Michael
The Warded Man is a fantastic fantasy novel, and an excellent introduction to the world the Brett has crafted that feels similar to our own world, and yet very different. From early in the novel you can feel a strong connection with all of the POV Characters, and get a feeling for the bleakness of the world as it stands.
My only reluctance towards to book is that if feels like the majority of the story is all a prologue for the last 20% of the book. While I am looking forward to reading the other novels in the series, I think I would be less satisfied if I wasn't able to dive into the subsequent volumes immediately.
I still can't decide if I actually liked the book. It is a very, VERY strange story, and I was intrigued and mystified by aspects of it. I recommend the book for those who want a strange journey into mystery and continuousness.
A very light, fun read. Very much in the vein of John Scalzi genre aware science fiction.
This book was fantastic. Just enough twists on classic fantasy tropes to be fresh and quite a lot of self-awareness to make it truly enjoyable.
If you want a fantasy novel in which the adventuring party is a thinly veiled stand-in for an 80's music group, look no further.
It was strange reading a sequel that had very little to do (character wise) with the first book. But after the initial jarring expectation, the book was every bit as good as the first. It was a sweet tale about beings figuring out who they were, and who they wanted to be.
The third book of the Gentlemen Bastards did not disappoint.
Unlike the previous two books, this actually has two simultaneous interwoven plot threads running through the entire novel. This does an excellent job of highlighting the characterization between Locke and Sabetha (finally introduced to us in this volume). Both stories are interesting, different, and full of wonderful characterization and development.
My only complaint is that both stories left me wanting more. The stories were well executed, and resolved satisfactorily; however was left feeling as if I had missed some of the detail and scenery of the previous two novels.
If you liked the first one, you'll like the sequel. It shares very similar strengths and flaws.
STAR WARS SPOILERS
I enjoyed this book. It was not quite as good as the novelization for Episode III (Which was so much better than the actual film), but did an excellent job.
It followed the movie very closely and didn't extrapolate very deeply into the characters, however it does add some additional context scenes that we don't see in the movie. Most notably, we see some introduction scenes with Leia, and get more context and insight into the resistance, and details about the Hosnian system. We also get the story of how Poe gets off Jakku.
Additionally, the scenes don't play out 100% like they do in the movie, some are better some worse. The best of which provides much better information about my largest story issue within the movie, namely how R2D2 has the remaining map fragments needed to find Luke. It doesn't fix it completely, but goes a long way for fixing the plot issues surrounding that mcguffin.
I like these characters and author, but I the heavy Asian theme wasn't my thing. the story was still good, but I look forward to reading the next one, when the characters get back to the inner sea
Very interested fantasy look into imperialism and cultural appropriation and domination.
One of the few books that I could classify as an “economic thriller”
An excellent book in its own right and a great addition to the mythos of the Threshold series. I love the main character, almost the perfect protagonist for me to view this world through.
