pjonsson's review against another edition
2.0
ok started out quite well and then went downhill to end with a really crappy ending.
For starters, it is a well written book. I’ve read other books by Rhett C. Bruno and he is a good writer. So when the book started off pretty good with this cynical, undead, western gunslinger and his monologue I had some hopes.
I have to confess though that I was a bit hesitant from the start since the genre is not really my cup of tea. I read a lot of urban fantasy and I guess you could call this book urban fantasy but with its setting in the old west it felt more like a weird fantasy book than an actual urban fantasy one to me.
Still, as I wrote, it started of pretty well. But from there it started to go down hill and already about a third in the story started to get bogged down. It just became a lot of bla bla and I felt like we where not moving forward.
It didn’t really help that the main protagonist, who started off as a kick-ass gunslinger, turned out to be quite stupid and got his ass kicked more often than not. Also, apart from being immortal, he didn’t really have any powers to speak of.
To add to this, his angel handler is a real asshole and not at all helpful. As a matter of fact he is just annoying, behaves like a spoiled brat and drags down the book more than anything.
Still, up to this point I was about to give the book a three star rating. Then came the ending. What a load of illogical crap! A typical Hollywood style illogical bullshit ending that really pissed me off.
So thus we arrive at a two star rating and another series that goes on the do-not-read shelf.
For starters, it is a well written book. I’ve read other books by Rhett C. Bruno and he is a good writer. So when the book started off pretty good with this cynical, undead, western gunslinger and his monologue I had some hopes.
I have to confess though that I was a bit hesitant from the start since the genre is not really my cup of tea. I read a lot of urban fantasy and I guess you could call this book urban fantasy but with its setting in the old west it felt more like a weird fantasy book than an actual urban fantasy one to me.
Still, as I wrote, it started of pretty well. But from there it started to go down hill and already about a third in the story started to get bogged down. It just became a lot of bla bla and I felt like we where not moving forward.
It didn’t really help that the main protagonist, who started off as a kick-ass gunslinger, turned out to be quite stupid and got his ass kicked more often than not. Also, apart from being immortal, he didn’t really have any powers to speak of.
To add to this, his angel handler is a real asshole and not at all helpful. As a matter of fact he is just annoying, behaves like a spoiled brat and drags down the book more than anything.
Still, up to this point I was about to give the book a three star rating. Then came the ending. What a load of illogical crap! A typical Hollywood style illogical bullshit ending that really pissed me off.
So thus we arrive at a two star rating and another series that goes on the do-not-read shelf.
dodie_sullivan's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, and Death
Moderate: Murder and Racism
Minor: Racial slurs and Sexual violence
chanman's review
2.0
This book proves that a good narrator cannot save a book for me.
When it comes to Westerns, I must admit that I am not a fan. Besides liking the cowboy action when I was a kid, I never got into the genre much when it came to books. Classic western authors were ones I did not try, as they seemed to write stories that bored me.
Reading The Black Badge series was something I hoped would change my mind. I had read and loved the first prequel of this series, in which Crowley takes on a necromancer. I thought this novel would hold as much fun and surprises as the previous one, as well as more information on Crowley’s powers and their limits.
This book features a former outlaw named James Crowly. Shot to death, he now fights in a sort of zombie-like limbo for the White Throne as an agent of God, officially known as a part of the Black Badges. On his travels, he comes across three people who have been robbing small town banks using powers that appear to be the work of the Devil. Now James must stop them, and to do so, he will have to sacrifice helping those he loves to achieve his mission.
Firstly, before I get into the meat of this review, let me say that if you have the chance to listen to the audiobook, then you should do so. It is read by Roger Clark, the same man who voiced some characters in Red Dead Redemption 2 and I loved it here as much as in the previous novel. He is just meant for this series, and whatever my thoughts on this book, I know that, if I do read the next book, then it will have to be on audio, as I think this is the superior version.
I also liked the powers that James has in this book. Being, essentially, undead, he can not feel pain or tiredness like humans, and he also has superior hearing and sight to normal folk. Then there are his weapons. Both his pistols and rifle use silver bullets, and he has a magic lasso designed to harm those with evil intent who use otherworldly powers. All of these are used to great effect in the fights here, which are written well. This makes for a fun novel from a supernatural perspective.
Then there is the historical aspect of this book. Set in the Old West, the novel explores racism related to Native Americans as well as manifest destiny and ‘enterprising’ white people taking land for personal profit. This, coupled with the mention of Western staples like high-walled canyons and saloons make for a good Western if nothing else.
Sadly that is about it for me, as the rest of this novel is a bit of a letdown.
Firstly, there is the pacing. It tends to be more of a slower-paced novel than I was expecting, to the point where I was tempted to listen to it at about .4 times the speed of the narrator. Many scenes seem to be added in with little in the way of an overall point. Perhaps this is because it is, first and foremost, a western, but I was expecting there to be more active than what I got.
Then there are the characters in this book. Many of them simply aren’t interesting, or as interesting as they should be. Firstly, we have a deputy who Crowley finds in his journey to stop a series of bank robbers. Sadly, this deputy may have shot his Sherif in the gunfight in a case of friendly fire, resulting in that Sherif’s death. The Deputy then decides to join Crowley on the journey to find the people who robbed their bank. This would have been an excellent character to explore survivor’s guilt, how he was seeking redemption for his misdeed, and how Crowley would help him grow into a competent lawman. That would have happened, should have happened, even, except his sub-plot was dropped, in favor of exploring Crowley and his gang, and how Crowley became a Black Badge. This leaves us to be told about the Deputy, and how he feels rather than showing it. So, when he is eventually written out of the story, it is supposed to be dramatic, but I just found him annoying, and so didn’t really care.
Then there is the love interest in this story. She was a little girl when Crowley tried to stop her mother from being assaulted, resulting in Crowley’s murder by his own gang. This plotline should have served as a nice exposition if told better, but then, when it came to the backstory itself, I just thought “Wait, this is just going to be important later for the plot with the bank robbers, isn’t it?” Sure enough, one of the members shows up later as an antagonist. This makes me shake my head, as I knew there was no reason for this backstory to get so much attention without this reveal later.
Couple all this with the fact that I could not remember these characters’ names and we have side characters that do not make as much of an impression as I think the author intended.
Finally, there are a few scenes that could have been cut from this book. Perhaps it is because it is a Western, and they move at a slower pace with more scenes to develop the world, but there are a few encounters with both men and monsters that have little to do with the overall plot, and which I felt could have been cut with no real loss to the story.
So, this book is proof that just because an excellent narrator reads the book, does not mean that the story is worth reading. I think I may read the next book, but it is low on my list, and I will only do it if the next book is shorter than this one. I give it a two out of five.
Edit: Earlier versions of this review said the narrator was Arthur Morgan. It has been corrected to Roger Clark.
When it comes to Westerns, I must admit that I am not a fan. Besides liking the cowboy action when I was a kid, I never got into the genre much when it came to books. Classic western authors were ones I did not try, as they seemed to write stories that bored me.
Reading The Black Badge series was something I hoped would change my mind. I had read and loved the first prequel of this series, in which Crowley takes on a necromancer. I thought this novel would hold as much fun and surprises as the previous one, as well as more information on Crowley’s powers and their limits.
This book features a former outlaw named James Crowly. Shot to death, he now fights in a sort of zombie-like limbo for the White Throne as an agent of God, officially known as a part of the Black Badges. On his travels, he comes across three people who have been robbing small town banks using powers that appear to be the work of the Devil. Now James must stop them, and to do so, he will have to sacrifice helping those he loves to achieve his mission.
Firstly, before I get into the meat of this review, let me say that if you have the chance to listen to the audiobook, then you should do so. It is read by Roger Clark, the same man who voiced some characters in Red Dead Redemption 2 and I loved it here as much as in the previous novel. He is just meant for this series, and whatever my thoughts on this book, I know that, if I do read the next book, then it will have to be on audio, as I think this is the superior version.
I also liked the powers that James has in this book. Being, essentially, undead, he can not feel pain or tiredness like humans, and he also has superior hearing and sight to normal folk. Then there are his weapons. Both his pistols and rifle use silver bullets, and he has a magic lasso designed to harm those with evil intent who use otherworldly powers. All of these are used to great effect in the fights here, which are written well. This makes for a fun novel from a supernatural perspective.
Then there is the historical aspect of this book. Set in the Old West, the novel explores racism related to Native Americans as well as manifest destiny and ‘enterprising’ white people taking land for personal profit. This, coupled with the mention of Western staples like high-walled canyons and saloons make for a good Western if nothing else.
Sadly that is about it for me, as the rest of this novel is a bit of a letdown.
Firstly, there is the pacing. It tends to be more of a slower-paced novel than I was expecting, to the point where I was tempted to listen to it at about .4 times the speed of the narrator. Many scenes seem to be added in with little in the way of an overall point. Perhaps this is because it is, first and foremost, a western, but I was expecting there to be more active than what I got.
Then there are the characters in this book. Many of them simply aren’t interesting, or as interesting as they should be. Firstly, we have a deputy who Crowley finds in his journey to stop a series of bank robbers. Sadly, this deputy may have shot his Sherif in the gunfight in a case of friendly fire, resulting in that Sherif’s death. The Deputy then decides to join Crowley on the journey to find the people who robbed their bank. This would have been an excellent character to explore survivor’s guilt, how he was seeking redemption for his misdeed, and how Crowley would help him grow into a competent lawman. That would have happened, should have happened, even, except his sub-plot was dropped, in favor of exploring Crowley and his gang, and how Crowley became a Black Badge. This leaves us to be told about the Deputy, and how he feels rather than showing it. So, when he is eventually written out of the story, it is supposed to be dramatic, but I just found him annoying, and so didn’t really care.
Then there is the love interest in this story. She was a little girl when Crowley tried to stop her mother from being assaulted, resulting in Crowley’s murder by his own gang. This plotline should have served as a nice exposition if told better, but then, when it came to the backstory itself, I just thought “Wait, this is just going to be important later for the plot with the bank robbers, isn’t it?” Sure enough, one of the members shows up later as an antagonist. This makes me shake my head, as I knew there was no reason for this backstory to get so much attention without this reveal later.
Couple all this with the fact that I could not remember these characters’ names and we have side characters that do not make as much of an impression as I think the author intended.
Finally, there are a few scenes that could have been cut from this book. Perhaps it is because it is a Western, and they move at a slower pace with more scenes to develop the world, but there are a few encounters with both men and monsters that have little to do with the overall plot, and which I felt could have been cut with no real loss to the story.
So, this book is proof that just because an excellent narrator reads the book, does not mean that the story is worth reading. I think I may read the next book, but it is low on my list, and I will only do it if the next book is shorter than this one. I give it a two out of five.
Edit: Earlier versions of this review said the narrator was Arthur Morgan. It has been corrected to Roger Clark.
getbeaned's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I'm almost in awe at how completely dull a story about a rootin' & tootin' cowboy with divine powers can be. Our protagonist lacks any defining features outside of immortality and a desire to be a quippy badass, but fails on its arse through sheer incompetencey and a dearth of charisma.
Other characters like Rosa are borderline offensive. She never just exists. We have to be told how beautiful she is, and how much our main character secretly loves her, which is grotesque when you consider he first laid eyes on her when she was a child. It's also just wrong because the two have no romantic energy displayed in the text.
If you're going to imbue your main character with the minor boon of literally being incapable of dying, you better hope you have something to offer is character development or metaphor, because every action scene is a snooze fest in some part because we know no matter how incompetent he is, he just can't die.
Listen to the audiobook if you must read this. Then at least you get a good narration from what I hear.
Other characters like Rosa are borderline offensive. She never just exists. We have to be told how beautiful she is, and how much our main character secretly loves her, which is grotesque when you consider he first laid eyes on her when she was a child. It's also just wrong because the two have no romantic energy displayed in the text.
If you're going to imbue your main character with the minor boon of literally being incapable of dying, you better hope you have something to offer is character development or metaphor, because every action scene is a snooze fest in some part because we know no matter how incompetent he is, he just can't die.
Listen to the audiobook if you must read this. Then at least you get a good narration from what I hear.
obeydontstray13's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
arnokottgen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
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
4.5
obeydontstray13's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
brittanybwrites's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
koorte's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5