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loopyduck123's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
3.75
Had to power read in time to return to the library. Kept me interested throughout
whoareyouhannah's review
2.0
I don't think that this is necessarily a bad book or that Anna Smith Spark doesn't know how to write. But I did not enjoy reading this book. When you have a story where every single character is some kind of asshole and everything is going to hell anyway, I simply stop caring. I ran into the same problem when reading "Prince of Thornes" by Mark Lawrence. While I am a big fan of grim dark fantasy, I felt that this story was so much over the top, so dark and bloody and terrible and twisted and hopeless and horrible and disgusting, going on and on with violence and murder and destruction, it kind of left me numb and uncaring. I'm not interested how things will end for any of the characters, so I'm not going to finish reading the trilogy. If you liked the book, I'm glad for you, but it's not the right story for me.
kayshiddenshelf's review
4.0
4/5 Stars
I can certainly see why Anna Smith Spark has earned the title Queen of Grimdark. The world and characters are bleak with any hope tainted by great cost and insanity.
The story is told through four POVs. Tobias a grizzled merc leading his company to Sorlost to complete a mission, Marith a dangerous man hired into Tobias’ company, Thalia a high priestess seeking more to life and Orhan a nobleman plotting to overthrow the emperor.
The first aspect that stood out to me was the prose, it’s brief, direct, and poetic. Personally, I enjoyed it and found it added beautifully to the overall tone of the story. However, I can see the prose being a “make or break” aspect for readers. Initially the prose can feel jarring but by the end of the first few chapters I become comfortable with it. An aspect that may have also helped with this for me was immersion reading the physical book and audiobook.
Meanwhile the characters did take me longer to connect with as this felt like a mix of plot and character driven storytelling. Marith and Tobias, for example, became compelling characters for me, while Orhan and Thalia lacked depth in comparison. Mind you, I could see the groundwork being laid out and I’m curious to see if this is simply the beginning for their character work and how their arcs continue in the sequel and finale.
One aspect I thoroughly enjoyed was the choices and circumstances these characters face. Gray morality is certainly present within each character impacting their choices in unforeseen ways. This in turn created twists in the plot, and the psychology of the characters were captivating. There's also themes of addiction, the meaning of living and legends which felt thoughtfully executed.
Another standout aspect was the battles, and action. Anna Smith Spark takes gruesome battles and somehow manages to capture a twisted beauty in killing and death. This was something I never anticipated but added a thrilling and unique tone to the overall story.
The pacing also felt mixed for me. The first half having a slow burn to introduce the characters, political tensions, and plotlines. While events drive the second half into a thrilling and fast paced read full of action.
Overall, this debut makes a compelling introduction to Anna Smith Sparks writing for any grimdark fantasy fan out there. It also sets the stage for what I anticipate being a new favourite series.
I look forward to continuing this trilogy and what I can only predict will be a dark and terrible journey ahead.
I can certainly see why Anna Smith Spark has earned the title Queen of Grimdark. The world and characters are bleak with any hope tainted by great cost and insanity.
The story is told through four POVs. Tobias a grizzled merc leading his company to Sorlost to complete a mission, Marith a dangerous man hired into Tobias’ company, Thalia a high priestess seeking more to life and Orhan a nobleman plotting to overthrow the emperor.
The first aspect that stood out to me was the prose, it’s brief, direct, and poetic. Personally, I enjoyed it and found it added beautifully to the overall tone of the story. However, I can see the prose being a “make or break” aspect for readers. Initially the prose can feel jarring but by the end of the first few chapters I become comfortable with it. An aspect that may have also helped with this for me was immersion reading the physical book and audiobook.
Meanwhile the characters did take me longer to connect with as this felt like a mix of plot and character driven storytelling. Marith and Tobias, for example, became compelling characters for me, while Orhan and Thalia lacked depth in comparison. Mind you, I could see the groundwork being laid out and I’m curious to see if this is simply the beginning for their character work and how their arcs continue in the sequel and finale.
One aspect I thoroughly enjoyed was the choices and circumstances these characters face. Gray morality is certainly present within each character impacting their choices in unforeseen ways. This in turn created twists in the plot, and the psychology of the characters were captivating. There's also themes of addiction, the meaning of living and legends which felt thoughtfully executed.
Another standout aspect was the battles, and action. Anna Smith Spark takes gruesome battles and somehow manages to capture a twisted beauty in killing and death. This was something I never anticipated but added a thrilling and unique tone to the overall story.
The pacing also felt mixed for me. The first half having a slow burn to introduce the characters, political tensions, and plotlines. While events drive the second half into a thrilling and fast paced read full of action.
Overall, this debut makes a compelling introduction to Anna Smith Sparks writing for any grimdark fantasy fan out there. It also sets the stage for what I anticipate being a new favourite series.
I look forward to continuing this trilogy and what I can only predict will be a dark and terrible journey ahead.
willowwraithpress's review
5.0
Brief Summary:
A company of mercenaries travel through a desert to a prosperous city to assassinate an Emperor. Among the mercs is a new recruit that shows his worth by killing a dragon, but boy oh boy, this kid has some baggage. The plan goes awry when the scheming lords out think themselves with twists galore. Elsewhere in the city, a High Priestess to a God that demands blood sacrifices grows weary from her chosen lot in life. During the attack on the Emperor, she escapes with the dragon-slaying boy and his surviving merc buddies. They set out toward his old home. Oh, not to mention, there is a metric sh*t-ton of killing in this book, blood galore.
My Thoughts:
Normally I do a breakdown of what works and what doesn't but this story seriously doesn't work for this process. There is so many things that just should flat out be wrong about this book, but, damn, it really does work. So the mold doesn't work. Doesn't work. The mold just doesn't work...
I'll be frank, the story itself isn't that particularly groundbreaking, as it hits a ton of typical notes fantasy readers love. But that isn't what makes this book special in my eyes. It's the beauty in which the story is told.
Ok, so those last three lines of the first paragraph are a poor facsimile of the biggest thing that is "different" about this book. Most fantasy books, especially grimdark, (of which this book could be categorized) are written in a particular style - world-building, info dumps, and straightforward prose, along with some fascinating characters and magic systems. Not this book. TCoBK is written like a literary poem seen popular in the Transcendental Movement of the way-back-when. Sentences in Ms. Smith Spark's book are not following grammar rules, rarely do sentences have both noun and verb, there are single sentences of emotions, and lots & lots of repetition.
It is really difficult to read at first because we are not accustomed to seeing that style within a SFF story (and most of us are not Lit Majors). But once you get into the story, (about 100 pages for me) the difficulty fades away and you start to appreciate how the beauty of the words magnify the events of the novel.
Here's an example:
Marith sat and looked at his plate and felt their eyes on him. Pity. Mockery. Disgust.
Memories came to him. Sunshine on high moorland. Gray rocks tumbling into a gray sea. Beech mast crunching beneath his horse's hooves, the light green and gold through the first new spring leaves. Men kneeling before him, women eyeing him with longing, a whole world at his feet. Gilded and pampered and lording it over everyone. Ruined and screaming and crawling blind in the dark.
Oh yes, he thought, I know what I am and what I've given up. Sometimes I even wonder why.
If that doesn't paint you a scene within a character's introspection, then nothing will. Trust me, this isn't an easy read in terms of the word magic Ms. Smith Spark brandishes expertly, but when you get to the end, you realize it was a beautiful journey you just undertook.
One thing that I thought was super wonky and shouldn't work is the use of Point of View in this book. There are four main characters - an old Gran Torino merc, a young "nobody" with strange behaviors, a High Priestess who drew the wrong lot in life, and the noble (rebel) with a cause that went awry. These characters are fun, they serve a purpose to the story (though see far below for my one major detractor of this story), but that's not the issue. The issue lies in how the rest of the story unfolds using POV in general.
First, and I really don't understand why Ms. Smith Spark would go this route, but the High Priestess character has chapters written in both close 3rd and 1st person POV. And it's the 1st person that boggles my mind. Typically I dislike 1st person, but in this story it is just weird because the High Priestess is already a 3rd person character, yet when these 1st person interludes (for lack of better word) happen, they are almost like someone reading a diary of the High Priestess' life. She goes on to explain the history of how she became the HP, what her duties are, what her emotions are to certain scenes unfolding. It makes no damned sense and I SHOULD hate it... But I didn't. It was so odd, but I actually enjoyed these interludes, they added so much to the story that I applaud their use.
Additionally, there were other interludes that shouldn't work either. We have short chapters about this God, this world-conquering God. These chapters are told from an omniscient POV. Hell, the first chapter is all about this God. We never really see this God, but we get to see the insanity and death that accompanies him. And then he goes away after the first half of the book, before you realize how this God plays into one of the character's story at the very end. So strange to think this can work. And the other oddity is the use of the same character's flashbacks to his childhood with his BFF/lover. The characters are never named (only using hair color to differentiate) but you know who they are. And the final chapter is a moment in time that nearly threatens to contradict all that happened before it.
None of this should work, but it all does. Such brave decisions made in isolation would never work, but they meld together into something great.
I would like to add the best thing about these four character POVs is that Ms. Smith Spark does an excellent job of making their voices distinct. The merc thinks and talks like a merc. His perception of events is ground in things he knows - blood, guts, swears, and coin. The young buck character has a background that would constitute him having a completely different voice, and he does. The High Priestess spent her entire life within the Temple, so she has this awe and bewilderment to her voice. And the noble is almost jaded with his life, so his thinking reflects that. What really works with these voices is that the chapters are written so differently from one another. The poetic prose mimics these characters' voices. It's perfectly done.
And the magic system - if you would call it that - isn't really all that detailed. You really have no idea what the heck is going on, but since the prose is so beautiful, you suspend belief and it works. You could care less that it makes no sense, you just love seeing it happen.
My only real gripe with the story is the noble character. Sure, I get it, his plan to assassinate this Emperor (which fails obviously) is what brings all the characters together in this story, but after the first 3rd of the book where he is this big-time player, he basically disappears for the vast majority of the book. Yeah he has chapters here and there, but they really don't do anything to serve the plot (hopefully more comes from him in the next two books). And I hate to think like this, but I almost felt his chapters were only meant to serve diversity (he has a male/male relationship). I'm all for diversity in my SFF, but this just felt added when it really didn't need to be there (the one main character also had a male/male relationship), all the noble did was shuffle papers, eat food, and have sexual relations with his man. I kept waiting for some dramatic twist to come with his character, but it never did (aside from the most weakest attempt on his life ever), so it was a letdown (again, hoping more from him in book 2). But I still didn't dislike his character at all, it was just like a simmer on the stove waiting for him to become a bigger role in the story.
Rating:
5 out of 5.
The Court of Broken Knives isn't perfect by any means, but I'd be hard pressed to say that I didn't love this story. I can't wait to dive back into this world Ms. Smith Spark created. It's not a book everyone will enjoy, but if you like the art of storytelling, then you need to give this book a read.
A company of mercenaries travel through a desert to a prosperous city to assassinate an Emperor. Among the mercs is a new recruit that shows his worth by killing a dragon, but boy oh boy, this kid has some baggage. The plan goes awry when the scheming lords out think themselves with twists galore. Elsewhere in the city, a High Priestess to a God that demands blood sacrifices grows weary from her chosen lot in life. During the attack on the Emperor, she escapes with the dragon-slaying boy and his surviving merc buddies. They set out toward his old home. Oh, not to mention, there is a metric sh*t-ton of killing in this book, blood galore.
My Thoughts:
Normally I do a breakdown of what works and what doesn't but this story seriously doesn't work for this process. There is so many things that just should flat out be wrong about this book, but, damn, it really does work. So the mold doesn't work. Doesn't work. The mold just doesn't work...
I'll be frank, the story itself isn't that particularly groundbreaking, as it hits a ton of typical notes fantasy readers love. But that isn't what makes this book special in my eyes. It's the beauty in which the story is told.
Ok, so those last three lines of the first paragraph are a poor facsimile of the biggest thing that is "different" about this book. Most fantasy books, especially grimdark, (of which this book could be categorized) are written in a particular style - world-building, info dumps, and straightforward prose, along with some fascinating characters and magic systems. Not this book. TCoBK is written like a literary poem seen popular in the Transcendental Movement of the way-back-when. Sentences in Ms. Smith Spark's book are not following grammar rules, rarely do sentences have both noun and verb, there are single sentences of emotions, and lots & lots of repetition.
It is really difficult to read at first because we are not accustomed to seeing that style within a SFF story (and most of us are not Lit Majors). But once you get into the story, (about 100 pages for me) the difficulty fades away and you start to appreciate how the beauty of the words magnify the events of the novel.
Here's an example:
Marith sat and looked at his plate and felt their eyes on him. Pity. Mockery. Disgust.
Memories came to him. Sunshine on high moorland. Gray rocks tumbling into a gray sea. Beech mast crunching beneath his horse's hooves, the light green and gold through the first new spring leaves. Men kneeling before him, women eyeing him with longing, a whole world at his feet. Gilded and pampered and lording it over everyone. Ruined and screaming and crawling blind in the dark.
Oh yes, he thought, I know what I am and what I've given up. Sometimes I even wonder why.
If that doesn't paint you a scene within a character's introspection, then nothing will. Trust me, this isn't an easy read in terms of the word magic Ms. Smith Spark brandishes expertly, but when you get to the end, you realize it was a beautiful journey you just undertook.
One thing that I thought was super wonky and shouldn't work is the use of Point of View in this book. There are four main characters - an old Gran Torino merc, a young "nobody" with strange behaviors, a High Priestess who drew the wrong lot in life, and the noble (rebel) with a cause that went awry. These characters are fun, they serve a purpose to the story (though see far below for my one major detractor of this story), but that's not the issue. The issue lies in how the rest of the story unfolds using POV in general.
First, and I really don't understand why Ms. Smith Spark would go this route, but the High Priestess character has chapters written in both close 3rd and 1st person POV. And it's the 1st person that boggles my mind. Typically I dislike 1st person, but in this story it is just weird because the High Priestess is already a 3rd person character, yet when these 1st person interludes (for lack of better word) happen, they are almost like someone reading a diary of the High Priestess' life. She goes on to explain the history of how she became the HP, what her duties are, what her emotions are to certain scenes unfolding. It makes no damned sense and I SHOULD hate it... But I didn't. It was so odd, but I actually enjoyed these interludes, they added so much to the story that I applaud their use.
Additionally, there were other interludes that shouldn't work either. We have short chapters about this God, this world-conquering God. These chapters are told from an omniscient POV. Hell, the first chapter is all about this God. We never really see this God, but we get to see the insanity and death that accompanies him. And then he goes away after the first half of the book, before you realize how this God plays into one of the character's story at the very end. So strange to think this can work. And the other oddity is the use of the same character's flashbacks to his childhood with his BFF/lover. The characters are never named (only using hair color to differentiate) but you know who they are. And the final chapter is a moment in time that nearly threatens to contradict all that happened before it.
None of this should work, but it all does. Such brave decisions made in isolation would never work, but they meld together into something great.
I would like to add the best thing about these four character POVs is that Ms. Smith Spark does an excellent job of making their voices distinct. The merc thinks and talks like a merc. His perception of events is ground in things he knows - blood, guts, swears, and coin. The young buck character has a background that would constitute him having a completely different voice, and he does. The High Priestess spent her entire life within the Temple, so she has this awe and bewilderment to her voice. And the noble is almost jaded with his life, so his thinking reflects that. What really works with these voices is that the chapters are written so differently from one another. The poetic prose mimics these characters' voices. It's perfectly done.
And the magic system - if you would call it that - isn't really all that detailed. You really have no idea what the heck is going on, but since the prose is so beautiful, you suspend belief and it works. You could care less that it makes no sense, you just love seeing it happen.
My only real gripe with the story is the noble character. Sure, I get it, his plan to assassinate this Emperor (which fails obviously) is what brings all the characters together in this story, but after the first 3rd of the book where he is this big-time player, he basically disappears for the vast majority of the book. Yeah he has chapters here and there, but they really don't do anything to serve the plot (hopefully more comes from him in the next two books). And I hate to think like this, but I almost felt his chapters were only meant to serve diversity (he has a male/male relationship). I'm all for diversity in my SFF, but this just felt added when it really didn't need to be there (the one main character also had a male/male relationship), all the noble did was shuffle papers, eat food, and have sexual relations with his man. I kept waiting for some dramatic twist to come with his character, but it never did (aside from the most weakest attempt on his life ever), so it was a letdown (again, hoping more from him in book 2). But I still didn't dislike his character at all, it was just like a simmer on the stove waiting for him to become a bigger role in the story.
Rating:
5 out of 5.
The Court of Broken Knives isn't perfect by any means, but I'd be hard pressed to say that I didn't love this story. I can't wait to dive back into this world Ms. Smith Spark created. It's not a book everyone will enjoy, but if you like the art of storytelling, then you need to give this book a read.
readtheblurb's review
4.0
“Kill! Kill! Kill!”
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to love a villain? A beautiful, cruel, yet charismatic villain? Or maybe you’re just sick of reading about the good guys? A Court of Broken Knives definitely hits those spots. Set in a medieval fantasy world, the story is as Grimdark as it gets and I love Grimdark, but even I had to double take on a few pages. The world is bleak, cruel and harsh, with little room for the weak and unwilling. Yet at times there are faint rays of hope…albeit rarely. The story follows Marith, an enigmatic, charismatic young man making his way with a company of mercenaries. At first this book started out like your typical mercenary band of hooligans, contracted to kill an emperor heist style. However, we quickly find out that there is something special about Marith, who has left behind a dark history, shrouded in mystery (too much at times), but most definitely destined for great things.
Throughout the first half of the book we are introduced to a few other key characters, including Orhan a noble of Sorlost, Thalia a priestess of the Tower of Living and Dying and Tobias, leader of a group of mercenaries. Events quickly move forward and it becomes clear that Marith is at the centre of most of them. The characters in A Court of Broken Knives are one of the main reasons I loved this book. The characters, although unique, were not actually good people, but rather selfish, horrible humans looking out only for themselves, but at the same time trying their best to survive in a very bleak dog eat dog world. So again if you’re interested in reading a rather villainous story then this is perfect! Each of these characters brought an interesting addition to the story. Orhan’s chapters focused largely on the political intrigue and problems of Sorlost. Thalia’s arc focused largely on a girl raised to be one thing and nothing else – almost like a mini story of tragic survival. Tobias’ arc felt more like a heist story. What was great about each of these characters and the way they were written was how much they developed throughout the story.
This brings me shortly to the plot, which for me was the weakest part. It sets the scene for an interesting world with a lot of tragic history, but unfortunately it didn’t feel like there was a larger picture, just many smaller ones that converge on each other – in other words many sub plots centred around the aforementioned characters. But please, don’t let this put you off, the characters themselves were more than strong enough to carry this story and establish it as a unique Grimdark novel.
“Knives. Knives everywhere. Coming down like rain”
The writing in A Court of Broken Knives was excellent, yet definitely took some getting used too, due to its very literal and descriptive nature, and for some this might hinder their enjoyment. Despite an initial hurdle of getting used to the writing, it just worked. It really just did. I’m also not usually a fan of changes in POV, but again it just worked in this book. The literal, hectic and visceral writing style painted some of the most vivid images I have experienced when reading. Yes there were a lot of repetitions, but it worked as an almost fever dream like experience to paint a picture of how broken and dark this world really is.
I couldn’t recommend this book highly enough to fans of Grimdark and even die hard fans of Grimdark will find some shocks in this fantastic book…
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to love a villain? A beautiful, cruel, yet charismatic villain? Or maybe you’re just sick of reading about the good guys? A Court of Broken Knives definitely hits those spots. Set in a medieval fantasy world, the story is as Grimdark as it gets and I love Grimdark, but even I had to double take on a few pages. The world is bleak, cruel and harsh, with little room for the weak and unwilling. Yet at times there are faint rays of hope…albeit rarely. The story follows Marith, an enigmatic, charismatic young man making his way with a company of mercenaries. At first this book started out like your typical mercenary band of hooligans, contracted to kill an emperor heist style. However, we quickly find out that there is something special about Marith, who has left behind a dark history, shrouded in mystery (too much at times), but most definitely destined for great things.
Throughout the first half of the book we are introduced to a few other key characters, including Orhan a noble of Sorlost, Thalia a priestess of the Tower of Living and Dying and Tobias, leader of a group of mercenaries. Events quickly move forward and it becomes clear that Marith is at the centre of most of them. The characters in A Court of Broken Knives are one of the main reasons I loved this book. The characters, although unique, were not actually good people, but rather selfish, horrible humans looking out only for themselves, but at the same time trying their best to survive in a very bleak dog eat dog world. So again if you’re interested in reading a rather villainous story then this is perfect! Each of these characters brought an interesting addition to the story. Orhan’s chapters focused largely on the political intrigue and problems of Sorlost. Thalia’s arc focused largely on a girl raised to be one thing and nothing else – almost like a mini story of tragic survival. Tobias’ arc felt more like a heist story. What was great about each of these characters and the way they were written was how much they developed throughout the story.
This brings me shortly to the plot, which for me was the weakest part. It sets the scene for an interesting world with a lot of tragic history, but unfortunately it didn’t feel like there was a larger picture, just many smaller ones that converge on each other – in other words many sub plots centred around the aforementioned characters. But please, don’t let this put you off, the characters themselves were more than strong enough to carry this story and establish it as a unique Grimdark novel.
“Knives. Knives everywhere. Coming down like rain”
The writing in A Court of Broken Knives was excellent, yet definitely took some getting used too, due to its very literal and descriptive nature, and for some this might hinder their enjoyment. Despite an initial hurdle of getting used to the writing, it just worked. It really just did. I’m also not usually a fan of changes in POV, but again it just worked in this book. The literal, hectic and visceral writing style painted some of the most vivid images I have experienced when reading. Yes there were a lot of repetitions, but it worked as an almost fever dream like experience to paint a picture of how broken and dark this world really is.
I couldn’t recommend this book highly enough to fans of Grimdark and even die hard fans of Grimdark will find some shocks in this fantastic book…
tintendrache's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
sonice's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. Though it’s not perfect, I enjoyed this quite a lot… which I guess says something about me as a person. This was one of the grimdarkiest grimdarks I’ve ever read.
I can’t overstate how much I loved the writing. It’s not flowery, or ‘purple’, but sort of…clipped, like the way a person would think these things rather than say them out loud. It felt so authentic, so visceral. I can’t remember the last time I read something and was so regularly thinking to myself, “man – what a good line” or “holy, that paragraph tho”. It’s the way it fits with the subject matter, and the terrible nasty despicable shit she’s writing about. Dark dark stuff, but not just for the sake of dark, either; she told an entertaining story here as well, and the tone fit the plot perfectly. It even manages to be humorous at times. But good lord; graphic, shocking, brutal. Makes Joe Abercrombie look like he’s telling children’s bedtime stories.
There were issues that kept it from being a perfect read. A couple of very minor plot conveniences that felt a bit off: two characters get together way too fast, for example, which at the time and given the circumstances was a little hard to believe. A certain character with a terrible drug addiction seems to be able to function somewhat normally when it’s needed, while most of the time he’s a pants-pissing mess who can’t control his emotions or bodily functions. Additionally, there are parts of the plot that didn’t end up amounting to much, although this isn’t really a plot driven book to begin with. Thankfully these issues didn’t hinder my enjoyment much.
So clearly, this isn’t the type of book that’s going to work for everyone. This is very much a character focused story, and the characters - while being interesting and pretty well written - are terrible, terrible people. The world is horrible and hopeless. The story being told is not exactly family friendly. If you aren’t someone who likes (or can stomach) stuff like ‘Prince of Nothing’ or ‘Berserk’, you’re going to have a bad time. This is for people who thought Jorg Ancrath was maybe a little too reasonable, or that Vlad the Impaler was merely conducting practical research into an alternative to straw-based scarecrows. If that sounds like you (you weirdo) then grab this when you can - and get ready to need a hug.
I can’t overstate how much I loved the writing. It’s not flowery, or ‘purple’, but sort of…clipped, like the way a person would think these things rather than say them out loud. It felt so authentic, so visceral. I can’t remember the last time I read something and was so regularly thinking to myself, “man – what a good line” or “holy, that paragraph tho”. It’s the way it fits with the subject matter, and the terrible nasty despicable shit she’s writing about. Dark dark stuff, but not just for the sake of dark, either; she told an entertaining story here as well, and the tone fit the plot perfectly. It even manages to be humorous at times. But good lord; graphic, shocking, brutal. Makes Joe Abercrombie look like he’s telling children’s bedtime stories.
There were issues that kept it from being a perfect read. A couple of very minor plot conveniences that felt a bit off: two characters get together way too fast, for example, which at the time and given the circumstances was a little hard to believe. A certain character with a terrible drug addiction seems to be able to function somewhat normally when it’s needed, while most of the time he’s a pants-pissing mess who can’t control his emotions or bodily functions. Additionally, there are parts of the plot that didn’t end up amounting to much, although this isn’t really a plot driven book to begin with. Thankfully these issues didn’t hinder my enjoyment much.
So clearly, this isn’t the type of book that’s going to work for everyone. This is very much a character focused story, and the characters - while being interesting and pretty well written - are terrible, terrible people. The world is horrible and hopeless. The story being told is not exactly family friendly. If you aren’t someone who likes (or can stomach) stuff like ‘Prince of Nothing’ or ‘Berserk’, you’re going to have a bad time. This is for people who thought Jorg Ancrath was maybe a little too reasonable, or that Vlad the Impaler was merely conducting practical research into an alternative to straw-based scarecrows. If that sounds like you (you weirdo) then grab this when you can - and get ready to need a hug.
charlmax's review
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
ferly_ree's review
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
phantom_25's review
3.0
It wasn't bad, but also didn't feel extraordinary. Missed some "juice" and solidness in some parts, but other than that, I liked it. Feels like a good book to buddy read and even do a reread. It was fun, all in all.