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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Review: Half a King

Half a King by Joe Abercrombie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Having read and loved the First Law books and fleeing from the Malazan book of the Fallen, this was a breath of fresh air. Abercrombie does character development, drama, and action the way that few others can. My only complaint with this book is that its too short..I read it in 2 days.

Yet, no one else that I have read so far, with maybe the exception of the Dark company and GOT, can do "grim" and offer so many layers to characters the way Abercrombie can. Read the first law trilogy and 3 following books first and then pick this up, you wont be disappointing.

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Review: Deadhouse Gates

Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I finally finished book 2 of the Malazan book of the Fallen series and while it was a definite improvement on book 1, I think the series isnt for me. But first what I think it does well:

Despite my general irritation at the story, it has some pretty incredible characters. Coltane, a Wiccan warlord turned general who like northern Germanic tribes during the Roman period ends up being brought into the empire...and then defending it against hordes of religious nomads... Duiker, a warrior historian and cynical bastard, and Kalam, an assassin of near mythical qualities are some epic characters in the fantasy genre. If this book was reduced down to take out all of the stories except for those characters I just mentioned.... this book would have been great. But it had a ridiculously convoluted story with so many random events thrown in to create senses of drama, that it actually just made the story fairly boring for the most part. Any time people have been walking or sailing for too long, lets throw in a random demon or monster for them to fight....just unnecessary.

I have never read a series with as much deus ex machina as this one. Gods coming out to save people from death, or people that are rad dying and then just ascending to become gods... it makes death in this story less final and thus less dramatic. I am not going to say that I didn't enjoy parts of this story... but I seriously dont get why this series is listed near universally on Reddit as being one of the best of the fantasy genre..... i gave it another chance and read book 2, but Im not going any further with a story that isn't that gripping. Its unfortunate, because there are a lot of things to like about it... but not enough.

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