This collection is a delightful supplement to the First Law world, both for the original trilogy and the one-offs. Several characters receive backstorThis collection is a delightful supplement to the First Law world, both for the original trilogy and the one-offs. Several characters receive backstories with Abercrombie's typical bracing, sometimes frantic narration.
Fans will be delighted to see him jump from his multiple narrative styles, from the Westernish tone from Red Country to the ponderous reflections of the Northmen, to even an extremely silly (but entertaining) passage from Nicomo Cosca's "official biographer." It's a versatility not often seen among SFF writers, especially in a single collection.
The collection isn't without its weak points, though I write this as an enthusiast for Abercrombie's work. A plot loosely ties the stories together, resembling a hazy buddy cop story; it's entertaining enough, but uneven and takes a while to pull itself together. Some characters appear as an exclamation point for their stories. Others, one in particular, seem like Abercrombie never quite decided what to do with them after trying several promising arcs.
Whether this is a coda to the First Law world or if Abercrombie returns to it, Sharp Ends is a wonderful collection and should definitely be read by any fan....more
So, this book is not going to blow your mind. It punches all of the standard fantasy tickets- boy discovers hA fun reimagining of the War of the Roses
So, this book is not going to blow your mind. It punches all of the standard fantasy tickets- boy discovers hidden innate power, ancient prophecy is murky and ancient, palace intrigue is intriguing.
But it didn't pretend to be something it's not either. Loosely inspired by the War of the Roses, a decades long conflict in which the worst parts of the British aristocracy did their subjects a favor by killing each other off, the book tells the conflict of a Richard 3 type of king from the point of view of a small child.
It's fun for what it is, and if the source material isn't the most exciting the appearance of magic and a soft spoken royal assassin make up for it....more
This series is what the Dresden Files wishes it were. It's grim, the antihero is an actual antihero and not a The pulp fantasy you've been looking for
This series is what the Dresden Files wishes it were. It's grim, the antihero is an actual antihero and not a heavily goofy Mary Sue. The LA backdrop is on point. There are no villains; everyone is a different and unique shade of awful. It's horrible and great...more
This book has overtaken Joe Abercrombie's Best Served Cold as my favorite fantasy of all time and is a strong contender for my favorite book, period. This book has overtaken Joe Abercrombie's Best Served Cold as my favorite fantasy of all time and is a strong contender for my favorite book, period. If you like the emerging trend of fantasy as a laboratory of history, especially where character arcs yield to the cold, pitiless onslaught of economics, this is definitely for you. The female protagonist is superbly written, and there are too many layers to her identity and story to fully appreciate on a single read. I'll come back to this book many times, and am eager to see more from Seth Dickinson...more