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wildflowerz76's review against another edition
3.0
This was a pretty decent read. I think maybe it's just not wholely my kind of thing. I prefer a little more in the personal relationships and more estrogen. I think my husband might like this one better, so I'm passing it on to him. I also don't love long, drawn out battle scenes and that was the entire last of this book. But seriously, what did I expect. Still, I tried it. It was pretty good, just not for me, I think.
old_tim's review
4.0
At first glance, The Grim Company appears to be a bog standard fantasy novel. In a city state ruled by an ancient despotic mage, a disparate group of adventurers struggle to end his rule. There’s a young man destined to be a great hero, a couple of grizzled barbarians, a troubled young woman, an underpowered mage, etc etc….
Fortunately Scull almost immediately sets about deconstruction of these tropes. The gap between the young man’s mental version of his life and the actual version is comical. The barbarian has a rich internal life. The underpowered mage doesn’t power up and defeat all their foes. He develops these characters somewhat slowly, but carefully. They’re flawed, but still able to generate our sympathy and interest.
The plot itself is rapid and propulsive, as the group encounters numerous dangers and problems on the way to reaching their goal. The climactic battle sequence is suitably epic, with plenty of carnage. Despite the book’s length, it feels like a short quick read.
There were a couple of problems, though they are common to first novels and to the start of a series in particular. Early in the book there’s quite a bit of infodumping. While the information is necessary, the manner of delivery is awkward and interrupts what is otherwise a strong narrative flow.
The other problematic area is the lack of development of the female characters in the book. While there are numerous female characters on all sides of the moral spectrum, most are underdeveloped with their plotlines seemingly leading nowhere. Hopefully these plotlines will be developed further in the subsequent books in the series.
Despite these flaws, The Grim Company is an impressive first novel. Scull has created memorable characters and a unique fantasy world that should only improve with subsequent volumes. Highly recommended for fans of Abercrombe, Sullivan, et al.
Fortunately Scull almost immediately sets about deconstruction of these tropes. The gap between the young man’s mental version of his life and the actual version is comical. The barbarian has a rich internal life. The underpowered mage doesn’t power up and defeat all their foes. He develops these characters somewhat slowly, but carefully. They’re flawed, but still able to generate our sympathy and interest.
The plot itself is rapid and propulsive, as the group encounters numerous dangers and problems on the way to reaching their goal. The climactic battle sequence is suitably epic, with plenty of carnage. Despite the book’s length, it feels like a short quick read.
There were a couple of problems, though they are common to first novels and to the start of a series in particular. Early in the book there’s quite a bit of infodumping. While the information is necessary, the manner of delivery is awkward and interrupts what is otherwise a strong narrative flow.
The other problematic area is the lack of development of the female characters in the book. While there are numerous female characters on all sides of the moral spectrum, most are underdeveloped with their plotlines seemingly leading nowhere. Hopefully these plotlines will be developed further in the subsequent books in the series.
Despite these flaws, The Grim Company is an impressive first novel. Scull has created memorable characters and a unique fantasy world that should only improve with subsequent volumes. Highly recommended for fans of Abercrombe, Sullivan, et al.
matosapa's review against another edition
2.0
I picked this up because I am a huge Joe Abercrombie fan and the blurb (and reviews) read like this book would be similar. It was to some extent but the characters were generic and flat and the plot was nothing new. I had to make an effort to finish the book and will not be reading the rest of the trilogy.
patrick6367's review
4.0
Liked it! It was an obvious, loving homage to Joe Abecrombie, but since I love Joe's fiction better, and this novel was well-done, I was very happy with it.
lefonix's review against another edition
3.0
Honestly closer to a 4 than a 3, but it had some real weird attitudes that didn't sit right with me.
otherwyrld's review
3.0
This was an exhilarating, enthralling and above all entertaining book, and I read it pretty much in one go. So why did I only give it three stars?
The problem started early on, when I started comparing it to the go-to book for all modern fantasy, Game of Thrones. It was as I started reading through the book that I started noticing more and more similarities, not so much in the plot but in the characters. Once I did that it became a bit too obvious - how else am I to explain the surly warrior with a badly burnt face and with a canine sounding nickname, or the female queen of a foreign land with long platinum blonde hair and purple eyes. In fact it got so bad that I started imagining one character speaking with Peter Dinklage's voice - after all, what else would a half-mage sound like (admittedly he was half a man because he had had his legs cut off).
And then there were the names - Brienna, Sasha, Yllandris, Bran, Tyro (OK that's one's a bit of a stretch because its a dog, but still), once you see one you keep seeing more. They sound just a little bit too much like GOT character names, even when they don't play the same roles. I may be overstating this a little bit, but each time it happened it pulled me out of the story a bit, and it's a pity the editor of this book didn't get the author to change the details just a little bit more.
All this is a real shame, because I really enjoyed the book itself. As I said, it was a thrilling non-stop story. I liked the idea of the background, where a group of wizards grouping together to kill the gods, only to effectively find themselves replacing them. The gods bodies, having fell to earth from heaven, are now the only source of magic, but it's a dangerous job to mine them, as the wild magic spawns all kinds of nasty mutated creatures. The world is dying, destroyed by the battle five centuries before this book is set, but people still have to live in this dying world.
The characters were mostly well drawn and interesting to read, though the so-called main character Davarus Cole suffered from being an idiot with an exaggerated sense of his own importance. I almost felt sorry for him at the end though, and he found out some hard truths about his past. Highland warriors Kayne and Jerek reminded me of Terry Pratchetts's Cohen the barbarian (though 30 years less decrepit), as they fought and complained about how they were too old for this shit. There's a lot of other good characters here, and again like GOT we get to hear the story from their point of view.
The end ties up well with a few revelations, and I am looking forward to reading the next part of this trilogy. 3 1/2 stars
The problem started early on, when I started comparing it to the go-to book for all modern fantasy, Game of Thrones. It was as I started reading through the book that I started noticing more and more similarities, not so much in the plot but in the characters. Once I did that it became a bit too obvious - how else am I to explain the surly warrior with a badly burnt face and with a canine sounding nickname, or the female queen of a foreign land with long platinum blonde hair and purple eyes. In fact it got so bad that I started imagining one character speaking with Peter Dinklage's voice - after all, what else would a half-mage sound like (admittedly he was half a man because he had had his legs cut off).
And then there were the names - Brienna, Sasha, Yllandris, Bran, Tyro (OK that's one's a bit of a stretch because its a dog, but still), once you see one you keep seeing more. They sound just a little bit too much like GOT character names, even when they don't play the same roles. I may be overstating this a little bit, but each time it happened it pulled me out of the story a bit, and it's a pity the editor of this book didn't get the author to change the details just a little bit more.
All this is a real shame, because I really enjoyed the book itself. As I said, it was a thrilling non-stop story. I liked the idea of the background, where a group of wizards grouping together to kill the gods, only to effectively find themselves replacing them. The gods bodies, having fell to earth from heaven, are now the only source of magic, but it's a dangerous job to mine them, as the wild magic spawns all kinds of nasty mutated creatures. The world is dying, destroyed by the battle five centuries before this book is set, but people still have to live in this dying world.
The characters were mostly well drawn and interesting to read, though the so-called main character Davarus Cole suffered from being an idiot with an exaggerated sense of his own importance. I almost felt sorry for him at the end though, and he found out some hard truths about his past. Highland warriors Kayne and Jerek reminded me of Terry Pratchetts's Cohen the barbarian (though 30 years less decrepit), as they fought and complained about how they were too old for this shit. There's a lot of other good characters here, and again like GOT we get to hear the story from their point of view.
The end ties up well with a few revelations, and I am looking forward to reading the next part of this trilogy. 3 1/2 stars
mel_d's review against another edition
3.0
really limed it. I can see the similarities with Joe Abercrombie, but Luke Skull still maintained his own style. overall, really good and entertaining read.