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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Feels like a Bernard Cornwell with a bit of magic and better female characters.
medium-paced
Good fantasy/war fiction, albeit a bit too long for my taste, quite hilarious in the beginning, strong worldbuilding, engaging military culture.
Will reserve verdict on the series until #2 since the main premise has shifted markedly.
Will reserve verdict on the series until #2 since the main premise has shifted markedly.
Senior Captain Marcus d'Ivoire sat at his makeshift wooden desk and contemplated damnation.
I'll be honest, this is much more on the military side of military fantasy. Django Wexler focuses heavily on the military logistics and politics (and, of course, military action). While that took some getting used to and certainly isn't my usual type of book, I found myself enjoying it a lot more than I would have expected.
First, the characters are where this book truly shines. We mainly follow Captain Marcus d'Ivoire, who has been in command of a sleepy outpost and Winter Ihernglass, a woman who ran away and disguised herself as a soldier. When a new Colonel arrives with a mysterious agenda, and Winter is promoted to a command of her own, both her and Marcus's situations take a turn for the much more interesting. Both Winter and Marcus are interesting characters who show a lot of growth throughout the book and are impossible not to root for. Their motivations are complex and they are wonderful, well-rounded characters. With this dual perspective, we're truly able to see the both the high-level and granular views of the war strategy, which adds a lot of depth and tension to any decisions.
Second, Django Wexler clearly has a deep understanding of military tactics. I'm not a military geek, but I thoroughly enjoyed the action scenes and strategy throughout.
As I mentioned, if you're looking for something that's heavier on the fantasy side, this may not be for you. The fantasy aspects didn't truly appear until much later in the book. This may change in future books in the series, but you'll want to temper your expectations.
I'll be honest, this is much more on the military side of military fantasy. Django Wexler focuses heavily on the military logistics and politics (and, of course, military action). While that took some getting used to and certainly isn't my usual type of book, I found myself enjoying it a lot more than I would have expected.
First, the characters are where this book truly shines. We mainly follow Captain Marcus d'Ivoire, who has been in command of a sleepy outpost and Winter Ihernglass, a woman who ran away and disguised herself as a soldier. When a new Colonel arrives with a mysterious agenda, and Winter is promoted to a command of her own, both her and Marcus's situations take a turn for the much more interesting. Both Winter and Marcus are interesting characters who show a lot of growth throughout the book and are impossible not to root for. Their motivations are complex and they are wonderful, well-rounded characters. With this dual perspective, we're truly able to see the both the high-level and granular views of the war strategy, which adds a lot of depth and tension to any decisions.
Second, Django Wexler clearly has a deep understanding of military tactics. I'm not a military geek, but I thoroughly enjoyed the action scenes and strategy throughout.
As I mentioned, if you're looking for something that's heavier on the fantasy side, this may not be for you. The fantasy aspects didn't truly appear until much later in the book. This may change in future books in the series, but you'll want to temper your expectations.
Okay, there was more military detail (much marching, many muskets) than was ideal for me, but it's still a cool book for people who grew up loving books like The Blue Sword and The Song of the Lioness.
I started listening to this book on my commute and this made for very slow progress. At one point I couldn't take it anymore and finished it reading. What damn fine entertainment it was! All the main characters are great, with Winter being my favorite.
Gunpowder fantasy was a genre I didn't know existed until I read Brian McClellan's fantastic Powder Mage series. I evidently like my fantasy with a side of nice uniforms. Who knew. Unfortunately for me, this didn't quite fill the hole in my fantasy heart, and overall lacked a bit of cohesion I really kind of needed to bring it together in my mind.
There's two main points of view in this book: Despite being in relatively close proximity throughout the book, the two points of view never really overlap until near the very end of the book. As a result, it felt sort of like I was reading two separate stories entirely within the same book.
I did like the unique setting and plot, but It felt a little....weird, in that respect.
It's also got kind of a slow start. Things didn't start picking up and moving towards some goal until the last half or third of the book. Stuff happens in the beginning to flesh out the main characters, but it feels a bit disjointed after you get to the actual meat of the story and things that happened and mattered before don't seem to fit anymore. One example of this is when There's other examples of small events that felt larger, but were never referenced again.
I've added the second book to my to-read list for now, but I'm not sure I'm going to rush to pick it up, or that it'll hang with some of the others that have been waiting there longer.
There's two main points of view in this book:
Spoiler
Marcus as the colonial captain of the army trying to make things work under a colonel sent by their king from their homeland, and Winter, a girl-masking-as-a-guy enlisted in the army who gets a field promotion to lieutenant. She doesn't feel capable of handling this new position she's in as she's now in command of a sizeable amount of troops she's responsible for keeping alive.I did like the unique setting and plot, but
Spoiler
they're a bunch of colonials putting down a rebellion in the country they invaded, essentially, and the book's framed this as a good thing and they're the good guys.It's also got kind of a slow start. Things didn't start picking up and moving towards some goal until the last half or third of the book. Stuff happens in the beginning to flesh out the main characters, but it feels a bit disjointed after you get to the actual meat of the story and things that happened and mattered before don't seem to fit anymore. One example of this is when
Spoiler
Winter wanted to use the training ground early on to train her super green and inexperienced troops. She, being relatively low on the rank structure doesn't have much sway, but she manages to trick her way past another higher ranking guy and earn her some extra field time. It felt at the time like this was something important, or at least that it'd come back to bite her, but it never did.I've added the second book to my to-read list for now, but I'm not sure I'm going to rush to pick it up, or that it'll hang with some of the others that have been waiting there longer.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.5 rounded down. I liked the characters. Would have given it a 4, but it was a bit heavy on fights and battles which are not my thing. Also the colonel got on my nerves being so secretive.
The reader, Michael Poe was quite good.
On to the sequel. Glad it's "only 21" hours long.
The reader, Michael Poe was quite good.
On to the sequel. Glad it's "only 21" hours long.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No