Joel Hill
3.5/5
A short story collection that was a nice sprinkle of lore and character development. It's a good read, and some of Abercrombie's writing is in here, but I wasn't really into the main set of stories that follows a couple of characters throughout the years. It was interesting, but I think their story would have been better as a stand alone book.
Worth reading? Absolutely, especially if you like Nine Fingers (read the last story for that one).
4.5/5
Hey, someone spilled a western novel all over my favourite fantasy saga! What is fresh hell is this?? It's actually one of Abercrombie's better books as it turns out.
I picked this up after finishing The Heroes and couldn't put it down. Gold rush towns, greedy prospectors, and a sprinkle of characters from previous books fleeing war and violence (or seeking it out) for a better life in “The Far Country”. It's definitely the most disconnected book from the ongoing First Law Saga as not much of consequence happens here to set up the next trilogy, but we do learn a bit more about the lore of the old empire, which is always welcome.
I can't spoil much in this book with my review. Just... if you're a fan of certain characters from The First Law you need to read this because it goes places. Lamb... oh Lamb. My favourite coward, shame he lost that finger at some point...
I've read just about every book Abercrombie has written in the First Law series and this one is probably the best. The Heroes is action packed, fast paced, exciting, but most importantly an earnest and damning examination of the violent people he often glamorizes in other books.
Abercrombie writes a lot about the pointlessness of war and the waste of human life but he's never been so focused on his critique of violence as he is in The Heroes. War is not glamorous, and “heroes” as they are often worshipped in his stories are nothing more than ordinary people that can swing a sword and have been lucky to survive long enough to earn a name... names that are soon forgotten once they've been put “back to the mud.” Abercrombie is usually really good at weaving complex morality into his tales, but he's at his best in The Heroes.
It also sets up the Age of Madness trilogy and frame those books in a new light. Calder is now one of my favourite characters and I really didn't see that coming and it makes me want to re read that entire trilogy!
Anyway, yeah, damn good read.
This was really good, but also quite short! I don't think it needed to be longer mind you, it's just that if you're looking for a longer story this ain't it.
I listened to the audio book and I'd really recommend that format, the narration was excellent.
I was a little let down by the conclusion. It made sense but I was hoping for a different outcome. That's subjective though, and I'd love to hear what other people think.
Great book club pick!
Satire of the fantasy genre that also happens to provide adventure, an intriguing story, well developed character arcs, and a fully realized world for it all to take place in! It also had legitimately intense moments to balance out the constant stream of humour.
This was my first Terry Pratchett novel (aside from Good Omens) and he's a joy to read! I'm looking forward to the next.... 40(?!) books
The First Law is now my go to recommendation to anyone who might like fantasy. I think the sequel trilogy (Age of Madness) is superior, but The First Law has a charm and an emphasis on the supernatural that feels missing in later books.
I really, really, hope Abercrombie continues the story into the future with another generation of characters, but I know I'm going to be waiting a while for that.
I only have the three middle “one-off” books left and then what will I read?! Other authors???
I was fully confident I wasn't going to rate this 5 stars until I read the last ~20% of the book and now I'm sitting here blown away by how well crafted this story is.
Don't get me wrong, it was a well written book from the start. Her account of her acting career was engaging, it was well paced, and her prose is casual, witty, and sarcastic. I kept turning the pages out of curiosity since ever chapter would reveal something new and I was really invested in learning more about her childhood.
I thought I had the book figured out... but then she drops the hammer.
Her recovery.
Reading about how hard and emotionally exhausting recovery is gave me a perspective on mental illness I haven't read anywhere else. This really is an important book and I have so much respect and admiration for McCurdy for not only tackling her own demons, but also for sharing them with us.
The hype is real, this is an essential book and I'm so glad I read it!
More a 4.75 than a 4 but I also don't want to give it 5 stars.
Loved it, and I'm not stopping to read anything else until I've finished the trilogy (other than book club picks of course).
Without spoiling too much, I enjoy how much more important magic and the supernatural are in this trilogy in comparison to The Age of Madness. The lore is really cool and I appreciate it having a more front and center importance to the plot. The characters are not as diverse, and the writing is not quite as good, but this is a worthy first entry in the First Law world.
I love these books! Moooooore! I want mooooore!
This is probably a 7/5 for literary scholars but I have a small smooth brain and I have no idea what I just read.
I mean, I understand the broad strokes of the overall story, but the prose was... Experimental? I really didn't know what was going on at many points in the story.
Although I found the book confusing, it gets a 5/5 for ideas, philosophy, and imagination. I also laughed out loud a few times, which is rare for me, so it gets points there as well.
All in all, this is an amazing book if you have the time and the will to analyze every page. Or maybe think of it as a pilgrimage if you live and breathe dystopian sci-fi like 1984 or Brave New World?
Anyway, I can't wait to discuss this at book club, it was a great choice!
Did not finish (25%)
I feel conflicted about reviewing a book I didn't finish, but I think I got a good vibe of what's going on here.
Slow plot, awkward dialog, and I couldn't get invested in any of the characters.
Also.... It's very similar to The Name of the Wind. Like, look it up if you're curious. Almost exactly the same story start to finish (apparently).
Yeah, life's too short for books I don't like
Oh man, what a ride! I could not put this book down and I really don't know if I'll be able to resist immediately picking up the next entry in the series!
I'm so completely invested in every single character in these books (some more than others), and I could not stop reading towards the end (you'll know why). I find myself cheering for both sides of every conflict even though some of them are honestly terrible people.
My only real complaints are fairly minor. It was heavily focused on a smaller subset of the overall cast and I was looking forward to exploring some storylines outside of the inner Union politics. It was also occasionally difficult to follow the plot due to the barrage of family names, but, meh.
All in all I'm recommending this series to everyone I talk to. It's so. Damn. Good! Perfect? No. But I don't know what else I'd give 5 stars to, so yeah, 5 stars!
I'm surprised I enjoyed this as much as I did since I'm awful at sticking with books where the science fiction “doesn't make sense” or “isn't possible” (which is absurd, I know). The book requires you to suspend your disbelief and just accept that the fictional technology is so far advanced it may as well be magic. If you can do that the rest of the story is incredibly rewarding and beautiful.
It wasn't perfect. Some parts of the narrative were confusing to me (but then again I also read the book quickly and maybe I should have taken my time with the more complex passages). It also has the audacity to end before I wanted it to.
Overall, This is How You Lose the Time War was pretty great and I'm probably going to be recommending it to a lot of my friends.
Maybe the best fantasy book I've read in a long time? I don't even know where to start!
This book really has everying! Suspense, action, humor, mystery, romance, witty dialog, deep and complex characters, a gripping plot about war and politics... I could go on!
The closest book I can compare this to is Game of Thrones but it's very much it's own thing. It doesn't always take itself too seriously and I care way more about the characters than I ever did when reading A Song of Ice and Fire.
I don't really know if there's anything about this book I didn't like? I couldn't put it down and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series!
A Memory Called Empire sets up an amazing world centered around a complex imperial empire and it plays with some great sci-fi and philosophical concepts as well. It's a political thriller with a sci-fi backdrop and some things to say about imperialism. All good stuff!
There's a good chance there are a lot of people out there that will fall in love with this book. I'm not one of them.
I liked it, and I see that it has done what it set out to do very well, but I felt like I was pushing through the book rather than being pulled along by the story.
This might be a case of me being burnt out on space imperialism (I finished Ancillary Sword not long ago too) but I just don't have any motivation to pick up the second book in the series.
3.5/5 for me, but I totally understand the 5/5 reviews. It's an objectively great book, but not for me.
This book was hilarious and heartfelt and I think I'm going to end up recommending it to a lot of people. I'd maybe lean closer to 4.5/5 but the stars are a silly rating system any so who really cares?
Yeah, great book club pick and I look forward to hearing what people have to say about it. Probably not a book for everyone but I really liked it!
I'm really struggling to put into words how great these books are. What a fantastic trilogy!
But seriously, I think I just need to talk to someone else who's read the Trickster trilogy because I keep writing paragraphs and deleting them because my words aren't coming out right, haha.
Just read the books, sooooo good.
What a fantastic followup to Son of the Trickster! I loved every character and the story of Jared finding himself in BC was a perfect progression of his story. I immediately borrowed the third book and I can't wait to read the conclusion of the trilogy!
Also, big thanks to Robyn for the great recommendation!
I feel REALLY conflicted about this book. I enjoyed it through and through, but it was slow as hell and there really isn't much payoff to the many story threads.
I'll probably read the third in the series because I love the world that Leckie has created, but this book was a swing and a miss for me.
Random thoughts:
- A main protagonist I liked is still around but... Wasn't really used in the plot much at all?
- This book is all about how imperialism is bad but it also leans on the “white saviour” trope HEAVILY. Braq is just too perfect and solves everyone's problems. Blah.
- What was the point of this book? It really felt like a long setup for a final chapter in the trilogy.
- I honestly like all the tea drinking and politics but it's a bit much at times.
- “Baby lieutenants” are aborable little imperialists.
