The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! ๐
zachswain's review against another edition
5.0
Grim dark, a little difficult to follow probably due to how grim dark fantasy is written now. Very reminiscent of other fantasy at the time. Good read, well done, the whole trilogy is worthwhile.
warriorlotdk's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
5.0
kurt_v's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
awolf's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing but very gory Grimdark. It definitely reminded me of Joe Abercrombie's First Law series, but had a lot of distinct elements of it's own. There are wizards, grizzled Northmen, an unlikable young hero with an overinflated ego, which are all shared elements, but there's also an amazing amount of world building and it's a bit of a quicker read. I can't wait to read more.
janegonz's review against another edition
3.0
Joe abercrombie fans will enjoy this book. It got off to a slow start, but picked up speed before the halfway mark. My only real criticism; a few too many really convenient plot points.
aphrael's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
3.0
I've waited to long to write this review and I can say the title is absolutely terrible because it took me a bit to remember what it was about.
The main character is absolutely insufferable, but the book is mostly self aware about it even if he isn't. This book has a lot of extremely fortuitous coincidences for the plot, but on the other hand people who seem important at first can die. That really ups the stakes.
The politics and factions are pretty messy and the history/theology is too. Nobody is absolute good or absolute evil, and even at the end of the book we don't know enough to realize what the consequences of the ending would be. I appreciate that.
Overall it's a pretty good book, even if one of the main characters is terrible. It ends on a big cliffhanger so I might pick up the next one.
The main character is absolutely insufferable, but the book is mostly self aware about it even if he isn't. This book has a lot of extremely fortuitous coincidences for the plot, but on the other hand people who seem important at first can die. That really ups the stakes.
The politics and factions are pretty messy and the history/theology is too. Nobody is absolute good or absolute evil, and even at the end of the book we don't know enough to realize what the consequences of the ending would be. I appreciate that.
Overall it's a pretty good book, even if one of the main characters is terrible. It ends on a big cliffhanger so I might pick up the next one.
dominish_books's review against another edition
The Grim Company by Luke Scull was another of those โnew to meโ novels that I was quite looking forward to reading. The premise sounded reasonable, and it was another chance to start an exciting series from a new author. Unfortunately it didn't live up to the promise and instead turned out to be one of those rare novels that I wasn't able to finish. The Grim Company just couldn't grab hold of my attention, no matter how hard it tried โ nothing it could do could get me beyond half way through.
The characters were ok, but certainly not memorable, and parts of the plot were just too formulaic. It centred around a ragtag group of revolutionaries headed up (in terms of the storyline lead character at least) by a young lad with a destiny handed down by birth, and a magical blade at his side. They set off on a quest to overthrow the resident evil wizard after their base of operations is compromised, just after they meet some new barbarian friends in all too convenient fashion. It was like this book wanted me to get on board, but just wasn't going to try very hard to persuade me.
The characters were ok, but certainly not memorable, and parts of the plot were just too formulaic. It centred around a ragtag group of revolutionaries headed up (in terms of the storyline lead character at least) by a young lad with a destiny handed down by birth, and a magical blade at his side. They set off on a quest to overthrow the resident evil wizard after their base of operations is compromised, just after they meet some new barbarian friends in all too convenient fashion. It was like this book wanted me to get on board, but just wasn't going to try very hard to persuade me.