Defalt

So this volume pick up right after the ending of the previous one and for me it was a little hard to remember what happened at first.

There's a lot of time—too much for my liking—spent on backstories of the main characters. And I didn't really care about their past. maybe because it was too detailed or because I read the first volume a year ago. Also I always don't like when the villain spends most of the time just talking about their plan or issues or ways of vengeance. It's just boring.

The art is still good. So read it if you're a big fan of the first volume, I guess.

Part three of “Geralt not being a witcher”.

Although the story progresses very slowly and I don’t care about a couple sub plots, from the main saga I like this one the most (the next one may be better, reading it right now). There are some time jumps here, which sometimes feel all over the place (or time?), but to me they're not too distracting and provide some additional points of view.

The whole traveling through forests, meeting new people and making new friends, dealing with some tense situations, being on a frontline between the two armies… It feels like the author emphasizes the grimdark atmosphere more and more, as the series continues, by showing the consequences of medieval war and what scared and desperate people may do in that situation. (which also happens a lot in the next book, but I’m getting ahead of myself)

Yeah, also, Regis is just the best! And Geralt receives some upgrades in both gear and character. And the ending is really nice and even satisfying.

So it feels like the series is getting better with each book and worth continuing if you're on the fence about it. (the first half of The Tower of the Swallow is very good)

Revenge tale in The First Law world? Say no more

The intro is just great, it’s really fascinating how Abercrombie can create a setup for a story in just 20 pages—I mean the whole setup for the 660 pages book is done in just 20 pages—and provide so many details about characters and places. And between main book parts we learn a bit about Monza's past and why she's so determined to reach the end of her revenge quest. South cities and culture feel new and fresh as a change from Union and the North after the first trilogy (and a part of the second). And the author once again creates a city under siege but in a bit different circumstances and for a shorter episode.

Nice band of characters with distinct points of view, high and low moments, laughs and quarrels. I really like Friendly with his OCD for whatever reason, maybe because he feels like a unique character. Also it’s interesting to see some side characters from the first trilogy and even more interesting to see some characters from the second trilogy here and how they become who they are after meeting them there. But sometimes characters recite events from the first trilogy where they participated and it feels a bit redundant cause a reader has probably already read about those events.

The action is very visceral—especially from a villain’s point of view—and realistic, a lot of really violent scenes like suffering from poisoning—which is a kinda new concept for The First Law—and torture. There’s even a very detailed description of someone falling through trees. A lot of stealth episodes here which also feels like a unique feature for the series.

Plot thickens with each chapter and each revenge kill is very different in everything. A few unexpected scenes and twists. A lot of betrayals, obviously. Some characters can't be trusted, undoubtedly. Innocent people die along the way, unfortunately. Many interesting thoughts and conversations about revenge. But overall it's just a bit too long.

Looking forward to reading all the spin-offs now, especially Sharp Ends.

Classic, military, first person sci-fi

There are a lot of nasty and brutal details about military training in a made up future where a man doesn’t have to go to the army, so it must be even worse when a man must do it. But in addition to those we have chapters where the main character wants to leave the army and where he describes too many technical details about his super high-tech infantry suit—both feel too slow and boring. Well I guess a third of the military training part isn't necessary here.

The bugs action starts only at 50% mark and very quickly ends switching to an officer school and after a long time we get a bit more action. But literally 30-40% of the book—probably even more—is military philosophy discussions, talking about duty, describing some regular soldier’s tasks. And all of this is written in a not very interesting way and goes for too long. So mostly it’s a military lecture.

Also there’s almost no description of the enemies, some unusual military slang that can be hard to understand and chapters don’t have any breaks in them while they can last for 30-60 pages.

So the movie is so much better.