Half the World by Joe Abercrombie is the second book in the Shattered Sea series.
The Cover: The copy I read has a slightly different image from the one in this post. It has the same wave made of bladed weapons, but it is crashing down upon a vessel akin to a Viking longship. The title is a bold blue against a greyish sky, with white text against a green sea for the author name. The fonts are clear, but I’m not a huge fan of the title font, I feel there could have been a better choice. Having said that, it is a solid fantasy book cover and overall I like it.
The Good Stuff: Yes, yes, I know I say it all the time, but it’s true… Abercrombie is my favourite author, and I feel the Shattered Sea is my favourite series. It has a truly rugged fantasy feel and I love it. Combine this world, the great characters, and Abercrombie’s writing style, and you have everything you could want between the covers.
The Bad Stuff: If there is any, I couldn’t find it.
Overall, this is a great title from Joe Abercrombie. It has great characters, a strongly developed world, a good story, and great writing style. If you haven’t read it yet, treat yourself, it’s well worth it. This one gets an oar slapping, shield banging 5 out of 5 golden bookmarks from me.
Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in libraries.
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Gardens of the moon by Steven Erikson is the first novel in The Malazan Book of the Fallen series. The Malazan Empire seeks to dominate the Free Cities of Genabakis. Pale has fallen and the Empress has moved her attentions to Darujhistan, the last of the Free Cities. But there are forces working against her lust for power, and even the gods have joined in to complicate matters further.
The Cover: The image on the cover I have is of a dark edifice, a single light glowing out from a room at the top of its tower, the moon rising behind. A motif of a steel, Celtic adornment with a helm at its centre, sits at the top of the page, a brand that is carried over across the series.
I love this cover, it is the reason I picked up this book. The cover speaks to me, it says – This book is set in a Grim-dark world and is filled with fantasy. The font is strong and clean, with good colour choices that contrast well against the image, and it is branded nicely to mark the series. My only issue with it is that I don’t like the placement of the text. I feel like they have tried to fit too much on the page and couldn’t quite make it work cohesively.
The Good Stuff: WOW – This book is outstanding! I absolutely loved it. It has a so many characters; original characters with their own personalities and goals, all introduced seamlessly and entwined into the plot. A plot full of twists and turns where enemies are allies and allies are enemies. It has magic, magical weapons, and an array of creatures that belong in a world of fantasy, but these creatures are not all born of the more commonly known orcs, goblins, and elves.
The Bad Stuff: Many a good novel has its problems, and this one is no different. There are some sentences that I would have constructed differently, sentences like “Trotts removed from his sleeve a torn piece of cloth” and “Trotts asked “Watch what?” Some of the descriptions are dumped on the page, which is quite common in this genre, but I prefer them to be fed in a little more softly. There are flash back/time overlaps where Mr Erikson changes character Point of View (POV). The novel is also broken into 7 books across 24 chapters, each of which starts with a poem. I didn’t like this structure, it didn’t need the breaks defining the books for me. Overall, this book was more than I expected it would be. I’ve seen it so many times and thought, I’ll have to read that book one day. And I’m so glad I did. I just wish I hadn’t waited so long. Being the first book of Steven Erikson’s I’ve read, he is a new author to me, and when you find a diamond that shines like this, it justifies the reason to try new authors you are not familiar with. Despite its bad points, this book is a fantastic epic novel, and I absolutely loved it. It will suck the time out of your day like Dragnipur sucks the souls of its adversaries. I’m giving this one an unquestionable, sword wielding, magic flaring, 5 out of 5 golden bookmarks.
Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in libraries.
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In the interests of being transparent, I’d like to note that I know the author personally. To the best of my intention, my review of his work has not been influenced by this and is based on my honest opinion.
Rogue Ragtime by K. Alexis follows a small band of thieves, cursed to steal unimportant items, while trying to complete a collection of a set of novels in a world where books are banned.
The Cover: I really like this cover, it is colourful and has a kind of comic book/Manga feel to it. The image fits well with the story for me and it has a good title font with colours that stand out well against the background.
The Good Stuff: I love the fight scenes within this story, they are done well, there are some formidable foes, and they move smoothly through the action. In fact, as a whole, the story moves smoothly and is well written. The author shows a strong voice throughout this novel and has created a diverse and multi-cultured world with some great characters – Characters with their own distinctive personalities and abilities.
The Bad Stuff: There are some info dumps on the character descriptions which I feel could have been fed into the story more subtly. There is also an ‘instant message conversation’ snippet at the beginning of each chapter. While it is a nice quirky idea, I found it distracting and it didn’t really add anything to the story for me. I also got a little confused with everything that was going on in the story at times. There is also a lot of opinion within the text, which while I do not disagree with it, it is not subtle and I found it quite imposing at times.
Overall, I enjoyed the characters and the fight scenes, but the story is a bit “out there” and not something I would normally read. Having said that, I would love to watch this as a movie, I think I would thoroughly enjoy it. I’m giving this a mind boggling 3 out of 5 golden bookmarks with the added comment that I do not feel I am the target audience for this book.
Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why notcheck out his books here.You can also find his titles available in libraries.
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The Grim Company by Luke Scull is a grimdark fantasy set in a world where the gods have been slain by wizards. We follow the stories of several characters who’s fates seem intertwined. Characters such as Davarus Cole, an orphan who wants to be a hero; Brodar Kayne and his companion Jerek, a pair Northmen on the run; Eremul, a paraplegic mage seeking revenge; Sasha a rebel with troubles of her own; and Yllandris a sorceress with ambitions.
The Cover: This is a simple cover showing a helm sitting on a white background that fades to a golden brown. The image itself represents the fantasy genre well, the fonts are clear and I like the title. All up a suitable cover for the genre.
The Good Stuff: This is a solid fantasy world that is dark, dangerous, and full of magic. The characters are well developed with their own goals and desires. The plot is sound and brings everything together at the end, yet still leaves enough story questions to make you want to read the next book in the series. Some of the characters reminded me of Joe Abercrombie’s First Law Trilogy, but hey, who doesn’t love Joe and his characters.
The Bad Stuff: There are some over-packed sentences at the beginning of the book as the author tries to build the world. I found some characters focused on in the beginning of the book disappeared quite quickly, leaving me to wonder why they were highlighted in the first place. The character descriptions are also dropped in through small info dumps, which I think could have been written in more seamlessly. There was a point where soldiers in chainmail climb down a rope ladder while each holds a longsword in one hand leaving me wondering how that is even possible.
Overall, initially I had my doubts about this story, but the more I read, the more I got into it, and by the end I found I thoroughly enjoyed the book, even with the few points I mentioned in the bad stuff. I think this is because I am a little cautious when reading a new author and I tend to notice things in their writing, at least until I get drawn into the story. I would recommend this book to fans of dark fantasy/grimdark. It is getting a blood staining, bone breaking 4 out of 5 golden bookmarks from me.
Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here.You can also find his titles available in libraries.
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The Dragon’s path follows four different characters along their journeys as war threatens to grip the land.
The Cover: This is a classic fantasy cover with a good clear font selection for the title and author name. The image presents a sword in the foreground and a landscape with silhouettes of riders on horseback in the background. The colours work together too. Overall it is a solid fantasy cover.
The Good Stuff: The story was well written and I found most of the characters interesting. Marcus and Cithrin held my attention, but Cithrin was by far my favourite and I wanted to see more of her in this book. I think a lot of people will love this novel, but I think I had my grumpy pants on when I read this one and as I reflect on the content I find I remember more than I thought I would.
The Bad Stuff: Maybe I’m becoming a grumpy old codger, but I struggled to get through this book as the story switched between the four characters, again and again. While the characters were well developed, I wanted something more from the storyline and less head hopping would have made this a more enjoyable read for me.
I really enjoyed the prologue to this book and was expecting to enjoy the rest of the content just as much. Unfortunately it didn’t live up to my expectations. I think that if the prologue had not been there, I wouldn’t have built up a preconception about what I was going to get from this book and I probably would have enjoyed it more. I’m only giving it 2 out of 5 golden bookmarks, at least until I take my grumpy pants off.
Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why notcheck out his books here.You can also find his titles available in libraries.
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The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is one of those stories that is loved by many. It is the story of Kvothe, a legend in his own right, hiding out in a small village. But trouble has a way of finding heros.
The Cover: There are a few covers floating around for this title. The one I have is not the one depicted on this post. The cover I have is of a cloaked figure, silhouetted against the light at the end of a tunnel of foliage. I really like the cover art on this book. It has good fantasy fonts and an image that aligns with the genre.
The Good Stuff: This really is a great fantasy story with an array of interesting characters, good and bad alike. A travelling troupe, music, magic, creepy creatures and intrigue are all wrapped up in this novel.
The Bad Stuff: For me, it was the way this book was written that detracted from my enjoyment of what could have been an amazing read. A large chunk of the tale unravels as the main character, Kvothe, narrates his lifestory to a scribe. This didn’t work for me at all.
I had high expectations for this novel. I had heard great things from the many fans out there that love this novel, but while I liked the story itself, I struggled with the style it was written in. I’m only giving this one 3 out of 5 golden bookmarks.
Want to know if you agree with my review? Grab your own copy from these links:
Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why notcheck out his books here.You can also find his titles available in libraries.
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Here’s another quote is from the fantasy ‘Blood and Fear’. You can grab yourself a free copy of this short story here or from most reputable e-book retailers.
What are your favourite book quotes? Let me know in the comments.
Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his bookshere.
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Today’s quote is from the fantasy ‘Blood and Fear’. If you haven’t read ‘Blood and Fear’, you can grab yourself a free copy of this short story here or from most reputable e-book retailers.
What are your favourite book quotes? Let me know in the comments.
Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his bookshere.
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The Blade Itself is a fantasy novel about … well, a host of characters and the parts they play in this tale of feuds, conspiracies, and wars. Set in a vicious world with well-established cultures and classes, magic and science, superstitions and beliefs.
The Cover: I do get the feeling that this is a fantasy novel. The blood splatter suggests there will be some violence. It’s quite plain and doesn’t really grab me.
The good stuff: This book has a full cast of characters from Logen Ninefingers, Bayaz and Jezal Dan Luthar, to Major Collem West, Sand dan Glokta, and Ferro. Their paths woven seamlessly into the story in a world where life is neither fun nor fair. The characters own their individual personalities, their individual traits and their individual problems, while war broods all around. Abercrombie weaves a tale of respected men who lie and scheme, barbarians who have honour and respect and strong women who kick some serious arse.
The Bad Stuff: The only bad thing about this book is it comes to an end and leaves you wanting more.
In my opinion, this is a superbly written fantasy novel with a mix of aristocratic society and down-in-the-gutter, bang-to-rights hard men. This action packed novel packs a punch and deserves a place on the shelf of any true fantasy fan. I’m giving it 5 out of 5 golden bookmarks.
Want to know if you agree with my review? Grab your own copy from these links:
Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his bookshere.You can also find his titles available in libraries.
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The Dragon’s Path by Daniel Abraham
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
