The Premise: Kyra is a con woman with a very special ability. Whenever she touches someone, she picks up their best skill. She's on the run after embarrassing casino owner Gerard Serrano, a man was responsible for her father's murder. While on the road, she meets Reyes, who she thinks is a drifter, but who is really a hitman charged with finding out where she hid the stolen money, and with killing her afterwards.
My Thoughts: The two characters had interesting back stories, with imperfect parenting, which served to bond them after their initial mostly physical relationship. I liked that Reyes was a character of mixed racial heritage, and I loved that he was a cook. Kyra's blase attitude towards sex (she was a one night stand only girl) and how she didn't cling to Reyes afterward was also different. The secondary characters were also well-written. I was most intruiged by the mysterious Foster, who is a cold and mysterious manipulator, and Gerard Serrano's right hand man.
After reading this one, I think I understand why the author used a pseudonym: it's a very different book from the science fiction romance and urban fantasy under the Ann Aguirre name. This one is a lot more steamy, with plenty of explicit sex scenes, which isn't what you'd encounter with her other series. I don't tend to go for the steamy books, but the sex in Skin Game was well-written and not purple. I think people who enjoy a high steam factor will enjoy the story.
While the steaminess is a change, the imperfect characters and interesting relationships between them, a hallmark of Aguirre's writing, are not. They are in full force in this paranormal romance. A con-woman and an assassin, the hero and heroine don't sound very nice, but it worked because they still had their own personal rules about who they targeted with their skills. Kyra goes to the seediest bars in town and then uses the skills of the resident best dart-thrower or pool player to win a game. In the end, she has to use these borrowed skills with her own nerve to win some cash, which seems like a more honest swindle to me. Reyes also only targets scumbags to kill. It's because of this code that makes him start to question whether his employer lied to him about Kyra, because in observing her, she isn't like his usual kills.
I say that this works for the most part because there's one scene in particular where I felt like the characters stepped too far away from higher moral ground for my comfort. I balked because I felt that Kyra let rage and vengeance dictate her actions, and Reyes and another character did not blink. Looking at it objectively, it's probably the only way the book could go, and I've read other characters doing questionable things under the Aguirre name, but for some reason this scene bothered me anyway. Maybe part of it is I know that in this series, I'll probably see one couple at a time, and if someone does something in this book that I don't quite approve of, they may not be on the page later on for me to see their redemption. I wished Kyra and the others could have found another route instead of using violence, but this book is not about nice, perfect people. It's about imperfect people with questionable morals who still find some happiness in another person, and maybe I'm more rigid in what I want in my hero and heroine, but I still find the idea of antiheroes in love kind of cool.
Overall: Plenty of steaminess for those who love a good sex scene. Different from the urban fantasy and space opera under the Ann Aguirre name, but with the same imperfect characters I love to read about. I have a quibble about the characters which made me not connect as much as I'd like to, but a very good paranormal romance, and I am looking forward to the sequel.
Buy: Amazon | Powells
Other reviews:
Genre reviews - 4 pints of blood
Smexy books - 5 out of 5 stars
Babbling about Books and more - A-
Dear Author - B-
Interview with Ava Gray at Smexy books
I'd never read any of Lois McMaster Bujold's work before but was told that this is a science fiction author I'd probably like. Cordelia's Honor is an omnibus with Shards of Honor and Barrayar in it. They were published in the late 80's and are the prequels to Bujold's longer Miles Vorkosigan series.
The Premise: Cordelia Naismith is on a survey mission on a previously unexplored planet when suddenly she and her companion realize that their base camp is on fire. They rush back to see their survey ship flying off without them and one of the other members of their team dead. Cordelia realizes they've been ambushed by the Barrayarans, but not all of the enemy race is in accordance. She's stumbled into a mutiny in the ranks and soon is a well-treated hostage in the hands of Captain Aral Vorkosigan who has a stash of supplies hidden some distance away.
My Thoughts: I hadn't realized that Bujold's work had romantic elements although I was familiar with her name. This book reminded me a little of Linnea Sinclair's Finder's Keepers, because the two books feature a hero and heroine meet while stranded on a planet together and work as a team to survive. I like that situation -- throwing two different people together and seeing what happens :) . In this book, Naismith quickly realizes who Vorkosigan is -- also known as The Butcher of Komarr, who is reviled amongst the galaxy, and her academically-inclined world of Beta Colony, so of course, her initial reaction is not favorable, but as they warm to each other she finds out the real story behind his name and a romance soon blossoms. But their time alone together is interrupted by military skirmishes between their two planets as the Barrayarans make a bid for another planet's resources.
What I liked about this book was that the couple was a little bit older and neither Cordelia or Vorkosigan expected to find someone at that point in their lives. They had both been burned in some way by past relationships and had become accustomed to the idea of being alone for the rest of their lives when they happened to stumble on each other. I thought that their experiences and age meant the protagonists had a dignified air in their declarations and they were both aware of who they were and what others would think of their union. Cordelia is particularly practical about it, but at the same time, the depth of their feelings is not small and I really wanted them to have a happy ending.
I liked Cordelia's character. She has a calmness in the face of calamity that I enjoyed reading. It's Vorkosigan who first points it in the book, and afterwards I had to agree. Sometimes she surprised me with her quick thinking, and there is plenty of action going on in this book where she has to use it. Vorkosigan is likeable too but is less a focus. My impression is of an honorable military leader and member of the ruling class who is good at what he does and isn't always popular with the politicians in his homeland.
There was plenty of quiet moments between the hero and heroine, but then there are also military skirmishes, space flights, chases and escapes. It is full of action and moves forward without me feeling either bored or too flooded by action; there was an excellent balance which made the plot engrossing. There is also some interesting ideas about politics and war and some grey areas like how perception may be skewed by expectations and prior beliefs, then compounded by limited knowledge of the truth. The science fiction aspects are also there in terms of medical advances, transportation, weapons and transportation, but it doesn't either overwhelm the reader. It's part of the setting and used in daily life, and as in our lives, some places are more technologically advanced than others.
Overall: Recommended for SFR fans. If all Bujold's books are like this, I think I've found another SFR author to glom onto. There's a perfect balance between action and character development that I like, and I plan to make my way through the rest of this omnibus and then onto the Miles Vorkosigan saga.
Other reviews:
Jo Walton @ Tor.com (positive. She has a series of posts on this saga)
Guest review at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books (B)
Guest review at Dear Author (A)
Links:
Interview with Lois McMaster Bujold about writing the Vorkosigan Saga @ Tor.com
Danger Gal Friday: Captain Cordelia Naismith @ Lisa Paitz Spindler's blog
First sale story at Dear Author
The Premise: This is a graphic novel adaptation of Rapunzel with a twist. Rapunzel grows up in a huge, lovely house, surrounded by servants and greenery, but she always wonders why she has strange dreams about another family and why her mother, Gothel won't let her see what is on the other side of the wall that towers high above their mansion. Every year, Rapunzel asks, but Gothel won't answer, until finally Rapunzel finds out herself. This leads to a discovery which makes Rapunzel turn against Gothel and kicks off a series of adventures for Rapunzel on her way to enact revenge.
My Thoughts: I really liked this one. Shannon Hale is known for her young adult novels that are based on fairy tales, but this is her first graphic novel adaptation, which she wrote with her husband. The illustrator has the same last name, but isn't a relation. As a graphic novel, it's easily read in one sitting, and the artwork is really good (and it's all in color). The layout of the panels is easy to read and the faces of the characters are consistent. The story spans a few years, and so we see Rapunzel growing from a child to a young woman, which is conveyed well in the art -- she still looks like herself throughout the process, as do the other characters. I thought the artwork easily conveyed desert canyons, lush jungles, strange places, and rough people. It was all very adventurous and fun to look at.
The story was great too. Rapunzel doesn't need to get rescued by the prince from her tower, she figures how to get out herself. And she's not put in there by her witch mother to keep her away from men, she's put in there for actually defying Gothel, who is a tyrant in this world. And Rapunzel kicks butt! Look at the cover for this graphic novel -- that should give you an idea. Rapunzel goes through a lot on her way from her tower back to Gothel to show her that "she can't be a bully without earning a swift kick in the rear". I loved that independence. The use of her hair as a weapon (it's a lasso, a whip, a rope) was one of my favorite touches.
There's a a Wild West theme in the story, because the world has been turned into "every body for themselves" after Gothel took over. I also liked the hints of other fairy tales that are peppered throughout which are like inside jokes for fairytale and tall tale lovers. I'm dying to talk about it in the review, but I think it's more fun to find them yourselves, so I will restrain myself.
Overall: The inside of this book met the expectations I had after seeing the cool cover. Lots of fun and I hope there's a sequel!
Buy: Amazon | Powells | Bookcloseouts
Other reviews:
Bookmoot - "who doesn't enjoy a new twist on an old story?"
Books and Other Thoughts - "great fun to read"
It's been nine days since I posted! Oh well.. life has gotten very busy. I'm spending most of me free time shopping for gifts for the family and working on a gift I'm making for my husband. So not much reading going on, but I have some backlog reviews I may be able to put up soon, I hope.
Meanwhile, I wrote up a couple of small things a few weeks ago for other blogs which got posted..
1) Grasping for the Wind - Best endings in the genre
John Ottinger asked some bloggers "What are the best endings in science fiction/fantasy novels?"
My answer was The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb (fantasy), Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs (urban fantasy), 1984 by George Orwell (science fiction), and Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti (romantic steampunk). I explained why in that post!
P.S He also did a worst endings post (but I really couldn't think of one)
2) Harlequin Week at Netgalley
So if you are a book blogger, it is FREE to sign up for netgalley where you can browse for books you want to review and request them. Harlequin is one of the publishers who just joined this service, and on their Follow the Reader blog asked some people's thoughts on that. I'm quoted right smack dab in the middle of Jane Litte of Dear Author and Sarah of SBTB! Wowsa, a brush with blogger fame. :P
Want to win a hardcover of MAGIC UNDER GLASS by Jaclyn Dolamore plus more prizes? See http://fabulousfrock.livejournal.com for details!
I want to read this one. Looks interesting.
The Premise: This is another of those modern-day Jane Austen retellings I seem to love, this time with Pride and Prejudice and gender reversals. Lizzy Bennet's alter-ego is Nicolas Llewellyn Bevan, a suspense/thriller author and part-time journalist, who lives and writes in North Yorkshire. His Mr. Darcy is Mary Dance, the director of a Pride and Prejudice production which has taken over his town: "Tall, dark and arrogantly handsome - not to mention distinguished, powerful and rolling in money. Mr Darcy? No, that's just the woman director of Pride and Prejudice…'" Nicolas' neighbor John is a blond-haired, blue eyed, boyscout who is the Jane equivalent, and the star of the production, actress Candia Bingham.
An Excerpt of Vanity and Vexation
My Thoughts: This is sort of chick-lit but the writing is heavier than the typical chick lit. The characters are more moody than fluffy, and do a lot of smoking, drinking (so much drinking!), swearing and occasionally, having sex. It's also very British (or should I say Welsh, because Nick is Welsh?), peppered with words like Dettol and talk of Bank Holidays. The writing is intelligent without being overbearing (I hit a few vocabulary words I didn't know, like "Hogarthian" and "anodyne", but it didn't interrupt the flow of the story).
I thought the role reversal idea was very clever and had a lot of fun identifying the alter-egos to Jane Austen's original cast. Mr. Bingley and Darcy and Jane and Elizabeth were easy. Side characters were identified relatively easy as well, like Mr and Mrs Bennet in the local bar owner and his wife, Lydia in a 17 year old teen named Christopher, and Caroline Bingley as a lead actor in the production, but there were some characters I am still not quite sure about. Was Lady Catherine de Burgh's alter ego, Mary's father, a hotshot Hollywood producer? Or was it Sir Gerant Price-Evans? And although Nicolas' friend Charlie seems obvious as Lizzy's best friend Charlotte Lucus, he spends much more time talking to his ex-wife Caroline about what's going on than to Charlie.
I liked the way Fenton translated the problems in Pride and Prejudice into modern times. Nicolas does not need Mary for money, but her connections as a director who could option his book for the screen is another matter. The modern translation for whisking away Lydia and Darcy finding her and marrying her to Wickham is also smartly done - I think I was more concerned for Nick and others in the debacle in this book than I ever was for Lydia. That particular part of the book, actually, the last 100 pages really grabbed me. The first two thirds I read in a day, but with some putting it down and picking it up again.
The romance between John and Candia (the Jane and Mr. Bingley characters) was rather sweet and stayed true to the original with love at first sight at a dance, but while the Nick and Mary (Liz and Darcy) romance followed the basic path that was in Pride and Prejudice, and it had it's moments, it was not the same. First, I wish there were more scenes from Mary's side of things to show her interest in Nick. Maybe it's because this book was in the third person but following Nick that we only see the beginning of his infatuation, but not hers. Secondly, there's really never any true animosity between them. Nick never starts off with a bad impression of Mary Dance. She seems aloof but not enough for him to dislike her the way Lizzy Bennet dislikes Darcy at first. And Mary/Darcy never really does the infamous misstep in pointing out the inferiority of Nick/Lizzy's connections and his feelings despite his better judgement, not quite in the way Mr. Darcy does. It's more like they do like each other, Mary thinks Nick doesn't dress very well, and isn't sure they're well suited but still wants him. Other factors strive to separate them, like the misunderstanding caused by the Wickham character, and Nick's discovery of Mary's role in keeping John and Candia together. Like I said, it had it's moments, especially in the second half of the book, but it wasn't quite as delicious.
Another thing that bothered me was that this book suddenly changed after chapter 12. Suddenly the writer decided to go in a completely different direction, hits reset on character names, and the style is suddenly more relaxed. The style was an improvement but I did not like having an explanation for the switch. How annoying!
Note: I'm beginning to notice how many P&P related chick lit seem to have a writer or journalist as a main character (Austenland, Pride and Prejudice and Jasmine Fields, Me and Mr. Darcy, Vanity and Vexation), or an actor or director (Austenland, Pride and Prejudice and Jasmine Fields,Vanity and Vexation). Hmm.
Overall: A clever idea and fun to spot the gender role reversals and modern take on the Pride and Prejudice plot. Not a bad weekend read, but not without it's flaws, including an iffy switch-up 12 chapters in, and a romance that was lovely but doesn't quite live up to the original.
Buy: Amazon | Powells
Other reviews:
I couldn't find any in the blogs I follow, but here's the author's notes on this book.
I found out today through scifiwire that Alex Flinn's book Beastly is coming out in movie form in July 2010. Looks like it could be a bit cheesy, but I may watch it on DVD. I like the Beauty and Beast retellings.. From hitfix.com:
"Kyle Kingson (Alex Pettyfer) has it all – looks, intelligence, wealth and opportunity – and a wicked cruel streak. Prone to mocking and humiliating “aggressively unattractive” classmates, he zeroes in on Goth classmate Kendra, inviting her to the school’s extravagant environmental bash. Kendra accepts, and, true to form, Kyle blows her off in a particularly savage fashion. She retaliates by casting a spell that physically transforms him into everything he despises. Enraged by his horrible and unrecognizable appearance he confronts Kendra and learns that the only solution to the curse is to find someone that will love him as he is – a task he considers impossible.
Repulsed by his appearance, Kyle’s callous father banishes him to Brooklyn with a sympathetic housekeeper and blind tutor. As Kyle ponders how to overcome the curse and get his old life back, he chances upon a drug addict in the act of killing a threatening dealer. Seizing the opportunity, Kyle promises the addict freedom and safety for his daughter, Lindy (Vanessa Hudgens) if she will consent to live in Kyle’s Brooklyn home. Thus begins Kyle’s journey to discover true love in this hyper-modern retelling of the classic “Beauty and the Beast” story.
Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer star in "Beastly" Daniel Barnz (“Phoebe In Wonderland”) directs for CBS Films, the film division within CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS). The project commenced principal photography in Montreal on June 13, 2009. Susan Cartsonis (“No Reservations,” “What Women Want”) is producing through her company, Storefront Pictures. Roz Weisberg is co-producing. In addition to his role as director, Barnz wrote the screenplay, which is based on the Alex Flinn novel of the same name."
In other news, Dear Author has posted about cheap kindle deals and how to search for them on Amazon. If you don't have a kindle, don't despair, because Amazon now has a Kindle for PC beta up. I downloaded it, and although it sometimes seems like they don't have all the kinks out yet (like it made me come back later to register my Amazon account, and it's having problems synching right now), it seems to do the job.
Some free books right now:
1) The Wild's Call by Jeri Smith-Ready (distant prequel to the Aspect of Crow trilogy)
2) The Angel Experiment (Maximum Ride, Book 1) by James Patterson
3) My Soul to Lose by Rachel Vincent
4) The Demon Awakens by R.A. Salvatore
5) Trading in Danger by Elizabeth Moon
6) A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K. Hamilton
7) Starfist: First to Fight by David Sherman
Plus I see all the free harlequins from their 60th anniversary celebration.
Ok, yes it's true, whenever I travel and happen to see a bookstore, I KINDA go in. The Husband and I went on a roadtrip to Boston last weekend to go visit a couple of our friends who live up there (they just bought a place! I'm jealous of their attic which I can see being remodeled into a cool library). We also eat a lot on these trips, but since this is a *book* blog..I give you Harvard Bookstore:
This bookstore was pretty nice.. small compared to The Strand and Powells, but I liked the selection. It has a used and remainder book section in the basement (scifi/fantasy was only 2 shelves, no dedicated romance section, but the used copies seemed to be good condition copies and there was a good used YA section), and the new books upstairs.
The staff was also pretty friendly. I was looking for Kristin Cashore's Graceling and I couldn't find it. I ended up just buying a couple of bookmarks, but when I left the store, what do I see? Graceling on display in their window, with a sticker that says signed by the author! I popped back inside where the girl at the desk found me a autographed copy of my own AND said Kristin Cashore was doing an author event there November 24th at 7pm. Anyone in the Boston area who wants to see Kristin Cashore read from Fire should go. I have a volunteer who promises to go to Harvard Bookstore and get a book signed for me. Since I already have Fire signed (from BEA), I'm going to make him get Bitterblue when it comes out, heheh. Here's the haul from the trip (I was good):
The bookmarks I bought are made out of stamps laminated together. I liked the fish ones from Manama, Dependency of Ajman, and the other ones are Boris Vallejo(!!) stamps from "Batum". The Boris Vallejo ones tickled my fantasy reading sensibilities. If you're interested in the sheet set it came from, click here.
The Hero series so far:
Book 1: Resenting the Hero (livejournal | vox)
Book 2: The Hero Strikes Back (livejournal | vox)
Book 3: Heroes Adrift (livejournal | vox | wordpress)
Excerpt of Heroes at Risk (it's the only one I could find)
****** mild spoilers for the rest of the series, go read my earlier reviews if you aren't up to this book yet *****
The Premise: This is the fourth book in the Heroes series. Shield Dunleavy (Lee) Mallorough and Source Shintaro (Taro) Karesh are back on the mainland (they henceforth only refer to Flatwell as "that damned island") and have to face their old life and friends again, which leads to some awkward situations because their relationship is not really clear. Meanwhile High Scape has gone from being a hotbed of disaster to a cold spot, but the people of High Scape have taken to a new trend - dabbling in magic. Some particularly misguided citizens are murdering "lucky" people so they can use their ashes for these spells. Of course, Lee's first thought is that her handsome partner is prime pickings for another kidnapping.
My Thoughts: This was a good one. I don't know what it is, but I love to analyze these characters, especially Lee, and we get a lot of fodder for discussion when Lee as usual gets everything all wrong by assuming things in her own blind way. Oh god do I want to shake this woman! Of course, if she was the type of person who was better at reading people (or even as half as good as she thinks she is), I don't think this series would be as fun. As people have commented on my earlier review, she's the ultimate unreliable narrator. I was amused that in this book Lee's faults such as this one, are pointed out to her face, much to her irritation. I agreed with Lee that it was rude, but I think she should listen to some of these criticisms sometimes.
The primary relationship I love to observe is of course Lee and Taro's. I'm going to point at Angie's review where she said it perfectly with "it's always a treat to watch them circle each other once more, to attempt to navigate the treacherous waters that lay between their opposing natures and meet somewhere in the middle". After the events of the last book where the Pair reach a new plateau in their relationship, some may think that everything is settled, but this is Lee we're talking about. She as usual makes her assumptions about Taro and when they're back in High Scape, she bases her actions on these assumptions. It's a little telling how Lee shields herself from grief by doing things like this, but she's emotionally inexperienced. Taro's reaction to this is so Taro as well - he gets emotional, but his reaction seems to bounce harmlessly off Lee's Impervious Wall of Logical Assumption. Watching things come to a head was one of the reasons why I love this series.
While I'm obsessed with gleaning meaning from every interaction between Taro and Lee, the story is really not primarily focused on their relationship. Lee spends a lot of time in the city trying to learn about the new trend in dabbling with magic. She questions why it's considered illegal if it is supposed to be all fake anyway, and her discoveries raise some interesting questions about whether magic is real and what it means for Sources and Shields. This intersects with some of the other odd discoveries that she and Taro have made over the past few books regarding their powers and their world. I'm not sure where the author is going to take this, but I sense she has a plan, and I'm really curious to see how it all comes together. Moore introduces a new group of people in High Scape who seem to know a lot about magic and hold a lot of power, and meanwhile there has been a shift in rulers which suggests that their world is on the cusp of change. I think I'd be most happy to see some sort of change in the expectations that are put on Sources and Shields. Throughout the series, there have been questions about how Things Are Done regarding for example, the role of the Triple S in politics, if Sources and Shields are allowed to have a relationship, and whether it's fair that Sources and Shields never have to pay for anything or never get paid.
A not on the cover: I love the colors and I like how Lee looks, but this is not what Taro looks like in my head. He doesn't look good to me here.
Overall: Possibly my favorite book in this light fantasy series so far. I'm loving Lee and Taro's relationship, and the way the series is unfolding has me very interested in where it's all going.
Buy: Amazon | Powells
Other reviews (all good!):
Angieville - A lovely review. She writes what I want to say but better!
The Book Smugglers - Thea gave it a 7
See Michelle Read - also a positive review
Interview with Moira J. Moore at Angieville
The Premise: The first book in the Night Angel trilogy, this is an epic tale about the citizens of Cenaria, but the focus is on Azoth, a street urchin who lives on the streets with a ragtag band of other children. His group all hand in most of their earnings to Rat, one of the "Bigs" of their group, who leads through terror. Azoth rashly provokes Rat who decides to use him as an example and Azoth's only hope for survival (and protect his two friends, Jarl and Doll Girl) is to apprentice under Durzo Blint, the best wetboy (an assassin with a magical edge) in the city. Durzo is never afraid and Azoth wants to never be afraid again. That's how the book begins, but it becomes bigger and more complex as we meet new characters and see the intricate interactions between them their ramifications on the fate of Cenaria.
Excerpt of The Way of Shadows
My Thoughts: How do I describe this book? It starts off sort of simple and then becomes more complex as you go along. At first when I got a sense of the city, I wasn't that impressed by the world building. II felt like it wasn't something I hadn't seen before: the groups of street children, the idea of Guilds, the corrupt king and unrest while a neighboring land populated by evil magic-doers plots to invade. It reminds me of a lot of other fantasy, but that was okay, because after the world building foundation was in place, the characters and the plot were so unique fascinating my earlier quibbles were forgotten and I enjoyed the book. The author also introduces some new-to-me magical aspects which are peppered throughout the story.
The Way of Shadows begins as a coming of age tale. Azoth has nothing to protect himself or his two friends, the young, mute Doll Girl and the smart but small framed Jarl, and he dreams desperately of leaving the streets and apprenticing under the number one wetboy in the city, Durzo Blint. Azoth's dream is an almost impossible one, but he does manage to catch Blint's attention and Durzo promises to teach him only if he passes a test. I was really engrossed by this part of the story - wanting Azoth to pass his test and to destroy Rat, but it is also probably one of the most violent parts of the book. The abuse against children, by other children, while adults may know what's going on and do nothing, was really hard to read. It gave me chills, but it sets up the story so you know not to expect things to go the way you want them to.
The second part is the apprentice-ship phase where Azoth becomes someone else--Kylar. He trains and grows up and so do his friends and enemies. The focus of the book shifts a little and we get introduced to the points of view of some other characters. Brents starts setting the characters up like pieces on a chessboard. Friendships and actions that occur in this phase may be small and seemingly insignificant but have greater repercussions later on. We also get a lot of interesting characters and begin to learn about their motivations and secret griefs. I particularly liked Durzo Blint who avoids morality and emotional connection. Finding out why and whether it really works for him is part of the fun. Azoth/Kylar's training as a wetboy was fascinating but not glamorized. The book doesn't shy away from the darkness of the job.
The final part of the book is Azoth's final trial to become a full-fledged wetboy. The one thing you should keep in mind if you read this book is DO NOT expect things to go the way you think. At first the twists are minor, but the further you get into the story, the more you realize much of the book is set up for more and more surprises and turns. I think this author has an evil streak, because characters I had begun to like as suddenly killed off while characters I hated kept being despicable and unchecked. Each of the characters only knows his or her little part of the story and often acts without knowing that they're doing the wrong thing for the overall picture. If you really connect to a character you may get disappointed at what happens to them, but ultimately I thought that the book did end in a hopeful place despite all the things that go wrong. Of course, this book is LONG. I was 200 pages from the end and wondering how we weren't already at the end, because the sh*t was hitting the fan and I couldn't see how there were 200 pages to go. Usually in fantasy the ending happens shortly after a battle, but in The Way of Shadows, the author was not done, things kept coming, more and more twists showed up, I couldn't believe it. While I could appreciate the twists, if I can find any fault, I'd say they did start to feel improbable just by how often a new one was thrown in.
Overall: An gritty epic fantasy tale with more twists than a bag of pretzels. It didn't quite wring me out and I thought it was ultimately hopeful and worth the read, but it was a roller coaster. I'm very curious where things will go now.
Buy: Amazon | Powells
Other reviews:
Hello, Ilona Andrews liked it! (link has Andrews' thoughts plus an interview with Brent Weeks)
Un:bound - Haglerat called it a wonderfully rich traditional fantasy
Tempting Persephone - also liked it and recommends it
Fantasy/SciFi Book review - loved it
Fantasy Book Critic - Highly recommended
My Favourite Books - also a positive review
Giraffe Days - a mixed review
