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songwind's review
2.0
Corruption boasts an interesting story concept and well fleshed out, flawed main character.
The book leans heavily on this concept, as suggested by the title. It occurs multiple times, starting with the very beginning. This is also familiar from the only other Vine work I've read, The Lich.
Despite this solid foundation, the book runs aground in execution. From tremendous plot-holes (why does Dan get a job translating a poem from a language he doesn't speak?) to character interactions that feel sketchy and badly justified. Considering how much time we spend on Dan's navel gazing, being left in the dark about the justification for his actions particularly stands out. This illogic affects other characters as well, leading to a lot of decisions and changes in attitude that make no sense from the outside.
While I found the world building intriguing, I'm not sure I enjoyed this enough to read the sequel when it comes out.
Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
The book leans heavily on this concept, as suggested by the title. It occurs multiple times, starting with the very beginning. This is also familiar from the only other Vine work I've read, The Lich.
Despite this solid foundation, the book runs aground in execution. From tremendous plot-holes (why does Dan get a job translating a poem from a language he doesn't speak?) to character interactions that feel sketchy and badly justified. Considering how much time we spend on Dan's navel gazing, being left in the dark about the justification for his actions particularly stands out. This illogic affects other characters as well, leading to a lot of decisions and changes in attitude that make no sense from the outside.
While I found the world building intriguing, I'm not sure I enjoyed this enough to read the sequel when it comes out.
emchuah's review
4.0
Kevin Meyer, as narrator, did a terrific job as a voice actor. There was enough distinction between actors to make it clear which character was speaking (and there were a lot of characters) and his tone varied appropriately so that I listened intently for every plot point. There were times throughout the audiobook that I felt as though I was listening to a radio drama rather than being read a story. This kept the story engaging and entertaining, although the plot on its own was already pulling, the voice acting added an extra dimension to it and made it easier to digest as I said before, there are a lot of characters and complexities in the plot. I felt as though if I read a physical copy of this book instead, I’d have a less clear perception of the whole story.
The production overall was of good quality; the sound was clear, which of course, is the most important quality of an audiobook for me. The audio progressed nicely, so that pauses were of the appropriate length.
Like I said, I enjoyed listening to this book and I think I got more out of the story by listening to it rather than reading it. I would definitely recommend it for those audiobook aficionados out there.
Not to mention, the plot of this book and the overall skill displayed by the author Adam Vine were phenomenal. The world building that Vine engaged in and the imagery that so often accompanies fantasy books were exceptionally well thought out. One of the best things I liked about this book is that it was ambiguous- the villains were given humanity, the so-called good rebels succumbed to the uglier parts of humanity, and our protagonist struggles between defining himself as a good person or a bad person. I also appreciated reading from the perspective of an insecure, average, middle-aged man who deals with issues of masculinity, love, and career. I think that is a perspective that is often hard to come by in literature and I really appreciated seeing that it got its voice in Corruption.
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The production overall was of good quality; the sound was clear, which of course, is the most important quality of an audiobook for me. The audio progressed nicely, so that pauses were of the appropriate length.
Like I said, I enjoyed listening to this book and I think I got more out of the story by listening to it rather than reading it. I would definitely recommend it for those audiobook aficionados out there.
Not to mention, the plot of this book and the overall skill displayed by the author Adam Vine were phenomenal. The world building that Vine engaged in and the imagery that so often accompanies fantasy books were exceptionally well thought out. One of the best things I liked about this book is that it was ambiguous- the villains were given humanity, the so-called good rebels succumbed to the uglier parts of humanity, and our protagonist struggles between defining himself as a good person or a bad person. I also appreciated reading from the perspective of an insecure, average, middle-aged man who deals with issues of masculinity, love, and career. I think that is a perspective that is often hard to come by in literature and I really appreciated seeing that it got its voice in Corruption.
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barb4ry1's review
1.0
DNF-ed at 64 %. My will wasn't strong enough to continue.
Corruption contains three nested stories:
1. The story of Daniel Harper, an expat and ex - kendo champion running from his past who flees America to find a new life in Eastern Europe in a Country that name is not told.
2. The story of the Night Country, a fallen, post-apocalyptic world where an evil king has stolen the sun
3. The fictional story of a good knight on a mission to save his kingdom in the epic poem Dan is translating at work.
I'm Polish so using typically polish names (Filip, Marcin, Krzysztof, Iza, Kasia) in fantasy book will grab my attention. Although eastern european country is described only as a Country use of polish names, phrases and one idiom would suggest the country was inspired by Poland. On the other hand characters pay in crowns which are Czech Republic currency. Still - jewish quarter and one idiom are typically polish. This is the one:
“We have a saying here that maybe is deep and wide,” Kashka said.
“I don’t get it,” I said.
“In Countryish language, the words for maybe and ocean are the same. It’s… how you call it? Play on words?”
It's almost well translated. Morze equals Sea, not Ocean.
Anyway there's nothing good I can tell about this book. I want to read 30 books from this year's SPFBO. I really tried to finish this one but I wasn't able to. I like reading. But while reading this one I was looking for all kind of pretexts not to continue. Also it's the first SPFBO book I wasn't able to finish.
Why?
There are few problems. First none of the three stories engaged me. I don't care about Daniel, I'm not interested in Ink, I find Zaea uninteresting. I just don't care about the story. Sadly, that's not all.
I realize it's a work of fiction and sex obsessed talk may serve something (picturing characters maybe?) but it's strongly sexist. It may appeal to guys striving to be ultra-macho but for me it was weak. Few examples:
"While I appreciate your enthusiasm, violence only leads to one thing – the pussy leaving, as you saw tonight,”
She’s a pretty girl from a poor country, her best years are behind her. She’s spent the last decade hopping from one foreign penis to another, and now her biological clock is ticking. She doesn’t love me - she sees me as a parachute. - ah, this depth of mind of our protagonist. Of course in a second he admits he loves her as well.
The sense of humor in this book was pathetic.
We’ll be okay. Here. Give me your hand.” I reached and groped for her hand in the darkness, my fingers brushing something soft and warm.
“Hey! That is not my hand!”
“Sorry,” I said.
Now we have characters and their relations. Well - their one dimensional and flat. Sure, they have backstories and tragedies in their life but they're written in a way that shows them as featureless. The way flirting is described or relationship forming lacks any finesse and credibility. Dialogues in this book sound artificial. At 64 % of the book we still don't know what's really happening. Slow world-building may be justified when the world is interesting and characters engaging. Here though none of this things appear.
This book is long. It has more than 500 pages. It's possible it turned brilliant in last chapters but I'll never know. I'm really curious why the author felt that this story was worth telling? After reading close to three hundred pages I feel like nothing happened and what happened was uninspiring. So far I don't see any sense of direction in this book. Also the prose felt heavy to me making it a chore to follow the book.
I'm sorry I didn't like the book more than I did as I try to support and promote self-published authors but there's just nothing I enjoy about this book.
Corruption contains three nested stories:
1. The story of Daniel Harper, an expat and ex - kendo champion running from his past who flees America to find a new life in Eastern Europe in a Country that name is not told.
2. The story of the Night Country, a fallen, post-apocalyptic world where an evil king has stolen the sun
3. The fictional story of a good knight on a mission to save his kingdom in the epic poem Dan is translating at work.
I'm Polish so using typically polish names (Filip, Marcin, Krzysztof, Iza, Kasia) in fantasy book will grab my attention. Although eastern european country is described only as a Country use of polish names, phrases and one idiom would suggest the country was inspired by Poland. On the other hand characters pay in crowns which are Czech Republic currency. Still - jewish quarter and one idiom are typically polish. This is the one:
“We have a saying here that maybe is deep and wide,” Kashka said.
“I don’t get it,” I said.
“In Countryish language, the words for maybe and ocean are the same. It’s… how you call it? Play on words?”
It's almost well translated. Morze equals Sea, not Ocean.
Anyway there's nothing good I can tell about this book. I want to read 30 books from this year's SPFBO. I really tried to finish this one but I wasn't able to. I like reading. But while reading this one I was looking for all kind of pretexts not to continue. Also it's the first SPFBO book I wasn't able to finish.
Why?
There are few problems. First none of the three stories engaged me. I don't care about Daniel, I'm not interested in Ink, I find Zaea uninteresting. I just don't care about the story. Sadly, that's not all.
I realize it's a work of fiction and sex obsessed talk may serve something (picturing characters maybe?) but it's strongly sexist. It may appeal to guys striving to be ultra-macho but for me it was weak. Few examples:
"While I appreciate your enthusiasm, violence only leads to one thing – the pussy leaving, as you saw tonight,”
She’s a pretty girl from a poor country, her best years are behind her. She’s spent the last decade hopping from one foreign penis to another, and now her biological clock is ticking. She doesn’t love me - she sees me as a parachute. - ah, this depth of mind of our protagonist. Of course in a second he admits he loves her as well.
The sense of humor in this book was pathetic.
We’ll be okay. Here. Give me your hand.” I reached and groped for her hand in the darkness, my fingers brushing something soft and warm.
“Hey! That is not my hand!”
“Sorry,” I said.
Now we have characters and their relations. Well - their one dimensional and flat. Sure, they have backstories and tragedies in their life but they're written in a way that shows them as featureless. The way flirting is described or relationship forming lacks any finesse and credibility. Dialogues in this book sound artificial. At 64 % of the book we still don't know what's really happening. Slow world-building may be justified when the world is interesting and characters engaging. Here though none of this things appear.
This book is long. It has more than 500 pages. It's possible it turned brilliant in last chapters but I'll never know. I'm really curious why the author felt that this story was worth telling? After reading close to three hundred pages I feel like nothing happened and what happened was uninspiring. So far I don't see any sense of direction in this book. Also the prose felt heavy to me making it a chore to follow the book.
I'm sorry I didn't like the book more than I did as I try to support and promote self-published authors but there's just nothing I enjoy about this book.
magickislife's review
5.0
I had a hard time getting into this story at first, the purposeful leaving out of place they were in when they were in the real world and using City or Country kept throwing me off. It felt jarring to me, and if it had been something I just picked up to listen to I may have stopped. Which would have been sad because it is a fantastic book and once I got past that I got into it very fast and missed a few bedtimes.
The Night Country seems to be such an interesting place, I found I enjoyed that story a lot more when they were there than I did when they were in the real world. Which makes sense because I am quite fond of fantasy worlds. Plus the characters just seemed a lot more relateable in the Night Country than they did in the real world.
When Daniel and Kashka took the tour of the concentration camp I found the descriptions to be particularly vivid and disturbing. It was excellently written, as was the rest of the book, but that particular scene will stay with me for a long time.
I look forward to the second installment of Corruption.
The Night Country seems to be such an interesting place, I found I enjoyed that story a lot more when they were there than I did when they were in the real world. Which makes sense because I am quite fond of fantasy worlds. Plus the characters just seemed a lot more relateable in the Night Country than they did in the real world.
When Daniel and Kashka took the tour of the concentration camp I found the descriptions to be particularly vivid and disturbing. It was excellently written, as was the rest of the book, but that particular scene will stay with me for a long time.
I look forward to the second installment of Corruption.
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