Angus Watson (1)Besprekingen
Auteur van Age of Iron
Voor andere auteurs genaamd Angus Watson, zie de verduidelijkingspagina.
Besprekingen
You Die When You Die (West of West #1) door Angus Watson
Story is dark at times and darkly humorous at others. The main characters have good development. The plot moves along quickly. Looking forward to reading future entries in this series.
Story is dark at times and darkly humorous at others. The main characters have good development. The plot moves along quickly. Looking forward to reading future entries in this series.
Something new that feels like an old friend. Read it if you love fantasy, like history, vikings, magic, sarcasm, war and weaponry, and epics.
Okay. So I was wrong.
But that doesn't mean that the novel didn't have its fair share of a ton of bloody action and gratuitous death. It did! It just happened to have a bunch of funny moments, clever internal dialogue, and a generally slow-moving grind through many various American Indian tribes roughly a thousand years ago.
And let's not forget the mushroom people. They're called that because they have skin like mushrooms. And they are supposed to smell as bad. Those are the descendants of Vikings. :)
What we've got here are vague prophesies of the white man killing everything, the destruction of the Hard Work clan, and a long and varied chase as the dominant clan kills everyone in their path to wipe out the mushroom folk.
But what about the magic?
It's not heavy, but it is familiar. Totem animals and the eating of special flesh for a big boost. Animal talking. Prophesies. They all have rules and it basically gives a lot of spice to the utter escapism of this kind of book.
People are people. The point is not the technology, but what people do with each other. For all that, I had a pretty fine time. :)
I was reminded, offhand, of Kevin Hearne's Seven Kennings and some of Adrian Tchaikovsky's Tiger and the Wolf, as well as a bit of John Gwynne. If you like any of these authors, I'm certain you'll have a grand time with this one, too. :)
Where Gods Fear to Go is the final book in the West of West trilogy by Angus Watson. Our journey picks up right where the last book leaves off. It's finally time to find out what is in the Meadows and see if our heroes can prevent it from destroying the world. That is, if they can get out of a dangerous situation with the Squatches first.
When I picked up this series I never imagined how much zany fun I was in store for or how much this unlikely group of misfit characters would grow on me. There are so many touching moments on the final leg of the journey along with some pretty impressive character growth. I absolutely adored Paloma and Freydis's side journey together. Finn actually starting to grow up and accept responsibility for his actions. The Owsla realizing that there's more to life than just killing and learning how to be more human. Poor Eric the Angry, though really it's not all bad afterwards.
Watson's imagination continues to be bizarrely wonderful. While I don't think his monstrous creations quite achieved the greatness of the ones in the Badlands, the horrors of the Meadows are sufficiently weird and disconcerting that I was kept on the edge of my seat worried for what was going to happen next. And with good reason. Given the nature of the group's quest, not everyone makes it to the grand finale.
I listened to the audio book narrated by Sean Barrett. His performance is absolutely perfect for these books. I need to listen to more stories narrated by him.
This was such a nice ending to one of the most imaginative series I've read. Make sure you read the afterward at the end. The historical notes about what Watson based this series on are fascinating.
The names are bad and most of the characters are unpleasant in in the end, this just felt like an imitation of a Joe Ambercrombie novel set in a sort of alternate history Earth.
The Land You Never Leave is the second book in the trilogy and the story picks up immediately where book one leaves off. The two tribes have formed an uneasy alliance as they set off across the Ocean of Grass to continue their quest to take Ottar the Moaner to a place called the Meadows. Between our heroes and their ultimate goal are the Badlands, home to the one of the most brutal tribes west of the Water Mother and a collection of terrifying monsters. As if the world wasn't dangerous enough as it was.
Each of the characters that took so long to grow on me in book one all have solidified their places in my heart. Their inner monologues combined with the back and forth banter between them is so much fun. I loved the insights into their motivations and even the one guy who enjoys pointing out phallic shaped rocks was quite funny. All the points of view, and there are a lot of them, are woven together well.
As to the plot, my summary above really doesn't do any justice to just how bizarrely wonderful and quirky the story is. Watson is so creative that after the first hour or so of listening I stopped trying to guess what was coming next and just enjoyed the ride. It was glorious.
I listened to the audio book narrated by Sean Barrett. I love his voice! His narration brings all the characters to life and his comedic timing is perfect. It was a joy to listen to.
I truly cannot express how much I loved this book. Can't wait for book 3!
The people of the village of Hardwork have a pretty good life. Their Scrayling neighbors take care of all of their needs so they have become quite, well, lazy. So when an attack on the town comes, the Hardworkers can hardly believe it. A prophecy of the Calnians says that the Mushroom Men will destroy the world and they are now all marked for death. A small group survives the attack including one simple, young boy who has the gift of seeing the future. His advice: Head west and then head west some more. The surivors see no other choice and set off to the promised safety in the west. Meanwhile, the Calnian Empress has decided not to take any chances so sets her Owsla, an elite squad of magic enhanced women warriors, to hunt the survivors down until none are left alive.
Angus Watson has a lot of fun naming his characters. The Hardworkers all have names that are, or were, descriptive of a trait. Wulf the Fat (who isn't fat anymore), Sassa Lipchewer (she does), Freydis the Annoying (she's a young child so she can be). The Owsla also have pretty great names too like Sofi Tornado and Chogolisa Earthquake. He takes his time building them up and most of the characters felt fully realized by the end. They may be gruff but the Hardworkers won me over with their determination to survive and their devotion to keeping as many alive as possible.
Considering how straight forward the story is, I have to admit I did not see that ending coming. That was one great plot twist.
I listened to the audio book narrated by Sean Barrett. He has a gravelly, deep voice that I think was a great fit for this gritty tale.
Wooooootah! I'm going to keep my eye out for book two.
I think the biggest problem was that I thought this was a fantasy book. But it was in Britain, Romans are coming and Germany was also mentioned. Just because you add pagan gods and add few druids and their magic doesn’t make it proper fantasy book for me. If I think it as a historical book then the too modern language would bother me. At some point I wanted to start counting how many times shagging was mentioned but that would have meant too much commitment.
I didn’t mind the blood, gore or mentions of rape but that could be a problem for someone. I’m pretty sure that every time new female character was introduced we’re told how her face, hair, boobs and ass looks. And it got tiresome after awhile.
Aithne was big-boned, big-arsed, busty and tall with hair the colour of piss-soaked stable straw, while Lowa was average height, slender, with hair so blonde it was almost white. Admittedly she was on the stocky side of slender. Riding and archery had built muscle, and a keen observer would have seen that her right shoulder and arm were bigger than her left from drawing the longbow, but she was slim-waisted and supple, with a bottom that lobbed slingstones would have bounced off. Aithne had the small-featured, freckled face of a milkmaid. Lowa had the pale skin and high cheekbones of a fairy princess. Aithne had dark, bovine eyes with long, heavy lashes. Lowa's eyes were blue, pale-lashed and slanted like a wildcat's. Aithne was gregarious while Lowa watched from the edges. Aithne was confused and idealistic where Lowa was logical and pragmatic. Aithne was a glutton for food and booze, often to be found vomiting before bed, while Lowa never overate and had never been sick after drinking. Aithne was two years older, but Lowa had been the leader as long as she could remember. (pg.53)
I couldn’t care less about the characters and I was so bored that I had to force myself to open the book. The writing wasn’t bad but unfortunately that’s not enough to make this good. But I liked that there is strong women who went to battles, and fought well, so that is a bonus and earned higher rating.
This definitely wasn’t for me but everyone else seems to love this so don’t take my word for this.
1 
Elysianfield | 8 andere besprekingen | Nov 16, 2016 |
Elysianfield | 8 andere besprekingen | Nov 16, 2016 | I still feel this series should get more love and attention. It is a brutal but that is tempered quite well with some amazing dark humor. For me to laugh out loud at a book? That’s high praise. While I had some reservations with the way Clash of Iron ended, this third installment solidified Angus Watson on my must read list as well as placing the series high on my recommendations list.
Review 4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum http://bibliosanctum.com/2015/09/29/a...
Reign of Iron was a great end to a great trilogy. But it still felt like it was missing something.
If you’ve read the last book, you probably know what I’m talking about. After the shocking events that took place at the end of Clash of Iron, I was curious to see how the characters will pick up the pieces and carry on. Hopefully towards a triumphant ending, but with Angus Watson you just never know. As he has already shown us with the previous two books, anything can happen in this series. All we can do is brace ourselves and hold on tight.
This third book wastes no time at all, picking up right where we left off. Quite some time passes in the intro, however, as the tribes of Britain finally wake up to the reality of the invading Roman forces of General Caesar on their doorstep, ready to claim the land for themselves. They rally around Lowa, the warrior queen of Maidun.
But Lowa herself has quite a lot of her mind. Her campaign and her own morale was dealt a serious blow at the end of book two. Over the next year, a lot of significant events take place. Lowa gives birth to her son, the child awakening feelings in her she never knew existed. Sadly, she also loses touch with Spring, the young druid distancing herself to deal with her private grief. All the while, Caesar’s troops are amassing, and the Roman general now has druids and magic of his own. Things look pretty bad for Lowa, but she will do whatever it takes to save her people. For the future and freedom of Britain, every warrior is determined to fight to their last breath.
Thematically, Reign of Iron probably feels closer to Clash of Iron than it does to the first book, Age of Iron. The Romans aren’t just a threat now; they are real. They’ve even unleashed the war elephants, for Jupiter’s sake! We’re in the midst of war, the fighting is in full swing, and the book is as brutal and bloody as ever. The caveat I brought up in my reviews of the first two books also applies here: if you’re squeamish about violence, cruelty, torture, death and all that unpleasantness and pain, it’s best to avoid this series or approach it with discretion. Watson’s Iron Age is a cruel and dark world.
Also, once again the emphasis has shifted on the characters. For me, Age of Iron was Dug’s story. Clash of Iron was more like Lowa’s. Reign of Iron is a novel that focuses on everyone, but I also can’t help but feel that Spring finally got her own book. She really got to shine in this one, and I loved her escapades across enemy lines.
That said, we see a lot of growth in all the characters. The feelings left behind from the last book are still there, which can’t be helped, but the characters’ spirit and resolve at least helped lift me out of that gaping chasm of sorrow. Both Spring and Lowa have their own ways to bolster Britain’s armies, which kept things interesting and sometimes humorous. Motherhood has also changed Lowa, and the mixed feelings she has for her baby becomes a new factor in her war planning.
Not everyone is such a joy to read about, though. Over on the Roman side, you have Ragnall the former druid and *cough* traitor *cough* who can’t seem to peel his lips off Julius Caesar’s backside long enough to see what really is going on in the world around him. We also have the druid Felix, whose flashback chapters don’t change my opinions on him that he is an insane and evil child-murdering sadist. The fact that he’s after Spring makes him even more hated. And Caesar is…well, Caesar is just Caesar. The man had many eccentricities, and let’s just say Angus Watson made sure to capture them all here.
So yep, it’s definitely the women who win big in this book.
Now that the series is over, I just have to say how impressed I am with the way the author tied everything together. Very little is known about life in Iron Age Britain and Mr. Watson made it clear from the start he was going to have a bit of fun with filling in the history, but he would be doing so by drawing from the huge amount of research he did for these books. But even though the premise is rooted in history, he never failed to place characters and story first. And the result is a huge success.
Finally, this is also the first time I reviewed the audio version of a book in this series, and I’m happy to report that listening was just as enjoyable as reading. English actor and narrator Sean Barrett is perfect! I love his accent and his inflections. Also, funny sometimes how we as audiobook listeners immediately associate a narrator’s voice to a character’s. Barrett’s voice is exactly how I would have imagine Dug to sound like, making me wish now to experience Iron Age again from the beginning, but in audio this time around. They really couldn’t have chosen a better actor to read this series.
All in all, I can’t recommend this trilogy enough. I had my doubts this book could deliver, after the second book and what was one of the most shocking endings I’ve ever read. That’s not something a series can easily bounce back from, and in truth I doubt it’s even possible to fully recover. And yet, Reign of Iron pressed on and finished off marvelously. I wait on pins and needles, arrows and swords to see what Angus Watson might do next. Here’s hoping he’ll keep writing great stories.
4.5 stars
This was a very down and dirty, gripping, enjoyable read. It is dark, twisted, funny and exciting. Despite that, this is going to be a really hard review to write. I enjoyed it. Actually, I really enjoyed it. But the interesting thing is, while reading I could pick out things that I think other people may complain about. So, do I ignore them, since I don’t really care? Or do I let people know, since am sure some readers will. I decided to go with a list of who I think should read this book at their own risk. I’m certainly not going to tell them to not read it, because, like I said, I found it to be a really good story.
Who should read this book with caution?
* People who are easily offended by descriptions of women’s bodies. Personally, I never felt it was out of line in this book, I didn’t feel the women were objectified. But were there descriptions of the female form? Yes. If that bugs you, well prepare yourself. Now you know and can choose to read at your own risk of being outraged.
* People who don’t like to laugh at dark humor. I don’t know who these people might be, but if humor that comes from a dark place or sarcasm, or self-deprecation bothers you, well, I have to wonder why you are reading my blog. I love this stuff. And you probably won’t get this book.
* People who are easily disturbed by deranged characters. If you lose sleep at night easily when reading about twisted individuals who get their jollies in depraved ways, well, you might not want to read this book.
* People who don’t enjoy seeing women excel in battle. What? You think only men can be useful in battle? Well, then, you are not my friend. And you might not enjoy this book.
* People who are unsettled by violence. Don’t want to hear about a skull getting crushed under the weight of a war hammer? This may not be the book for you.
* People who hate bright and mysterious little girls. If you are the type to dislike orphans (and probably kick puppies in your free time), then this book might irk you.
* People who would rather read ancient British Celtic than a modern translation/style of speech The speech in this book has a more modern feel, with some modern words like OK. I found its easy and fun to read, but I know some people complain about this. If it’s something you tend to bellyache about, and you'd rather read the more authentic ancient British Celtic, prepare yourself.
There, that’s out of the way. Now I can move away from my anticipated reaction of some others to what I care about with my review, this is about my reaction.
There are several things really going for this book. First. I love the characters. Dug, Lowa and Spring are all fascinating, strong characters. You could flip between any of them, and I’d be happy because at the end of this book, I want more of all of them. I love when a story features multiple characters and I can’t pick a favorite because I just love them all. That was definitely the case here.
The humor is another strong aspect of this. Like many of the successful grimdark authors, Watson is able to balance the horrific aspects of his story and world with some dark edged humor that lightens things up and makes everything more palatable.
I do want to mention, this is a fantastical story, and as such sometimes has moments that require a little bit stronger suspension of disbelief. But that’s fine since the story is so fun. Some of the characters, especially antagonists, almost seem like caricatures, but they are fun to read, and in my opinion do not take it too far. And the main characters are all so enjoyable.
As for magic, it is still lighter on fantasy than a Sanderson book, but I don’t think it is as low magic as many of the popular grimdark books. That’s not a bad thing, just an observation.
My only complaint, and it is minor, is that at times I felt the “Slavery and oppression are bad …. mmm’Kay?” message was a bit heavy handed. Often less is more, and for me personally, I felt it would have been a stronger book if parts of it were trimmed to sound a bit less …. preachy for lack of a better word. And this is MINOR! It was by no means a preachy book, it just maybe dwelled on this particular message a tiny bit more than I would have liked.
Overall, I have to say this is a great debut, the next one is firmly on my TBR list as I look forward to continuing the adventure with Dug, Lowa and Spring.
1 tenaciousreader | 8 andere besprekingen | Oct 6, 2015 |
tenaciousreader | 8 andere besprekingen | Oct 6, 2015 | Yeah, if I could leave my impressively eloquent analysis of this book at just that, I would. But no. This review is going to have details (or at least as much as I can give), dammit, and I’m going to do my best to articulate my thoughts while trying to hold myself together lest I fall to pieces.
Honestly though, I’m at a complete loss as to how to review Clash of Iron. Has this every happened to you? You’re just reading a book as normal, all the while taking down mental notes on what you’re going to say about it, when all of a sudden the ending comes at you so hard that the shock and awe of it just drives every single thought out of your head?
This is me right now. I am dumbfounded. Stupefied. I still can’t believe that ending really happened.
But let’s back up a bit to talk about what the book is about. In a word, Clash of Iron is about war. Lots and lots of war. It is the second novel in Angus Watson’s Iron Age trilogy and sequel to his brilliant, epic debut Age of Iron which was one of my top reads of last year. At the end of that book, our heroes Dug and Lowa managed to capture Maidun castle and free it from the brutal grip of its tyrant king Zadar. Lowa has usurped him and taken over his reign as Queen of Maidun, but unfortunately it seems, just in time to meet a massive invading Roman army coming from Gaul! The British Isles are thrown into disarray as its disparate tribes go to battle against each other instead of forming a united front against Julius Caesar, the Roman’s military genius who has his sights set on their homeland.
First I feel the need to warn that like its predecessor, Clash of Iron is as brutal and bloody as ever. As expected, there are many violent battles, lots of split skulls and tons of dismembered limbs flying about. There are also more intimate, disturbing scenes of torture and in general characters doing very unpleasant and painful things to other characters. Watson paints a dark, cruel world in The Iron Age where it doesn’t matter who or what you are; men, women, children, animals can all expect to meet a terrible and gruesome end in this series, so be aware if you’re squeamish about such things to approach these books with discretion.
This sequel, however, does head in a new direction when it comes to other aspects. The story here feels altogether different, with more focus on war. When all the sides aren’t engaging in it, they’re preparing for it, in this new martial climate of Britain. With the threat of the Roman Empire and Caesar bearing down on the Britons, there are whole new challenges to face. In many ways, Clash of Iron is Lowa’s story while I saw Age of Iron as being more Dug’s. As queen of Maidun, she’s now the head of an army of thousands and makes all the important decisions that will decide the fate of her people. As a new ruler, she also faces many new obstacles, such as adversity from all sides – even her own. Meanwhile, Dug takes more of a backseat in this book, retiring to a small farm. Still, all the while, his feelings for Lowa are alive and well and so are hers for him, so their awkwardness around each other provides no small amount of hilarity.
Other old favorites return, though describing Ragnal as a “favorite” is a bit of a stretch, that little double crossing fair-weather weasel. Spring’s presence also diminishes somewhat, though her actual role gets a huge boost. Big things are going to happen, and I have a feeling Spring is going to be at the center of them. Chamanca, the literally bloodthirsty warrior woman who scared the living bejeezus out of me in the first book is also back, though this time I had a lot of fun following her character and actually found myself rooting for her. Then there’s new player on the field, Julius Caesar himself, a man who needs no introduction. Angus Watson’s portrayal of the general had me alternating between feeling horror at his atrocities to laughing my ass off at his quirks.
And of course, we come to the ending. Oh, that ending. There’s nothing I can say about it that won’t be a massive spoiler, so I’ll just state that as shocking and unexpected as it was, I really shouldn’t have been surprised. But I was. You just never think an author would go there. But he does.
Any way you look at it, Clash of Iron will have you feeling exultant. You’ve just read an awesome book. Regardless of anything else, this wildly entertaining read will make you pine for the next one. Bring on Reign of Iron!
UPDATE with Review From Tenacious Reader: http://www.tenaciousreader.com/2015/05/05/review-clash-of-iron-by-angus-watson/
I’m going to be honest, this is a very hard review to write. I make an effort to keep everything spoiler free, and so generally don’t talk much about the ending other than liked it, didn’t like it, etc. Well, I’m going to stick with my spoiler free approach, but my problem is that this book did something completely unexpected and it’s all I can think of! It is not a crazy out of left field thing, it actually makes sense now that it’s happened and I read it, but at the same time I did not see it coming. At all. And it leaves me with less of an idea for where the third book may go. It has literally eclipsed almost every other thought I have had about this book. Luckily almost is not completely, so I will do my best :)
First, I don’t know how or why, but I completely forgot just how incredibly funny Age of Iron could be at times. This book quickly reminded me as it had me laughing out loud (literally) within the first 30 minutes of reading. I really enjoy how the humor (dark, snarky, sarcastic all the delicious flavors of funny) in this balances everything else because the book can be just down right brutal. There’s a war, and with that comes battles, blood, gore and Watson does not trivialize war or protect the reader from its realities. Without the the comic relief, this would be one hell of a dark series.
Lowa is now Queen of Maidun and I have to take a minute to talk about the amazing female characters in this series. They really are equals, Lowa is ruling Maidun, and other females characters are also included as solid characters that stand on their own. They are not just there to support the men as they get things done. The women are valuable contributors in everything. Spring continues to be a fascinating character. I think I would read a series just about her. And Dug, the lovable old lug of a soldier. These are the three main characters from Age of Iron and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting up with them again. Ragnall is also give a POV in this. His story line was interesting and provided us with some great information (as he is amongst the Romans). But I never enjoyed him as much as the first three.
My only negative observation is that the pace seemed to slow in places. I think typically I felt this way when we were getting lots of information on military tactics or current political climate. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for it at the time of reading I don’t remember feeling this way in the first book. There seemed to be a bit more focus on the over all conflict with the Romans and a little less on the characters themselves. The first book was very character driven with the three main characters all coming together. In this one we get more POVs and they are spread out. It gives a grander picture, but it also creates a little distance between the reader and the characters in some ways. But ultimately, it did not deter me and I am quite glad I read through to the end.
This was a quite a bloody second installment in the series, one that had points of laughter and points of incredible tension and heartbreak and one that leaves me absolutely on edge for the final book. You really can’t ask for more.
We begin the story with an introduction to Dug Sealskinner, a mercenary on his way to join up with King Zadar’s grand army at Maidun Castle, hoping for a way to earn some steady coin. But then he is waylaid at Barton, a town that gets attacked and annihilated by the very same people Dug had wished to join. In the aftermath, he meets up with a strange young girl named Spring, and together they encounter Lowa Flynn, formerly one of Zadar’s favored fighters who now finds herself on the run and seeking revenge on the king for her murdered band of warrior women.
King Zadar is a tyrant like no other with his twisted sense of how the world should be. His betrayal of Lowa and failure to capture her has earned him a dangerous enemy, but his killing and pillaging across the country has also made him the target of a young druid named Ragnall, who too seeks to make his way to Maidun to rescue his kidnapped fiancée. Ragnall and his mentor Drustan end up joining with our trio, and together the five make up a rather motley party of unlikely adventurers, all with a common foe.
Very little is known about life in Iron Age Britain; that the book began with this fact and a “this is what really happened” kind of statement in its foreword made me wonder what I’ll be in for. Large swaths of the book filled with history lessons, perhaps? But no, while we do indeed get a torrent of rich, scintillating details about the world, all of it no doubt painstakingly researched and cross checked and checked again by the author, none of it felt blatant or overtly shoved down my throat.
In fact, Watson placed storytelling and characters first, which is what I think made the book’s pacing so successful. He gave backstories to even the more minor characters, in a way that didn’t bog down the story but instead enhanced it, as every detail seems purposely placed to provide insight into the people and life at the time. The plot is also constantly driving forward, and there aren’t many places where it loses steam. History clearly has a role in this book, but the ultimate goal here is epic adventure, and we certainly don’t sacrifice storytelling or momentum.
It also wouldn’t feel completely without a bit of magic, which brings us to the druids. I admit I was very much drawn to the mention of them in the book’s description, as I’ve always been interested in the subject. And the druids of Age of Iron are fascinating indeed. There are all kinds of druids – healers, soothsayers, magicians, some who are benevolent and others who are bloodthirsty and depraved. This latter sort of druid seems to get the most attention, in the form of Felix, the druid who serves King Zadar. As cruel and wicked Zadar is, Felix makes him look like a snuffling choir boy. Some of the druid’s deeds are hard to read about, described in all its gruesome, gory details, and Watson doesn’t spare his readers one bit in this area.
I guess here’s where I should mention that no one is safe in this book – men, women, children and animals are all subjected to some horrific, violent fates, and it can get quite graphic – disturbingly so. If you’re squeamish or turned off about that kind of stuff, here’s a caveat: you might want to stay far away.
And yet, Age of Iron isn’t all doom and gloom, and blood and guts. There is humor, and there are inherently good people in this book. However, none of them are so black-and-white as that either. Characters like Dug, Lowa, Spring, and Ragnall serve as good counterpoints to the depravity and viciousness of people like Zadar and Felix, but our so-called heroes aren’t without their weaknesses. The may endear themselves to you, make you laugh or make you root for them, but be prepared to despise them sometimes too, because in the end they are also flawed people and simply trying to survive a world trying to do them in. I was all the more impressed by the well-roundedness of these characters, and whether you love them or hate them, I thought they were all very developed and well written.
Needless to say, I can’t wait for the next book. Age of Iron is one hell of a novel. The polish and skill in the writing makes it hard to believe it’s a debut, but you can bet Angus Watson’s got my full attention. I’ll definitely be watching for his future works as well as the progress of this series with great interest.
1 stefferoo | 8 andere besprekingen | Sep 23, 2014 |
stefferoo | 8 andere besprekingen | Sep 23, 2014 | 4.5 stars
This was a very down and dirty, gripping, enjoyable read. It is dark, twisted, funny and exciting. Despite that, this is going to be a really hard review to write. I enjoyed it. Actually, I really enjoyed it. But the interesting thing is, while reading I could pick out things that I think other people may complain about. So, do I ignore them, since I don’t really care? Or do I let people know, since am sure some readers will. I decided to go with a list of who I think should read this book at their own risk. I’m certainly not going to tell them to not read it, because, like I said, I found it to be a really good story.
Who should read this book with caution?
* People who are easily offended by descriptions of women’s bodies. Personally, I never felt it was out of line in this book, I didn’t feel the women were objectified. But were there descriptions of the female form? Yes. If that bugs you, well prepare yourself. Now you know and can choose to read at your own risk of being outraged.
* People who don’t like to laugh at dark humor. I don’t know who these people might be, but if humor that comes from a dark place or sarcasm, or self-deprecation bothers you, well, I have to wonder why you are reading my blog. I love this stuff. And you probably won’t get this book.
* People who are easily disturbed by deranged characters. If you lose sleep at night easily when reading about twisted individuals who get their jollies in depraved ways, well, you might not want to read this book.
* People who don’t enjoy seeing women excel in battle. What? You think only men can be useful in battle? Well, then, you are not my friend. And you might not enjoy this book.
* People who are unsettled by violence. Don’t want to hear about a skull getting crushed under the weight of a war hammer? This may not be the book for you.
* People who hate bright and mysterious little girls. If you are the type to dislike orphans (and probably kick puppies in your free time), then this book might irk you.
* People who would rather read ancient British Celtic than a modern translation/style of speech The speech in this book has a more modern feel, with some modern words like OK. I found its easy and fun to read, but I know some people complain about this. If it’s something you tend to bellyache about, and you'd rather read the more authentic ancient British Celtic, prepare yourself.
There, that’s out of the way. Now I can move away from my anticipated reaction of some others to what I care about with my review, this is about my reaction.
There are several things really going for this book. First. I love the characters. Dug, Lowa and Spring are all fascinating, strong characters. You could flip between any of them, and I’d be happy because at the end of this book, I want more of all of them. I love when a story features multiple characters and I can’t pick a favorite because I just love them all. That was definitely the case here.
The humor is another strong aspect of this. Like many of the successful grimdark authors, Watson is able to balance the horrific aspects of his story and world with some dark edged humor that lightens things up and makes everything more palatable.
I do want to mention, this is a fantastical story, and as such sometimes has moments that require a little bit stronger suspension of disbelief. But that’s fine since the story is so fun. Some of the characters, especially antagonists, almost seem like caricatures, but they are fun to read, and in my opinion do not take it too far. And the main characters are all so enjoyable.
As for magic, it is still lighter on fantasy than a Sanderson book, but I don’t think it is as low magic as many of the popular grimdark books. That’s not a bad thing, just an observation.
My only complaint, and it is minor, is that at times I felt the “Slavery and oppression are bad …. mmm’Kay?” message was a bit heavy handed. Often less is more, and for me personally, I felt it would have been a stronger book if parts of it were trimmed to sound a bit less …. preachy for lack of a better word. And this is MINOR! It was by no means a preachy book, it just maybe dwelled on this particular message a tiny bit more than I would have liked.
Overall, I have to say this is a great debut, the next one is firmly on my TBR list as I look forward to continuing the adventure with Dug, Lowa and Spring.
Onze site gebruikt cookies om diensten te leveren, prestaties te verbeteren, voor analyse en (indien je niet ingelogd bent) voor advertenties. Door LibraryThing te gebruiken erken je dat je onze Servicevoorwaarden en Privacybeleid gelezen en begrepen hebt. Je gebruik van de site en diensten is onderhevig aan dit beleid en deze voorwaarden.