Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence is the final book in the Broken Empire trilogy in which Jorg Ancrath tries to consolidate his claim on the Imperial Crown and deal with the threat of the Dead King. This is undercut by a past timeline in which he tries to uncover the secrets of the Builders. Regular readers of my blog will know that I was at first unengaged by the Broken Empire trilogy, finding it hard to become emotionally invested in such a dark character as Honorous Jorg Ancrath as he was in Prince of Thorns and being somewhat put off by the violence. Having decided to abandon the series, I was persuaded by the promise of great character development to give the second book, King of Thorns, a second chance and am very glad I did. Like many fans, I was eagerly awaiting the release of Emperor of Thorns and picked it up on release day for your reviewing pleasure. What I liked Skillfully interwoven multiple plotlines. It has to be said there’s a lot going on in this book; Lawrence is weaving disparate plot threads together with real expertise. We have Jorg’s attempt to become Emperor and the…
Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence is the final book in the Broken Empire trilogy in which Jorg Ancrath tries to consolidate his claim on the Imperial Crown and deal with the threat of the Dead King. This is undercut by a past timeline in which he tries to uncover the secrets of the Builders. Regular readers of my blog will know that I was at first unengaged by the Broken Empire trilogy, finding it hard to become emotionally invested in such a dark character as Honorous Jorg Ancrath as he was in Prince of Thorns and being somewhat put off by the violence. Having decided to abandon the series, I was persuaded by the promise of great character development to give the second book, King of Thorns, a second chance and am very glad I did. Like many fans, I was eagerly awaiting the release of Emperor of Thorns and picked it up on release day for your reviewing pleasure. What I liked Skillfully interwoven multiple plotlines. It has to be said there’s a lot going on in this book; Lawrence is weaving disparate plot threads together with real expertise. We have Jorg’s attempt to become Emperor and the…
Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence is the final book in the Broken Empire trilogy in which Jorg Ancrath tries to consolidate his claim on the Imperial Crown and deal with the threat of the Dead King. This is undercut by a past timeline in which he tries to uncover the secrets of the Builders. Regular readers of my blog will know that I was at first unengaged by the Broken Empire trilogy, finding it hard to become emotionally invested in such a dark character as Honorous Jorg Ancrath as he was in Prince of Thorns and being somewhat put off by the violence. Having decided to abandon the series, I was persuaded by the promise of great character development to give the second book, King of Thorns, a second chance and am very glad I did. Like many fans, I was eagerly awaiting the release of Emperor of Thorns and picked it up on release day for your reviewing pleasure. What I liked Skillfully interwoven multiple plotlines. It has to be said there’s a lot going on in this book; Lawrence is weaving disparate plot threads together with real expertise. We have Jorg’s attempt to become Emperor and the…
I received a free copy of The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch for review. This is the third book in Lynch’s Gentlemen Bastards series and I was very much looking forward to reading it. In the way that Red Seas Under Red Skies explored Locke’s relationship with Jean through flashbacks and a present day narrative, Republic of Thieves explores our hero’s relationship with the mysterious Sabetha in a similar manner. This book also deepens our knowledge of the Bondsmagi and gives some possible hints about what to expect next for Locke. What I liked Lynch’s writing style. I really enjoyed the witty. light banter of the previous two books, and this one continues the trend. Many times I found myself giggling out loud at a particularly funny turn of phrase. Character relationships. Lynch clearly has a knack for writing relationships. In Red Seas Under Red Skies the Locke/Jean relationship reminded me of a Hope/Crosby Road to… movie while Republic of Thieves is more like a well-written rom-com. Their fears, hopes and misunderstandings seem very real. The Bondsmagi. In this book we get to learn a lot more about them and how they work. The storyline takes us deep into…
I received a free copy of The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch for review. This is the third book in Lynch’s Gentlemen Bastards series and I was very much looking forward to reading it. In the way that Red Seas Under Red Skies explored Locke’s relationship with Jean through flashbacks and a present day narrative, Republic of Thieves explores our hero’s relationship with the mysterious Sabetha in a similar manner. This book also deepens our knowledge of the Bondsmagi and gives some possible hints about what to expect next for Locke. What I liked Lynch’s writing style. I really enjoyed the witty. light banter of the previous two books, and this one continues the trend. Many times I found myself giggling out loud at a particularly funny turn of phrase. Character relationships. Lynch clearly has a knack for writing relationships. In Red Seas Under Red Skies the Locke/Jean relationship reminded me of a Hope/Crosby Road to… movie while Republic of Thieves is more like a well-written rom-com. Their fears, hopes and misunderstandings seem very real. The Bondsmagi. In this book we get to learn a lot more about them and how they work. The storyline takes us deep into…
I received a free copy of The Companions to review from Netgalley. The premise of the story is that several of the characters from the Forgotten Realms series, Bruenor Battlehammer, Wulfgar and Regis the halfling, choose to be reborn and meet again in twenty years in order to protect Drizzt Do’Urden from an unspecified threat. It is a tale of love and friendship rather than good vs evil. At first, I felt at a distinct disadvantage not being familiar with R.A. Salvatore’s work. The most noticeable example of that was near the beginning when the character Ruqiah suddenly declared her name was “Catti-brie.” From the context it was clear that this was supposed to be a shocking revelation, but my reaction was more along the lines of “oh, OK. Who the heck is Catti-brie, and why should I care about her?” Fortunately, Salvatore made a point of answering those questions clearly and effectively. It took me a little longer to get my head around the various races who live in this world, and their relations to each other, but that didn’t impact on my enjoyment of the book. What I liked Salvatore’s writing style. His writing style is noticeably more…
I received a free copy of The Companions to review from Netgalley. The premise of the story is that several of the characters from the Forgotten Realms series, Bruenor Battlehammer, Wulfgar and Regis the halfling, choose to be reborn and meet again in twenty years in order to protect Drizzt Do’Urden from an unspecified threat. It is a tale of love and friendship rather than good vs evil. At first, I felt at a distinct disadvantage not being familiar with R.A. Salvatore’s work. The most noticeable example of that was near the beginning when the character Ruqiah suddenly declared her name was “Catti-brie.” From the context it was clear that this was supposed to be a shocking revelation, but my reaction was more along the lines of “oh, OK. Who the heck is Catti-brie, and why should I care about her?” Fortunately, Salvatore made a point of answering those questions clearly and effectively. It took me a little longer to get my head around the various races who live in this world, and their relations to each other, but that didn’t impact on my enjoyment of the book. What I liked Salvatore’s writing style. His writing style is noticeably more “epic”…
For my first pair of books I chose to read two dystopian novels, the classic 1984 by George Orwell and the modern YA book by Lauren Oliver Delirium. 1984 was a reread for me to complete the “reread a book” challenge of BookTubeAThon. I have been hearing good things about Delirium so I thought now was a good time to add it to my TBR. Scene Setting I had forgotten just how effectively Orwell sets his scene in 1984. From the moment the clock strikes 13 in the first paragraph to the final sentence (this is the only time I ever reread a book’s final words multiple times in the hope that they would change – they didn’t) 1984 is full of danger, menace and despair. This is only broken up by a few interludes of happiness. Delirium, on the other hand, is the opposite. Much of the book feels like a light, easygoing teen romance with only a few episodes of real danger and tension. In 1984 the threat of being captured by the government feels very real and in the protagonist’s eyes inevitable. In Delirium, the protagonist forgets about her society for whole long stretches….
For my first pair of books I chose to read two dystopian novels, the classic 1984 by George Orwell and the modern YA book by Lauren Oliver Delirium. 1984 was a reread for me to complete the “reread a book” challenge of BookTubeAThon. I have been hearing good things about Delirium so I thought now was a good time to add it to my TBR. Scene Setting I had forgotten just how effectively Orwell sets his scene in 1984. From the moment the clock strikes 13 in the first paragraph to the final sentence (this is the only time I ever reread a book’s final words multiple times in the hope that they would change – they didn’t) 1984 is full of danger, menace and despair. This is only broken up by a few interludes of happiness. Delirium, on the other hand, is the opposite. Much of the book feels like a light, easygoing teen romance with only a few episodes of real danger and tension. In 1984 the threat of being captured by the government feels very real and in the protagonist’s eyes inevitable. In Delirium, the protagonist forgets about her society for whole long stretches. The…
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