atarbett's review
The language she used really got on my nerves. So much so that I couldn't on the story at all. I am not putting up with 700 pages of this noun-verbed nonsense
cousinrachel's review against another edition
4.0
This resembles A Game of Thrones from the Song of Ice and Fire series in several ways - the medieval setting, grand political conflict, even using George R. R. Martin's phrase "in his cups" to mean drunkenness, unless Martin got that from somewhere else. But it draws characters quite well, not making most of them "good" or "bad," but a combination. Characters evolve over the long span of time, taking a while to show their fundamental nature or motivations; it's often nail-biting to see what choices they will make. Some of them are incredibly stupid and make me want to choke them, but given that real people make incredibly stupid decisions, I don't hold it against the book. I appreciate that the author doesn't make all of them sympathetic or wise, and in fact sometimes made me pity people who also did despicable things, even sympathize with them for doing it. This book is extremely bleak in that well-intentioned people become poisoned by the violence, selfishness, and hierarchical political and social system around them, eventually doing the actions they initially would have condemned. It does have its share of true villainy, though. I want to continue reading the series just to watch a certain person get it. ;)
This author doesn't fool around with long descriptions, unlike Martin or Tolkien. I appreciate world-building, but I want to get to the action, too. This was a major way it didn't lose my interest. At the same time, there are confusing time-jumps, where one chapter suddenly takes place six years after the next and it's difficult to keep up with characters' ages. I might be reading along and it's almost as if Miller mentions offhand, "Oh by the way, six years have passed now, OK back to the action." There isn't much of a natural sense of time passing.
Also unlike Martin, Miller relieves a bit of the darkness with some levity, which I get the sense isn't found in many fantasy series. I hope in the next one she keeps up the humor - wading through so much doom and death gets a bit taxing after a while.
Overall, I quite liked it, although the downhill slide it took in terms of people's moral integrity and any hope for the future was a downer. On the other hand, it was fascinating to read, and it's realistic that life in that setting was grim. Hope Miller brings a bit more encouraging turns of events in the next book to make the payoff worth it.
(By the way, the book description on the site is incorrect: The bastard character's name is Roric, not Ederic.)
This author doesn't fool around with long descriptions, unlike Martin or Tolkien. I appreciate world-building, but I want to get to the action, too. This was a major way it didn't lose my interest. At the same time, there are confusing time-jumps, where one chapter suddenly takes place six years after the next and it's difficult to keep up with characters' ages. I might be reading along and it's almost as if Miller mentions offhand, "Oh by the way, six years have passed now, OK back to the action." There isn't much of a natural sense of time passing.
Also unlike Martin, Miller relieves a bit of the darkness with some levity, which I get the sense isn't found in many fantasy series. I hope in the next one she keeps up the humor - wading through so much doom and death gets a bit taxing after a while.
Overall, I quite liked it, although the downhill slide it took in terms of people's moral integrity and any hope for the future was a downer. On the other hand, it was fascinating to read, and it's realistic that life in that setting was grim. Hope Miller brings a bit more encouraging turns of events in the next book to make the payoff worth it.
(By the way, the book description on the site is incorrect: The bastard character's name is Roric, not Ederic.)
patremagne's review against another edition
2.0
Despite enjoying myself while reading this, I got about 3/4 through and simply had no desire to pick it back up. As others have said, it's the same stuff we've seen over and over again (don't get me wrong, I still enjoy the tropey tales), but seriously: a coup resulting in the murder of a ruler, said ruler's son being spirited away to be raised by a maid, an ambitious asshole heir, war brewing, you get the picture. I guess if you're in the mood for something like it, you'll probably enjoy this, but I was not.
I will say this, however: Miller writes jousting and various action scenes very well.
I will say this, however: Miller writes jousting and various action scenes very well.
embem28's review against another edition
4.0
It was a pretty good story, a bit reminiscent of GOT since she killed characters that I liked and then made the last good guy suffer. I'm not sure if I'll try for the second book. I may give it a shot and see how it goes, but if it takes as long as this to get through I may have to skip it for now.
nomiddlename's review
2.0
I got as far as page 386. I don't really want to read any more about lordly politics, horrible people doing stupid things, and an entirely made-up world where the author could have done anything but instead chose to have women relegated to second-class citizens because that's what medieval societies are supposed to be like. If I want that, I could just re-read Game of Thrones. I don't have the stamina to wade through another multi-volume, twisty-turny, epicly bloody, ooh-who-is-going-to-die-next sausagefest. I guess if you really liked Game of Thrones, and are desperate for something that is similar, but not quite as good, then this would be for you.
leasky364's review
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
volchitsa's review against another edition
3.0
This book was so slow going. It took me well over a month to read, when usually I devour this sort of thing in a week or so. It took a good hundred pages for me to actually get into it.
Like others have said, this is very Game of Thrones-esque but kind of lacks GRRM's style and ability to make the world and characters flow with each other. I think it has SO much potential, but it just didn't quite cut it for me. Another big problem I had is, there are literally three characters that I like. THREE. And all three of them are barely mentioned at all. The rest are either not interesting, barely in it so you can't decide if you like them or not, or are literally just nasty people doing nasty things for no apparent reason. I think the good characters are obviously going to end up appearing more in the sequels, but do I really want to read all of those just for them? I probably will, as I really want this series to improve and go somewhere as it could be great, but we'll see.
One more thing - Karen Miller, please stop with the accents. I get that the people in the Marches are meant to sound common and poor, but if I read "yes" said as "iss" one more time, I might just rip my hair out.
Like others have said, this is very Game of Thrones-esque but kind of lacks GRRM's style and ability to make the world and characters flow with each other. I think it has SO much potential, but it just didn't quite cut it for me. Another big problem I had is, there are literally three characters that I like. THREE. And all three of them are barely mentioned at all. The rest are either not interesting, barely in it so you can't decide if you like them or not, or are literally just nasty people doing nasty things for no apparent reason. I think the good characters are obviously going to end up appearing more in the sequels, but do I really want to read all of those just for them? I probably will, as I really want this series to improve and go somewhere as it could be great, but we'll see.
One more thing - Karen Miller, please stop with the accents. I get that the people in the Marches are meant to sound common and poor, but if I read "yes" said as "iss" one more time, I might just rip my hair out.
cupiscent's review
Setting aside at page 102, because I'm just not having any fun or feeling any burning need to know more of the story. There are a few ways in which this just isn't working at all for me.
One is the world, which I started out in the prologue thinking might be sort of Egyptian-ish possibly, but quickly and obviously settled into standard western-Euro, complete with Germanic-esque names, jousting, castles and ale and buxom wenches. Duchies, councils, the old superstitions denounced by the new severe religion... yawn.
Secondly, and relatedly, the language usage just wasn't working at all for me. There's a very staged and almost Shakespearean feel to it. (In one exchange, says character a: "Oh ho, so I'm a squire, am I? Come to bend my knee with querulous demand?" to which character b replies: "No, my lord. If there's knee-bending wanted it will be me in the mud, not you." I can just about see the actors delivering it on stage, doublet and hose and all. But it's not really working for me on the page.) There's some interesting slang and other usage, but even then it tends to be overused - the fifth time I've seen one slang term in two pages I'm bored with it already.
It's also just plain long, in ways it really didn't need to be. Characters wrangle over decisions and discussions for whole pages when it could have been made briefer and pithier, and scenes meander, full of colour and detail and character elements that seem of tertiary importance at best. Part of what I enjoy about fantasy is the richness and size of its stories, but there's a difference between an epic story and fantasy flab, and my feeling is that this tends to the latter.
Third, the characters and their stories were none of them interesting to me. Old, steady men and their young hotheaded heirs, selfish dukes and their wracked-by-honour detractors. Selfish, pompous, straightforward, boring men, in conflict with other men, over the fates and honours and whatnot of men. The few women in the first chapters were witches, bitches, ninnies or mentioned but not seen. I don't care about any of the people we've met, I don't care about what they're doing, and I don't care about the repercussions, because this is, or seems most strongly to be, another Game-of-Thrones struggles-of-men-in-the-mud fantasy.
For all of these reasons, I will not be slogging through the remaining 570-odd pages of this.
One is the world, which I started out in the prologue thinking might be sort of Egyptian-ish possibly, but quickly and obviously settled into standard western-Euro, complete with Germanic-esque names, jousting, castles and ale and buxom wenches. Duchies, councils, the old superstitions denounced by the new severe religion... yawn.
Secondly, and relatedly, the language usage just wasn't working at all for me. There's a very staged and almost Shakespearean feel to it. (In one exchange, says character a: "Oh ho, so I'm a squire, am I? Come to bend my knee with querulous demand?" to which character b replies: "No, my lord. If there's knee-bending wanted it will be me in the mud, not you." I can just about see the actors delivering it on stage, doublet and hose and all. But it's not really working for me on the page.) There's some interesting slang and other usage, but even then it tends to be overused - the fifth time I've seen one slang term in two pages I'm bored with it already.
It's also just plain long, in ways it really didn't need to be. Characters wrangle over decisions and discussions for whole pages when it could have been made briefer and pithier, and scenes meander, full of colour and detail and character elements that seem of tertiary importance at best. Part of what I enjoy about fantasy is the richness and size of its stories, but there's a difference between an epic story and fantasy flab, and my feeling is that this tends to the latter.
Third, the characters and their stories were none of them interesting to me. Old, steady men and their young hotheaded heirs, selfish dukes and their wracked-by-honour detractors. Selfish, pompous, straightforward, boring men, in conflict with other men, over the fates and honours and whatnot of men. The few women in the first chapters were witches, bitches, ninnies or mentioned but not seen. I don't care about any of the people we've met, I don't care about what they're doing, and I don't care about the repercussions, because this is, or seems most strongly to be, another Game-of-Thrones struggles-of-men-in-the-mud fantasy.
For all of these reasons, I will not be slogging through the remaining 570-odd pages of this.
thiefofcamorr's review
Katharine is a judge for the Aurealis Awards. This entry is the personal opinion of Katharine herself, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any judging panel, the judging coordinator or the Aurealis Awards management team.
To be safe, I won't be recording my thoughts (if I choose to) here until after the AA are over.
To be safe, I won't be recording my thoughts (if I choose to) here until after the AA are over.
ekfmef's review
1.0
Ik geef niet vaak halverwege een boek op, maar dit is toch echt om te huilen. Een Song of Ice and Fire wannebe zonder het talent om leuke, relatable personages te maken en de plotlijnen op een goede manier aan elkaar te verbinden. Het resultaat is een boek vol vreselijk misogynistische vloekende hatelijke personages; ik ben normaliter de laatste om te klagen over het patriarchaat en over taalgebruik in boeken, maar het is gewoon een beetje raar als de personages eerst met een aardappel in hun mond hoofse woorden bezigen en dan opeens 'you fucking slut!' gaan roepen. Het krachttermenrepertoire bestaat eigenlijk vooral uit 'bitch' 'slut' en 'fuck'. Het is een beetje het John and Aerin syndroom maar dan met scheldwoorden.
Verder wil ik gewoon helemaal niet weten wat er gebeurt, je wordt op geen moment echt betrokken bij de personages. So what als er oorlog uitbreekt, who cares? Jullie zijn allemaal verwaande nesten. Tevens draait het tot nu toe allemaal om de liefde, ook al zo'n zwaktebod. Normale mensen doen niet alles voor 1 partner, dat is misschien even een fase maar niet dat je je hele leven er door laat beinvloeden, hoop ik...
Wie geinteresseerd is mag het boek van me overnemen, na een paar pagina's weet je het eigenlijk al...
Verder wil ik gewoon helemaal niet weten wat er gebeurt, je wordt op geen moment echt betrokken bij de personages. So what als er oorlog uitbreekt, who cares? Jullie zijn allemaal verwaande nesten. Tevens draait het tot nu toe allemaal om de liefde, ook al zo'n zwaktebod. Normale mensen doen niet alles voor 1 partner, dat is misschien even een fase maar niet dat je je hele leven er door laat beinvloeden, hoop ik...
Wie geinteresseerd is mag het boek van me overnemen, na een paar pagina's weet je het eigenlijk al...