Reviews

Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson

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gabbedabbe's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

rubiscodisco's review against another edition

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2.0

I have read the two previous books of the series years ago and I admit my opinions and ideas have changed a while since then. I reread books 1 and 2 and I enjoyed them well enough. And then I read the third book.

NOPE. NOPE NOPE NOPE.

Erikson wants to portray heroism and stoicism, even to the point of being a fatal flaw, in Whiskeyjack. It didn't ring true to me. It felt like he got himself killed because he was being macho and stupid. It wasn't a hamartia, it just made me hate the character.

Erikson wanted to portray the ruthlessness of the antagonist by raising the specter of an army that raped its enemies on the battlefield, but to me it didn't feel like he knew how to frame the impact of that act. It was like he wanted be unique and show that the female enemies practiced male rape to their victims (Oooh. What could be more terrifying to the male gaze of this author and his presumed readers. Gasp!). Okay, gore and gritty isn't necessarily bad. However, it didn't work for me because he didn't treat it *as* rape, but as battlefield brutality. Simply put, I think the author would have treated the gravity of the act differently if it were male enemies raping women victims.

And then there were the Barghast. Yup, that's just straight up women warriors coercing men to sleep with them. NOPE. Newsflash, Steven Erikson. Just because the genders are reversed, that doesn't mean the concepts of rape and consent disappear into the ether.

Other aspects of the book had merit in them, but I am just too hung up on the details above to rate this book highly.