The Way of Shadows

I didn't actually finish this book. I merely reached a little past the halfway point and simply quit reading it. I didn't actually mean to, but once I started another book - that was so much better than this one - I realized I'd probably never get it finished.

I disliked the story structure, how nine years passed in a very jerky manner, and almost universally disliked the characters. The few - one, I think - characters that I was actually interested in seemed to have an extremely small parts. The one I was actually very curious about, only showed up twice in the first half.

I really disliked the treatment of women in this book, how they were all either virgins or whores - and if they were over eighteen, they were certainly the latter. There were also a could of very misogynistic comments and that eventually got to be too much for me. I also really didn't like the amount of language in the story. I think you can get your point across very well without resorting to curses in such a gratuitous way. (Except for the king - he couldn't get a point across even with his curses.)

What other people have mentioned about this book feeling like a twelve year old boy trying to be an ‘adult' by using curses and talking up sex really hits the nail on the head.