Started: 04/04/21
Finished: 09/05/21
Spoilers: No
"A wise man who's ignored is about as effective as and idiot who's listened to."
Love that line
Characters
These characters aren't good people, but I oddly love that about them. They all have very few redeemable qualities, but this is what makes them complex and well developed, and in a strange way, likeable.
They're all interesting enough to make me invest in them while not hating them, despite the awful things they do.
It's actually quite refreshing to read a set of characters who aren't trying to be the heroes, or even the good guys.
They're doing bad things for the wrong reasons and they know it, and they're pretty unapologetic about it too.
And yet they all feel fleshed-out enough and intricate enough that I just want to learn more about them.
If you want antiheroes, the characters in this book are a perfect example. It feels more realistic. There is no black and white line between good and bad. Everyone here is greyer than grey, and serving only their own interests.
I can see why people might not enjoy them. But I find them fascinating.
Plot
Oh my god, so many battles. So much blood. So well written.
I won't go into detail about what this book is about, there's a blurb for that. In fact, I think the less you know about this book the better. I knew it was about a mercenary group hired to kill the Emperor, but that was pretty much all I knew. The direction this books takes blew my socks off.
I was thinking of rating this 4 stars, maybe 4.5, but as I write this review, I realise how bloody fantastic this book is. Fuck it. It absolutely deserves 5 stars. I haven't stopped thinking about it all day. And even find myself chanting 'Amrath! Amrath! Amrath!' in my head.
Setting
This world feels completely unique. I'm fascinated by how Anna Smith Spark created it. It doesn't feel at all like other fantasy worlds to me. Normally other worlds remind me of real world settings or cultures, but this world feels unlike anything I can think of. The descriptions of the cities and territories were horrifying and beautiful at once. So vivid and crisp in my mind.
I really felt like I was there. Yet it didn't feel obviously inspired by any one particular 'real' city. It stands completely on it's own, incomparable to anything else.
I almost want to read it again and analyse the world-building, just because I think it was so excellently executed.
Writing Style
Very unique writing style. Choppy sentences that give a sense of urgency. Almost written in the way people think. It's hard to describe.
I haven't read anything like it before. Readers will either love the style or hate it, I think. It takes a few chapters to get used to, but then it feels totally natural.
I almost can't imagine reading a book any other way. It flows like a fucking dream.
And I just want to take a moment to appreciate Anna Smith Spark writes gay characters. It's incredibly refreshing that their sexuality isn't the sum of the personality. It's such a normal, commonplace thing in this book that it isn't even hardly mentioned. Characters aren't outwardly described as being this or that. Instead we get natural dialogue between two people casually discussing whether they have time for a quick fuck.
I don't know what it was about it, but I just loved how casually sexuality was written in this book.
Final Impression
So glad I already have book 2. I'll be diving straight into that tonight.
I'm sure it's been said before, but I'm going to say it anyway. This book is better than steak. ;)
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