Defalt
Three days battle in the North from Lord Grim Dark
So many various, interesting characters already in the first couple chapters and it’s so good to see how characters change as the story progresses. Also there's a very well made, kinda natural recap of the most important events from previous books. Although some characters have too many descriptions and inner monologues in their chapters.
Abercrombie captured the three days battle from every possible angle—young, scared men with no experience, generals, great swordsmen, strange and furious Northmen. You can feel the heavy atmosphere of war in the air with detailed and very helpful maps, fast, chaotic fights and, of course, fantastic chained points of view during battles. But there’s also a bit too much politics with too many names of various officers and their relationships.
It could've been a bit better, especially after the perfect Best Served Cold, but I still want to read all the spin offs.
Epic return
Really epic intro with some well executed reminders about previous events and recaps of the past 10 years though it takes a bit of time to memorize all the character names and their relationships. Red Rising world is shown from new angles and with even more cool, unique sci-fi features while still presenting all the familiar events—betrayals. duels, heists, war, intrigues.
Features a few first person perspectives which feels unique and shows a lot of environments, situations and important characters outside of Darrow’s life. And the main characters are very different and have very different quests. Also they don't tell you their plans so you just wonder what is their mission and how they're going to do it. Although characters reflect a lot on their actions and a few chapters feel a bit too long because of that.
The ending feels like this is just the setup for the new trilogy and feels a bit sudden.
I hope I can finish the 6th book before the 7th releases.
It could be fun but it’s Marvel
The art is mostly nice with some really epic panels and interesting locations, though in some places it looks weird, especially the lightsaber trails in the air, and some fights are hard to follow.
The concept of Vader’s first mission is cool and there’s a nice scene where he makes a red lightsaber, but it’s over very quickly and characters talk too much—telling the reader some information, telling each other very obvious things or their motivation or what they think—, especially during fights.
Another bland project from Marvel.
Geralt tries to take up wine making
Finally a Witcher volume consisting of 5 issues instead of 4. Twisty, intriguing and dangerous story with a nice ending in a setting from the end of the third game. Although Yennefer being unable to handle a couple of bandits is unbelievable.
Art is pretty good overall with some really cool close up shots of scary, crazy faces and nice, very bloody, gory action episodes. But Yennefer’s face looks horrible.
Looking forward to more Witcher comics.
Tiny Tina is back
Interesting, kinda personal story with Borderlands style dialogues and some funny moments. Tiny Tina is great as always, but three issues is a bit short.
Art is simple but good enough—a lot of pink panels, nice transitions from the game world to the real world, all the creatures look cool, awesome snacks and cool one page scenes.
Hope to see more of these.
Wyld adventure
Old fashioned fantasy with legends about giants, necromancers and, of course, dragons. The writing style is great especially for a debut—the dialogues feel pretty similar to how real people talk, smooth transitions from one event to another and really interesting legends. Also there are really well made descriptions, which I usually don't like in books, with awesome, funny comparisons.
A lot of very epic battles against very dangerous and awesome monsters. Cool bounty hunters and new bands. Some heartbreaking moments.
And the infamous Horde—and the forest where it came from—is insane featuring a lot of unusual, horrifying monsters.
And the ending is just beautiful.
Looking forward to reading Bloody Rose!
Getting more hooked by the story
The art is still awesome, maybe even a bit better than in the first volume—great battles and duels, a lot of very nice landscapes.
The story also doesn’t loose the quality presenting Thorkell—super cool and intimidating—, some mystery with the prince and some part of Askelad's past. Overall it’s one dangerous event after another with no flashbacks this time. Also interesting to see what's happening with Thorfinn's family.
Can't wait to see what's next.
The origin of Winter Soldier
The writing by Ed Brubaker is great as usual of course, but the art is just okay with nothing interesting to look at and very hard to follow action scenes. Also it’s interesting to see some characters from the movies with different faces, although the cap looks funny to me.
And, as it usually happens with superhero comics, you need to know some additional characters who are connected to the cap from his earlier adventures.
I guess I'll continue looking for other Brubaker works elsewhere.
Can't get enough of this art style...
Plot thickens in the present and in a few flashbacks showing what characters were doing after the events of Descender but not much happens here.
Landscapes and some new, interesting creatures look beautiful but unfortunately there are a lot of grey and brown panels.
I hope it gets better in the next volume.
Spider mini adventures
A collection of short, fun, sometimes funny, very creative stories featuring a few spiders and a lot of villains (feels like every spider villain and a couple more).
The art is similar to double trouble comics, which suits these light adventures perfectly, and has some really nice scenes.
I should probably check out some other volumes in this series.
From the creators of Descender and Ascender? I’m in!
The art is just fantastic—dark, blurry city views, Batman’s cape looks awesome, very nice two page panels. The main characters look a bit similar to a couple of characters from Descender but that’s fine.
Dark atmosphere and grounded fights. The story overall is nothing to write home about and some of Robin's monologues can feel simple but it works for a 12 year old super hero who tries to figure out who he is. Also there are a few other DC characters, but that's a surprise.
I need more of this art style, so I’m starting the next Ascender volume!
Manga about vikings…
This can be a good introduction to manga, especially if you like viking setting. The story has some nice features like a gradual unveiling of the situation through the whole volume and giving the reader just enough information to be intrigued. And of course interesting characters.
The art sometimes is almost as good as in Berserk—can be very detailed, shows the chaos of epic battles with a lot of sounds and things happening—,but it often has too many anime features, like faces. It’s also great at portraying snow—falling or covering everything—, seas, storms and auroras which looks unusual in black and white. The addition of maps is very nice and the action is fast-paced and has some anime features.
Overall it feels adventurous with a few funny moments, looking forward to some great story moments.
The Eclipse ends…
This can be traumatizing even for the reader.
Everything that happens during The Eclipse is really building up dread and horror inside. Some scenes are staying in my mind, I hope not for long. And again there's just too much unnecessary violence, especially towards Casca.
The ending has a feeling that no matter what you lost, no matter how hard it's to go on, you still can't give up.
I hope the situation gets a little better, but I need a break from this.
Demon Action
Finally we get some action against a demon and that fight is just wild, but basically it's just one long action episode with a lot of hints and foreshadowing about The Eclipse.
Of course the art is great, especially how the demon is shown, but some scenes just have too much unnecessary, gratuitous violence, even for Berserk.
Can't wait to see what's next!
Guts is back in action
There’s a lot here—some weird, demon stuff starts happening, interesting legend about the kingdom and the prison, action episodes against dozens of soldiers and a few unique eastern assassins with their unusual weapons, very cool emperor armour with a lot of small, unique details.
Also we learn a bit about Griffith's past and see how Guts thinks about life after some previous events.
So much anticipation for The Eclipse!
Should've read it with a cup of latte
The first chapter is nice, kinda anti cliche or anti adventure, but then it feels like a quest log to upgrade a coffee shop. And overall it’s written in a simpler style compared to other fantasy books, maybe similar to young adult books, but it’s not for that age, so there’s some dissonance for me.
A few cute moments here—drinking the first latte, adding cold drinks and baked goods to the menu, various, unique customers. But sometimes it's just too sweet, and they actually literally invent things from our world without any fantasy features except calling it a “gnome technology”. Also the romantic relationship feels like it was added in the last moment, maybe because there are almost no hints about it.
When describing most of the dialogues the author doesn’t specify emotions or a way of speaking which can be a little confusing sometimes. And the stakes are really low as stated on the cover and that’s the point, but the villain feels very simple and not threatening at all.
Super light read overall, the ending is fine but the epilogue isn’t interesting at all.
Maybe the prequel is a bit more interesting.
Depressed Griffith can’t be a good thing
Here we meet an epic and important looking skeleton and see very depressed Griffith—which is a big contrast to his usual behavior—whose actions have a lot of consequences for everyone.
Also there’s a new, interesting, unique enemy who brings cool action with some new fighting techniques. And overall the story here is great but couple scenes are a bit too much in my opinion, maybe at least they could be shorter.
Immediately started the next volume!
Abercrombie turns grim dark dial to eleven
Starts off very strong and intriguing right after the ending of The Trouble with Peace, but then slows down after a few chapters to create a setup in a new situation. And for a long time you just wonder what will the characters do, how will they survive?
Say one thing for Joe Abercrombie, say he knows how to write chaos…
The plot takes so many twists and turns and we get a couple of very epic battles with stakes higher than ever before. And it’s really surprising and amazing that characters continue to change even after a half of the book which is almost the end of the whole trilogy.
Also that open ending is so much more intriguing than The Last Argument of Kings.
Can’t wait for the next First Law book!
Miles is pretty cool for (not) a sidekick
After the previous volume with Venom this one—while featuring the same nice art style—has even more creative art choices and different panel designs with many impressive one or two page scenes.
Although overall it’s not as funny as the previous one it’s still very amazing and action-packed. Also it seems like it features every spider-man villain ever (plus Thanos).
Hope that Thor & Loki: Double Trouble is at least as good!
Delicious baked goods and The laughing dragon
While the artwork is still very stylish and unique, it’s somehow even more detailed here.
The stories are a bit darker and less funny compared to the first volume but they’re still really creative.
Hope the series stays at least this good in the next volume!
The Classic Witcher
Starts off strong with a monster hunt and continues with nice, classic, witcher events — getting paid in a small town, interactions with royalty, Dandelion, talking with sorcerers, fighting unusual monsters and naive bandits, using a lot of signs and elixirs. And the overall setup feels pretty interesting and unique.
The ending—meaning the last two chapters—is really good and features a very unusual character and a reference to another book so a reader can understand the timeline of this story. And the epilogue tries to make the ending of The Lady of the Lake a bit more clear which works depending on your view of that ending.
So it could’ve been a good addition to The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny but there are too many unnecessary, boring and strange features. Like too much time is spent on a romance with another sorceress who is very clearly jealous about Yennefer and uses Geralt. And there are too many scene breaks, sometimes done for scenes consisting of just two or three lines and this just feels confusing to me.
And following The Lady of the Lake Sapkowski does it again but this time even bigger—a villain tells all his plans, history and problems for 8! straight pages. And then during an auction he wastes two pages to describe 7 lots with many details and how they're sold. This might be a personal nitpick but why do we need all this information?
I’ve rated this one a bit higher because of a few very nice moments—which I especially appreciate after The Lady of the Lake—but I’m probably not going to read the next one.
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.