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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
I don’t think this is bad book nor a poorly written book. I just happened to lose interest as I found the middle meandering. Maybe I’ll return to it another time.
Rating to come. I was pretty set on three stars, but I actually loved the section in the Great Desol, and the ending, so I might bump it up.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I enjoyed this book. The first 200 odd pages are very much like a military campaign, with a lot of details on army maneuvering and tactics, and so on. These sections seem very much inspired by Napoleon’s adventures in Egypt.
I love stories about armies on the move, and of battles won and lost, so I loved this section. I’ve read many non-fiction books on military campaigns, and I have to say Wexler is pretty convincing when he writes about the military.
His writing and dialogues are crisp and on point, and just like how I would imagine soldiers of that time and in that situation would talk.
One of the strongest aspects in this book is the characterization of all the people.
Janus, the Colonel who arrives to take charge of the colonial army, is the most interesting character. He’s eccentric, brilliant, and towards the end of the book shows interesting shades to his personality.
Marcus is quite unusual too. Surprisingly sensitive and realistically written, I have to say that he’s one well-written person. He does some stupid things, but his mistakes stem from his romantic nature and wish to do good.
If there is one disappointment in characterization, it is Winter. Winter is a girl fleeing from her past. She dresses up as a boy and soon does well in the army. I normally tend to dislike girls dressed as boys in books or movies. Very rarely are they convincing enough. And unfortunately, that’s the same here. It’s really hard to believe that girls can get away with it when they are in such close proximity to the men.
Another aspect of the book that made me uncomfortable is the colonial aspect of it. In this book, the Vordanai army is essentially an invader, but at the same time, we are asked to sympathize with their cause, which honestly isn’t sympathetic at all. They are in a foreign country, fighting on behalf of an inept ruler, and in search of something that does not belong to them. So, while I liked the individual characters, I could not sympathize or understand their cause at all.
I had to make a solid effort to ignore this unpleasant aspect of the book. I suspect that in the later books this take on events could change. If it doesn’t though, I will be quite disappointed.
I love stories about armies on the move, and of battles won and lost, so I loved this section. I’ve read many non-fiction books on military campaigns, and I have to say Wexler is pretty convincing when he writes about the military.
His writing and dialogues are crisp and on point, and just like how I would imagine soldiers of that time and in that situation would talk.
One of the strongest aspects in this book is the characterization of all the people.
Janus, the Colonel who arrives to take charge of the colonial army, is the most interesting character. He’s eccentric, brilliant, and towards the end of the book shows interesting shades to his personality.
Marcus is quite unusual too. Surprisingly sensitive and realistically written, I have to say that he’s one well-written person. He does some stupid things, but his mistakes stem from his romantic nature and wish to do good.
If there is one disappointment in characterization, it is Winter. Winter is a girl fleeing from her past. She dresses up as a boy and soon does well in the army. I normally tend to dislike girls dressed as boys in books or movies. Very rarely are they convincing enough. And unfortunately, that’s the same here. It’s really hard to believe that girls can get away with it when they are in such close proximity to the men.
Another aspect of the book that made me uncomfortable is the colonial aspect of it. In this book, the Vordanai army is essentially an invader, but at the same time, we are asked to sympathize with their cause, which honestly isn’t sympathetic at all. They are in a foreign country, fighting on behalf of an inept ruler, and in search of something that does not belong to them. So, while I liked the individual characters, I could not sympathize or understand their cause at all.
I had to make a solid effort to ignore this unpleasant aspect of the book. I suspect that in the later books this take on events could change. If it doesn’t though, I will be quite disappointed.
I don't give 5-stars often, and if I'm honest, I'm not sure this meets my usual standards for a 5-star rating, but...
This series scratches my every itch. Flintlocks, lesbians, a fantasy take on the Napoleonic wars and French Revolution, with vividly described battles, logistics, strategy etc. If you asked me to describe my ideal book, it would basically be this.
This series scratches my every itch. Flintlocks, lesbians, a fantasy take on the Napoleonic wars and French Revolution, with vividly described battles, logistics, strategy etc. If you asked me to describe my ideal book, it would basically be this.
This has been one of the better books I've read. It's not a genius book, it doesn't revolutionize the genre or do something absolutely unheard of - but the things it does, it does them well. The narrative is easy to read, the cast of characters is small enough to make the story easy to track, the characters themselves are smart and competent. The first few chapters were a little confusing because it wasn't immediately clear what this war that's been going on is, how it started, what the sides are, and who the "good guys" are, but it all cleared up quickly enough. All in all, a good read.
Pretty covers are my weakness. So when I noticed this book in a book shop, I decided to buy it, without really knowing what it was about. Well, I'm happy to tell you that I do not regret that (maybe a little bit impulsive) decision. I ended up enjoying this book a lot. I do have some criticism, though.
Usually it's the other way around, but the female characters in this book were written way better than the male characters. Okay, that could probably be because there were only four female in this book (five if you count Mother, who isn't really much in it), whereas there were loads of male characters. Still, it kind of surprised me that almost all the male characters were one dimensional.
It didn't immediately spring to mind when reading, but they're all versions of the typical cardboard cutout characters we have seen so often already. Especially Marcus, one of the two main characters. He was the typical good and caring captain: a bit awkward, a bit easy to mislead, but still smart enough to be captain, always well behaving, polite to women, and bla bla what not. He reminded me of Chaol Westfall, the captain of the guard from [b:Throne of Glass|7896527|Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, #1)|Sarah J. Maas|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335819760s/7896527.jpg|11138426] and the captain of the guard from [b:Prince of Thorns|9579634|Prince of Thorns (The Broken Empire, #1)|Mark Lawrence|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327917754s/9579634.jpg|14466531], whose name I can't seem to remember. All the other male characters also reminded me one way or another of characters and tropes I'd already read a hundred times about.
As I already said, there are really only four female characters in this book. Fortunately, Wexler decided to make these all very unique and important to the plot. Some of them did have that cardboard cutout feel, Ms. Alhundt especially, but except for her, they all felt like very real people. Same goes for the male characters, though a bit less. So even though they may not have been the most original and unique characters, they still all felt very real and unique. I know that sounds strange as I just called pretty much all of them cardboard cutouts, but they didn't come over that way while reading: only now because I am analyzing the book. I don't know how Wexler managed to do that, but I'm alright with it, because in the end they were all very enjoyable characters.
Wexler switched Marcus' and Winters chapters very cleverly, and it made it very hard to put the book down. Though at the same time, I also had a lot of trouble with picking it up again, once I had finally put it down (usually to get some sleep). It was weird, but I would somehow forget how awesome the book was every time I put it down and be too uninterested to pick it up again. That's why it took me two weeks to finish this book, and I don't like that.
Another problem I had with this book was that it was sometimes way too unclear who was saying the thing or who was doing the thing. I loved the writing, but it was so vague. I even managed to miss that someone important to the plot lost his arm. That sort of stuff has never happened to me before, and it bothered me.
So I did have some problems with The Thousand Names, but it was never boring, always making me go ''Ok, just one more chapter...''. I'm very glad this book turned out to be so good, with such a strong plot, excellent writing and extremely likeable characters. I hope I'll be able to get the sequel very soon.
Usually it's the other way around, but the female characters in this book were written way better than the male characters. Okay, that could probably be because there were only four female in this book (five if you count Mother, who isn't really much in it), whereas there were loads of male characters. Still, it kind of surprised me that almost all the male characters were one dimensional.
It didn't immediately spring to mind when reading, but they're all versions of the typical cardboard cutout characters we have seen so often already. Especially Marcus, one of the two main characters. He was the typical good and caring captain: a bit awkward, a bit easy to mislead, but still smart enough to be captain, always well behaving, polite to women, and bla bla what not. He reminded me of Chaol Westfall, the captain of the guard from [b:Throne of Glass|7896527|Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, #1)|Sarah J. Maas|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335819760s/7896527.jpg|11138426] and the captain of the guard from [b:Prince of Thorns|9579634|Prince of Thorns (The Broken Empire, #1)|Mark Lawrence|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327917754s/9579634.jpg|14466531], whose name I can't seem to remember. All the other male characters also reminded me one way or another of characters and tropes I'd already read a hundred times about.
As I already said, there are really only four female characters in this book. Fortunately, Wexler decided to make these all very unique and important to the plot. Some of them did have that cardboard cutout feel, Ms. Alhundt especially, but except for her, they all felt like very real people. Same goes for the male characters, though a bit less. So even though they may not have been the most original and unique characters, they still all felt very real and unique. I know that sounds strange as I just called pretty much all of them cardboard cutouts, but they didn't come over that way while reading: only now because I am analyzing the book. I don't know how Wexler managed to do that, but I'm alright with it, because in the end they were all very enjoyable characters.
Wexler switched Marcus' and Winters chapters very cleverly, and it made it very hard to put the book down. Though at the same time, I also had a lot of trouble with picking it up again, once I had finally put it down (usually to get some sleep). It was weird, but I would somehow forget how awesome the book was every time I put it down and be too uninterested to pick it up again. That's why it took me two weeks to finish this book, and I don't like that.
Another problem I had with this book was that it was sometimes way too unclear who was saying the thing or who was doing the thing. I loved the writing, but it was so vague. I even managed to miss that someone important to the plot lost his arm. That sort of stuff has never happened to me before, and it bothered me.
So I did have some problems with The Thousand Names, but it was never boring, always making me go ''Ok, just one more chapter...''. I'm very glad this book turned out to be so good, with such a strong plot, excellent writing and extremely likeable characters. I hope I'll be able to get the sequel very soon.