who knew grimdark military fantasy could be this flat
The premise is classic fantasy with a twist: after four hundred years, the Evil LaDNF @ 30% (ish)
who knew grimdark military fantasy could be this flat
The premise is classic fantasy with a twist: after four hundred years, the Evil Lady and her inner circle of ten wizards have broken the seals of their prison. You know the drill. But the twist: they've hired us (the Black Company) to fight for them in the war. We didn't know we were signing up with the forces of evil but, well, we did. Oops. The Black Company prides itself on never breaking contract (unless there's a loophole, which we haven't found), so...we're stuck.
It's a rough life, trying not to get killed by freedom fighters or by internecine evil wizard feuds (so far, the latter is more threatening than the former) and also trying to keep war atrocities to a minimum.
But the storytelling style is so choppy and sparse that all the characters feel distant. Also, it's just...really weird about what details it parcels out. For instance, the Black Company is ordered to take over a certain fortress. "So we went and did it. We captured the fortress at Deal, in the middle of the night" (this is a direct quote, and all the explanation we get). But the soldiers' card game afterwards: we get many pages about that. I guess this is commentary on the relative importance of these events to the Black Company, but it's not what I'm interested in reading.
For another example: we find some corpses, and the manner of death (apparently) suggests they were killed by supernatural means. All the characters stand around exclaiming about it, at length. But there's never any actual description of the corpses, either in dialogue or in exposition. It's just odd.
But here's what made me decide to put the book down: (vague spoilers ahead) One of the main characters is missing, presumed dead. Everyone's like "oh guess he's dead." They didn't care and neither did I. Then he shows back up, apparently not dead, with no explanation. The others still didn't care and neither did I. That's when I realized I didn't care enough to finish this book....more
DNF (for now) @ 40% The Wolf in the Whale is a historical fantasy about a small community of Inuit. It’s got an interesting exploration of gender identDNF (for now) @ 40% The Wolf in the Whale is a historical fantasy about a small community of Inuit. It’s got an interesting exploration of gender identity, but the pace is plodding and the characters are flat, and it’s sending me into a reading slump. Might return to it later, might not.
The main character, Omat, is a shaman-in-training and a hunter. According to the tribe’s beliefs, he inherited his father’s soul at birth (because his father died in a hunting accident before he was born). He’s raised as male and identifies as male, and though he knows his body is different from the other boys, he never thinks to question his identity until he’s 12 and one of the villagers mocks him for being a girl.
It’s interesting to see Omat grappling with issues of gender identity through a non-modern and non-Western lens. Unfortunately, the book is SO SLOW. We spend the first hundred pages hunting, telling stories in camp, and hunting some more. It’s not until part 2 that we get any actual plot. Now Omat is embarking on a long solitary overland journey and I’m not sure I have the patience for this....more
DNF @ 40% I was excited to read a fantasy starring a brilliant con woman. Con artists are my jam. Unfortunately, Nahri as a con artist was just really DNF @ 40% I was excited to read a fantasy starring a brilliant con woman. Con artists are my jam. Unfortunately, Nahri as a con artist was just really unconvincing. Her opening con is telling a hypochondriac “you’re right, you are sick� and then letting him throw fistfuls of money at her. Not that impressive.
Then the magic stuff begins, and Nahri’s cons end. (Up to where I read, anyway.) Even worse, she never acts particularly manipulative, conniving, or subtle. She’s too busy admiring the muscles of her brooding, surly male companion with a dark past. ²âÌý²¹Ìý·ÉÌý²Ô...more
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