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A review by roseofphantom
The Book of Swords by Robin Hobb, George R.R. Martin
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
So how I decided my rating for this was to rate each story and find the mean and that would be the overall rating for the book. Below, find my individual ratings for each story. Also, I am coming into this fresh. I have had the great honor of meeting two of these authors in person, but I haven't actually read a single thing by any of these authors. Yes. Including GRRM.
"The Best Man Wins" by K.J. Parker - 5/5
This was my favorite story of the whole book! Shame it was the first as it would have been nice to find my favorite further in but oh well. It was face paced and full of quick action and the ending shocked me!
"Her Father's Sword" by Robin Hobb- 3/5
This was delightful creepy but the ending was a bummer
"The Hidden Girl" by Ken Liu - 4/5
The writing of this was so beautiful! Full of imagery and cool story!
"The Sword of Destiny" by Matthew Hughes - 1/5
Honestly I just found this really dull
"'I Am a Handsome Man,' said Apollo Crow" by Kate Elliott - 4.5/5
Apollo Crow is such a unique character and I truly loved him, and seeing an alternate universe of history was neat!
"The Triumph of Virtue" by Walter Jon Williams - 2/5
This plot felt a bit cliched
"The Mocking Tower" by Daniel Abraham - 1/5
Feels like another overdone plot
"Hrunting" by C.J. Cherryh - 3/5
My low score is based on the fact that I did not like Beowulf when I read it for college. However, I have great respect for how Beowulf influenced literature. This story would have been a 1, but I had to give it a higher school based on how much it felt like a Beowulf story and my great respect to the author for understanding the source material.
"A Long, Cold Trail" by Garth Nix - 2/5
Odd. I sometimes like whimsical fantasy but it's more the "Princess Bride" type and less... this. This was kind of strange. It at least kept my attention?
"When I Was a Highwayman" by Ellen Kushner - 4/5
Another one of my favorites! This was a fun story to watch unfold as it went on!
"The Smoke of Gold Is Glory" by Scott Lynch - 4/5
I really enjoyed this fresh take on a classic story of adventurers seeking out a dragon. Familiarity we know and love, but fresh!
"The Colgrid Conundrum" by Rich Larson - 4/5
This was exciting, felt quite gritty and I loved it!
"The King's Evil" by Elizabeth Bear - 2/5
I found myself really distracted and wandering off, I just couldn't get into it
"Waterfalling by Lavie Tidhar" - 3/5
This was trippppyyy and a little jarring? It was interesting plot but it was a bit difficult to read
The Sword Tyraste by Cecelia Holland - 3/5
This was so eerie!! It has vague reflections of the first story, "The Best Man Wins" but with an unsettling bent to it
"The Sons of the Dragon" by George R.R. Martin - 0/5 - DNF at 3 pages.
I feel like I am one of the only people who didn't get this book for the GRRM story. Confession: I do not like GoT. I have no desire to read the books, I got three episodes in on the show and I just couldn't. I attempted to read this and with it being a short story one would think I could. I couldn't and now know I cannot get into GRRM's work. My main complaint is that this was WAY too detailed. It felt like reading the first few books of the Bible where there's so much about lineage and who died when and who was named what. This is not the type of literature I enjoyed. Before I decided to DNF, I flipped through the rest of the story. All giant blocks, no dialogue. Nope. Couldn't.
"The Best Man Wins" by K.J. Parker - 5/5
This was my favorite story of the whole book! Shame it was the first as it would have been nice to find my favorite further in but oh well. It was face paced and full of quick action and the ending shocked me!
"Her Father's Sword" by Robin Hobb- 3/5
This was delightful creepy but the ending was a bummer
"The Hidden Girl" by Ken Liu - 4/5
The writing of this was so beautiful! Full of imagery and cool story!
"The Sword of Destiny" by Matthew Hughes - 1/5
Honestly I just found this really dull
"'I Am a Handsome Man,' said Apollo Crow" by Kate Elliott - 4.5/5
Apollo Crow is such a unique character and I truly loved him, and seeing an alternate universe of history was neat!
"The Triumph of Virtue" by Walter Jon Williams - 2/5
This plot felt a bit cliched
"The Mocking Tower" by Daniel Abraham - 1/5
Feels like another overdone plot
"Hrunting" by C.J. Cherryh - 3/5
My low score is based on the fact that I did not like Beowulf when I read it for college. However, I have great respect for how Beowulf influenced literature. This story would have been a 1, but I had to give it a higher school based on how much it felt like a Beowulf story and my great respect to the author for understanding the source material.
"A Long, Cold Trail" by Garth Nix - 2/5
Odd. I sometimes like whimsical fantasy but it's more the "Princess Bride" type and less... this. This was kind of strange. It at least kept my attention?
"When I Was a Highwayman" by Ellen Kushner - 4/5
Another one of my favorites! This was a fun story to watch unfold as it went on!
"The Smoke of Gold Is Glory" by Scott Lynch - 4/5
I really enjoyed this fresh take on a classic story of adventurers seeking out a dragon. Familiarity we know and love, but fresh!
"The Colgrid Conundrum" by Rich Larson - 4/5
This was exciting, felt quite gritty and I loved it!
"The King's Evil" by Elizabeth Bear - 2/5
I found myself really distracted and wandering off, I just couldn't get into it
"Waterfalling by Lavie Tidhar" - 3/5
This was trippppyyy and a little jarring? It was interesting plot but it was a bit difficult to read
The Sword Tyraste by Cecelia Holland - 3/5
This was so eerie!! It has vague reflections of the first story, "The Best Man Wins" but with an unsettling bent to it
"The Sons of the Dragon" by George R.R. Martin - 0/5 - DNF at 3 pages.
I feel like I am one of the only people who didn't get this book for the GRRM story. Confession: I do not like GoT. I have no desire to read the books, I got three episodes in on the show and I just couldn't. I attempted to read this and with it being a short story one would think I could. I couldn't and now know I cannot get into GRRM's work. My main complaint is that this was WAY too detailed. It felt like reading the first few books of the Bible where there's so much about lineage and who died when and who was named what. This is not the type of literature I enjoyed. Before I decided to DNF, I flipped through the rest of the story. All giant blocks, no dialogue. Nope. Couldn't.