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subplotkudzu's review
3.0
Another Ethshar book, another mundane fantasy as only Watt-Evans writes. This one is more frustrating than the prior two, because while it shares the tone and elements of the other book the second act is fully of really interesting stuff - a clever cast of misfit magicians with an untrained warlord running a guerrilla war - to which the first act has built towards nicely, the third act changes gears in ways that I don't want to spoil, but not only is the solution obvious, the protagonist knows it, and it is just a waiting game. So we spend a third of the book watching events in which our protagonist has little control, waiting for the ending he knows will occur. It's a real let down, and I wanted the second act to go on a lot longer. I almost gave this two stars, but the strong second act kept it up to the three star level.
(In some ways this is like Pratchett's _Pyramids_, where the back half of the book is so much less interesting than the front half...)
(In some ways this is like Pratchett's _Pyramids_, where the back half of the book is so much less interesting than the front half...)
eric_w_burns's review
5.0
[Rating: 4.5/5.0]
Of the three Watt-Evans novels I've read so far, I like this one the best. As with the other two novels he eschews perfect plot structure for a meandering biography-like story that has a wonderful organic verisimilitude to it. The story involves a long lost descendant of a noble being kidnapped by the country of his nobility and being told that he is their hereditary Warlord now. It's a fun premise. There are two big status quo changes that happen in the story that really work for me. As always from Watt-Evans, the world building is great. All of the novels in this series are self contained complete stories so this would be a fine jumping on point.
Of the three Watt-Evans novels I've read so far, I like this one the best. As with the other two novels he eschews perfect plot structure for a meandering biography-like story that has a wonderful organic verisimilitude to it. The story involves a long lost descendant of a noble being kidnapped by the country of his nobility and being told that he is their hereditary Warlord now. It's a fun premise. There are two big status quo changes that happen in the story that really work for me. As always from Watt-Evans, the world building is great. All of the novels in this series are self contained complete stories so this would be a fine jumping on point.
bubleebu's review
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lawrence watt evans excelles at the art of making up a guy and putting him in situations. sterren's development through the story is very well paced and manifests well in the way the book is narrated. the book is consistently hilarious both in the situations that happen and in the internal monologue of sterren, trying to save his ass. vond is a ridiculously good character. extremley sympathetic and his arc is magnificent. btw he and sterren definitely had some gay shit going on. some doomed-by-the-narrative yaoi shit. i see you larry. send tweet
thopolok's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
edict's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
see_sadie_read's review against another edition
3.0
This is one of those books that I've had on my shelf so long that I don't even know where it came from. I also didn't know it was third in a series when I picked it up to read. Maybe I was missing some things, but it seemed like I was able to follow it without problem. And it was amusing. It's basically about a guy who finds himself in a series of ridiculous situations and finds his way out of them. The problem was that even though I chuckled regularly, I never found myself overly interested in it. It never quite reached the point of exciting. So, I basically thought it was ok.
vaderbird's review
4.0
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
arswearingen's review against another edition
4.0
This was a very entertaining read. I really liked how the main character was a pretty ordinary guy who just made the best of his situation. Enough fantasy elements to be interesting and not too much to be irritating or confusing.
see_sadie_read's review against another edition
3.0
This is one of those books that I've had on my shelf so long that I don't even know where it came from. I also didn't know it was third in a series when I picked it up to read. Maybe I was missing some things, but it seemed like I was able to follow it without problem. And it was amusing. It's basically about a guy who finds himself in a series of ridiculous situations and finds his way out of them. The problem was that even though I chuckled regularly, I never found myself overly interested in it. It never quite reached the point of exciting. So, I basically thought it was ok.