arthurbdd's review
1.0
Risible bilge, based around a whodunnit plot where the main twist is utterly obvious, and set in a shallow fantasy world where the depiction of minority cultures comes across as rehashing cheap racial stereotypes about real-world ethnicities. Full review (with spoilers): https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/2012/06/22/forget-it-reader-its-low-town/
onanotherplanet's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
desastreus's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
wally's review
4.0
Loved it
A great new voice in the field of fantasy writing. A dark and twisted joy to read found it highly enjoyable to read from start to finish
A great new voice in the field of fantasy writing. A dark and twisted joy to read found it highly enjoyable to read from start to finish
grmatthews's review
4.0
A good story, a good 'hero' and an immediacy to the telling.
The twist, sadly, I saw early on, but the pace carries you through to the end!
The twist, sadly, I saw early on, but the pace carries you through to the end!
kristinn's review
3.0
2.5 stars - read about 80 pages, did not really interest me enough to read further.
spellboundbybooks's review
5.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is a mix of fantasy and murder mystery. It centres around Low Town and Warden who is a drug dealer with a past. When he discovers the dead body of a missing child,that past comes back with a vengeance. Its a darker fantasy story than I usually read,but I really liked it.
The book is written through Warden's P.O.V and I think his voice is what kept this book from being too dark or depressing for me. He has a sarcasm and wit that he uses with relish to help him get out of or into situations depending on his need. He has a dark and sardonic sense of humour I that kept me entertained throughout. I found his investigation interesting,though I knew who the perpetrator was early on. I believe this was intentional to add to the tension for the reader. All in all a very entertaining read,and I will be reading the others in the series.
The book is written through Warden's P.O.V and I think his voice is what kept this book from being too dark or depressing for me. He has a sarcasm and wit that he uses with relish to help him get out of or into situations depending on his need. He has a dark and sardonic sense of humour I that kept me entertained throughout. I found his investigation interesting,though I knew who the perpetrator was early on. I believe this was intentional to add to the tension for the reader. All in all a very entertaining read,and I will be reading the others in the series.
gunner's review
4.0
I have not read Mark Lawrence yet, but he's on my list, and when a well-respected author gushes about a book, I take interest. He praised this one on reddit and so I threw it on my list. Imagine how pleased I was to find the original UK hardcover for $2 on Amazon (which rose steeply to $20 as soon as my copy was purchased, lucky me).
This is reminiscent of The Dresden Files in the sense that it's noir urban fantasy (I can't help but laugh at the back copy which includes the term "noirest noir" which is both ridiculous and probably inaccurate). No, it's not modern-day style urban fantasy, but it definitely takes place in a big city and while swords may be the preferred weapon, there are office buildings and gunpowder so it's hardly medieval fantasy either. There is magic, but our protagonist (as much as a drug kingpin can be a protagonist) is not a wizard. I'm not sure who that is on the cover.
This is definitely a detective novel, so there's another similarity to Dresden, and everybody's pretty snarky too. This book is a bit "darker" though, what with all the curse words and throat slitting going on, but not so dark that it warrants much of a warning except to the most sensitive of readers. As detective novels go, it's good, definitely holds its own, but Polansky is no Jeffery Deaver.
I will say that I was sucked in within the first couple of chapters and the story kept up a good pace, and managed to make that drug kingpin fairly sympathetic even when he's murdering people who don't deserve it. As a fantasy novel, well, it's a bit light on the fantasy aspects, but there are magicians and monsters to deal with so it definitely counts, though the language in both the narration and the dialog are so extremely modern (including slang that has only been used in the past few years) that it doesn't feel particularly historical in nature. I fear that modern language may result in the book becoming dated very fast as some of these phrases fall out of common usage, but then this is not exactly the kind of classic novel that is likely to be getting read 30 years from now either.
All in all, I enjoyed it and look forward to reading the next one when I get my hands on it. Definitely worth the read, despite its small flaws.
This is reminiscent of The Dresden Files in the sense that it's noir urban fantasy (I can't help but laugh at the back copy which includes the term "noirest noir" which is both ridiculous and probably inaccurate). No, it's not modern-day style urban fantasy, but it definitely takes place in a big city and while swords may be the preferred weapon, there are office buildings and gunpowder so it's hardly medieval fantasy either. There is magic, but our protagonist (as much as a drug kingpin can be a protagonist) is not a wizard. I'm not sure who that is on the cover.
This is definitely a detective novel, so there's another similarity to Dresden, and everybody's pretty snarky too. This book is a bit "darker" though, what with all the curse words and throat slitting going on, but not so dark that it warrants much of a warning except to the most sensitive of readers. As detective novels go, it's good, definitely holds its own, but Polansky is no Jeffery Deaver.
I will say that I was sucked in within the first couple of chapters and the story kept up a good pace, and managed to make that drug kingpin fairly sympathetic even when he's murdering people who don't deserve it. As a fantasy novel, well, it's a bit light on the fantasy aspects, but there are magicians and monsters to deal with so it definitely counts, though the language in both the narration and the dialog are so extremely modern (including slang that has only been used in the past few years) that it doesn't feel particularly historical in nature. I fear that modern language may result in the book becoming dated very fast as some of these phrases fall out of common usage, but then this is not exactly the kind of classic novel that is likely to be getting read 30 years from now either.
All in all, I enjoyed it and look forward to reading the next one when I get my hands on it. Definitely worth the read, despite its small flaws.
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