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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
I feel like I have been reading this book forever. Maybe it's just because it is so in depth that I have to have silence(something almost nonexistent with two young children) so I can concentrate on the elaborate plot, but I will not complain at all. I absolutely loved this book! The characters are complex, the plot twists are insane, and the world that Peloquin has brought to life is believable and vibrantly rendered within the reader's mind thanks to his extensive world building. I look forward to reading the other books in this series!
I expected so much better when I read what this is about and decided I wanted to read it. I'm surprised I even finished the book. The plot itself was all over the place, so it was like the actual book didn't start till two thirds in. Before that nothing happened, and I was so bored reading even the fight scenes.
Any character aside from the Hunter himself showed up for a couple of pages and then you would never see them again. And there was quite a lot of those characters. I thought the Hunters character was terrible, and I don't think I could find any redeeming qualities. He kept contradicting himself and his feelings about something changed within pages.
I sometimes felt like I was reading the same thing over and over again because there was so much repetition in the writing. The book could have been cut I behalf and nothing would have been any different, which really didn't help the bordem.
My absolutely worst problem with this book though and the thing that probably cropped up first and just got worse was the amount of over sexualisation and sexism surrounding the female characters. All the female characters were described in the worst possible way every single time they were brought up. Something about sex or relating to sex was pretty much always mentioned and they were all related to whoring apart from one person and she was cheating on her husband anyway because of the Hunter. There was one woman in a higher position and the way that was talked about was awful.
Any character aside from the Hunter himself showed up for a couple of pages and then you would never see them again. And there was quite a lot of those characters. I thought the Hunters character was terrible, and I don't think I could find any redeeming qualities. He kept contradicting himself and his feelings about something changed within pages.
I sometimes felt like I was reading the same thing over and over again because there was so much repetition in the writing. The book could have been cut I behalf and nothing would have been any different, which really didn't help the bordem.
My absolutely worst problem with this book though and the thing that probably cropped up first and just got worse was the amount of over sexualisation and sexism surrounding the female characters. All the female characters were described in the worst possible way every single time they were brought up. Something about sex or relating to sex was pretty much always mentioned and they were all related to whoring apart from one person and she was cheating on her husband anyway because of the Hunter. There was one woman in a higher position and the way that was talked about was awful.
Actual Rating: 3.5 Stars!
Blade of the Destroyer follows the story of Hunter. He is the perfect assassin. He is ruthless and hungers for blood. However his services come with a price. His newest job will prove to be his undoing. Everything that could go wrong will and it will leave him questioning everything that he thought he knew.
I’m going to be honest, I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into when I read the synopsis of this book. It sounded much darker than what I typically read. That being said, I was intrigued and had to know more. Blade of the Destroyer is a dark and gritty tale. It is captivating and will pull you into this darker side of fantasy. The story is creative, imaginative and unique. Hunter is a killer. The anti-hero. He is the guy you want to hate, but you can’t because you’re intrigued by him; his story, why he is the way that he is.
Overall, I found this book to be a very enjoyable read. I thought the story-line was refreshing and intriguing. I think this series is off to really promising start. You can tell that the author really put a lot of thought and planning into his story and the world that he created. He is not afraid to pull you out of your comfort zone. Andy Peloquin is a new author to me and has definitely peaked my interest. I can’t wait to see what lies ahead next in this series.
*I was provided an ARC copy of this book via the author, in exchange for an honest review*
My review can also be seen at: http://onceuponabookblog.com/2015/08/21/release-day-blitz-blade-of-the-destroyer-by-andy-peloquin/
Blade of the Destroyer follows the story of Hunter. He is the perfect assassin. He is ruthless and hungers for blood. However his services come with a price. His newest job will prove to be his undoing. Everything that could go wrong will and it will leave him questioning everything that he thought he knew.
I’m going to be honest, I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into when I read the synopsis of this book. It sounded much darker than what I typically read. That being said, I was intrigued and had to know more. Blade of the Destroyer is a dark and gritty tale. It is captivating and will pull you into this darker side of fantasy. The story is creative, imaginative and unique. Hunter is a killer. The anti-hero. He is the guy you want to hate, but you can’t because you’re intrigued by him; his story, why he is the way that he is.
Overall, I found this book to be a very enjoyable read. I thought the story-line was refreshing and intriguing. I think this series is off to really promising start. You can tell that the author really put a lot of thought and planning into his story and the world that he created. He is not afraid to pull you out of your comfort zone. Andy Peloquin is a new author to me and has definitely peaked my interest. I can’t wait to see what lies ahead next in this series.
*I was provided an ARC copy of this book via the author, in exchange for an honest review*
My review can also be seen at: http://onceuponabookblog.com/2015/08/21/release-day-blitz-blade-of-the-destroyer-by-andy-peloquin/
The Hunter is neither man nor monster and yet is both at once. He knows no life before this and cannot remember a great deal of the time that has passed since he began hunting. He does not let these things trouble him, living each day with his many masks, some cruel, some kind, slaying some while he saves others. He is true neutral and about to discover there is more to the life he lives whether he wants to or not.
I liked this book, we find ourselves pulled into the world of an anti-hero who wields a blade he does not fully understand or like but which offers him protection from death and serious injury. He does a great deal of killing with it, and make no mistake, it is something he enjoys, but he is also offering help to many people in need where he lives. It's a life he is satisfied with, if a little frustrated when it comes to memories he can't quite place, that is until he begins to pulled into the goings on of two major groups that overshadow Voramis. It is in these two groups that he begins to uncover answers about himself and the life he has been living, unfortunately, it also costs him a great deal and he is left with many decisions, decisions he absolutely does not want to make.
This will definitely appeal to Weeks fans, but I think will also be appealing to fans of Mark Lawrence, who does The Broken Empire books which features another antihero with a sense of humor and lack of interest in being just what everyone expects. Definitely of interest to readers who like the darker side of fantasy and characters who ride the line between good and evil.
I liked this book, we find ourselves pulled into the world of an anti-hero who wields a blade he does not fully understand or like but which offers him protection from death and serious injury. He does a great deal of killing with it, and make no mistake, it is something he enjoys, but he is also offering help to many people in need where he lives. It's a life he is satisfied with, if a little frustrated when it comes to memories he can't quite place, that is until he begins to pulled into the goings on of two major groups that overshadow Voramis. It is in these two groups that he begins to uncover answers about himself and the life he has been living, unfortunately, it also costs him a great deal and he is left with many decisions, decisions he absolutely does not want to make.
This will definitely appeal to Weeks fans, but I think will also be appealing to fans of Mark Lawrence, who does The Broken Empire books which features another antihero with a sense of humor and lack of interest in being just what everyone expects. Definitely of interest to readers who like the darker side of fantasy and characters who ride the line between good and evil.
The Hunter is a formidable assassin who carries a blade that hungers for blood. His services can be bought at a price, but the man behind the mask knows very little about his own past. On his latest job, things go wrong and he soon discovers what lies in his past.
The hunter is painted as a cold killer in the beginning but as the story goes on, we see that he does care about the homeless people under his 'protection.' It's not easy to write from the PoV of a killer so this makes him a more sympathetic character. I think it was well written and the world the author has created was well described. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it.
The hunter is painted as a cold killer in the beginning but as the story goes on, we see that he does care about the homeless people under his 'protection.' It's not easy to write from the PoV of a killer so this makes him a more sympathetic character. I think it was well written and the world the author has created was well described. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it.
Blade of the Destroyer is pure video game material, from beginning to end. As a huge fan of video games, you would think I'd enjoy that. You would be wrong.
The Hunter is an immortal assassin. He moves among the populace of Voramis with dozens of disguises and kills for contracts. He's also motivated to murder by a supernatural dagger in his possession that whispers in his head to kill. However, a couple of contracts put him in the path of forces even he can't handle alone and he suddenly finds himself as one of the hunted.
Within the first couple chapters, I could tell that I was not going to enjoy Blade of the Destroyer. It was really hard to place at first, but it didn't take me too long to figure it out. It's a really clumsily written novel. The dialog is written in a way that no person would ever speak out loud. The world it's in is an array of basic fantasy tropes. Everything about it is predictable.
A lot of my problems with the book is with The Hunter himself. Of course, this character that murders without recourse is a dark, brooding sort that lives with the homeless population. And he can't be killed because all of his wounds regenerate, except for a single particular weakness. He can't remember his history, so the reader doesn't need to know anything about him except that he's essentially invulnerable, kills a lot of people, and has some moral code in that there are some people he won't kill and ladies he won't bed.
Speaking of ladies, the number of women in this story who aren't nameless whores could be counted on one hand. One is a child, another is an old woman, none of them could be described as well-developed characters, and nearly all of them die violently and it's often in support of pushing The Hunter to action. I don't expect every novel I read to be particularly progressive, but Blade of the Destroyer is exceptionally unkind to women.
The best I could compare Blade of the Destroyer to is a video game. The Hunter murders his way through a predictable story to a violent conclusion, complete with huge lore dumps in the middle chapters to fill in the details of the world that should be woven throughout. This novel inherits one of the video game media's weaknesses in that it's a poorly written story. In video games, this is often easy to overlook because the game can have more going for it like engaging gameplay or beautifully rendered art. A poorly written novel isn't worth much at all, and Blade of the Destroyer is poorly written.
The Hunter is an immortal assassin. He moves among the populace of Voramis with dozens of disguises and kills for contracts. He's also motivated to murder by a supernatural dagger in his possession that whispers in his head to kill. However, a couple of contracts put him in the path of forces even he can't handle alone and he suddenly finds himself as one of the hunted.
Within the first couple chapters, I could tell that I was not going to enjoy Blade of the Destroyer. It was really hard to place at first, but it didn't take me too long to figure it out. It's a really clumsily written novel. The dialog is written in a way that no person would ever speak out loud. The world it's in is an array of basic fantasy tropes. Everything about it is predictable.
A lot of my problems with the book is with The Hunter himself. Of course, this character that murders without recourse is a dark, brooding sort that lives with the homeless population. And he can't be killed because all of his wounds regenerate, except for a single particular weakness. He can't remember his history, so the reader doesn't need to know anything about him except that he's essentially invulnerable, kills a lot of people, and has some moral code in that there are some people he won't kill and ladies he won't bed.
Speaking of ladies, the number of women in this story who aren't nameless whores could be counted on one hand. One is a child, another is an old woman, none of them could be described as well-developed characters, and nearly all of them die violently and it's often in support of pushing The Hunter to action. I don't expect every novel I read to be particularly progressive, but Blade of the Destroyer is exceptionally unkind to women.
The best I could compare Blade of the Destroyer to is a video game. The Hunter murders his way through a predictable story to a violent conclusion, complete with huge lore dumps in the middle chapters to fill in the details of the world that should be woven throughout. This novel inherits one of the video game media's weaknesses in that it's a poorly written story. In video games, this is often easy to overlook because the game can have more going for it like engaging gameplay or beautifully rendered art. A poorly written novel isn't worth much at all, and Blade of the Destroyer is poorly written.
Dark and bloody, this is not a tale for the faint of heart. The Hunter is brutal, killing whomever he is paid to end, but only if they have committed a crime to deserve it. So maybe there is a glimmer of light in his darkness...
This book grabs hold of you and doesn’t let go. There is plenty of action and mystery throughout. It’s extremely well written and the world is very well developed. I’m left almost breathless after finishing this story in one day. I highly recommend Darkblade Assassin to anyone who likes dark fantasy!
This book grabs hold of you and doesn’t let go. There is plenty of action and mystery throughout. It’s extremely well written and the world is very well developed. I’m left almost breathless after finishing this story in one day. I highly recommend Darkblade Assassin to anyone who likes dark fantasy!
I received this book free by signing up to the author's website. An honest review was requested in exchange for the mobi file provided to me. Something I would have done anyway considering how I felt about the story by the last page.
I almost gave up on this book, and then something happened. I began to understand (I think) what story the author was really trying to tell us. It's about a man who is so driven by "routine" that he can't even seem to realize just who or what he is. For roughly the first half of the book, we go from one death scene to the next, that I began to lose interest thinking that this was what the book was all about. Turns out I would have made a big mistake.
Now understand, this is a book about an assassin. A very good one at that, who has a special weapon that we think is the source of his unique abilities. While there is much to learn about The Hunter, as he is known, we don't learn all there is to know in this book. We do learn that The Hunter does have a good heart that even he did not know he had.
Now, as with any story that has an assassin as it's main character, expect there to be a lot of violence, close melee, and some pretty bloody descriptions of how people die. This is my first Dark Fantasy book, so I really was not prepared for the story I read.
This is, perhaps an unfair assessment on my part, but remember my lack of experience with Fantasy in general, and Dark Fantasy specifically. I was not wowed by the combat scenes. I am not an author and I will not pretend that I could ever, in a million years, do better. I suspect that writing a melee combat scene has got to be one of the most difficult things to do. Perhaps it is a failing on my own part in that I just couldn't visualize in my minds eye just how exciting the scenes were. In either case, I found that I was almost skimming over them by the end of the book, paying just enough attention in case some important piece of information was revealed. That said, once I understood where the author was taking the character of The Hunter, and the rest of us along with him, it was more than enough to keep my interest in the story and to even want to continue on with the rest of the series.
I recommend this this story based on the plot and the characters within. There are some interesting surprises and a game changer or two as well.
I almost gave up on this book, and then something happened. I began to understand (I think) what story the author was really trying to tell us. It's about a man who is so driven by "routine" that he can't even seem to realize just who or what he is. For roughly the first half of the book, we go from one death scene to the next, that I began to lose interest thinking that this was what the book was all about. Turns out I would have made a big mistake.
Now understand, this is a book about an assassin. A very good one at that, who has a special weapon that we think is the source of his unique abilities. While there is much to learn about The Hunter, as he is known, we don't learn all there is to know in this book. We do learn that The Hunter does have a good heart that even he did not know he had.
Now, as with any story that has an assassin as it's main character, expect there to be a lot of violence, close melee, and some pretty bloody descriptions of how people die. This is my first Dark Fantasy book, so I really was not prepared for the story I read.
This is, perhaps an unfair assessment on my part, but remember my lack of experience with Fantasy in general, and Dark Fantasy specifically. I was not wowed by the combat scenes. I am not an author and I will not pretend that I could ever, in a million years, do better. I suspect that writing a melee combat scene has got to be one of the most difficult things to do. Perhaps it is a failing on my own part in that I just couldn't visualize in my minds eye just how exciting the scenes were. In either case, I found that I was almost skimming over them by the end of the book, paying just enough attention in case some important piece of information was revealed. That said, once I understood where the author was taking the character of The Hunter, and the rest of us along with him, it was more than enough to keep my interest in the story and to even want to continue on with the rest of the series.
I recommend this this story based on the plot and the characters within. There are some interesting surprises and a game changer or two as well.
I'm torn here because whilst this is undoubtedly a well written book, it relies on the shock factor of exceptionally heavy violence to pull it through the narrative and that just doesn't quite work for me. That said, if you like your novels to be full of cut tendons and almost torture porn scenes, then this will probably be right up your alley. There is certainly a market for that type of writing and if you are within that, then this is likely going to easily be a four star novel.
For me however, the violence felt gratuitous and rather unnecessary by the time I got half way through the novel. It starts strongly with The Hunter tracking his latest prey and the sense of mystery is exceptionally well portrayed. You want to find out more about this deadly assassin and yet his own lack of memory means that details are slow to emerge. I really enjoyed this first section where you follow the hunter through assignations and unravel at least some of his character.
The part where it starts to fall a little flat for me however is once the tension of the cloak and dagger starts to die and the blood-frenzy begins. So many people die, are mutilated or otherwise maimed that it loses any of the shock value that it had to start with. Most noticeably of all however, some of the deaths are clearly meant to have a greater impact than others on the reader and yet because they are lost within the bodies so to speak, you simply don’t feel the emotional resonance.
The character building of The Hunter is undeniably strong; he is a dark and brooding figure who seems to be constantly at war with his own morality and conscience. The author teases details out about him, until the moment when all the secrets become unravelled. Along with the world-building and mythology that is built around him, the author clearly shows promise. However, the characterisations of many side characters falls flat; you simply get one or two instances with them and you are somehow meant to care when they get killed.
Essentially, all this needed was a little bit of tidying for my four star rating. At 300 pages, it’s a short novel and yet too much of it was concerned with the slashing of muscles and the smashing of joints. Some of it is necessary, after all, The Hunter is an assassin with a blade that drinks its victims very souls. His entire life revolves around the act of killing. Where the victims are carefully chosen and stalked, this adds a layer of tension to the telling, particularly when you can feel yet not quite see the politics building up behind it. The descent into blood-lust however just got a little bit silly at the end.
At the same time, non-central characters were not developed to their full potential which is a shame as the author is clearly a skilled writer and with a little more development, this would be a stunning novel. There also seemed to be too many names of the cast of characters and it didn’t really matter whether you managed to keep them straight or not. I think if the author had made an effort to properly flesh out five of the minor characters, putting some meat on their bones, it would have made a much fuller tale with its potential realised.
All in all, not a bad book at all and in fair it isn’t that far off a four star novel. Personally, I’d have preferred more characterisation of lesser players in the tale and less gratuitous violence. I’d quite happily take 100 pages of additional characterisation though regardless and that would actually work to dilute the blood-frenzy more evenly throughout the novel.
For me however, the violence felt gratuitous and rather unnecessary by the time I got half way through the novel. It starts strongly with The Hunter tracking his latest prey and the sense of mystery is exceptionally well portrayed. You want to find out more about this deadly assassin and yet his own lack of memory means that details are slow to emerge. I really enjoyed this first section where you follow the hunter through assignations and unravel at least some of his character.
The part where it starts to fall a little flat for me however is once the tension of the cloak and dagger starts to die and the blood-frenzy begins. So many people die, are mutilated or otherwise maimed that it loses any of the shock value that it had to start with. Most noticeably of all however, some of the deaths are clearly meant to have a greater impact than others on the reader and yet because they are lost within the bodies so to speak, you simply don’t feel the emotional resonance.
The character building of The Hunter is undeniably strong; he is a dark and brooding figure who seems to be constantly at war with his own morality and conscience. The author teases details out about him, until the moment when all the secrets become unravelled. Along with the world-building and mythology that is built around him, the author clearly shows promise. However, the characterisations of many side characters falls flat; you simply get one or two instances with them and you are somehow meant to care when they get killed.
Essentially, all this needed was a little bit of tidying for my four star rating. At 300 pages, it’s a short novel and yet too much of it was concerned with the slashing of muscles and the smashing of joints. Some of it is necessary, after all, The Hunter is an assassin with a blade that drinks its victims very souls. His entire life revolves around the act of killing. Where the victims are carefully chosen and stalked, this adds a layer of tension to the telling, particularly when you can feel yet not quite see the politics building up behind it. The descent into blood-lust however just got a little bit silly at the end.
At the same time, non-central characters were not developed to their full potential which is a shame as the author is clearly a skilled writer and with a little more development, this would be a stunning novel. There also seemed to be too many names of the cast of characters and it didn’t really matter whether you managed to keep them straight or not. I think if the author had made an effort to properly flesh out five of the minor characters, putting some meat on their bones, it would have made a much fuller tale with its potential realised.
All in all, not a bad book at all and in fair it isn’t that far off a four star novel. Personally, I’d have preferred more characterisation of lesser players in the tale and less gratuitous violence. I’d quite happily take 100 pages of additional characterisation though regardless and that would actually work to dilute the blood-frenzy more evenly throughout the novel.
The Story Kept Going
Some books have lulls that can be hard to get through. Once this book gets going, it is never-ending excitement. Not Always action, but always keeping me on the edge of my seat. Can't wait to read the next book.
Some books have lulls that can be hard to get through. Once this book gets going, it is never-ending excitement. Not Always action, but always keeping me on the edge of my seat. Can't wait to read the next book.