Western.
A Western?
Yeah, this guy took the greatest fantasy anti-hero of our time, complete with his sword and angry attitude and put him right smack dab in the middle of a western. There aren't six-shooters, but there is an outpost, goldminers, a dire shortage of lawmen, and a quest to rescue children stolen by bandits. He made a fantasy into a classic Western, complete with the "get out of town before dark or we'll meet at sunrise for a showdown."
I love it.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
7.8/10
It's so sad that this is my favorite standalone novel. While I absolutely love the original trilogy, I have felt mostly meh on the standalones. I enjoyed reading Red Country but was still left unsatisfied.
I'll try to be brief with my review for this one.
Character Work
In Shy South, Joe Abercrombie has probably written his weakest protagonist so far. There wasn't much personality to her. At least, that's what I felt. I didn't care for her much which is a shame, because say one thing for Abercrombie, say he does his character work really well. Though, not in this one.
Temple and Lamb stood out for me in this installment and drove the story for me, with Temple probably being my favorite which is another sad thing really, as he is nowhere near Abercrombie's best characters. Overall, while I still believe the character work is the thing that stood out the most in this book, it wasn't up to the standards that I have started holding Joe up to.
Plot
The Plot was another weak point for me. It left me unsatisfied so many times. It didn't follow the standard 3 part structure. Red Country felt to me as a constant cycle of waiting around and then some action, then some more waiting, and then some more action. Over and over again.
Overall, while I enjoyed reading this, I was still left a little disappointed by this.
But, on the brighter side, next is A Little Hatred which from what I've heard is a lot better and is Joe at his best. Hoping for the best
It's so sad that this is my favorite standalone novel. While I absolutely love the original trilogy, I have felt mostly meh on the standalones. I enjoyed reading Red Country but was still left unsatisfied.
I'll try to be brief with my review for this one.
Character Work
In Shy South, Joe Abercrombie has probably written his weakest protagonist so far. There wasn't much personality to her. At least, that's what I felt. I didn't care for her much which is a shame, because say one thing for Abercrombie, say he does his character work really well. Though, not in this one.
Temple and Lamb stood out for me in this installment and drove the story for me, with Temple probably being my favorite which is another sad thing really, as he is nowhere near Abercrombie's best characters. Overall, while I still believe the character work is the thing that stood out the most in this book, it wasn't up to the standards that I have started holding Joe up to.
Plot
The Plot was another weak point for me. It left me unsatisfied so many times. It didn't follow the standard 3 part structure. Red Country felt to me as a constant cycle of waiting around and then some action, then some more waiting, and then some more action. Over and over again.
Overall, while I enjoyed reading this, I was still left a little disappointed by this.
But, on the brighter side, next is A Little Hatred which from what I've heard is a lot better and is Joe at his best. Hoping for the best
It may not be especially heroic, but it's probably the best fantasy series around. Read the other ones before this one though to get the most out of it.