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A review by pulpmonkey66
The Thousand Names by Django Wexler
5.0
4.5 stars
I mentioned in an update that the characters I discovered in The Thousand Names were characters, I instantly decided, "I don't care for that character" and within minutes was fascinated by them. That's the heart of what Django Wexler has done here. He's taken things I don't really care for and made them interesting.
I read and liked Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe novels, which featured a British soldier/officer during 18th century. That's kind of what the soldiers are like in The Thousand Names. They are using black powder muskets and bayonets, lining up in formation to fight. That's awesome in a historical novel, but I am not a fan of it in a fantasy novel. Django turned that upside down.
The action takes place in a desert far from the kingdom that Marcus, Winter and the other soldiers are from. The protagonists are nomads or desert-dwellers with a very Arabian feel. Again - not my choice for a setting in a fantasy novel.
One of the main characters is Winter. She's disguised as a man and a soldier in the army. I instantly hated that idea. She's probably my favorite character now.
Another character also is later revealed to be a woman in disguise posing as a soldier. I thought, "A second one? That's ridiculous!" IT TOTALLY WORKED.
Magic - there was a tiny hint of magic early on in the book. I thought, for a fantasy setting, this is pretty low key. The magic was a slow burn that suddenly took off. It is nothing like I expected (are you getting that is kind of what I found with every aspect of this book?) and was really interesting.
The final quarter of the book was hard to put down. I'm kind of salivating to read the next one.
tldr; I didn't find what I expected. Didn't like what I found. Turned out it was really top notch.
I mentioned in an update that the characters I discovered in The Thousand Names were characters, I instantly decided, "I don't care for that character" and within minutes was fascinated by them. That's the heart of what Django Wexler has done here. He's taken things I don't really care for and made them interesting.
I read and liked Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe novels, which featured a British soldier/officer during 18th century. That's kind of what the soldiers are like in The Thousand Names. They are using black powder muskets and bayonets, lining up in formation to fight. That's awesome in a historical novel, but I am not a fan of it in a fantasy novel. Django turned that upside down.
The action takes place in a desert far from the kingdom that Marcus, Winter and the other soldiers are from. The protagonists are nomads or desert-dwellers with a very Arabian feel. Again - not my choice for a setting in a fantasy novel.
One of the main characters is Winter. She's disguised as a man and a soldier in the army. I instantly hated that idea. She's probably my favorite character now.
Another character also is later revealed to be a woman in disguise posing as a soldier. I thought, "A second one? That's ridiculous!" IT TOTALLY WORKED.
Magic - there was a tiny hint of magic early on in the book. I thought, for a fantasy setting, this is pretty low key. The magic was a slow burn that suddenly took off. It is nothing like I expected (are you getting that is kind of what I found with every aspect of this book?) and was really interesting.
The final quarter of the book was hard to put down. I'm kind of salivating to read the next one.
tldr; I didn't find what I expected. Didn't like what I found. Turned out it was really top notch.