MesunaSanpree

If you have somehow stumbled upon this review please be warned that it may contain spoilers from the first book. If, for some reason, you have not read the first book, please do so - it's bloody brilliant.

It is my misfortune to report that Scott Lynch has been diagnosed with SBS (Second Book Syndrome). Symptoms include the second book not living up to the first. Readers may expect disappointment and a general feeling of being underwhelmed.

Joking aside "Red Seas Under Red Skies" is, in its own right, a fantastic book and I think this one will grow on me when I read it again (and again). Where the book falls down is the plot, but it shines because of the characters, particularly the charismatic and loveable Locke Lamora.

Whilst The Lies of Locke Lamora is exploding (literally in some parts of the story) with action, RSURS bumbles along at a more mellow pace with the plot spread over several weeks, as opposed to a few days in the first book. It's the pace that lets the book down in the end - many pages are devoted to Locke and Jean learning how to pirate, which dampened the excitement induced by the beginning of the book.

However, the book's strength lies in the characters. We are introduced to some badass female characters (Delmastro, Drakasha and Selendri) - it's refreshing to come across female characters who have a purpose beyond being love interests (I had a bad experience of this recently).

We do see a different side to Locke though. It's clear that he's still getting over the pain of losing the majority of the Gentleman Bastards and Lynch does this perfectly. Sometimes Locke's pain is raw and obvious, at other times its subtle - he pushes people away, he's distrustful, quite reckless at times and full of vengeance.

Although RSURS doesn't match up to the pace and the action of the first book, I did enjoy the subtleties playing behind the scenes. I have high hopes for the rest of the series though and cannot wait for the third book :D

Having been a longstanding fan of Eoin Colfer and his Artemis Fowl series I view the Lies of Locke Lamora as a "more adult" version of Artemis Fowl. Now that Eoin Colfer has finished the Artemis Fowl series, I'm ecstatic to have found a series that is just as intelligent, just as funny and jam-packed with action.

The Lies of Locke Lamora is a set in a fantasy world in a Venetian-esque city partly ruled by a Duke and the other part by several gangs united under one person (called a Capa). Locke Lamora is part of one such gang known as "The Gentleman Bastards", who con rather gullible rich people into giving up substantial amounts of money. Lynch's book documents the rather amusing (and sometimes sad) tale of how Locke Lamora's life goes to sh*t.

I really admire Lynch's style of writing - it's dense and poetic, but with a undeniable streak of humour. It's the layout of the book that really impressed me though; it brought me closer to the characters and strengthened the plot. Part of the book is set in the present, but each chapter ends with an interlude with a flashback to the Gentlemen Bastards' childhood. Lynch takes the reader right to the beginning of the characters' lives and weaves their past into the Gentlemen Bastards' present escapade.

The plot itself is rather convoluted in places, which makes the book all the more exciting. Everything seems to go smoothly until about halfway through when all hell breaks loose. Like Brent Weeks, Lynch has the writers' philosophy of "I'm gonna put my characters through all manners of hell, laugh evilly, and see if they're smart enough to escape from my evil plot with their heads still intact! MWHAHAHAH"! And this is what really made me fall in love with this book - the sheer intelligence of Locke (and the author).

In many books, the characters ameliorate their problems by the simple of use of braun or by just being annoyingly perfect (I'm thinking Rothfuss' Kvothe here). However, Locke's only weapon is his brain, and by the gods he wields it so damn well! It's easy to devour a book when you know the character cannot rely on the issues being magicked away, but only has himself to rely on.

I've said a lot about how bloody amazing this book is and I've found it difficult to find any real flaws. There are a couple of things I was frustrated and saddened by. Lynch's world was previously occupied by a race of "people" called the Eldren who (probably) had advanced magical capabilities. Lynch barely touches on this aspect of the world, and I'm not sure if he will for this series anyway. Yes, this adds depth to the world and gives it a mysterious quality, but I want that mystery to be unveiled! 

I sincerely hope that the next book is as good as the first - I sometimes find that the second book just doesn't live up to the first. But despite my issues with good books, I'm really glad I've found a series that'll be worth waiting for.

Stephanie Meyer and Deborah Harkness need a lesson in what a vampire really is and that lesson is "The Fallen Blade". Jon Courtenay Grimwood has taken a step back (thank God) towards the more traditional vampire myth. However, what really drew me to this book was its setting in 15th century Venice - a historical novel with vampires, witches and werewolves and plenty of political intrigue? Sounds pretty damn good to me!

Although the plot was sound and kept me reading, the characters fell short of what I expected. To me it seemed as though the characters were underdeveloped and jumps in time within the plot really didn't help with that. I also found the relationship between the characters Giulietta, Tycho and Leopold rather confusing, although this was balanced out, in some ways, by the intricate political plot line.

The writing style was also a little confusing in some places in that I had to read over the dialogue several times before I could understand what was going on and who was speaking.

Overall I'd rather give this book 3.5 stars - I'd like to give it more but the characters were a let down and prose could have been more clear. However, Grimwood redeems himself by creating a powerful plot line and I'll definitely be picking up the next book.

So, the first book was about Edward and Bella falling in love. The second book is just 500 pages of Bella moping about Edward leaving and basically going mental. This book was worse than the first one and generally nothing of interest actually happens. The only good thing about the book was Jacob Black, but then Meyer decided that he'd be better off as a moody and irritable idiot. Possibly the funniest part of the book was when Bella was thinking about Paris and Juliet being friends/falling in love and likening this situation to that between herself and Jacob. Bella then says that '"Juliet gets dumped and ends up with Paris" would have never been a hit, which is funny considering that New Moon is exactly that and yet, for some absurd reason, it is a hit.

I can sum up this book in one word, but I think that would be unfair to the author. With such a high rating and great reviews I high expectations for this book. Unfortunately I found myself reading a rehash of Romeo and Juliet.

The plot was mildly interesting, but the characters and the world building was not. I felt the author was trying way too hard to make Karou different from other girls, which subsequently backfired into making the character a rather dull one. I wouldn't call Akiva the man of my dreams either and found his character to be rather wooden.

So, overall: dull.

I was surprised by how good this book was! It's a little like "A Game of Thrones" with it's intricate court schemes, but with a lot more magic. I particularly like the pattern magic, but I hope the elemental side will be developed in the next book.

The characters were solid and well developed. There were a few plot points that didn't seem quite right, but considering this is Williams' debut novel it's not so surprising and I expect his/her writing will mature.

Although this is the first in the trilogy, the story is self-contained, so even if the book isn't quite your cup of tea you won't be left hanging! Hopefully there will be a greater story arc spanning the entire trilogy, which I believe is not beyond Williams' capabilities.

After reading the reviews left by others I had very high expectations for the book which were, ultimately, let down. The book has an interesting premise, and tbh I was actually expecting something a bit more Harry Potter rather than the Twilight that the book actually turns out to be. The plot is slow, but it does pick up towards the end. However, I had issues with the main characters Diana Bishop, the so-called heroine, and Matthew Clairmont, her vampire lover.

Harkness attempts to create a strong, independent, all-powerful female character but that pretty much falls apart when the sexy vampire enters the scene. Diana is swept off her feet by the mysterious vampire and then proceeds to fall deeply in love with him in a matter of days - a feat which probably would not have happened, as a psychologist would have observed, if Diana had had a strong father figure. Diana is also highly intelligent, athletic, beautiful, a very powerful witch and just a little bit too perfect for my liking. Overall, Diana is a woman who would get along like a house on fire with Stephanie Meyer's Bella Swann. Both characters are Mary-Sues who are desperate, needy and just plain annoying.

Matthew Clairmont is a vampire and is therefore, by extension, also perfect. What really annoyed me about Matthew though was that he was all talk and no action. Although we are constantly reminded of his over-protectiveness, in the end he was powerless to stop the bad guys from hurting Diana, which, considering that Matthew is a vampire warrior is an absolute failure on his behalf.

However, what really redeemed this book, and partly why I give this two stars rather than one, is the fact that Matthew is really, really old. Harkness is an historian and this comes through when Matthew is reminiscing about his past or when Diana is studying some old books.

The rest of the stars go the minor characters, who definitely deserve more face-time in future books, and that there is more to being a vampire than being sparkly is also a plus point.

Overall, this book is a massive disappointment and fails particularly in the character department. Unless Harkness wants to be branded as another Stephanie Meyer, she should stick to writing history....

This is a pretty terrible book, but I couldn't stop reading it. It's like watching a movie so bad that it's funny.

The plot is predictable, but eventful, maybe too eventful. Anything that can go wrong does go wrong in this book. The annoying thing is that the characters were able to get out of any situation a little too easily for my liking. Something would happen, but it's all ok because the Avry and Kerrick are all powerful and awesome and can get out of any situation!!

So why the did I keep reading this book despite the terrible plot construction and boring characters? Well, Snyder managed to redeem herself by making one character so ridiculously crazy that it was worth trawling through 400 pages of drivel. Whilst Avry and Kerrick are pretty standard boring good guys, Tohon added a bit of unpredictability to the plot. His character is so chaotic and manic that I'm interested to see what evil plan he concocts for the next book.

I'll probably just grab the next book from the library. It's poorly written with a dire plot, but at least it has Tohon.

Like Gardens of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates is the type of book that you have to invest a lot of time into. At around 300+ pages longer than the average fantasy book, I struggled with the length and at around 600 pages I started to wonder if Erikson even has an editor. I also struggled with connecting with any of the characters and was disappointed that most of the characters from the first book were not around. Despite my disappointment, it was only after I finished reading a book not by Steven Erikson that I realised how much I missed the ridiculously detailed style of writing, the infinitude of characters and perpetually feeling confused. I'll definitely move onto Memories of Ice, but at over 1000 pages I think I'll wait a little longer so I can truly savour the writing.