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humvee's review
3.0
A rambling tale of violence, with a large cast is characters
The mileu is interesting, as are the main characters themselves. The story is decently written. But I struggled to maintain interest in this rambling tale. As a consequence, it took me a long time to finish. I may pick up the second title if nothing else catches my eye.
The mileu is interesting, as are the main characters themselves. The story is decently written. But I struggled to maintain interest in this rambling tale. As a consequence, it took me a long time to finish. I may pick up the second title if nothing else catches my eye.
k8s's review against another edition
2.0
So disappointing, and at least 200 pages longer than it needed to be.
golden_lily's review
3.0
3.5
I love epic fantasy that subverts poetic justice and similar tropes, a'la George Martin. I also love Joe Abercrombie, Marshall's obvious inspiration's, blending of fantasy and realism in war. So it's a shame that this book, with such a great, nontraditional main character, ended with such a whimper.
There's subverting tropes, and then there's refusing any pay off. If a character spends more than a year searching for their son and lives through an unwinnable battle, I can see the subversion in having him die from friendly fire before he finds his family. It doesn't make me happy as a reader, but I understand where the author is coming from. I can't see five similar things happening at the same battle. War is hell, yes, and it doesn't have a happy ending, but at some point it's just misery for the sake of misery.
Which, again, is a real shame, as the characters are top notch. There isn't a government force not led by a woman, including a ruthlessly murderous teenage pontiff. This is a book starring a 50+ year old, bisexual, woman. Older. Bisexual. Woman. I'm flailing. In Zosia's youth, she led an army to overthrow the king, along with her generals, the Five Villains. The villains are now two decades older and scattered across the land. Some have turned to drugs, peddling and using. Some are married with children., (including a gay couple whose kids call them First Father and Second Father ♥‿♥.) One is a completely batcrap crazy sorcerer who might be trying to end the world. The use. Zosia sets out to bring the Villains back together after she’s betrayed, but old friends and new may have different motivations.
There are a lot of narrators. Too many, frankly. Not only do Zosia and several of her generals get chapters, so does a barbarian from the Frozen Savannahs, far from the oncoming war; a war nun trapped between her vows to the Black Pope and an oath to the Crimson Queen; and the villain. The book is almost 700 pages; 7 POVs feels like overkill.
But despite all of that, I really like A Crown for Cold Silver. From the opening line, “It was all going so nicely, right up until the massacre.” to a religion that states “Everything happened. Not for reason, mind, … but everything happened”, the author is adept at setting the tone. There’s enough lightness to balance out the general despair, (until the end.) I laughed myself sick when the actual general advised her wanna-be apprentice to ditch the chainmail bikini for the sake of her pubes. The world building is consistent and if a few countries resemble real world ones a bit too much, it’s a relatively small flaw. Not much of the actual magic system was revealed, but instead of feeling like I didn’t know where the author was going, I felt like they were waiting to play their hand.
I think the cliffhanger end, the lack of magical reveal, and my other issues would be easier to swallow if I could find any information confirming a sequel being picked up. I think a series has promise, but with a penchant for spoiling payoffs, this may be one you wait for the author to finish writing all books before starting.
I love epic fantasy that subverts poetic justice and similar tropes, a'la George Martin. I also love Joe Abercrombie, Marshall's obvious inspiration's, blending of fantasy and realism in war. So it's a shame that this book, with such a great, nontraditional main character, ended with such a whimper.
There's subverting tropes, and then there's refusing any pay off. If a character spends more than a year searching for their son and lives through an unwinnable battle, I can see the subversion in having him die from friendly fire before he finds his family. It doesn't make me happy as a reader, but I understand where the author is coming from. I can't see five similar things happening at the same battle. War is hell, yes, and it doesn't have a happy ending, but at some point it's just misery for the sake of misery.
Which, again, is a real shame, as the characters are top notch. There isn't a government force not led by a woman, including a ruthlessly murderous teenage pontiff. This is a book starring a 50+ year old, bisexual, woman. Older. Bisexual. Woman. I'm flailing. In Zosia's youth, she led an army to overthrow the king, along with her generals, the Five Villains. The villains are now two decades older and scattered across the land. Some have turned to drugs, peddling and using. Some are married with children., (including a gay couple whose kids call them First Father and Second Father ♥‿♥.) One is a completely batcrap crazy sorcerer who might be trying to end the world. The use. Zosia sets out to bring the Villains back together after she’s betrayed, but old friends and new may have different motivations.
There are a lot of narrators. Too many, frankly. Not only do Zosia and several of her generals get chapters, so does a barbarian from the Frozen Savannahs, far from the oncoming war; a war nun trapped between her vows to the Black Pope and an oath to the Crimson Queen; and the villain. The book is almost 700 pages; 7 POVs feels like overkill.
But despite all of that, I really like A Crown for Cold Silver. From the opening line, “It was all going so nicely, right up until the massacre.” to a religion that states “Everything happened. Not for reason, mind, … but everything happened”, the author is adept at setting the tone. There’s enough lightness to balance out the general despair, (until the end.) I laughed myself sick when the actual general advised her wanna-be apprentice to ditch the chainmail bikini for the sake of her pubes. The world building is consistent and if a few countries resemble real world ones a bit too much, it’s a relatively small flaw. Not much of the actual magic system was revealed, but instead of feeling like I didn’t know where the author was going, I felt like they were waiting to play their hand.
I think the cliffhanger end, the lack of magical reveal, and my other issues would be easier to swallow if I could find any information confirming a sequel being picked up. I think a series has promise, but with a penchant for spoiling payoffs, this may be one you wait for the author to finish writing all books before starting.
rocketiza's review against another edition
3.0
It was entertaining but there were quite a few moments where the characters didn't feel like they fit in this world but instead were modern hollywoody interpretations of characters.
butterfly2507's review against another edition
1.0
Das Erste vorweg: es ist ein richtige Wälzer. Und da ich persönlich nicht auf so dicke Bücher stehe, muss es mir der Klappentext wohl richtig angetan haben. Und das Cover natürlich. Ich muss leider sagen dass ich es nach ein paar Kapitel abgebrochen habe. Es war mir viel zu langatmig, hatte viel zu viele Charaktere und der Schreibstil ist leider auch nicht so meins. Alles in allem hätte das Buch gut werden können, wurde es aber nicht.
shane_tiernan's review against another edition
5.0
I loved the Brothers Grossbart (written under another name) and I loved this in a whole different way. The thing they had in common was amazing writing. It's gritty, the world is fleshed out enough to be interesting without being over-detailed, the characters are amazing and realistically flawed. Some very cool magic going on, I love the devils idea.
Other than all that, I think the thing that makes it the most original is that there's not really a completely obvious plot. The characters in this book don't need to throw the ring into mount doom or find the holy grail, or defeat the dark wizard to save the princess. Most of the characters have some kind of goal that has put them in the situation they're in, but that's not pushing the whole story to the end. Instead events are happening, people are dying, there are large political movements taking place in the background, people are betraying each other, but it all seems very "organic".
Can't wait to read the 2nd and 3rd books. My wife has ensured me they're just as good as the first one.
Other than all that, I think the thing that makes it the most original is that there's not really a completely obvious plot. The characters in this book don't need to throw the ring into mount doom or find the holy grail, or defeat the dark wizard to save the princess. Most of the characters have some kind of goal that has put them in the situation they're in, but that's not pushing the whole story to the end. Instead events are happening, people are dying, there are large political movements taking place in the background, people are betraying each other, but it all seems very "organic".
Can't wait to read the 2nd and 3rd books. My wife has ensured me they're just as good as the first one.
arwenak's review against another edition
3.0
I have very mixed feelings about this one. I really love the main trope- the heroes (or in this case villains) from x years ago are coming back to support new heroes (villains) and we can see how they changed in that time and how did they change the world. We can see the consequences of their actions and how the legends they created overgrew the real people. Give me more of this trope please! I did enjoy as well the style of writing. I do welcome characters swearing, it makes it much more realistic, although I understand that it is not everybody’s cup of tea.
My biggest problem with this story is the lack of likable characters. At the beginning I kind of liked Maroto and his band of fops, but by the end all I was feeling was pity. For the rest- I absolutely do not care if they live or die, if they achieve their goals or not. And because of that I am not sure if I will continue this series. Is it getting better with character development in the next part?
My biggest problem with this story is the lack of likable characters. At the beginning I kind of liked Maroto and his band of fops, but by the end all I was feeling was pity. For the rest- I absolutely do not care if they live or die, if they achieve their goals or not. And because of that I am not sure if I will continue this series. Is it getting better with character development in the next part?
mermaid42's review against another edition
5.0
Really enjoyed this book, I found it hard to put down.
Loved the queernorm setting it's so amazing to see it in fantasy books now. I'm bi and it was good to see more representation.
It was a very adult take on epic fantasy with drugs and sex included. The cast of characters was really fun and they all had flaws but you still rooted for them.
Also badass old lady comes out of retirement to get the band back together is an anaxing premise. I hope it's done more in the future.
Loved the queernorm setting it's so amazing to see it in fantasy books now. I'm bi and it was good to see more representation.
It was a very adult take on epic fantasy with drugs and sex included. The cast of characters was really fun and they all had flaws but you still rooted for them.
Also badass old lady comes out of retirement to get the band back together is an anaxing premise. I hope it's done more in the future.
kamikazefooby's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0