I liked it quite a lot after having been a bit disappointed by a few of his recent ones. The cicero trilogy is still his best stuff for me.
Reading Challenge 2024
- Thread starter RobMCFC
- Start date
stoneblue
Well-Known Member
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
- Cunning Folk – Adam L.G. Nevill - 8/10
- Bad Apples – Will Dean – 7/10
- The Winter Road – Adrian Selby – 6/10
- The Dark Place – Damian Vargas – 9/10
- Act of Oblivion – Robert Harris – 7/10
- The Tyranny of Faith – Richard Swan – 7/10
This is the second book in The Empire of the Wolf trilogy, and I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand it’s well written, has solid characters and an interesting take on the fantasy genre – that of a wandering Justice, Sir Konrad Vonvalt, who acts as judge, jury and executioner in the name of the Emperor as told through the eyes of his young clerk, Helena. On the other hand, a 500-page plus page count for what happened in this part of the story felt very drawn out, and I found it a struggle to plough on at times.
I think the problem is that I’ve been spoilt by Joe Abercrombie and Scott Lynch, whose characters sparkle, and in these cases you could happily read 500, 600, 700-page whoppers with the characters wandering around doing nothing much at all and it would still make for an entertaining few hours.
Anyway, back to the book, where Sir Konrad, Helena and co. head to Sova, the capital of the Empire. A prince has been abducted and it’s up to Sir Konrad to lead the investigation, bring the prince home alive and administer justice to the abductors. As if this wasn’t enough, Sir Konrad quickly finds that he’s been hexed by rogue priest, Bartholomew Claver, and Helena and the rest of the crew end up on a side-mission trying to find a cure.
As noted above, it’s not a bad book, but other than the fact that Claver is a religious nutter intent on deposing the Emperor, you don’t get much insight into what motivates him. I also thought that the big reveal was telegraphed early in the story (and I don’t usually spot this kind of stuff!). The rest of the story is well told from Helena’s perspective and despite my reservations, I’ll still be reading the final part when it comes out.
JRockBlues
Well-Known Member
This Book is Full of Spiders by David Wong
I finally got around to reading the sequel to John Dies at the End. Only took me 9 years. I have no idea why I waited so long as I acquired Spiders not long after finishing the first book which I quite enjoyed reading. David & John, the two stoners, are back and along with Amy, David’s girlfriend, and a few other helpful souls need to save the world from things the normal world cannot see. Again!
All the elements of the first book are there in this sequel. Horror mixed with (very) black humour as well as some more of the light-hearted variety on occasion blends well so you’re never too grossed out. The pace starts out fast and never lets up so while weighing in at almost 500 pages it’s still a quick read as we pass through the viewpoints of David, John & Amy depending on where the action is. Hopefully it’s not another 9 years until I come back to this series. 4★'s
I finally got around to reading the sequel to John Dies at the End. Only took me 9 years. I have no idea why I waited so long as I acquired Spiders not long after finishing the first book which I quite enjoyed reading. David & John, the two stoners, are back and along with Amy, David’s girlfriend, and a few other helpful souls need to save the world from things the normal world cannot see. Again!
All the elements of the first book are there in this sequel. Horror mixed with (very) black humour as well as some more of the light-hearted variety on occasion blends well so you’re never too grossed out. The pace starts out fast and never lets up so while weighing in at almost 500 pages it’s still a quick read as we pass through the viewpoints of David, John & Amy depending on where the action is. Hopefully it’s not another 9 years until I come back to this series. 4★'s
jimmy blue shoes
Well-Known Member
Just finished Blood Meridian. Horrifically brutal. Not sure what to make of the ending..
Did the Judge kill the Kid and the bear girl in the outhouse or was the Judge never there and it was the Kid killed the girl after not being able to get aroused for the dwarf whore, was the Kid the guy outside the outhouse advising people not to go in? Too many possibilities.
Up there with American Psycho for the most disturbing book I've ever read!
richardtheref
Well-Known Member
Hells Kitchen - Jeffery Deaver 4/5
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
As we're into April now, it's probably a good time for people to start posting recommendations for the Q2 group read.
Last time we pretty much all agreed on Act of Oblivion very quickly. This time, if we get a few, then we can have a vote.
Last time we pretty much all agreed on Act of Oblivion very quickly. This time, if we get a few, then we can have a vote.
Dark Matter is certainly a page turner 3/4 way through now am feeling I know how it ends! If it doesn’t then it be up there with one the best books I’ve read! Can’t stand predictability and have a feeling how a book will end..
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch - book cover, description.
www.fantasticfiction.com
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
I read Blake Crouch's Wayward Pines trilogy and it was excellent (as is the TV series based on it - one of the best book-to-screen adaptations I've ever seen). Also read a few of his others but I thought that Dark Matter was OK but not as good as Wayward Pines.