Review: Prince of Thorns

Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is as if you had a mix of Robin Hood and Ramsey Bolton cut loose in a dark war of principalities. The main character is pretty horrible and ruthless....perhaps the most ruthless antagonist I have ever read in a book... and it often makes you wonder whether you should be rooting for him or not.

In my opinion, the first book is the best of the trilogy and if you like dark gritty fantasy, it is in the vein of Game of Thrones, Black Company, and First law.

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Review: Royal Assassin

Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Anxious Fitz, the juvenile bastard assassin returns in what is a slightly better tale than book I. There is more sneaking, more murder, more politics, more story....but not good enough for me to want to read book III.

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Review: Assassin's Apprentice

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book tells the story of a bastard child of the heir to a kingdom who instead gets raised as an assassin to assist the throne. Now while that sounds really interesting in theory, it is mostly the tale of a boy and his dog and how he overcomes anxiety and bonds with father figures around the keep. There are a few cool parts in the climax, but this story is not particularly exciting. Unique, but slow going.....

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Review: Blade of Tyshalle

Blade of Tyshalle by Matthew Woodring Stover
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The first book had such an epic climax/ending that I was looking forward to reading this. Caine, a Hollywood star inter-dimensional assassin returns as a depressed paraplegic with his hero days behind him. While there were a few elements that really reminded me of the first book, this is not a particularly interesting squeal and felt way too melodramatic. If you liked the first book, you should probably treat it as a stand alone.

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Review: Heroes Die

Heroes Die by Matthew Woodring Stover
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is a mix of science fiction and fantasy and throws probably one of the most memorable characters, Kaine into the mix. Caine is a reluctant assassin for hire who gets unwittingly drawn into a plot against his will.

If you like brutal violence, revenge stories, structural critique of capitalism, and characters that resist authoritarian structures, with magic, creatures, and what seems like one ridiculously long climax, then check this book out.

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Review: Half the World

Half the World by Joe Abercrombie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thorn Bathu was breathed on in her crib by Mother War. At only 16, she knows how to handle ax and sword and carries the bones of her murdered father in a necklace around her neck....but life has a weird way of throwing off your expectations.

This book takes place right where the first book in the series left off, in this Viking like society by writer who so masterfully told the First Law Trilogy and the books which followed. While I didn't think it was as good as the first book, it introduced a number of new characters and has a more epic feel to it in scope. If you are expecting something as dark as his earlier books, you will be disappointing, but only slightly as this vicious world only barely holds punches. For me, it was also a breath of fresh air after the underwhelming attempt at complexity and under character development in the Malazan series.

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