4/5 Intriguing and at times a fun fantasy tale

I wanted something quick and light to read so I picked this and got neither. I was intrigued enough however to continue reading and overall I have to say I rather enjoyed the MC and the story. It was different from other fantasy books of this genre where the protagonist finds themselves transported to a new world they have to make sense of (usually in the first chapter) because in this instance ThinkTwice takes his time in the first third of the book to establish Dollar’s history and background which is conveyed in an engaging overarching style.

Whilst I appreciate this approach and the method, the book took a fair bit of time to get going for me and I found it hard to engage with Dollar or empathise with him. It was well thought out and great in establishing why Dollar was so successful in his business life but so poor emotionally. It added depth to the journey of self-discovery he was on but I found myself frustrated at having to wait so long for it to ‘begin.’

Also, with so much groundwork done by the writer occupying the first third of the book and the investment needed in understanding who Dollar was, it felt quite an adult approach yet the book and much of the action and adventure side of it are written like a live-action anime and for a younger audience, which is not to say it can’t be enjoyed by everyone. There is no swearing or graphic violence which lends itself to this. I’m just not sure if a twelve-year-old me would read the first 200 pages and be engaged enough but then it has been a long time since I was twelve to remember (I did read LotR at that age so….).

Without giving any major spoilers, it threw me a bit in Dollar’s new life that he was a newborn baby but I liked that he retained all his wit and know-how from his old life. He then ‘started’ his adventuring life at the ripe age of seven which all felt a little too incongruous to me but heyho, I stuck with it and there is a reason for it all. I just didn’t entirely buy it because the seven-year-old acted like an adult and other characters seemed to accept it and not question what a seven-year-old was doing out in the big bad world.

I would read the next book, for me the story ramps up about halfway through when Dollar ventures out into the wider world and meets up with two adventurers. For me, this is when the fun really started and I liked the new characters and their interactions very much. It injected some much-needed fun into the story in my opinion.

Overall, I enjoyed my experience. The story was clever and at times quite interesting and thought-provoking and the magic system was intriguing and different enough that it stands out in a saturated genre and the characters, particularly in the back half of our tale, lifted and carried the story.

4/5 Stars – Popcorn action anti-hero that was a fun read.

I was craving an action thriller and this one sounded quite interesting and was well-reviewed and with KU I thought why not? Well, it was certainly full of action and our anti-hero ticked all the cliché boxes. Kickass tick, badass tick, tough-as-nails tick, damaged past tick, narcissistic and full of sass tick, strong moral code tick and, for you John Wick fans, loves his dog TICK.

I have to say I enjoyed the book and the story which held much promise. I’m not sure I liked Caleb exactly, he barely tolerated his assistant who along with the rest of his ‘team’ seemed to love the guy though it was hard to see why or what brought them into Caleb’s inner circle to make them feel as loyal as they did. Really, the only one Caleb treated with any real affection was the dog. That’s fine, it worked and with hints of his tortured past and with further books in the series maybe that backstory stuff will all come out. I have to say, his therapist certainly went above and beyond her professional requirements and she did it all for us (that’s you and me pilgrim).

So what is it about? Well, Caleb is a gun for hire, a hitman so to speak only he has a code, he only takes jobs on people who deserve to be punished (which in plain speak means killed, often brutally so and which Caleb takes way too much pleasure in). When Caleb takes a job that is all but impossible for him to turn down it goes suddenly sideways on him. I don’t want to give any spoilers but suffice it to say Caleb finds himself turning from hunter to hunted and his hunter has deep pockets.

Fast-paced and full of action this book was a quick, easy and fun read. It was boldly unrealistic and is what I call popcorn action, you know like those fast-action Jean-Claude Van Damme movies of the 90s or a Diehard movie, add a teaspoon of Smokin’ Aces and a splash of Hard Target and you get the picture (unless you are twenty-something and thinking ‘what the hell are you talking about’ and if you are one of those people then I can only encourage to go watch a few or indeed all of said movies).

So my criticism. It was over too quickly with no real character depth even for Caleb other than the ‘addition’ of his dog to show his soft side. The villains were all caricature villains with no effort to develop them so we can see what made them tick, other than an introductory scene to show us how badass, evil or psychotic they were (but also how good they were at killing). It all felt pretty shallow in all honesty and really, Caleb is a massive, self-centred @%^& and is as guilty as any of the villains for what transpires. I can’t believe he wasn’t arrested for what he did and what he brought to the doorstep of Hicksville USA. If you read this book you will see what I mean. The ending showdown too I found a little disingenuous. And, as for the bad guy who fell for the old gravel-in-the-eyes trick, shame on you evil dude, shame on you, totally unprofessional!   

For the record, Caleb is not as clever as Dexter though he may be as twisted, nor is he as badass as John Wick or for that matter Jack Reacher. If I was being generous Caleb Lambert sits somewhere in the middle of those orbits. I can only hope in the next book we get to understand a bit more about Caleb’s past and what makes him tick.

That all being said I did enjoy the book and if you are looking for a fast-action story with a broken protagonist who has a penchant for kickarsery then you might too. So give this book a go.

5/5 Stars, Dark, brutal fantasy and utterly compelling

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Modern fantasy is full of flawed characters. There are no more heroes it seems these days just anti-heroes and this tale is no exception though the telling is executed better than most.  

It is Eska’s story and it starts at the end of a war she can’t quite let go. A war in which she is on the losing side. She is fifteen, a sourcerer honed for battle with mastery over five (or was it six) sources. Captured, she is thrown into the Pit along with her closest friend and fellow sourcerer, Josef. Josef who is considered a genius, once-in-a-generation sourcerer but one who lacks Eska’s conviction and thirst for battle.

Wow, the pit is a showcase of how monstrous humans can be and for a fifteen-year-old, slip of a girl stripped of magic, it is not the place to be. This is dark fantasy, it is brutal and sordid and vicious and Eskara Helsene is thrown in with only two ways of leaving. Death or desert and join the empire which destroyed her world.  Damn that. Eska is a fiery, illogical, ball of rage and anger who refuses to bow to the enemy or suffer an eternity in the pit, she will escape to see the sky again and then rain bloody vengeance down on all those who have crossed her, even those she loves.

This story is told by Eska and you can feel every emotion and hear every thought as she grapples with her new reality. It isn’t pretty. It has moments of reflective interludes which I loved where we go back into Eska’s past and learn where she came from, who she is and how she became this force of nature.  She is not pleasant or good and yet I found myself rooting for her, swept up in her vortex every bit as much as Hardt and Josef and the characters that inhabit her world. It grabbed me from the first page till the last. I know she’s going to be an evil little b!tch, if she’s not already, and this is just the first book of five, but if this turns into a redemption story it will be some feat of literary magic.

So yeah, I liked it. All the characters are so well-written and fully fleshed. The Overseer oozes his inner Hans Landa and Hardt I have a soft spot for, I mean comeon, Hardt is a seven-foot wall of muscle, a former pirate and born-again pacifist, how can you not like that contradiction of character?

The only negative criticism is the copy I read (Kindle Unlimited) had some typos and misconstructed sentences. Not many and not enough to steal a star but those few moments did take me out of the story which is never a good thing. That aside though it was well-crafted and masterly told.

So to finish up this review you could say it is a ‘coming of age’ fantasy but it is not the typical ‘coming of age’ tale you would expect so be warned. If you like good v evil storylines or do not like your stories too graphic then you may struggle.  However, if you like grim and dark fantasy with no heroes then I highly recommend this book. It is unique and captivating and will sink its teeth into you and not let go.   

5/5 Stars Twisty, Tricksy, Dirty Deeds done with panache and flare. Brilliant

I have been meaning to read this book for some time and boy was it worth the wait. I am a massive fan of Douglas Hulick’s Among Thieves – Tale of the Kin, one of my favourite fantasy reads and I thought I would struggle to ever find something comparable but now I have.

I will confess that for whatever reason I did not rip through this book in a few days, though it merits it, so well was it written. I guess it was a slow-burner. That is not to say I did not enjoy every page but rather I think it was the overarching storytelling style the book started in. As our story opens we hear of Locke Lamora in a roundabout way for the first few chapters, he is spoken of rather than introduced. It was an interesting and compelling way to set the foundations for what was to come and a great introduction to Camorr the city-state our tale is set in. And my, what a fascinating, detailed and mysterious bit of world-building that was.

I loved the detailed and rich characters that inhabit the world. The bad ones, of which there are many, and the good ones which are few but all are richly unique and imagined. The dialogue deserves special mention because it is some of the best I have read. I also liked the mystery of the previous occupants of Camorr of which little is known, it added a unique element to everything.

The Gentlemen Bastards as Locke and his crew coin themselves are long cons whose misdeeds go unnoticed (for the most part). Like Robin Hood, they steal from the rich, but in the GBs case, they most assuredly do not give to the poor. In fact, they don’t seem to know quite what to do with their ‘earnings’ and it sits unspent for the most part. See they have been nurtured and trained by Father Chains for the big one and the Gentleman Bastards are about to pull it off with their biggest con yet.

Unfortunately, for the Bastards there is more going on in the underworld they inhabit. There’s Barsavi the Thief Lord of Camorr, the mysterious Grey King formenting trouble and the Grand Duke’s Midnighters on the prowl for the Thorn of Camorr. It all paints a fantastic picture and weaves a twisty, bendy story of dodge and cheat, murder and mayhem. It is brutal and dark and unforgiving all at the same time and no one is safe. Locke is a character you will root for as are all of the GBs though I was rather taken with Jean Tannen the more his past and present is told.

The story is told in the present day but rather cleverly has numerous interludes mid-chapter that take you back in time to Locke and his crew when they were younger and learning under Father Chains. A really good way to reveal more of what makes them all tick and how their deep-seated bond of brotherhood was founded.    

Though this is book one it is a complete story, so whilst there are lots of cliffhanger chapters there is a satisfying (depending on your point of view) ending.

Finally, an amusing observation. As I was writing this review I couldn’t help but notice that The Lies of Locke Lamora was ranked on Amazon at #181 in Parenting & Families. No. Just no, lol. This book most definitely does not belong there.

5/5 Fantasy, martial arts, elemental magic in a samurai-like society  

This book has been on my to-read list for a while. As a huge fan of James Clavell’s Shogun, I was intrigued by the setting which has an asain-samurai influence, much in the same way as the ‘Daughter of the Empire’ series by Raymond E Feist and Janny Wurts, although this tale is very different and unique from those two offerings.

The Sword of Kaigen is figurative rather than literal. It is no weapon forged of mithril or some other magical metal but a title given to the people of the Kusanagi Peninsula, powerful warriors and defenders who have long protected the Kaiganese Empire. Our tale revolves around the legendary Matsuda family, one of the most powerful of the ancient clans of Kusanagi.

The story is of Mamoru, a 14-year-old boy, who is committed to mastering his family’s fighting techniques and his mother, Misaki, a powerful Theonite (Elementalist) who put aside her youthful passion along with her sword when she married into the family. It is a tale of discovery but both Mamoru and Misaki are on very different journeys. Mamoru wants to be the best fighter he can be and to master the family’s special technique the ‘Whispering Blade’ a blade made of ice so pure it is only a molecule thick and can cut through anything. Misaki yearns for her lost youth and the promise it once held whilst struggling in a loveless marriage. But both their worlds are about to change when an outsider family moves to their remote mountainside. Outsiders who challenge Mamoru’s understanding of the world, the emperor they serve and the enemies they face.

Okay, that is all your getting as a synopsis, if you aren’t intrigued already you should be. This book is wonderfully written and engagingly told from Mamoru and Misaki’s perspective. The world was beautifully rendered in my imagination, an isolated people living in the old ways and observing the ancient customs of their people clashing against the modern technology and society of the rest of the empire and larger world (which we do not see much of).

The Elementalist powers of the Theonites are vividly imagined and brought to life. The story told is both elegant and profound, but equally tragic and at times brutal and sad. It put me through a wringer of emotions and I love that.

There is a question or a few that I had, about the clash of ancient traditions and modern technology. The ultimate destructive power of modern weapons versus swords, fighting techniques and elemental powers seemed out of camber to me. That line from The Untouchables seems particularly apt ‘Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight’. Also, the political motivations of the emperor seem cloudy and ill-considered and illogical not that we get to examine the reasoning in anything other than a peripheral way. These though are small things that bugged me and it is not what carries this story which is the beautifully written characters and wonderfully descriptive writing of Mamoru and Misaki’s story.

Uplifting, at times tragic, this is a tale of discovery. Of lost love found. Of honour and tradition. It is a story which I thoroughly enjoyed from the first page to the last. If this all sounds good to you then why not give it a go? And remember, if you read a book please leave a rating or even a review, especially if you enjoyed it. It is the best thank you you can give an author for all their hard work and it can uplift and make a writer’s day which is usually pretty thankless.    

5/5 A disturbing, contemporary twist on vampires

There is so much great Scandinavian fiction around and this novel is no exception. This is a gritty and grungy tale set in the suburbs of Stockholm in Blackeberg, a housing project that is as bleak as its name suggests.

It centers around Oskar a twelve-year-old boy from a broken home who is the target of some vicious bullies at his school. Trying to navigate his way in life is a constant trial and when he makes a new friend, Eli, in the playground outside his apartment one night things start to look up. Eli is mysterious and a bit weird but they find themselves drawn to each other. Two young kids trying to find meaning and understanding. Both lonely and unseen.

The writing was engaging, unapologetic and quite harrowing at times. The characters are flawed and human, all sharp edges and rough surfaces presenting a microcosm of the dingier side of life that we walk past every day and turn our eyes from like the homeless and drunks, who we find in this tale are just as real and human and heroic in their own way. A real-world setting for an ancient tale that shows you the ugly side of humanity.

Oskar is a lost soul with an interest in grim crime and when a brutal murder takes place in a nearby suburb it fascinates Oskar. The Ritual Killer the murderer is named whose own tale is sad and tragic and degenerate and it stirs the community to terror since he cannot be found.

What I loved so much about this story and the horror elements of it was the depiction of the Ritual Killer who transforms into a zombie-like character. The vampire legend was so well realised. The aversion to sunlight was so vividly described you could feel the agony. The threshold barrier a vampire could not cross without invitation was the best explanation I have ever read.

It is a dark tale and there is not much joy to be found in its pages for our protagonist. It is bleak and grim and sad and is oftentimes disturbing but always, always it is compelling. A mirror held up that shows the ugliness of humanity and that the monster lives within us all but for circumstance.

As you might have been able to glean from my review. I liked this book. Not a book I would rush back to but it certainly is one I was pleased to have read.   

5/5 Thoroughly gripping dark fantasy.

An intriguing cover and synopsis drew me into trying this book and I have to say it did not disappoint. A thoroughly engrossing dark fantasy that captures you from the first page, what a great opening to a story.  

The initial part of the book had a fantasy Hunger Games vibe to it with the survival and competition elements that our protagonist, Malina finds herself in. No fluff, no disposition or build-up to what is about to transpire but straight into do-or-die where the only rule is to survive.

Our tale is told from the perspective of Malina, an Orphan girl who we learn over the opening few chapters was sold on the auction blocks and bought by a clandestine organisation with a hidden agenda.

Malina was a wonderful character, the dreams she has with her younger, dead brother Karston add a nice, mystical element to it. The story is action-packed and moves at a great pace and all the characters in it are uniquely distinct and interesting. There are some dark moments in the book and throughout it carries a sinister undertone, like death wrapped in Christmas paper.

The world-building is subtle and grows with the story and the human depiction through the soul gaze is morbidly grotesque and imaginative. Honestly, what a wonderful read. Just try the sample, the first chapter, and if that doesn’t grab your attention then I don’t know what will.