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Showing posts from March, 2019

The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks (4.4 Stars)

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Gavin Guile is dying. He’d thought he had five years left—now he has less than one. With fifty thousand refugees, a bastard son, and an ex-fiancĂ©e who may have learned his darkest secret, Gavin has problems on every side. All magic in the world is running wild and threatens to destroy the Seven Satrapies. Worst of all, the old gods are being reborn, and their army of color wights is unstoppable. The only salvation may be the brother whose freedom and life Gavin stole sixteen years ago. Premise: How compelling or unique is the overview of the story? ----- 8/10: The premise is solid, but not too unique. It's your standard epic fantasy story with magic, intrigue, politics and war. I like these stories, so no complaints, but a fresh take on a fantasy premise is always more interesting. Plot: How well does the action of the story fulfill or even expand the potential of the premise? ----- 9/10: The story shines with the execution of the premise. The characters drive the plot and ...

The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie (4.2 Stars)

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Logen Ninefingers, infamous barbarian, has finally run out of luck. Caught in one feud too many, he’s on the verge of becoming a dead barbarian – leaving nothing behind him but bad songs, dead friends, and a lot of happy enemies.  Nobleman Captain Jezal dan Luthar, dashing officer, and paragon of selfishness, has nothing more dangerous in mind than fleecing his friends at cards and dreaming of glory in the fencing circle. But war is brewing, and on the battlefields of the frozen North they fight by altogether bloodier rules.  Inquisitor Glokta, cripple turned torturer, would like nothing better than to see Jezal come home in a box. But then Glokta hates everyone: cutting treason out of the Union one confession at a time leaves little room for friendship. His latest trail of corpses may lead him right to the rotten heart of government, if he can stay alive long enough to follow it.  Enter the wizard, Bayaz. A bald old man with a terrible temper and a pathetic assi...