Tag: Fantasy

  • The Blade Itself – Character is King

    The Blade Itself – Character is King

    Say one thing for Joe Abercrombie, say he’s a master of creating believable bastards…

    The Blade Itself, the GRIMDARK book. If you think about the subgenre, The First Law trilogy appears in any Top list. But is it grimdark? I’m used to grimdark in Warhammer 40k. The world is bleak and hopeless, for in the grim darkness of the far future there is only war. The world in The Blade Itself though isn’t fully grimdark, it’s realistic medieval. The characters aren’t in any case role models for the reader, but they are well done. Each POV has their distinctive and unique voice, they are interesting to follow. The plot is simple yet engaging. Wars, betrayals, fencing contests, inquisition wants to rule everyone… and far away a threat to the established order emerges. The final touch is how magic is woven into world-building and plot. It’s rare, but influential. Mysterious, but powerful. And prose? In her book “Steering the Craft” Ursula K. Le Guin talks about prose musicality. Not about rhymes, but about sentence composition. Abercrombie’s prose musicality is on a high level. It’s noticeable from the first chapter. Simple though effective word choice adds to symphony.

    The Blade Itself isn’t hopeful fantasy, of course. But I wouldn’t call it “quintessence of grimdark” as well. I’d recommend reading it anyway, character work and worldbuilding are outstanding.

  • Blood Brothers Beyond – Japanese Road Movie on a Donkey Cart

    Blood Brothers Beyond – Japanese Road Movie on a Donkey Cart

    That’s my first ARC sent by Rob J Hayes and, actually, his first work I’ve ever read. And I will definitely check his other books. What I’ve read is wonderfully and interestingly written. So here it is, my review.

    Blood Brothers Beyond is an amazing and exciting road movie about three brothers who accomplish their quest to reach their final destination.
    I liked how the characters were introduced, they are very likable though flawed, how they interacted with the world and how the world responded to their actions.
    Talking about action. The fighting scenes were really good thought out and directed. I wish descriptions were more colourful and vivid. The pace was kept perfectly. Fighting changing flashbacks changing usual talks were never boring. And those talks, they were diamonds.
    What I liked the most in the novella is which topics it raised. The family grief, the wish you could spend more time with your gone relative, good and bad memories, funny and pityful stories, different experiences from different perspectives. Everyone who lost someone close will relive those feelings. That was beautiful.
    I liked how mysticism and Japanese myths were weaved into the story canvas. And humor was there, and it was brilliant.

    I don’t really like retelling the story and the plot and I won’t be doing that this time as well. I liked the story a lot. Actually, I loved it. Very human, very grounded, very sentimental.

    The conclusion is simple: that’s, I think, one of my top-5 reads this year. Unexpected yet very fulfilling story. And yeah, there’s a donkey in it, for real.