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mowgli1022's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
odpm612's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
1_steven_1's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
timinbc's review against another edition
3.0
Three, three-and-a-half ... maybe four books were enough of this grimdark for a while.
I was well into this before I realized that I didn't know as much about Caul Shivers as the author expected me to. Then I realized I haven't read Best Served Cold. Don't feel as if I missed much.
Clearly Joe's telling us here that war is useless, often pointless, and sometimes all that people know.
He presents various attitudes to war, most of them overdrawn; can this guy really be such a fop, and this one such an argh-hack-kill, and that one so impractical, and that woman SO ambitious, etc. etc.? And how is Calder still alive, really?
If you go through history you could probably find a real counterpart for each character here, but to have them all here at once is a bit over the top.
He does it as usual with a series of vignettes showing us a few individuals making their next move, or having one made against them. It should work, but too many of them are a tad implausible. Why would he do THAT?
And as we went on, we repeatedly see that the Northerners are fiercely loyal, except when they're not. There were efforts to establish motivations, but too often I felt that something happened because the plot needed it to happen.
Not long after Stranger appeared, and Joe made a point of not telling us too much about him, I realized with a sinking feeling that There's Going To Be Yet Another Book in This Series, argh.
And the whole Gorst story line was just depressing. If it was meant to be, because grimdark, well, OK, but I don't have to like it.
Each time Joe trotted out a character we haven't seen before, I thought "Redshirt! I wonder how this one's going to die?"
There's some believable up-close battle. Still a bit too much of the old "giant war horse dies instantly from a single arrow strike" - gonna do that, dude, ya gotta se poison, or at least have the archer be an elf.
And gosh, yet another Very Special Sword that Must Drink Blood If It Is Drawn? I was tempted to dig out some old Moorcock to see if perhaps it really is the SAME sword.
Speaking of swords, there's the old trope of deliberately cutting one's palm. Why? There are som many better places? And wounds that gush blood but stop as soon as they have a cloth on them (to be fair, there's also quite a bit of stitching, and some of the descriptions of the Northmen makes you wonder if they don't have a Pratchett Igor somewhere.
Finally, the futility thing again. I am left with a very, very weak justification for the whole three-day battle for the Heroes. There's a town, and roads. Big deal. If I didn't know about Gallipoli and the Somme, I'd call it unbelievable. But there it is, and I guess that's Abercrombie's whole point.
I was well into this before I realized that I didn't know as much about Caul Shivers as the author expected me to. Then I realized I haven't read Best Served Cold. Don't feel as if I missed much.
Clearly Joe's telling us here that war is useless, often pointless, and sometimes all that people know.
He presents various attitudes to war, most of them overdrawn; can this guy really be such a fop, and this one such an argh-hack-kill, and that one so impractical, and that woman SO ambitious, etc. etc.? And how is Calder still alive, really?
If you go through history you could probably find a real counterpart for each character here, but to have them all here at once is a bit over the top.
He does it as usual with a series of vignettes showing us a few individuals making their next move, or having one made against them. It should work, but too many of them are a tad implausible. Why would he do THAT?
And as we went on, we repeatedly see that the Northerners are fiercely loyal, except when they're not. There were efforts to establish motivations, but too often I felt that something happened because the plot needed it to happen.
Not long after Stranger appeared, and Joe made a point of not telling us too much about him, I realized with a sinking feeling that There's Going To Be Yet Another Book in This Series, argh.
And the whole Gorst story line was just depressing. If it was meant to be, because grimdark, well, OK, but I don't have to like it.
Each time Joe trotted out a character we haven't seen before, I thought "Redshirt! I wonder how this one's going to die?"
There's some believable up-close battle. Still a bit too much of the old "giant war horse dies instantly from a single arrow strike" - gonna do that, dude, ya gotta se poison, or at least have the archer be an elf.
And gosh, yet another Very Special Sword that Must Drink Blood If It Is Drawn? I was tempted to dig out some old Moorcock to see if perhaps it really is the SAME sword.
Speaking of swords, there's the old trope of deliberately cutting one's palm. Why? There are som many better places? And wounds that gush blood but stop as soon as they have a cloth on them (to be fair, there's also quite a bit of stitching, and some of the descriptions of the Northmen makes you wonder if they don't have a Pratchett Igor somewhere.
Finally, the futility thing again. I am left with a very, very weak justification for the whole three-day battle for the Heroes. There's a town, and roads. Big deal. If I didn't know about Gallipoli and the Somme, I'd call it unbelievable. But there it is, and I guess that's Abercrombie's whole point.
seriuzbiznus's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
squiresa54's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
bolshedik's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
nina_bloodsworn's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Not really my cup of tea as plot but Joe's writing paired with Steven Pacey's audio performance is pure comfort even when its brutal, bloody and dark.