The Heresy Within
It seems there was a time when I wasn't so torn on books. I either liked them or didn't. I'm not so comfortable classifying this one, and I'm undecided on sequels at this point.
From a technical standpoint, it's a bit lacking. The writing, pacing, and story are not the presented in the most engaging way I've seen. The typographical errors aren't everywhere, but there are enough to stand out. And given that it was sold digitally, I'm given the impression it was not given the full range of professional editing that novels which see print usually are. Overall, the story feels like it could have been an RPG campaign in a lot of ways - three main characters drawn together, like it or not, and wrapped up in the quest one of them is on. They don't always get along, and there's fighting early on, but they work together through the latter half of the book.
Getting down to the story and the characters, I'm still divided. What's the term I'm looking for here? It's dirty/ugly/grungy fantasy. Part of me applauds the realistic feel of unclean towns, moral corruption, and free talk of sex. It lends a certain authenticity to what's loosely based on real feudal history, while most fantasy stories either ignore or altogether sanitize such things. On the other hand, I'm not sure I needed to "see" things like characters crawling through sewage more than once and the female of the trio of protagonists painted as going into virtually every situation weighing survival odds for fighting versus fucking, especially when she's supposed to be a badass "Blademaster."
All three characters are broken and flawed to a fair degree. One's an outright murdering sellsword who can't really be categorized as a hero even when being generous. And the third, who brings them together, is a witch hunter who's probably the most upstanding, but he'll kill without question to maintain his order's secrets and the kleptomania doesn't help. The characters were, if anything, the redeeming part of the story, and I might like to see more of them, but I haven't decided yet.
From a technical standpoint, it's a bit lacking. The writing, pacing, and story are not the presented in the most engaging way I've seen. The typographical errors aren't everywhere, but there are enough to stand out. And given that it was sold digitally, I'm given the impression it was not given the full range of professional editing that novels which see print usually are. Overall, the story feels like it could have been an RPG campaign in a lot of ways - three main characters drawn together, like it or not, and wrapped up in the quest one of them is on. They don't always get along, and there's fighting early on, but they work together through the latter half of the book.
Getting down to the story and the characters, I'm still divided. What's the term I'm looking for here? It's dirty/ugly/grungy fantasy. Part of me applauds the realistic feel of unclean towns, moral corruption, and free talk of sex. It lends a certain authenticity to what's loosely based on real feudal history, while most fantasy stories either ignore or altogether sanitize such things. On the other hand, I'm not sure I needed to "see" things like characters crawling through sewage more than once and the female of the trio of protagonists painted as going into virtually every situation weighing survival odds for fighting versus fucking, especially when she's supposed to be a badass "Blademaster."
All three characters are broken and flawed to a fair degree. One's an outright murdering sellsword who can't really be categorized as a hero even when being generous. And the third, who brings them together, is a witch hunter who's probably the most upstanding, but he'll kill without question to maintain his order's secrets and the kleptomania doesn't help. The characters were, if anything, the redeeming part of the story, and I might like to see more of them, but I haven't decided yet.
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