I apologize in advance for this review. Not only did I forget that I read this, and hence forget to rate it on Goodreads for almost two months, I read it so long ago I barely remember anything I wanted to say about it AND ALSO I didn’t take any notes. (Please refer to my reviews of the first and second books in the series for actual quality review material.) Here’s what I remember: This was my least favorite of the three adaptations. Of course, […]
Gritty fantasy western, with some surprises along the way.
I don’t really like reading Westerns. I don’t really like reading action stories. I don’t really seek out violent stories. And the last time Joe Abercrombie had a female protagonist (Best Served Cold) I was ambivalent about her, and that book in general. Red Country features all of those things, so I was a bit wary about it, to say the least. I probably wouldn’t have picked it up for a while yet, but I’d had such a fun time reading Half a King and The Heroes […]
If for nothing else, read this for Oberon, the talking Irish Wolfhound.
NB: I received a promotional copy of this book from the Goodreads First Reads program, but it has not affected the content of my review. I’d been wanting to try this series for a while now, for a bunch of reasons: the author is local (books aren’t often set in places I know and recognize, and it’s exciting!), a bunch of people whose opinions I respect love it, and after finally finishing the Dresden Files last year, I was in need of another long urban […]
For glory. For victory. For staying alive.
I may have waited too long to write this review. I read The Heroes over a month ago, as part of my Joe Abercrombie week-long reading frenzy, which started after I read his latest book, the excellent Half a King. I’ve actually owned a copy of this since the day it was released, but for some reason I’d never gotten around to reading it. The Heroes is one of three (so far) standalone fantasy books set in Abercrombie’s First Law universe, all of which are […]
The exact right book at the exact right time.
First, if you haven’t read Joe Abercrombie before, I highly recommend checking out his First Law trilogy. It’s a great exploration/takedown of classic fantasy tropes with some great and very memorable characters. It’s probably most representative of his writing style and the things he likes to write about. But if you don’t feel like reading three rather large books as an intro to an author, Half a King would do nicely as well. Keep in mind, however, this is technically YA, although it’s unlike any […]
Vampires, Half Vampires, and Evil Vampires, oh my
Frostbite (2008) by Richelle Mead is the second book in the Vampire Academy series. Wikipedia describes the books as “an American best-selling series of six young-adult paranormal romance novels.” Paranormal is not my usual go-to genre, but now it’s captured my interest and I’m planning on finishing the series. Rose Hathaway is a high school student at a preppy boarding school in Montana, but she also happens to live in a world with three different kinds of vampires. Moroi are pure vampires: they drink blood […]