bookmeanderings's reviews
339 reviews

My first manga and I loved it. Action packed and hilarious with some heart mixed in.

Absolutely loved it. This 2nd volume had more of a cohesive storyline, whereas the first was more a couple of short stories put together. I really enjoyed getting to know our characters more, the action, the emotion, and the bigger picture of the plot. Such an easy and fun read, though an emotional read at times. Can't wait to start the 3rd one!

3.5 stars.

I was a beta reader for this book and I did enjoy it. The pace is slow at the beginning, but that is typical for a book/series of this size and after a little while it really picks up. I enjoyed some of the minor characters the best in this one. Dravian and Xodia were two of my favorites, along with Dietrich and Roland my favorites for the main characters. This book was solid all around and an enjoyable read. Props to Elliot Brooks on her first novel.

It's pretty great. My favorite in the series so far. Things progress more in this than in n "The Way of Kings" and I'm glad that the world building is not nearly as intensive in this one. Syl might be my favorite character. Shallan is becoming more and more likeable, as well as Adolin. Dalinar and Kaladin have always been great. I really enjoy Kaladin's mental struggles and how relatable he is, although once in a while he comes off just a bit whiny. I might need to start writing down who is on who's side and which person has which agenda. The story is vast, its characters personal, and the action incredible when it occurs. I'm excited to continue with the series and see where Sanderson takes all these characters and this world.

Wow, just wow. Jorge makes this book. The brothers help, but Jorg is where it begins and ends. He is a terrible person. A rapist, murderer, and sometimes psychopath. However, there are times that he does the kindest and most thoughtful of things and you get a glimpse into his heart. Into his longing for redemption. Jorg just makes sense. He feels so real and the moments when he is vulnerable and bears his heart are some of the best moments of the book. I was slightly disappointed about the ending and how one of the main "antagonists" dies, but Jorg, along with the amazing action, intrigue, and other characters helped to make this a 5 star for me. Simply amazing.

I loved the first two books.....a lot. However, this last installment was a bit of a disappointment. At the end of the 1st and 2nd books there was a sense of building to what I hoped would be a huge, action packed, emotional climax. However, although we did get a big time climax, it was not as fulfilling as I'd hoped.

I liked the evolution of Jorg and how he works through his issues in such a human, albeit sometimes psychopathic, way. I like the dark realism that the author portrays and the philosophical questions and wisdom posed in this book.

I did feel at times the pacing was off and it was much slower than the first 2 books. And a lot of the Five years earlier chapters were, I felt, unnecessary, and sometimes boring.

One thing I thought the author did really well was make me care about characters other than the main character. Makin, Red Kent, and Gorgoth were some of the characters I had an attachment too. I also loved Jorg and Rike's rough "brotherhood."

All in all, a solid book that I think had the potential to be a great book. I will be reading more Mark Lawrence in the future.

*Spoiler Warning*

For this review I think I am gonna go with a like and dislike list, so here it goes:

Likes:
1) The action was fun. The author didn't shy away from vivid descriptions of battle and I liked that.
2) The characters, although mildly....flat(not in depth), were still interesting. The back story of Tomas and Jochan especially had me sympathizing and caring a lot about what happened to them. Bloody Anne was a fun character as well.
3) Tomas is a gang leader who truly cares about the people of his city. He is not your typical, one dimensional type character in this role that is dominated by those types of characters. I found that pretty original and interesting.
4) The psychology of the after effects of war was realistic and well done.

Dislikes:
1) STOP USING THE PHRASE "to my mind"! Now, I didn't count, but Tomas must have used this phrase when recounting his own story at least 100 times, and that's not an exaggeration. Peter McLean, this is a first person fantasy. We know that what is being said from Tomas' opinion is obviously "to his mind" because he is the one narrating. Please, please change this for the next book. It drove me crazy.
2) I felt like this was Adult Grim Dark Fantasy, but written at an almost middle grade level. The plot and characters were decent, but it didnt have the depth, intricacy, or heart that I have come to expect from Modern Fantasy.
3) Everything seemed too easy for Tomas to overcome. Nothing significantly bad happened to Tomas. His enemies seem incompetent while Tomas and his men seem more than competent in every way.

What saved this book for me was the fast pace, the originality of Tomas as gang leader, and I honestly really enjoyed the fun, and somewhat corny, gangster names(Fat Luka, Billy the Black, Cutter, etc). All in all a decent enough book that I will consider reading the sequel. It reminded me a lot of the tv show Peaky Blinders(which is amazing and you should definitely watch it on Netflix or BBC by the way). Almost too much in some ways and I think I might have compared it too much to that.

P.s. I never want to read "to my mind" in a book again. Seriously, it that was frequent. Okay, end rant.

Fun and enjoyable. Love getting to know the Elric brothers back story a little more as well.