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blodeuedd's review against another edition
4.0
My thoughts:
I liked it, a lot. There was something light over the whole book, even in the darkness. Corvis is not someone you should like, but how could I not like him. At the beginning of the book he does his name credit, he is not a nice person, quite the opposite. The he disappears and marries, haves children, only to see the world break again. And again he shows that he truly is The Terror of The East. But sometimes you just have to love the evil guy, because at least this time he wants to protect his wife and children. Marmell sure does a great job creating this character you just fall for.
There is humour and a streak of light through out the book. Much come from Khanda, his "pet" demon. That demon has a tongue on him and says what he wants. To my horror I like him too, even when he is feasting on souls. There is also his once trusted friends, great sidekicks there.
The book does what fantasy should do. It sweeps you into a new world and make you feel right at home there. A kingdom that can not stand together, the guilds wants one thing, the nobles another thing, and a new enemy that wants to have it all. There are battles, death, destruction, and one good plot that had me guessing.
But the thing I did like the best was how much I liked these characters, and how I wanted to read more about them. The book ends where it ends. A nice conclusion and that is it. But it leaves an opening and there will be another book, and I want that book.
Recommendation and final thoughts:
Of course I am recommending this book, I could not put it down, and I did not want to put it down either. It was fun, it was light, it was dark, it was a great ride. I have to give it a 4 and I hope he keeps up the good work.
So go read it, and I promise you will like Corvis too.
I liked it, a lot. There was something light over the whole book, even in the darkness. Corvis is not someone you should like, but how could I not like him. At the beginning of the book he does his name credit, he is not a nice person, quite the opposite. The he disappears and marries, haves children, only to see the world break again. And again he shows that he truly is The Terror of The East. But sometimes you just have to love the evil guy, because at least this time he wants to protect his wife and children. Marmell sure does a great job creating this character you just fall for.
There is humour and a streak of light through out the book. Much come from Khanda, his "pet" demon. That demon has a tongue on him and says what he wants. To my horror I like him too, even when he is feasting on souls. There is also his once trusted friends, great sidekicks there.
The book does what fantasy should do. It sweeps you into a new world and make you feel right at home there. A kingdom that can not stand together, the guilds wants one thing, the nobles another thing, and a new enemy that wants to have it all. There are battles, death, destruction, and one good plot that had me guessing.
But the thing I did like the best was how much I liked these characters, and how I wanted to read more about them. The book ends where it ends. A nice conclusion and that is it. But it leaves an opening and there will be another book, and I want that book.
Recommendation and final thoughts:
Of course I am recommending this book, I could not put it down, and I did not want to put it down either. It was fun, it was light, it was dark, it was a great ride. I have to give it a 4 and I hope he keeps up the good work.
So go read it, and I promise you will like Corvis too.
eddyfate's review against another edition
4.0
Great fantasy novel with some surprising twists. Well worth it.
bishopjoey's review against another edition
4.0
Great stuff, this. Marmell does really good fantasy.
bookfairy99's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely loved the concept behind this book. A ruthless conqueror redeemed by the power of love? Be still my heart. The author did an incredible job of balancing Corvis’ devotion to his family with the inner warlord that will always be a part of him. I really liked Corvis despite (or maybe because of) his moral ambiguity, but I also loved the secondary characters. Khanda was a particular favorite, as was Davro. Each secondary character had a distinct personality, and I really loved getting to know all of them in turn. I even liked the twist at the end when Audriss’ real identity was revealed. I—along with Corvis—though I was so smart and had it all figured out long before then, but I enjoyed being proven wrong. The action was fast-paced, the writing witty and descriptive without getting bogged down in its own brilliance, and the overall feel of the book was very much a fantasy one. I’m delighted to know there’s a sequel to this fabulous book.
markyon's review against another edition
4.0
This is one of those books that's been sitting in the pile for a while at Hobbit Towers. I’ve not been avoiding it, just haven’t managed to get to it. Whilst it was lurking there, Youngest Hobbit looked at the cover of this one (portraying a huge axe), and says to me, “Dad, some of the books you read have great covers!”
The cover actually does sum this one up fairly well – a large, no, LARGE, axe with strange symbols on it, outlined in red – could be blood, could be something else. You know that this one is going to involve violence and gore and..... well, it won’t be pretty.
But: hold on. What Ari tries to do here is something interesting, to tell the tale of a Conqueror – Corvis Rebaine, Terror of the East – but by what happens twenty years later, when the Conqueror has conquered and gone away to hide in seclusion with his wife and family.
Of course, his opponents are not going to let him get away with being hidden and his home and family are discovered, with the consequence that he has to don the old armour of ‘the Terror’ and then go off to collect his former allies, the demon Khanda (held captive in a magic token), the ogre Davro and the wood-witch Seilloah, in order to take on his nemesis, Audriss.
So, we have witches, ogres and magic. Not to mention nasty goblins. Nothing particularly new there, either. The plot is really a rewritten The Magnificent Seven re-imagined as Fantasy. The main plot idea - that of the ‘old warrior returning’ is not really new, and goes back to Gemmell’s Druss for example. There are touches of black magic, possessed weaponry (hello, Elric?) and vampirism to riff off also.
Such obvious tropes might be a tad repetitive to some. However, there’s a lot to like here. The tale is told is very entertaining. Its strength is in its witty dialogue and a sense of dry amusement along the journey. There’s some nice characterisation, especially in the character of Corvis, and the tale is, in turns, both creepy and amusing.
As a result, it wasn’t long before I wanted to keep turning the pages, even though I could see what was coming. The fight scenes are suitably gory and bloody, the ending quite impressive. There are some nice little twists along the way, that Ari manages to use which make the tale a little less sturm und drang and a little more thoughtful. I particularly liked the fact that each chapter starts with a moment of backstory before continuing the plot of the present. It is how we get an idea of how Corvis became the respected and feared man he was, and it does highlight the point that some leaders are there not by choice but by means of responsibility.
And in the end, the conclusion is perhaps inevitable. Such matters rarely end well for someone.
In summary, this is a great page turner which also raises questions – can a man whose life has involved nasty, horrific things ever be something else? Can they, or should they, ever try to recoup past glories?
This revenge tale is worth the telling.
The cover actually does sum this one up fairly well – a large, no, LARGE, axe with strange symbols on it, outlined in red – could be blood, could be something else. You know that this one is going to involve violence and gore and..... well, it won’t be pretty.
But: hold on. What Ari tries to do here is something interesting, to tell the tale of a Conqueror – Corvis Rebaine, Terror of the East – but by what happens twenty years later, when the Conqueror has conquered and gone away to hide in seclusion with his wife and family.
Of course, his opponents are not going to let him get away with being hidden and his home and family are discovered, with the consequence that he has to don the old armour of ‘the Terror’ and then go off to collect his former allies, the demon Khanda (held captive in a magic token), the ogre Davro and the wood-witch Seilloah, in order to take on his nemesis, Audriss.
So, we have witches, ogres and magic. Not to mention nasty goblins. Nothing particularly new there, either. The plot is really a rewritten The Magnificent Seven re-imagined as Fantasy. The main plot idea - that of the ‘old warrior returning’ is not really new, and goes back to Gemmell’s Druss for example. There are touches of black magic, possessed weaponry (hello, Elric?) and vampirism to riff off also.
Such obvious tropes might be a tad repetitive to some. However, there’s a lot to like here. The tale is told is very entertaining. Its strength is in its witty dialogue and a sense of dry amusement along the journey. There’s some nice characterisation, especially in the character of Corvis, and the tale is, in turns, both creepy and amusing.
As a result, it wasn’t long before I wanted to keep turning the pages, even though I could see what was coming. The fight scenes are suitably gory and bloody, the ending quite impressive. There are some nice little twists along the way, that Ari manages to use which make the tale a little less sturm und drang and a little more thoughtful. I particularly liked the fact that each chapter starts with a moment of backstory before continuing the plot of the present. It is how we get an idea of how Corvis became the respected and feared man he was, and it does highlight the point that some leaders are there not by choice but by means of responsibility.
And in the end, the conclusion is perhaps inevitable. Such matters rarely end well for someone.
In summary, this is a great page turner which also raises questions – can a man whose life has involved nasty, horrific things ever be something else? Can they, or should they, ever try to recoup past glories?
This revenge tale is worth the telling.
bishopjoey's review against another edition
4.0
Great stuff, this. Marmell does really good fantasy.
sarahconnor89757's review against another edition
3.0
Good world, good imagery, good humor and style. The book starts going down hill toward the middle and becomes very cliche fantasy.
ecooper99's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely loved the concept behind this book. A ruthless conqueror redeemed by the power of love? Be still my heart. The author did an incredible job of balancing Corvis’ devotion to his family with the inner warlord that will always be a part of him. I really liked Corvis despite (or maybe because of) his moral ambiguity, but I also loved the secondary characters. Khanda was a particular favorite, as was Davro. Each secondary character had a distinct personality, and I really loved getting to know all of them in turn. I even liked the twist at the end when Audriss’ real identity was revealed. I—along with Corvis—though I was so smart and had it all figured out long before then, but I enjoyed being proven wrong. The action was fast-paced, the writing witty and descriptive without getting bogged down in its own brilliance, and the overall feel of the book was very much a fantasy one. I’m delighted to know there’s a sequel to this fabulous book.
hawkeyegonzalez's review
3.0
I liked, but didn't love, this book. It's a fun concept with a retired conqueror coming out of retirement to protect the country he once sought to rule. The characters are all unique and different enough on the surface, however, the surface is mainly all you get, and that's the main problem with this book. There's not much in the way of character development. While everyone has a reason for being here, you never really learn anything more about who they are.
Despite this, it was still a fun read. There's plenty of action and humor, and the book moves along at a fast enough pace where it doesn't feel like a chore.
Despite this, it was still a fun read. There's plenty of action and humor, and the book moves along at a fast enough pace where it doesn't feel like a chore.
megandawn's review
(Re-posted from http://theturnedbrain.blogspot.com)
So like many, many others I read Mieville's Kraken. I don't have any thoughts on that one that others (many, many others) have not posted, so I don't think I'll add another review to the teeming pile. Let's just say that overall I enjoyed it but upon completion my brain felt like it had run a marathon. I decided to read something light and easy to recover.
And The Conqueror's Shadow seemed like it would fit that bill. Except that I barely made it a quarter of the way in before I gave up and found something else to read.
What happened? My suspension of belief is what happened. You know, that ability to believe what ever outlandishness the author is selling you in order to enjoy the story. I've been reading pretty much exclusive sci-fi and fantasy since I was nine years old. I thought my suspension of disbelief was made out of the same stuff as Wolverine's bones. Unbreakable.
Talking dragons? Sure. Secret world of magic? Ok. Zombie plague? Why the hell not? I mean come on, I just read a book about a god-Kraken and my biggest issue was an excess of wordplay, not the idea of a missing squid heralding the end of the world.
But I just couldn't get my head to accept the premise of The Conqueror's Shadow long enough to enjoy it.
You see, there's this evil dark lord character, Corvus. The Scourge of the East or some such. He wants to rule the kingdom and devoted a great deal of effort to the cause, recruiting an army of orcs and goblins to do his bidding. Cities fall, countless innocent people are murdered, you know the drill.
Then something goes wrong, he nabs a young, pretty hostage and abandons his army. Fast forward a whole bunch of years and he's living the quite life on a little farm with the hostage, who's now his loving wife.
Corvus is now a loving father and doting husband and all round nice guy. And here's where the book lost me. I just couldn't buy it. This guy caused countless people untold suffering, and all in all he seems pretty ok with it.
The premise of this book really intrigued me. A now retired dark lord has to return to his old ways to save the land from a new rising evil. I was expecting a kick ass anti hero. Not necessarily haunted by his past, but at least affected by it. Something akin to Lucifer from Gaiman's Sandman series. But honestly, Corvus does not read like an anti-hero. He reads like a hero-hero, and if you didn't already know about the things he'd done you wouldn't suspect it for a second. I'm sorry, but if you were responsible for the fall of a whole bunch of cities and the deaths of thousands of people, you don't get to be a hero-hero. It's a deal breaker.
It's as though the author was worried the reader wouldn't be able to sympathise with an evil mass murderer, so he goes too far in the other direction to make us like him. Oh, he didn't want to kill all those people, it was a necessary evil and so on. Honestly, it made me lose respect for Corvus. If he had have stood behind the things he'd done it would have made for an interesting and unique perspective. The fact that he was such a nice guy made me dislike more, and above all I just couldn't believe it.
So, I stopped reading. Which means that as the book progresses Corvus might have dropped the nice guy facade, I don't know. If he does, feel free to tell me in the comments and I might give the book enough shot. Because it was written well enough, with a whole bunch of genuinely funny one-liners. And if your suspension of disbelief can handle it you may well get more out of this one than I did.
So like many, many others I read Mieville's Kraken. I don't have any thoughts on that one that others (many, many others) have not posted, so I don't think I'll add another review to the teeming pile. Let's just say that overall I enjoyed it but upon completion my brain felt like it had run a marathon. I decided to read something light and easy to recover.
And The Conqueror's Shadow seemed like it would fit that bill. Except that I barely made it a quarter of the way in before I gave up and found something else to read.
What happened? My suspension of belief is what happened. You know, that ability to believe what ever outlandishness the author is selling you in order to enjoy the story. I've been reading pretty much exclusive sci-fi and fantasy since I was nine years old. I thought my suspension of disbelief was made out of the same stuff as Wolverine's bones. Unbreakable.
Talking dragons? Sure. Secret world of magic? Ok. Zombie plague? Why the hell not? I mean come on, I just read a book about a god-Kraken and my biggest issue was an excess of wordplay, not the idea of a missing squid heralding the end of the world.
But I just couldn't get my head to accept the premise of The Conqueror's Shadow long enough to enjoy it.
You see, there's this evil dark lord character, Corvus. The Scourge of the East or some such. He wants to rule the kingdom and devoted a great deal of effort to the cause, recruiting an army of orcs and goblins to do his bidding. Cities fall, countless innocent people are murdered, you know the drill.
Then something goes wrong, he nabs a young, pretty hostage and abandons his army. Fast forward a whole bunch of years and he's living the quite life on a little farm with the hostage, who's now his loving wife.
Corvus is now a loving father and doting husband and all round nice guy. And here's where the book lost me. I just couldn't buy it. This guy caused countless people untold suffering, and all in all he seems pretty ok with it.
The premise of this book really intrigued me. A now retired dark lord has to return to his old ways to save the land from a new rising evil. I was expecting a kick ass anti hero. Not necessarily haunted by his past, but at least affected by it. Something akin to Lucifer from Gaiman's Sandman series. But honestly, Corvus does not read like an anti-hero. He reads like a hero-hero, and if you didn't already know about the things he'd done you wouldn't suspect it for a second. I'm sorry, but if you were responsible for the fall of a whole bunch of cities and the deaths of thousands of people, you don't get to be a hero-hero. It's a deal breaker.
It's as though the author was worried the reader wouldn't be able to sympathise with an evil mass murderer, so he goes too far in the other direction to make us like him. Oh, he didn't want to kill all those people, it was a necessary evil and so on. Honestly, it made me lose respect for Corvus. If he had have stood behind the things he'd done it would have made for an interesting and unique perspective. The fact that he was such a nice guy made me dislike more, and above all I just couldn't believe it.
So, I stopped reading. Which means that as the book progresses Corvus might have dropped the nice guy facade, I don't know. If he does, feel free to tell me in the comments and I might give the book enough shot. Because it was written well enough, with a whole bunch of genuinely funny one-liners. And if your suspension of disbelief can handle it you may well get more out of this one than I did.