5 stars. Initial reaction: Holy hell, something tells me I'm about to have one major book hangover.
This book was stunning. Stunning in scope, stunning in breadth, stunning in all of those other words that people use to describe a book that is just so gods-damned, all-around, mind-fuckingly brilliant that you need terms of epic proportion to do it justice.
'Scuse the language, I'm still caught up in the elaborate, ensnaring, bottomlessly-detailed world of the city of Camorr.
In quick summary, here's what Scott Lynch did right: He created imperfect characters that were loveable despite their faults. He world-builded (yes, it's a verb now) so hard that my mind just about exploded trying to contain the scope of it. He layered plot upon plot upon plot in such an intricate way that it's impossible to disentangle them, and why would you want to, as they all ended in a singularly thrilling and spectacular climax? And don't even get me started on the plot twists, I'm still trying to process them. The world, the characters, the language, the book were so enthralling that I just... I just can't.
I do have one minor quarrel with this book, though. The "Interlude" chapters, especially towards the end, were bit disruptive to the flow of the narrative, and I feel as though they weren't utilized entirely to their strengths. Hopefully that's something that will improve in future books, because it's a unique feature that I think, if used correctly, can only add to the story.
I am still trying to wrap my head around the spectacular entity that is this book. By all means, please join me in my speechlessly astounded awe.
And holy Crooked Warden do I ship Jean and Locke.
No comments:
Post a Comment