At the finale, the seams are brimming with reported conflicts and a bizarre proposed mission that the characters find out are their fates and destinies moving forward.
I reflect that this book's main agenda was probably for the reader to get to know the characters because this is done extremely well. Towards the end, however reading this was quite intense hence why I was up until stupid o’clock to finish the story. Two or three amazing set pieces excluded (such as a fencing contest and Logan’s old gang’s antics), it doesn’t really include many all out adrenaline fueling segments. It has many great qualities but whilst reading I occasionally had an internal dilemma about whether I should put it down and pick up something with more action. The players’ interactions had a Tarantino-like quality. Glokta’s internal opinions are darkly humorous yet tortuous when relating to his past, and the womaniser and dashing swordsman Jezal actually having some weird emotions for only one lady are two fine examples. There are times that these characters surprised me with their thoughts. I will not go into any real details about them, how they intertwine, their opinions shared in monologues regarding the others (if they meet that is) but it is a pleasure to read about these characters that are, on paper at least, completely unlikeable.
Bayaz: A mage whose motives are mystical. Glokta: A tortured and crippled torturer. The four main individuals are: Jezal: A vain, selfish nobleman and talented fencer. The greatest accomplishment achieved by Abercrombie here is the characters he has created. I did get a little confused trying to compose a mental map of the world and distinguish where the action was taking place. There is a lot going on in Abercrombie’s world yet, it is a shame that the two versions of this book that I have didn’t include any maps. This narrative takes place in a world that seems to be brimming with a blood-splattered past, interesting races and a heightened amount of warmongering aggression between the countries and factions. Where that was classic story focused fantasy with twists aplenty, this is best described as a macabre, dark and twisted character study of morally questionable individuals. Prior to reading this, I had completed Abercrombie’s Shattered Sea trilogy and enjoyed it a lot. Let’s see how I get on now after a good night's sleep…
I didn’t write the review then as it would have been a tired, mumbled mess with little to no eloquence and it wouldn’t have included any cool sounding words. I was up until half five yesterday morning reading intensely to finish off this story.
0 kommentar(er)
