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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
What a great book! If you are into military, flintlock fantasy, this is for you! I myself was a bit skeptical once the story started involving strategies, military formations, etc, but I just couldn't stop reading it. Everytime I thought I had had enough of the military strategies, something would happen with a character, or a new event would occur that I had not expected. Definitely wanting to read the next book in this series.
Wexler did a wonderful job in descriptions of battles, that he seems to be pretty knowledgeable about military strategies. His characters were well developed, the writing style easy to read.
Wexler did a wonderful job in descriptions of battles, that he seems to be pretty knowledgeable about military strategies. His characters were well developed, the writing style easy to read.
Wow! This one had been sitting on my to-read shelf for ages and I finally had to give it a go. To be honest, this fit me like an old pair of jeans mainly due to my interest into history and military strategy. Mr. Wexler does a phenomenal job of bringing the 'campaigns' of the past to light with great action, cool change-ups, and an innate sense of mystery regarding his 'magic' system. I was really impressed by this book and look forward to the next installments!
adventurous
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
I really enjoyed this book. The writing was good and the plot pacing felt great. I also generally liked the characters and the world that Django built for them to inhabit.
I like that Wexler has some unusual protagonists; such as Winter - a woman hiding as a man in the Army. Her situation provides for some interesting dynamics with the other characters. I also like the fact that, for the most part, people are achieving their objectives through the use of sound strategy and not magical intervention.
There are a lot of interesting bits and pieces of the world still to explore, discover, and understand in future volumes but this one did a good job of telling the story it set out to tell.
I've already bought the second book in the series and begun reading it.
I like that Wexler has some unusual protagonists; such as Winter - a woman hiding as a man in the Army. Her situation provides for some interesting dynamics with the other characters. I also like the fact that, for the most part, people are achieving their objectives through the use of sound strategy and not magical intervention.
Spoiler
However, the military campaign featured in the novel seemed far too easy. I had hoped for better tactics by the "enemy"There are a lot of interesting bits and pieces of the world still to explore, discover, and understand in future volumes but this one did a good job of telling the story it set out to tell.
I've already bought the second book in the series and begun reading it.
Excellent debut novel Mr Wexler! On the strength of a very positive review, I picked this up and have enjoyed it cover to cover. The novel is one of a growing genre called flintlock fantasies...where a mix of magic and low tech guns is prevalent. The magic in this novel is very low key at first, only building in. The last quarter of the story. It is handled very effectively, as is everything else the author does here.
The story is told primarily form three points of view. All are members of an Army set in a hostile land away from home. Winter, a private, is the first POV character. His tale builds fairly steadily from early on.. The second is Marcus, a Captain in the. Army. He is competent and trustworthy. The last is Janus, newly appointed Colonel who doesn't initially understand the shape his mix of raw recruits and veteran colonials are in. With the former, they never learned how to soldier, with the later, in many ways, they have forgotten how to do it the right way.
Against them, the indegineous people's rise up todo battle, and Wexler does an outstanding job of bringing his battle scenes to life. This tale, at least early on, will almost come across with a bit of Richard Sharpe / napoleonic feel to it. But as the story unwinds, the ulterior motives of several characters as well as the machinations and politics will influence decisions and story on some unexpected but very interesting ways.
Bottom line...this may be the best book I have read this year! Aim thrilled to have read it and chomping at the bit to read book 2.
The story is told primarily form three points of view. All are members of an Army set in a hostile land away from home. Winter, a private, is the first POV character. His tale builds fairly steadily from early on.. The second is Marcus, a Captain in the. Army. He is competent and trustworthy. The last is Janus, newly appointed Colonel who doesn't initially understand the shape his mix of raw recruits and veteran colonials are in. With the former, they never learned how to soldier, with the later, in many ways, they have forgotten how to do it the right way.
Against them, the indegineous people's rise up todo battle, and Wexler does an outstanding job of bringing his battle scenes to life. This tale, at least early on, will almost come across with a bit of Richard Sharpe / napoleonic feel to it. But as the story unwinds, the ulterior motives of several characters as well as the machinations and politics will influence decisions and story on some unexpected but very interesting ways.
Bottom line...this may be the best book I have read this year! Aim thrilled to have read it and chomping at the bit to read book 2.
I finally finished. Finally. Had I not purchased the Audible edition, I probably would have lemmed it. I never thought that battle scenes could be tedious and dull, yet here they were. Every time that I found myself drawn into the narrative of the main characters, it seemed like the story would fall into the mire of marching and conflict.
I would have much preferred if some of military saga had been cut out in favor of the magical world building and story of Winter. I liked Marcus, too, but his tale was less compelling. As I type this, I am struck by how opposite my comments are from my usual opinions. I have often thought (and typed), "less talky, talky, more stabby, stabby."
Bottom line, this one was not for me.
I would have much preferred if some of military saga had been cut out in favor of the magical world building and story of Winter. I liked Marcus, too, but his tale was less compelling. As I type this, I am struck by how opposite my comments are from my usual opinions. I have often thought (and typed), "less talky, talky, more stabby, stabby."
Bottom line, this one was not for me.
War is raging between the Vordanai Empire and the Khandar; a rebelling colony led by a religious group known as the Redeemers. Into this fray (after a prologue, natch) we follow two characters; soldiers, who are embroiled in the military campaign. The first in Django Wexler’s The Shadow Campaigns, The Thousand Names is a military fantasy novel cut from a different swath of cloth. It involves guns and magic, falling into what has now come to be known as Flintlock Fantasy. The story is told primarily from the point of view of two soldiers: Marcus d’Ivoire and Winter Ihrenglass and their experiences in different parts of the military campaign, whose command is taken over by Colonel Janus bet Vhalnich, an enigmatic figure to say the very least.
D’Ivoire is a very straight-laced soldier, a by-the-book man of the military who is not sure what to make of his new superior Janus. Unlike Marcus’s previous superior, Janus takes D’Ivoire into his confidence, he shows Marcus respect and asks Marcus to speak to him frankly when they are in private. Not something Marcus ever experienced. As the novel progressed, Janus became more of a prominent figure who drove the action of the novel with his mission and seeing him through Marcus’s eyes helped to bolster what a great and interesting character Janus is. While Janus adheres to his orders, much of what he plans and tells his subordinates is not what they’d expect. He has his own agenda which runs parallel to that of the military campaign. He doesn’t reveal the full extent of his plans to his subordinates, which is frustrating, but in the long-run allows for his soldiers to trust him. What makes him a great character from the reader’s standpoint is exactly what makes him a challenging character for the other characters in the book, which is most unfortunate for Marcus because as Janus’s right hand man, he has to hear from all the other soldiers how crazy they think Janus is.
While we see the upper elements of the military command from Marcus’s narrative, we see a slightly different level from Winter’s point of view, easily the most conflicted character in the book. While Marcus feels pressure from the men he commands and stress from the new relationship with Janus, Winter is struggling with her identity since to all in the military she is a man and on the run from a life in a women’s prison from which she escaped prior to the events of the novel. Winter does not let this hidden identity consume her, she still earns some respect from the other soldiers (and ire from others).
It is no secret that Django Wexler and Brian McClellan happened to publish Military Fantasy / Flintlock Fantasy novels at the same time and it would be difficult not to draw some minimum comparisons between the two writers and books. Sure, they both feature military conflict, gunpowder and hints of magic, but aside from the high quality of both novels, there are more differences than similarities, I think. The main cast of characters is a bit smaller in Wexler’s novel, making it a bit more intimate. Magic is more integral to the military and world of McClellan’s world.
I enjoyed the book a great deal, but it did take a bit for the plot to really hit its stride. Once the first quarter of the novel passed, I was glued to the pages and was very invested in the plight of all the characters, with a very strong fascination for the enigmatic Janus. I thought Winter’s character struggles throughout the novel made for a interesting look at gender, war, and identity. Winter hides amongst the men of the military unit as a man, it is something she fears being revealed. That said, as much as her hidden gender sets her apart as a character, she isn’t entirely proactive in the novel. Granted, before we are introduced to her, we are told of the bold actions she took to get to into the military, but perhaps the stress she is experiencing keeping her gender revealed consumes much of her thoughts.
In the end, I was very impressed with The Thousand Names and immediately dove into the sequel The Shadow Throne.
Full review appears at http://www.SFFWORLD.com/2014/06/thousand-names-django-wexler-book-one-shadow-campaigns/
D’Ivoire is a very straight-laced soldier, a by-the-book man of the military who is not sure what to make of his new superior Janus. Unlike Marcus’s previous superior, Janus takes D’Ivoire into his confidence, he shows Marcus respect and asks Marcus to speak to him frankly when they are in private. Not something Marcus ever experienced. As the novel progressed, Janus became more of a prominent figure who drove the action of the novel with his mission and seeing him through Marcus’s eyes helped to bolster what a great and interesting character Janus is. While Janus adheres to his orders, much of what he plans and tells his subordinates is not what they’d expect. He has his own agenda which runs parallel to that of the military campaign. He doesn’t reveal the full extent of his plans to his subordinates, which is frustrating, but in the long-run allows for his soldiers to trust him. What makes him a great character from the reader’s standpoint is exactly what makes him a challenging character for the other characters in the book, which is most unfortunate for Marcus because as Janus’s right hand man, he has to hear from all the other soldiers how crazy they think Janus is.
While we see the upper elements of the military command from Marcus’s narrative, we see a slightly different level from Winter’s point of view, easily the most conflicted character in the book. While Marcus feels pressure from the men he commands and stress from the new relationship with Janus, Winter is struggling with her identity since to all in the military she is a man and on the run from a life in a women’s prison from which she escaped prior to the events of the novel. Winter does not let this hidden identity consume her, she still earns some respect from the other soldiers (and ire from others).
It is no secret that Django Wexler and Brian McClellan happened to publish Military Fantasy / Flintlock Fantasy novels at the same time and it would be difficult not to draw some minimum comparisons between the two writers and books. Sure, they both feature military conflict, gunpowder and hints of magic, but aside from the high quality of both novels, there are more differences than similarities, I think. The main cast of characters is a bit smaller in Wexler’s novel, making it a bit more intimate. Magic is more integral to the military and world of McClellan’s world.
I enjoyed the book a great deal, but it did take a bit for the plot to really hit its stride. Once the first quarter of the novel passed, I was glued to the pages and was very invested in the plight of all the characters, with a very strong fascination for the enigmatic Janus. I thought Winter’s character struggles throughout the novel made for a interesting look at gender, war, and identity. Winter hides amongst the men of the military unit as a man, it is something she fears being revealed. That said, as much as her hidden gender sets her apart as a character, she isn’t entirely proactive in the novel. Granted, before we are introduced to her, we are told of the bold actions she took to get to into the military, but perhaps the stress she is experiencing keeping her gender revealed consumes much of her thoughts.
In the end, I was very impressed with The Thousand Names and immediately dove into the sequel The Shadow Throne.
Full review appears at http://www.SFFWORLD.com/2014/06/thousand-names-django-wexler-book-one-shadow-campaigns/
DNF at 50%.
Look, I tried. I enjoyed the scenes in the beginning when the characters interacted and didn't walk long stretches and got into short battles and skirmishes. I know this is what battles are mostly about, but I was so bored by it. There's some good scenes in it, but reading the book had turned more into a chore than actual enjoyment, so I put it in a shared library and hope someone else enjoys it more than I did. Maybe this kind of fantasy isn't for me.
Look, I tried. I enjoyed the scenes in the beginning when the characters interacted and didn't walk long stretches and got into short battles and skirmishes. I know this is what battles are mostly about, but I was so bored by it. There's some good scenes in it, but reading the book had turned more into a chore than actual enjoyment, so I put it in a shared library and hope someone else enjoys it more than I did. Maybe this kind of fantasy isn't for me.
Prior to this novel, I hadn't read or really been interested in any fantasy novels. This book however, changed my mind and now I find myself leaning more into the category. The gender bending and toeing the line of LGBTQ themes were very appealing to me but they also weren't gratuitous or over the top. I have recommended this novel series to many people. I am a big fan.