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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Catches fire halfway through, then it’s a barn burner. Vampires on a riverboat. Who knew?
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Initially I thought I would rate this book 4 or 5 stars; it's a solid piece of historical fiction with vampires thrown in but unfortunately GRR Martins usual writing quirks ruined it by the end.
Firstly, Martin just never knows when to stop; I've drudged through enough ASOIAF books to be familiar enough with his lengthy and bloated descriptions. However that seemed to work well for him in this book; I'm a sucker for the 18th century; especially for somewhere as dark and dank as the rivers of the early North Americas; vampires seem to belong there like cheese on crackers. (Thank you Anne Rice). Till then I felt like any other GRR Martin fan; delighting in the devil of the details. However by the end I slowly lost my fervour. The book could have easily shed its last 150 pages. There were too many chases, escapes etc only for them to seem pointless. Our main vampire hero turned from mysterious and strong to a whiny and morally irresponsible twat. I felt I was reading the same thing over and over again. How many times would they face Julian?
Secondly Martin seems to love his pointlessly violent psychopaths whose only reason to shred people to pieces seems to be because they can. Now I'm not one to dislike violence in books and films: in fact it's positively exhilarating especially in shiny and glossy comic books but Martin just gets to a point where he seems to just write horrible thing after horrible thing just for the sake of it. His characters are more like mines; any contact whatsoever and they're ready to cause carnage. It wasn't shocking; it was dull. Oh so terribly dull.
This could have been the Anne Rice of my adult self but sadly it was not to be.
Firstly, Martin just never knows when to stop; I've drudged through enough ASOIAF books to be familiar enough with his lengthy and bloated descriptions. However that seemed to work well for him in this book; I'm a sucker for the 18th century; especially for somewhere as dark and dank as the rivers of the early North Americas; vampires seem to belong there like cheese on crackers. (Thank you Anne Rice). Till then I felt like any other GRR Martin fan; delighting in the devil of the details. However by the end I slowly lost my fervour. The book could have easily shed its last 150 pages. There were too many chases, escapes etc only for them to seem pointless. Our main vampire hero turned from mysterious and strong to a whiny and morally irresponsible twat. I felt I was reading the same thing over and over again. How many times would they face Julian?
Secondly Martin seems to love his pointlessly violent psychopaths whose only reason to shred people to pieces seems to be because they can. Now I'm not one to dislike violence in books and films: in fact it's positively exhilarating especially in shiny and glossy comic books but Martin just gets to a point where he seems to just write horrible thing after horrible thing just for the sake of it. His characters are more like mines; any contact whatsoever and they're ready to cause carnage. It wasn't shocking; it was dull. Oh so terribly dull.
This could have been the Anne Rice of my adult self but sadly it was not to be.
This was something different (vampires, steamboats, the deep south, and written by George R.R. Martin) and I gave it a go because of that. I had trouble getting really into it. I listened to the audiobook and I think the performance was good, but the plot and characters were just okay.
4.5. A vampire tale as it ought to be written. George can write endings and is a master of the craft.
It’s not grabbing me and I think I’m struggling with the (admittedly period-accurate) racism and cruelty. Lots of the n-word. Also I really don’t need to hear about steamboats that much.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
My favourite part of the whole novel was how much of Lord Byron's poetry was in there. Beyond the poetry and some of the lore I couldn't for the life of me get myself to like the story. As per usual, my favourite characters die (all in George R.R. Martin's 'nobody's safe' fashion) and my vast disinterest in steamer boats made me skim a whole lot.
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes