icarusabides's reviews
574 reviews

After an interesting start The Bone Ships pretty quickly becomes a rather dull slog. The writing is fine but there's no great depth to it and it feels rather clunky and obvious in how the characters motivations are portrayed, everything feels a little too signposted. 

The characters for the most part are incredibly flat too, Joron has the most development over the course of the book but it doesn't feel earned and no one else is really given any depth. Meas stays the same incredible badass character she starts out as but nothing about her ever actually feels inspiring. Everyone else, bar the underused Guilame, has no actual characterisation beyond their often stated injuries, deformities, and birth defects etc which play a huge part in the hierarchy of this world. Presumably this was intended to mark just how cruel this world is meant to be but that never really landed and the author really likes bringing it up, characters like Farys are rarely mentioned without some accompanying line about their burnt face and they seem to have no other aspect to their character. 

There are also quite a few typos and plot holes throughout. The Ship wife of the Cruel Waters being a Gaunt Islander with one leg, something treated with disdain and banishment to a life of begging or shoe making in the Hundred Isles frequently being invited aboard Tide Child and at no point any of the crew wondering hang on that's a bit strange. The Gaunt Islanders having no four rib ships meaning therefore Tide Child will be quickly recognised as an enemy ship being is a plot point despite previous and subsequent mention of Wavebreaker the Gaunt Islander four rib ship... 

Chapter 33
“I only saw them from a distance but the four-ribber, I think it is the Wavebreaker"

Chapter 34
“The flag will not fool them, not for long. Once someone who knows the ships of the Gaunt Islands well is consulted they will know they do not have a four-ribber."

Chapter 35
"Meas kept Tide Child on a course converging with the Gaunt Islanders, level with the leading four-ribber." 

Sigh

As for the positives, the world building is quite interesting initially but even that is somewhat overdone to the point it interferes with the flow of reading given just how many aspects of this world the author wanted to make unique. It's not terrible but it is a disappointing read overall. 

I've always loved the ideas in Adrian Tchaikovsky's books even if the books haven't always lived up to the concepts but with City of Last Chances he absolutely nails it for me, everything about it is brilliant. The writing is some of Tchaikovsky's best prose, it's deep and enthralling, providing an engaging window into a complex and fascinating world packed with creativity. It's also refreshing to have a contained story these days, no trilogy or ten book series here just a well rounded tale of a city on the brink that provides a satisfying conclusion. 

There's certainly a sink or swim element to starting out with this book mind. It begins three years into the occupation of Ilmar; a city of packed with rebellious factions, some naive idealists, others simply using it as a method of attaining power, most only wanting revolution if it ends with them on top. There's summoning magic, demon powered factories, diminished gods, mysterious passages to who knows where, and the ever present boot of the occupation molding everything to their perfect image. It's a lot to take on board initially but it's also a rich and rewarding experience as things click into place and more about the city and fascinating world is revealed. 

Another perfectly capable Rivers of London book and overall a good read in an off itself. It's probably just as good as the rest of the series, though my enjoyment has lessened somewhat as the series has gone on. Its a fun, quick read, perhaps a little too safe with its characters but that's unlikely to be something that changes after nine main books plus countless graphic novels and short stories 

The central mystery plot is pretty good, although a few aspects could definitely be picked at and the slightly hamfisted info dump chapter was a bit of a let down. 

It's hard to have too much to say about it, the characters are good and are used pretty well even if a few too many are packed in, there's the usual Peter or someone stood next to Peter knows something incredibly specific and useful at the right time issue but the series has settled down into what it likely always was going to be; a procedural that provides a decent case each iteration and makes incremental changes through time that will keep chugging on and on.

They're good reads but the days of them being potentially great are probably gone, and as per usual Nightingale is underused.

This book covers pretty much everything that one would want from an overview of brewing coffee at home. There are guides on sourcing coffee, tasting coffee, a rather nice section that focuses on demistifying coffee packaging, and handy guides for brewing coffee with pretty much every type of coffee maker anyone is likely to come across in the wild.

It makes for a good read from start to finish but it's true strength likely lies in its usefulness as an information source to refer back to when it comes to buying new coffees or exploring new brewing techniques. There's probably nothing much new here for long term fans of James Hoffmann but it's nice having all the information and opinions on coffee one place, especially with how well presented it all is. 

Certainly lacks subtlety, right out the gate the protagonist drops every inch of backstory they possibly can on the reader. Short stories can be difficult to craft well given the limited time available but spelling out absolutely everything isn't the solution

The concept itself is pretty solid, supernatural goings on at an old golden era Hollywood movie studio and the expert fixer who has to deal with these events on top of their other more mundane duties. It's just unfortunate that the writing is so clunky and overly explanatory. 

Well written but just too meandering overall to really be a satisfying read, the protagonist feels too aimless and inactive in exploring what's happening to them. The characters are also too thinly drawn but the biggest problem is that ultimately the ending comes together far too quickly and feels like quite the cop out with it how it resolves everything.

It doesn't take long for this intriguing noir styled detective story set on a wandering tank of a city to go full Tamsyn Muir. One minute it's reminiscent of Fallout New Vegas and then comes to body horror, and the imaginatively written rending of flesh. 

Muir packs in a lot for a short story with a compelling story that provides a satisfying conclusion and lots of intriguing world building from the mechanised travelling cities run by rival gangs to the rather disturbing take on Ghouls.