A review by sam_is_great
The Empire of the Dead by Phil Tucker

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.75

I love ancient history so I was thrilled to find a fantasy world based on Sumer. It has some really neat ideas to explore, having demigod heroes pick up after having lost to the bad guys, interesting fantasy religions, etc., but the writing is fairly clumsy and character development is rushed through or ignored to serve the plot. Plus it suffers from a serious case of "men-writing-women" nonsense. Like, the author really takes his time telling you just how busty a woman character is in the middle of an otherwise completely non-sexual scene, and the women characters feel much less developed than the men. Not gonna lie, I feel very let down by this one.