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A review by kohlsamanda
The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French
3.0
I thought that this was a really well-crafted book that felt almost like a video game. The characters were developed and the world was definitely more fleshed-out than many in this genre. However, despite how much I enjoyed the premise and the excitement I don't believe that I'll be picking up the next in the series.
For starters, the language in the book was really a little over the top for me. Now, I'm certainly not one to shy away from using a curse word, but these characters really took vulgarity over the top. Women were often referred to by their genitalia and most of the conversations involving them included some sort of reference for their use as a sex object. Even when the men spoke to each other it was never a long wait for someone's dick size to make an appearance into the conversation. I wasn't necessarily angered or outraged by the vulgarity, but it honestly just became boring, overstated, and a distasteful in terms of writing style.
On top of that, I think that there was slightly too much going on here. The world was immersive and extraordinarily creative, but there was a lot of focus on numerous fantasy races and interactions. The main conflicts in this novel were caused by political clashes and race wars, but I still don't feel as if I truly understand why some dislike each other or what the history is here. Wizards, orcs, elves, humans, sludge people, and all of the half-races in between were all present and held separate grudges. It got a little bit confusing, especially when thinking about territories.
Overall it was well-done, but due to the boring vulgarity as well as a lack of editing down I don't believe I'm going to continue reading. I would definitely recommend this to people looking for a lot of violence, sex, and action (usually a winner for me) set in a LOTR-style universe with a barbarian cast.
For starters, the language in the book was really a little over the top for me. Now, I'm certainly not one to shy away from using a curse word, but these characters really took vulgarity over the top. Women were often referred to by their genitalia and most of the conversations involving them included some sort of reference for their use as a sex object. Even when the men spoke to each other it was never a long wait for someone's dick size to make an appearance into the conversation. I wasn't necessarily angered or outraged by the vulgarity, but it honestly just became boring, overstated, and a distasteful in terms of writing style.
On top of that, I think that there was slightly too much going on here. The world was immersive and extraordinarily creative, but there was a lot of focus on numerous fantasy races and interactions. The main conflicts in this novel were caused by political clashes and race wars, but I still don't feel as if I truly understand why some dislike each other or what the history is here. Wizards, orcs, elves, humans, sludge people, and all of the half-races in between were all present and held separate grudges. It got a little bit confusing, especially when thinking about territories.
Overall it was well-done, but due to the boring vulgarity as well as a lack of editing down I don't believe I'm going to continue reading. I would definitely recommend this to people looking for a lot of violence, sex, and action (usually a winner for me) set in a LOTR-style universe with a barbarian cast.