When it comes to comics, Watchman is a pure classic. It took comics from the childlike innocence that many people saw it as to the real world, with dark, morally flawed and ambiguous characters. Many of whom you are not sure who to root for, or even if you should root for them in the first place. As for me, this was my first time reading this, and wow, it was amazing.
This is a book that was excellent purely because of its gritty realism. These superheroes are ones that, with the exception of Dr. Manhattan, do not have super powers. They are normal people who have decided to take up a mask for a variety of reasons, not all of them savory. You won't find anyone fighting for truth, justice and the American way, nor to avenge the deaths of those gunndowned by violence. Many of the people featured have some fault or another, and many are just as durranged as the people they seek to fight, if not worse. This is the best element of the novel, and it is fascinating to see how their relationships unfold as we meet them and see them try and find the person who is killing all of the former, and current masked superheroes.
The art direction is also good. While the style is not perhaps to my taste, I did like the amount of detail that went into each and every one of the frames. It makes reading these panels an enjoyable experience that makes re reading them a requirement, rather than a desire. I can't wait to reread this to see what I may have missed before.
What are the negatives, you may ask? Well, this can be a bit of a heavy book, subject-wise, with graphic depictions of violence and sexuality that means you may want to look for something more lighthearted after this. Obviously, this should not be given to those in their Middle school years, at the very least. I'd say older high school, at the earliest. Still, these are mere warning, not anything truly wrong with the work as a whole. As an added aside, I did think that the ending with the giant squid thing was kind of stupid. Why couldn't half of New York been destroyed by a regular bomb or something? Still, overall, I liked this novel far more than I thought I would. This is a graphic novel that I know I am going to read again, of only to see the things that I missed the first time around. I give it a five out of five.
I believe that I have not read such a good fantasy book in quite some time. The only other book that I feel I can compare this to is Harry Potter, and these two are quite different, in and of themselves. This book is simply fantastic, and I think that this book could be a contender for one of the best books of the year.
And I think that is because of the writing. I have heard that Martin wrote for TV shows and films, and it certainly shows here. Each character is written very well, from those that you are supposed to like, to those who you want to see dead. Then, there are other characters that are written somewhere in the middle, which is most of the main cast. Many of them often go into the morally grey area, where there is no true right or wrong, only what they perceive to be right, and it is interesting to see how their actions play out in this story. If you are looking for a book that has both well written, easy to follow political intrigue and well paced action, this book will fit the bill better than any other I have read yet.
That does lead me to a word of caution. If you don't like fantasy books, especially epic fantasy books, then this one won't change your mind. Also, what occurs in this book is mostly set up for the series to come. Brilliantly done set up, but still set up nonetheless, so some may be turned off by that.
Still, this book is excellently well done, and I cannot wait to see what happens next. I give this book a five out of five.
Well, this novel was simply fantastic. This is one of those series that seems to get better as it goes on. In this series, we have people trying to kill Harry in a duel, a person trying to steal a mysterious magical item, and someone murdering people in a very gruesome manner. These three plot threads are handled well enough, though they can be somewhat muddled at times. I also really enjoyed the banter and chemistry between Susan and Harry. They were by far the best part of this book, and I felt sad for them by the end of the book. The writing was excellent as well, especially with the action scenes.
If there were a few problems with this book, one would have to be how we keep getting an introduction that Harry is a wizard and what that means in this world. This is book five, I think I know that by now. And the plots, while they were handled better than by other authors, still seemed to lead to convenient moments at the end of the book where everything seemed to be wrapped up a little too cleanly for my taste.
Still, this was an excellent book to read, and if you have not picked uo this series, then I highly suggest that you do. This series keeps getting better and better, and I cannot wait to pick up the next installment! I give this book a four out of five.
This is by far one of the best fantasy books I've ever read to date. This is one of those books that I both had to put down and couldn't wait to pick up. I say had to put down because, after I'd finish with each viewpoint, I would need to mull over what had just happened, and think about how this would reflect on the other characters in the future. At the same time, I could not wait to pick it up again and continue to see how the world of Westeros would continue to descend into chaos, as kings battle other kings, and the local villagers continue to suffer for it. Many fans consider this to be the best book in the series, and it is not difficult to see why. There are many different things that happen here, and they all ratchet up the tension, especially by the end of the book.
My favorite viewpoint in the book would have to be Jamie Lannister. With this viewpoint, we see someone who has been dispicable in the last two books gain some amount of respect, if not sympathy. We see, through a significant event, Jamie become more humble, and we see that has has changed through this novel, more than some characters throughout the entire series to date. He was fascinating to see travel from one various area to another on his physical and metaphorical journey, despite knowing that he was one of the catalysts for the entire situation currently taking place in Westeros.
As for the worst...I would say either Davos or Daenerys. I just could never get into why I should care about Davos' POV, and for some reason, I have not really identified with Daenerys POV either. Daenerys gets a lot more to do in this book, and she actually becomes threatening, but she never managed to grab me, like the other characters did.
I also feel that, like many of the things in a book over 1000 pages, some things do begin to drag (like Area's plotline, for instance), and then there is so much detail that it can get a tad overwhelming at times. I don't need to know about some fifth Lord's cousin slain at a battle fifteen years ago, and how it affects a squire that Catlyn is talking about on a random march unless it has to do with the main plot.
However, don't let that stop you. This novel is excellently done, even with the gripes I had above. If you maybe were hesitant about getting into this series because of the investment, then I would say not to worry, This novel is far better than the last installment, and I cannot wait to see where the story goes from here.
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