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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Slow to start but great once it's there. This series continues to be full of difficult-to-read topics, but not in a gratuitous way like ASoIaF/GoT
Morgan’s “A Land Fit for Heroes” series is one of my favorite things I’ve found in recent years, and I almost regret giving this book such a low rating for something I like so much. But the sad fact is, this book sufferes badly from the dreaded “middle book syndrome.” Worse, it does not really stand alone as a novel. It feels like the first half of a longer work, not in the “the events of this book are concluded, but the greater story is to be continued” was of most novels in a series, but in the sense that I feel like I’ve only been handed half a novel. So much time is devotes to the mysterious city in the ocean, to setting up the Illwrack Changeling, to Gil’s growing powers, that, when the last page comes and we are only just now setting out on our journey, I couldn’t help but feel just a little cheated.
Then there is the mysterious, and I’m sure to remain important Hjel, who is just kind of dropped into the series amid Ringil’s wanderings in the grey places, as though he is someone we should already know. Time moves strangely in the grey places, sure, but we go from leaving Ringil at the end of book 1 with his knowledge of his part in a twisted prophecy, then we meet him in book 2 and suddenly he’s quite proficient in all dark glyph magic (thanks to Hjel), and it feels like too many important moments are skipped over from one book to the next.
I am eagerly waiting to see how all these events are resolved and concluded in “The Dark Defiles.” I can’t finally wait to get the second half of the story that was started here.
Then there is the mysterious, and I’m sure to remain important Hjel, who is just kind of dropped into the series amid Ringil’s wanderings in the grey places, as though he is someone we should already know. Time moves strangely in the grey places, sure, but we go from leaving Ringil at the end of book 1 with his knowledge of his part in a twisted prophecy, then we meet him in book 2 and suddenly he’s quite proficient in all dark glyph magic (thanks to Hjel), and it feels like too many important moments are skipped over from one book to the next.
I am eagerly waiting to see how all these events are resolved and concluded in “The Dark Defiles.” I can’t finally wait to get the second half of the story that was started here.
The Cold Commands is a seriously great read. The rating is higher here than on The Steel Remains for a reason! It`s better than the first, which gives me such high hopes for the third.
- The pacing is fixed, leaving hardly a dull moment to speak of.
- The three main characters are just as tough, interesting, and well-rounded. They continue to grow as people and their friendships are strong and heartfelt. No one could ever make the mistake of calling these people true heroes - they're shaded completely grey.
- The story feels more adventurous, with many chapters ending on must-keep-reading cliffhangers. One of my favourite parts of the book was when How was he going to get out of that?! The answer, retroactively, is pretty cool.
- I was glad that the sexual content was pared down a bit, making it less risqué and more appropriate for the situation. As well, the horror aspect was amped up slightly, with a few scenes that left me quite horrified (in a good way).
- The world was expanded upon and is intriguingly realistic, like most aspects of the book. I wish there was a map included, but I guess that's considered cliché now.
- I really love this exploration through the lives of veterans, rather than present-day soldiers. I haven't read many fantasy stories that deal with the aftermath of the "great war" and all of the poor, deformed, and broken veterans it must leave behind. It's so refreshing in its realism.
If you had any doubts about continuing the series after The Steel Remains, I highly recommend giving The Cold Commands a chance. I liked it exponentially more than the first and A Land Fit for Heroes is shaping up to be one of my favourite fantasy trilogies.
- The pacing is fixed, leaving hardly a dull moment to speak of.
- The three main characters are just as tough, interesting, and well-rounded. They continue to grow as people and their friendships are strong and heartfelt. No one could ever make the mistake of calling these people true heroes - they're shaded completely grey.
- The story feels more adventurous, with many chapters ending on must-keep-reading cliffhangers. One of my favourite parts of the book was when
Spoiler
Ringil discovered that he had the plague and the city was going into quarantine, so he sent his companion (and only ride out) away to spare them from catching it from him.- I was glad that the sexual content was pared down a bit, making it less risqué and more appropriate for the situation. As well, the horror aspect was amped up slightly, with a few scenes that left me quite horrified (in a good way).
- The world was expanded upon and is intriguingly realistic, like most aspects of the book. I wish there was a map included, but I guess that's considered cliché now.
- I really love this exploration through the lives of veterans, rather than present-day soldiers. I haven't read many fantasy stories that deal with the aftermath of the "great war" and all of the poor, deformed, and broken veterans it must leave behind. It's so refreshing in its realism.
If you had any doubts about continuing the series after The Steel Remains, I highly recommend giving The Cold Commands a chance. I liked it exponentially more than the first and A Land Fit for Heroes is shaping up to be one of my favourite fantasy trilogies.
This is the middle book in a dark fantasy trilogy: spoilers ahead.
Spoiler
It had a significant advantage over the opening book in that I began by liking the three principal characters, all of whom return from book one. Indeed, in this book I found myself strongly attached to the central figure, Ringil Eskiath. On the downside, the book felt slightly protracted and some of the chapters rather inconsequential. This may be a feature of breaking the story into volumes for a trilogy. The trilogy is classified as fantasy both on the author's website and on the back covers, but has elements in it that feel science fictional, a combination I rather like. But it is the characters, Ringil especially, who will draw me back to finish the trilogy.
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
The Cold Commands, the second book in Richard K. Morgan’s A Land Fit for Heroes trilogy, is a worthy sequel to The Steel Remains. The series deftly twists the tropes of fantasy with a few SF tropes in mix as well. But this series is not for everyone. The violence and sex are graphic but not gratuitous. F-bombs litter the pages like the blood splatters from the protagonist’s fabled sword Ravensfriend. Similes and metaphors are the coin of the writer’s realm. My favorite, metaphor not F-bomb, was the description of crowded city streets “impassible at any pace above that of a snail with a diploma in law”. I am glad that the third book, The Dark Defiles, is already out so I don’t have to wait to see how this story ends.
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
I had a tough time getting through the first half of The Cold Commands. It just felt meandering and a bit aimless because I had no idea where the story was going. Once again, we start off with the 3 main characters from The Steel Remains mostly doing their own thing (despite Egar and Archeth actually being together). I don’t know, but maybe I just want more narrative structure out of the story so I can actually get into the book. I also hated where Ringil’s storyline went with his dream-like hallucinations/travel into the Gray Space that just really confused me because I had no idea what was actually happening versus what he was just experiencing. I had thought that I already understood most of the intricacies after getting through the first book, but this just added another layer of confusion.
A little over the halfway point is finally when the main story actually gets going when all 3 characters are finally together again (at least they are in the same location). The pacing got much faster, the story clearer, and I could appreciate what was going on. But like the first book, the climax was again confined to the last few pages of the book, and it ended quite abruptly, so I wasn’t really left satisfied.
I feel like even more warnings are necessary. There are again multiple graphic gay (and lesbian) carnal scenes, which did not bother me. The egregious one is the facilitation and condoning of a gang rape of an enemy by one of our heroes. I don’t feel like it was necessary to have added this even in a grimdark fantasy.
Overall, The Cold Commands’ first half was a struggle to get through, and although it gets better later on, I was still left wanting.
A little over the halfway point is finally when the main story actually gets going when all 3 characters are finally together again (at least they are in the same location). The pacing got much faster, the story clearer, and I could appreciate what was going on. But like the first book, the climax was again confined to the last few pages of the book, and it ended quite abruptly, so I wasn’t really left satisfied.
I feel like even more warnings are necessary. There are again multiple graphic gay (and lesbian) carnal scenes, which did not bother me. The egregious one is the facilitation and condoning of a gang rape of an enemy by one of our heroes. I don’t feel like it was necessary to have added this even in a grimdark fantasy.
Overall, The Cold Commands’ first half was a struggle to get through, and although it gets better later on, I was still left wanting.
che potenziale!
tre protagonisti così promettenti! veterani decorati, eroi di una guerra incredibile contro una razza rettiliana, ognuno con il proprio diverso bagaglio di traumi, shock culturali, abbandoni e tradimenti:
una giovane semi-aliena di 200(?) anni
un nobile reietto
un selvaggio delle steppe
così tanta diversità in cui scavare profondamente...e invece no!!
queste tre persone così diverse pensano nello stesso modo, agiscono nello stesso modo, parlano nello stesso modo e cioè come un adolescente meschino ottuso e volgare
poteva essere un capolavoro ed è solo una cialtronata di 1400 pagine, fanculo!!!
e a proposito di cialtroneria:
concludere (ripetutamente) un azione che non si sa come chiudere con "e dopo tutto si fece buio" è veramente da cialtroni!!!!!
PS: copierò questo commento su ogni libro della trilogia perchè proprio come non c'è nessuna differenziazione ne crescita nei protagonisti non ce n'è nei tre libri
ancora fanculo!
tre protagonisti così promettenti! veterani decorati, eroi di una guerra incredibile contro una razza rettiliana, ognuno con il proprio diverso bagaglio di traumi, shock culturali, abbandoni e tradimenti:
una giovane semi-aliena di 200(?) anni
un nobile reietto
un selvaggio delle steppe
così tanta diversità in cui scavare profondamente...e invece no!!
queste tre persone così diverse pensano nello stesso modo, agiscono nello stesso modo, parlano nello stesso modo e cioè come un adolescente meschino ottuso e volgare
poteva essere un capolavoro ed è solo una cialtronata di 1400 pagine, fanculo!!!
e a proposito di cialtroneria:
concludere (ripetutamente) un azione che non si sa come chiudere con "e dopo tutto si fece buio" è veramente da cialtroni!!!!!
PS: copierò questo commento su ogni libro della trilogia perchè proprio come non c'è nessuna differenziazione ne crescita nei protagonisti non ce n'è nei tre libri
ancora fanculo!