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garrettcz's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Simply incredible. Mesmerizing storytelling. This book stole its way into my top ten books of all time.
I laughed so much. I cried a couple times. I laughed so hard I cried a couple times. I loved every second.
If you like the gritty, wildly lifelike, morally grey characters of The Blade Itself, this book is for you.
If you like the unscrupulously incorrigible devilry of The Lies of Locke Lamora, this book is for you.
If you liked the mystery as well as a wonderfully built out magical world that organically unfolds as the story progresses of The Black Company, this book is for you.
If you like the banter and camaraderie of The Riyria Revelations, this book is for you.
Treat yourself.
This author is now an instant-buy author for me. No hesitation.
I laughed so much. I cried a couple times. I laughed so hard I cried a couple times. I loved every second.
If you like the gritty, wildly lifelike, morally grey characters of The Blade Itself, this book is for you.
If you like the unscrupulously incorrigible devilry of The Lies of Locke Lamora, this book is for you.
If you liked the mystery as well as a wonderfully built out magical world that organically unfolds as the story progresses of The Black Company, this book is for you.
If you like the banter and camaraderie of The Riyria Revelations, this book is for you.
Treat yourself.
This author is now an instant-buy author for me. No hesitation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Alcohol, Bullying, Gore, Violence, Vomit, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Excrement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and War
Moderate: Sexual content, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Violence, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, War, Body horror, Classism, Alcohol, Blood, and Gore
Minor: Abandonment, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture
violerwolf's review
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I really wanted to like this book, so I gave it a shot despite the mixed reviews I'd seen. Unfortunately, this book is deeply mediocre. The book bills itself, through both the cover art and the summary, on the relationship between the thief main character and Galva, the griseled knight character. Their interactions end up being very limited and with little depth. The author repeats the same (very basic) worldbuilding facts over and over again, despite them having little relevance to the story, as if they expect the audience to not understand. The "realism" of the book is as gritty as an episode of Spongebob, humor and all. I must assume that the grittiness reviewers mention comes in the form of middle-school level jokes about literal shit and sex. I don't think any of these things are necessarily bad, but the reviews I've seen of this book have pitched it as something very concerned with the realities of a fantasy world, and the only reality the book is actually concerned with is the main character's horniness. What a shame, because I think a lot of the world building and the characters (specifically Galva) could've had fantastic depth and told an incredibly dynamic story. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. If you're looking for generic fantasy with a rogue that has the libido, charm, and humor of a pubescent teen, this may be for you.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Body shaming, Colonisation, Sexual content, Torture, War, Xenophobia, Violence, Cursing, Alcohol, Death, and Excrement
Minor: Animal cruelty, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Misogyny, Animal death, Blood, and Sexism
Typical fantasy racism present throughout novel. One brief scene toward end of novel involving potential sexual assault, whereinbigtreble's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This worldbuilding is incredible. The irreverent narrator hit my personal sweet spot, but I can see the potential to be grating.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
antifuchs's review
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Murder, Gore, and War
Minor: Sexual assault
boglord's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, War, Violence, Torture, Body horror, Murder, and Sexual content
Moderate: Vomit, Cursing, Trafficking, Confinement, Blood, Alcohol, Animal death, Death, and Infertility
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Cannibalism, Grief, Genocide, Fatphobia, Excrement, and Sexual violence
catsy2022's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Rating: A
I didn't even write my review before I returned the damn book... I really enjoyed this one, the writing was very digestible, the world was so richly developed and the characters were endearing.
This is my first book by this author but I've heard good things about Between Two Fires as well, which I also have.
Kinch na Shannack is a thief trained by the Takers' Guild but unable to pay them for the cost of training (kpop trainee company much), so now is indebted to them. One day he and his gang choose a mark, an Ispanthian soldier who surely and promptly knocks the shit out of them and spares Kinch. He is then tasked with going on the journey with the Spanth by the guild, with an assassin-adept sent to encourage him. Along the way they also pick up some other companions.
This was a really fast-paced book, NGL. Something is always happening and it doesn't exactly feel like a waste of pages. I felt like it did really serve to build more of the world and to develop the characters. In what could have been another generic fantasy novel, there are so many unique elements that drew me in.
In the backstory of this world, humanity has been at war with the goblins for literally decades. Some nations have an uneasy truce with the goblins, who tend to live underground in big warrens, yet also can take to the sea. They remind me a bit of what darkspawn came to be in Dragon Age. In the war, horses were almost completely massacred but mostly died to a sickness (which is a bit like mad cow disease AFAIK).
There are a few words here and there in the various languages and some helpful explanations of what accents sound like. There are tonnes of poems and songs and some mystery around the pantheon of gods.
I was reading this book alongside another one about a sneaky dude, so I did get a bit confused between the two, but this does stand out as its own thing. The comedian thief has almost been done to death but Kinch has such a rich perspective with his backstory and culture giving him a funny voice. I did like the small parts where characters react to him, especially when he laughs about something he's thinking of and they all look at him like he's insane.
I seriously loved the world building in this. The first few pages have a map, calendar and year cycle to give context to the passage of time. The magic system was so so interesting with several different sub-schools and capabilities.
If there was something to criticise, the book happened to just be full of conveniences. The characters find a bunch if items and clues that are practically all utilised once in the story so you can pretty much tick off each item as coming up. Even some big mysteries from the past are solved in this book, like we are doing side quests and they play into a bigger picture...but like immediately.
Isn't that lucky? Some of the jokes didn't quite land for me and even though I like songs, we will never hear then despite the sheer number of them...
Still it seems this book will definitely scale up. I'm in for the sequel/s
I didn't even write my review before I returned the damn book... I really enjoyed this one, the writing was very digestible, the world was so richly developed and the characters were endearing.
This is my first book by this author but I've heard good things about Between Two Fires as well, which I also have.
Kinch na Shannack is a thief trained by the Takers' Guild but unable to pay them for the cost of training (kpop trainee company much), so now is indebted to them. One day he and his gang choose a mark, an Ispanthian soldier who surely and promptly knocks the shit out of them and spares Kinch. He is then tasked with going on the journey with the Spanth by the guild, with an assassin-adept sent to encourage him. Along the way they also pick up some other companions.
This was a really fast-paced book, NGL. Something is always happening and it doesn't exactly feel like a waste of pages. I felt like it did really serve to build more of the world and to develop the characters. In what could have been another generic fantasy novel, there are so many unique elements that drew me in.
In the backstory of this world, humanity has been at war with the goblins for literally decades. Some nations have an uneasy truce with the goblins, who tend to live underground in big warrens, yet also can take to the sea. They remind me a bit of what darkspawn came to be in Dragon Age. In the war, horses were almost completely massacred but mostly died to a sickness (which is a bit like mad cow disease AFAIK).
There are a few words here and there in the various languages and some helpful explanations of what accents sound like. There are tonnes of poems and songs and some mystery around the pantheon of gods.
I was reading this book alongside another one about a sneaky dude, so I did get a bit confused between the two, but this does stand out as its own thing. The comedian thief has almost been done to death but Kinch has such a rich perspective with his backstory and culture giving him a funny voice. I did like the small parts where characters react to him, especially when he laughs about something he's thinking of and they all look at him like he's insane.
I seriously loved the world building in this. The first few pages have a map, calendar and year cycle to give context to the passage of time. The magic system was so so interesting with several different sub-schools and capabilities.
Isn't that lucky? Some of the jokes didn't quite land for me and even though I like songs, we will never hear then despite the sheer number of them...
Still it seems this book will definitely scale up. I'm in for the sequel/s
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Torture and Vomit
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
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