The Queen of Crows

Executive Summary: This book finished a lot stronger than it started for me, but I struggled to finish it quickly despite its short length. 3.5 stars.

Full Review
I really like Myke Cole. I've liked him ever since he did an interview with Sword & Laser in 2013. I follow him on twitter. I really want to support his work.

I've actually listened to 4 of his books and thought most were just ok. When this series was announced I thought it'd be more of my liking, because it's more traditional fantasy and not the modern military fantasy of his previous work.

I still find myself struggling with these books at times. Both have finished much stronger than they start. Both are really well written. I'd say the easily the best books his written to date in terms of the quality of his prose, etc.

I used to read a lot of dark fantasy, but these days the appeal of that has dwindled to almost nothing. The world is dark enough most days, I'm not sure I need to spend my free time reading about horrible things happening to fictitious characters.

I like Heloise. I like the concept of the powered armor, and magic that summons demons if used too much/incorrectly. I don't like all the horrible people being horrible to each other almost nonstop. There are moments where you can catch your breath a little, but they are short lived.

Despite its short length, this book took me a month to read. There were days when I could read, and simply chose not to. Things really picked towards the end however and I finished the end in only a few days.

I like the direction this book took things, and I'm curious to see where it goes from here, but I may wait until I'm in the right mood to pick it up rather than getting it on release day.