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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
Loved it
A great new voice in the field of fantasy writing. A dark and twisted joy to read found it highly enjoyable to read from start to finish
A great new voice in the field of fantasy writing. A dark and twisted joy to read found it highly enjoyable to read from start to finish
A good story, a good 'hero' and an immediacy to the telling.
The twist, sadly, I saw early on, but the pace carries you through to the end!
The twist, sadly, I saw early on, but the pace carries you through to the end!
2.5 stars - read about 80 pages, did not really interest me enough to read further.
Excellent. Funny. Noir. And unexpectedly moving in parts. Can't wait to get the next two.
Mini-Review:
3.5 Stars
If I had to describe the book with two words, it would be atmospheric & colorful. The author did a great job of creating a grim setting and many different shades of ill fortune, drugs & violence. The small moments of kindness, joy and caring stand out in sharp contrast.
This was a story where I enjoyed the journey more than the end. I felt the ending was a too short and not well fleshed out for all that happened before it. I like Warden and wish he wasn't so broken. It doesn't seem as though the world and experiences have broken him as much as he has shattered himself into conflicting shards that will no longer fit together.
3.5 Stars
If I had to describe the book with two words, it would be atmospheric & colorful. The author did a great job of creating a grim setting and many different shades of ill fortune, drugs & violence. The small moments of kindness, joy and caring stand out in sharp contrast.
This was a story where I enjoyed the journey more than the end. I felt the ending was a too short and not well fleshed out for all that happened before it. I like Warden and wish he wasn't so broken. It doesn't seem as though the world and experiences have broken him as much as he has shattered himself into conflicting shards that will no longer fit together.
Superb debut. "Noir fantasy" would make you think of the modern settings with magic genre, but that's not it. It's what's going on in the seamy underground of a relatively straight, if dark fantasy setting. Perhaps more into the pre-Enlightenment era rather than the faux medieval that's standard, as people wear suits of some kind and there are artillery pieces (but not personal firearms). The protagonist's background suggests a war similar to World War I, complete with trench warfare.
Using noir-inflected language carries a strong risk of accidentally satirizing yourself. Polansky deftly avoids it, reminding me of Lew Archer's self-deprecating, but never silly, reflections as the first-person narrator. Warden is no classic good guy--he's an ex-cop turned drug dealer--but does fill a classic role as someone who almost never talks about doing good, but does it seemingly against his "better" (or at least, more self-interested) judgment.
The novel also avoids off-putting "grittiness" I find in a lot of fantasy attempts these days. The world is indeed nasty and uncaring in a lot of ways, but the police figures aren't all evil, and there is a believable sense of community to the underworld that is Low Town. They exist at the margins, but no one scoffs and sneers at the murder of children, and we get to see the uncertainty and pain of a tight-knit community reacting to inhuman horror. Rather than wallowing in it, this humanizes the characters.
On top of that, it's a ripping good read. I could criticize the ending a little--it wraps up rather too fast for such a breakneck surprise--but with all the rest of the strengths, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants some fantasy with a different outlook.
Using noir-inflected language carries a strong risk of accidentally satirizing yourself. Polansky deftly avoids it, reminding me of Lew Archer's self-deprecating, but never silly, reflections as the first-person narrator. Warden is no classic good guy--he's an ex-cop turned drug dealer--but does fill a classic role as someone who almost never talks about doing good, but does it seemingly against his "better" (or at least, more self-interested) judgment.
The novel also avoids off-putting "grittiness" I find in a lot of fantasy attempts these days. The world is indeed nasty and uncaring in a lot of ways, but the police figures aren't all evil, and there is a believable sense of community to the underworld that is Low Town. They exist at the margins, but no one scoffs and sneers at the murder of children, and we get to see the uncertainty and pain of a tight-knit community reacting to inhuman horror. Rather than wallowing in it, this humanizes the characters.
On top of that, it's a ripping good read. I could criticize the ending a little--it wraps up rather too fast for such a breakneck surprise--but with all the rest of the strengths, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants some fantasy with a different outlook.
This is so close to being really excellent that I'm possibly more disposed to be harsh on its flaws. It was occasionally a magnificent exercise in language (from the arch-Confucian slanging matches to the pithy reflections) but occasionally merely good. It's a charmingly complex and historied world, but a somewhat same-old urban setting. The Chinese-based race teetered alarmingly on the verge of racefail now and then; I'm quite uncomfortable with some of the decisions made there. But our "hero" is convincingly part of a really gritty underworld in a way that far too often thief-heroes aren't.
Overall, I feel like it was quite a short, sharp and simple story; done very well, but I would have really loved some complexity, complication, extrapolation... MORE. I'm really just terribly demanding.
Overall, I feel like it was quite a short, sharp and simple story; done very well, but I would have really loved some complexity, complication, extrapolation... MORE. I'm really just terribly demanding.
I grew up in the country. Yup...a rural boy. I can't even count how many times I would be ripping down the gravel roads on my BMX and end up flipping over the handlebars, scraping my flesh across all the loose rock and stones. Those dirt rashes were always the worst.
So many times I would come rushing home a bloody mess, a big grin on my face, and hoping my mom wouldn't smack me upside the head for being an idiot while she tenderly dressed and cleaned my wounds.
No matter how much blood, no matter the size of the cuts, mom always made it better.
Which is good - cuz I did a lot of stupid shit while I was growing up.
That's what this book made me feel.
It's a dirty, dangerous, gravel road. But I'll be damned if I wasn't grinning from ear to ear as I turned those pages.
So many times I would come rushing home a bloody mess, a big grin on my face, and hoping my mom wouldn't smack me upside the head for being an idiot while she tenderly dressed and cleaned my wounds.
No matter how much blood, no matter the size of the cuts, mom always made it better.
Which is good - cuz I did a lot of stupid shit while I was growing up.
That's what this book made me feel.
It's a dirty, dangerous, gravel road. But I'll be damned if I wasn't grinning from ear to ear as I turned those pages.
There is a lot to like here, especially the very scarred and grimdark main character, 'the Warden'.
The story focusses mainly on the main character but has a nice, but small, cast of interesting side characters. Top it off with a nice surprising ending and I'm satisfied.
I'd also like to mention the excellent narration by Rob Shapiro. It's a real shame that the second book doesn't have an audiobook version though. [edit: There now is an audiobook!]
The story focusses mainly on the main character but has a nice, but small, cast of interesting side characters. Top it off with a nice surprising ending and I'm satisfied.
I'd also like to mention the excellent narration by Rob Shapiro. It's a real shame that the second book doesn't have an audiobook version though. [edit: There now is an audiobook!]