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warriorpickle 's review for:
The Garden of Stones
by Mark T. Barnes
I wasn't sure what to expect form this book, I just knew I was excited to read it. My buddy Ryan had dubbed it "A more accessible Malazan with Magitek." From that moment I was sold. With that being said there was nothing in this boom that struck me as Magitek, but maybe there in the sequels :)
This book was big and thought out. It is one of the most quotable books I have ever read. There is political intrigue and sweeping action scenes that keep you in the edge of your seat. There are characters that are studly beyond your expectations. And it was spectacular.
There is pretty much no magic to speak of. Almost in a Game of Thrones type way, even though you are living in a fantastical world. There are lion men and races you couldn't even think of. And there is "magic" by the name of disentropy. This, in my mind, was something between the cross of the life stream from Final Fantasy 7 and Stormlight from The Way of Kings. I don't fully understand it, but I was fully interested.
I have a couple of complaints about the book, but I'm only going to list one. Each chapter has a quote from some book or poem from the world we are living in. They were great overall. But as I was reading one night 2 chapters had the same exact quote with the only difference being who said it. This kind of thing pulls me out of the world that at that pint I had fully envisioned as real. Minor things like this pulled me out of the story. A good editor and a little sprucing up and this book is an easy 5*.
Overall I think this book was a blast. Well worth the read if you are looking for something exciting, intelligent, and a little bit darker. While confusing at times, with some of the weirdest names I've read in a book, it will enthrall anyone with a hankering (sorry, really wanted to use that word) for a darker low fantasy novel.
“By refusing the various calls we hear throughout our lives, we often condemn ourselves to later years of regret. We see them, those elders, bent under the weight of doubt: living their twilight years thinking might have, could have, or should have. Let me answer the calls which come to me, so perhaps I will look back at my life and say, I did.”
This book was big and thought out. It is one of the most quotable books I have ever read. There is political intrigue and sweeping action scenes that keep you in the edge of your seat. There are characters that are studly beyond your expectations. And it was spectacular.
“It is through art, music, and literature we truly understand a culture. Violence and war are nothing more than the voices of childish envy.”
There is pretty much no magic to speak of. Almost in a Game of Thrones type way, even though you are living in a fantastical world. There are lion men and races you couldn't even think of. And there is "magic" by the name of disentropy. This, in my mind, was something between the cross of the life stream from Final Fantasy 7 and Stormlight from The Way of Kings. I don't fully understand it, but I was fully interested.
“True friendship is a wonder rarely matched in nature for its beauty, or its rarity. Born of love, admiration, and affection, it is the place where wrongs are forgiven and we see with the heart, not the eyes.
I have a couple of complaints about the book, but I'm only going to list one. Each chapter has a quote from some book or poem from the world we are living in. They were great overall. But as I was reading one night 2 chapters had the same exact quote with the only difference being who said it. This kind of thing pulls me out of the world that at that pint I had fully envisioned as real. Minor things like this pulled me out of the story. A good editor and a little sprucing up and this book is an easy 5*.
‘It is almost a certainty that, when a person is most sure, they are often most mistaken."
Overall I think this book was a blast. Well worth the read if you are looking for something exciting, intelligent, and a little bit darker. While confusing at times, with some of the weirdest names I've read in a book, it will enthrall anyone with a hankering (sorry, really wanted to use that word) for a darker low fantasy novel.