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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Although I did like this book, I was a bit bummed to see that some of the characters I throughely enjoyed from the first one were not going to be present. However, Black Thorn is written at his best here. I loved how Hayes gave his audience a better understanding of who he is, why he is that way, and what he's striving to be. Very well done.
I'm really enjoying this series! The second book is even more fun than the first.
I mostly enjoyed Hayes's first self-published book, [b:The Heresy Within|35225721|The Heresy Within (The Ties that Bind, #1)|Rob J. Hayes|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1495760888l/35225721._SY75_.jpg|25037596], even though it was rough around the edges. It didn't exactly feature amazing world building and it took the actual plot way too long to get going but he gave us a cast of a number of compelling, if supremely flawed, characters reminiscent of [a:Joe Abercrombie|276660|Joe Abercrombie|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1421267339p2/276660.jpg]'s work.
The first book ended up on a strangely "most things are wrapped up" note that didn't really leave any clear direction for a sequel to go but I started reading The Color of Vengeance in the hope and expectation that as Hayes got more experience as an author his strengths would remain and his weaknesses diminish.
Unfortunately that's not what happened. Instead the flaws are still there -- if anything exacerbated -- and overwhelm the strange charm of the antiheroes.
A major flaw of the first book was that there was no real overall plot for the first half or so of the book. We just followed a bunch of people around while they did stuff. This book doubles down on that approach. Literally nothing in this book has anything to do with any of the big picture stuff we got glimpses of in the first book. All we get is Betrim (and, eventually, company) going through a series of fairly disconnected escapades. They arrive in some new location, have an escapade, then need to go to the next location. By the time there's some kind of actual goal we're 72% of the way into the book. It was just too little, too late.
Against this fairly lacklustre plotting there's a distinct fan-service vibe running through it all. Every place that Betrim goes he amazingly runs into one of his old crew. Take a boat for two months and land in a far-flung city? Meet Henry within minutes of disembarking. Spend a week walking through a haunted swamp to a village in the middle of nowhere? Meet Bones again. And Beth. Get on a pirate ship? Of course, we're going to run into Rose.
It was all just a bit too much coincidence for me.
The first book ended up on a strangely "most things are wrapped up" note that didn't really leave any clear direction for a sequel to go but I started reading The Color of Vengeance in the hope and expectation that as Hayes got more experience as an author his strengths would remain and his weaknesses diminish.
Unfortunately that's not what happened. Instead the flaws are still there -- if anything exacerbated -- and overwhelm the strange charm of the antiheroes.
Betrim stopped counting once he hit ten and decided the number of armed guards stood at well over two, which put him and Anders at a severe numbers disadvantage should violence ensue.
A major flaw of the first book was that there was no real overall plot for the first half or so of the book. We just followed a bunch of people around while they did stuff. This book doubles down on that approach. Literally nothing in this book has anything to do with any of the big picture stuff we got glimpses of in the first book. All we get is Betrim (and, eventually, company) going through a series of fairly disconnected escapades. They arrive in some new location, have an escapade, then need to go to the next location. By the time there's some kind of actual goal we're 72% of the way into the book. It was just too little, too late.
Against this fairly lacklustre plotting there's a distinct fan-service vibe running through it all. Every place that Betrim goes he amazingly runs into one of his old crew. Take a boat for two months and land in a far-flung city? Meet Henry within minutes of disembarking. Spend a week walking through a haunted swamp to a village in the middle of nowhere? Meet Bones again. And Beth. Get on a pirate ship? Of course, we're going to run into Rose.
It was all just a bit too much coincidence for me.
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish