Book review: "The Proof House" by K. J. Parker

After "The Belly of the Bow" I was dreading to read its sequel, "The Proof House". But K. J. Parker's writing is so good and he has more books in the same setting, so I just couldn't skip this one.

In "The Proof House" we again meet with Loredan family and their friends. Few years after the events at Scona, Baradas Loredan is currently a sapper in Empire's army, besieging the town of Ap' Escatoy, a siege that has taken some years. He more or less accidentally terminates the siege and becomes a hero of the Empire, which earns him a sinecure at the so-called Proof House - a factory for producing and testing armor. But this position won't last long, because Empire has decided to conquer the Plains, ruled by King Temrai, and who better to lead it than Temrai's old enemy, Baradas...

First, the setting gets another large expansion, with introduction of the Empire. It is a vast, continent spanning empire, where you need weeks to travel over it even by usage of fast carriages at Post Service. It is ruled by Sons of Heaven, tall and aesthetic people based on Arabs (partially). You can get best impression of Empire by the importance it puts on Perimadeia, Shastel, Scona and Island - it dismisses them completely. I read somewhere that Empire will take a much larger role in following books.

One of distinct features for this trilogy was scenes that deal with the Principle. I can't say exactly what, but they are different here than in last two books. More strange, and more abstract. And of course, the explanations actually confuse you more.

Story is typical for Parker, with lots of unexpected twists and side-stories. Temrai's plot is funny at the beginning, but you ask yourself for how long, because this is Parker after all... There are a lot military scenes and parts, which are done with a lot of details and expertise. Politics play a large part, especially with the Island sub-story.

There is no new characters in "The Proof House", except few unnamed Sons of Heaven and one Island trader, so you know what you can expect. They are really a piece of work. I don't want to reveal any spoilers, but you can expect bleak ending for most, or you could say all, characters... There is a place in the book where Iseutz does a great summation of the Loredan family. Baradas is really scary, which I didn't realize before.

But I presume that you are wondering about the feel of this book. After that surprise in "The Belly of the Bow", I was prepared for everything in "The Proof House". It is a very bleak book, mixing fun and revulsion between scenes. Casual storytelling of violence of war reminds me of Erikson, even though with more extreme examples. One important feature: battles are only lost, never won. This is not a sick book like middle one, but the ending... I don't know whether to laugh or cry...

I have to mention that Parker is a great writer - for first two chapters he is focused only on hear, taste, smell and touch - there is not one clue enabling you to visualize the scenes.

All in all, I am satisfied with "The Proof House". It is not for everyone's taste, with its violence and bleakness. But if you like "Colours in the Steel" and survived "The Belly of the Bow", I think you will enjoy this one. For the whole "The Fencer Trilogy", I give it a solid passing mark.

Anime review: "Shingeki no Kyojin"

Well, this hasn't happened in a long time: that I finished an anime season in a day. I watched first two episodes at Friday evening, and spent whole Saturday watching until I finished all 25 episodes!

"Shingeki no Kyojin" (or officially "Attack on Titan", which doesn't make sense) is a shounen action anime. The story places as in future, where humanity has been reduced to medieval level by appearance of non-sentient, human-eating humanoid giants called Titans (imagine giant nude zombies). Humanity is currently behind tall walls place in several concentric rings, enjoying relative safety for last hundred years. It all changes with appearance of a Colossal Titan and an Armored Titan, that together are able to penetrate the walls at one place and release other Titans at people. During this fatal defeat, we are focused Eren, Mikasa and Armin, three kids living in town where the breach happens. After managing to stay alive, but witnessing Eren's mother being eaten alive, Eren vows to slay all the Titans. This brings the three of them to join the training for the Survey Corps, only people that still fight against Titans on their own territory...

My first impression was that good, because I like vivid and strong colors in anime. Next I thought how the anime was a bit over the top with imagination and not very consistent (flesh-eating giants, 100 years of solitude). I was especially off-put with the claim about walls being set in circle with 250km diameter, when you could obviously see the other side of the wall! But then things started to unravel slowly, and I was hooked.

So, even though "Shingeki no Kyojin" is primary an action anime, it has a large dose of mystery. And not the type where character finds solutions which no one would ever realize, they solve them gradually by getting more information. Also, the setting reveals very gradually (there are some info-dumps, but not too clumsy), so almost every episode you learn something new. There was a few surprising reveals (especially the last one!), but they were done nicely and consistently. What I did dislike were too long intros and recaps of last episode at the start of each.

There is really a bunch of characters and you will sometimes have trouble to know who is who. They are typically shounen, so don't expect miracles, but they are pretty solid and interesting. The good thing is that they grow much during the show. I really liked how the author was not afraid to kill them.

And this brings us to the atmosphere of "Shingeki no Kyojin", which is the best part of it. This is a very brutal anime, with lots of tragedy, death and sorrow. I didn't expect so much pain in shounen anime. There are nice changes between fast action pace and slow reminiscence and melancholy. It is compared much to "Claymore" - I agree with this comparison, even though the anime is original enough. Action is pretty good, if you can suspend your sense of mechanic. There is even some comedy, and pretty good one (I really liked Sasha).

I've read some comments about this show having horrible design and animation, but I disagree. I admit that it is simple and not beautiful, but I think it goes great with the atmosphere. I really like the discrepancy between Titan's look and behavior. Voice acting and sound were OK, but OPs were terrible. I didn't even try to listen EDs.

All in all, I really enjoyed "Shingeki no Kyojin". It simple enough for shounen fans, but with enough details for other to enjoy, with great dark and violent atmosphere and lots of mystery. I can't wait for the next season.

Book review: "Perdido Street Station" by China Miéville

I have finished reading China Miéville's "Perdido Street Station" almost two weeks ago, but I had so hectic last two week that I didn't have time to blog about it. I actually read this book a long time ago once, borrowing from the library. I had a notion that I remember this book quite well so I was reluctant to buy it, but I wanted to reread it before going to next two books ("The Scar" and "Iron Council"). So I decided to buy it after all - and ended quite surprised how much actually I have forgotten!

(for great fan-art, Google images for "Perdido Street Station")

"Perdido Street Station" is one of those books that are really hard to describe, especially their plot. Whatever I write, I will miss the point. But here is a try... "Perdido Street Station" tells a story set in very imaginative setting, the City of New Crobuzon, which includes magic, alchemy, science, science fiction, insect races, magical races, demons, spider-gods, cyborgs, artificial intelligence, flying people, oppression, horror, religion and education, among a bunch of other things. In the midst of it is Isaac, a underground scientist who, working on another project, happens to free a strange breed of gigantic moths that feed on people's conscience. Moths start to terrorize the whole City and Isaac becomes target to both the totalitarian regime the rules the City and by a drug-lord that was making money by moths, which forces him to try to catch the moths on his own...

I haven't read much books by Chine Miéville (only this one and "The City and The City"), but even I know that he is famous by his imaginativeness. And this is quite obvious here, especially in the first part. First part of the book especially, but also the book in whole is written in "look at my beautiful garden" form (I borrowed this from Jo Walton and her review of "Aristoi"), where Miéville plays and shows off his imagination. But this is a good thing because he builds a great setting - the list I mention in previous paragraph is only a part of it, notions I could describe in one word. He sometimes goes quite deep in details, like with descriptions of khepri's society, or with the handlingers. But here is also the problem of this book. Even to me, who like this kind of stuff, this wild and weird setting managed to become too tiresome on occasions. Imagination is good, but there has to be some boundaries. Luckily, this happened only few times while reading the book, so it can be forgiven.

It would take too much time to mention all great ides Miéville shows, but I have to note the Weaver and the daemons. I am really curious what more can he think of in the next two books with same setting to keep this level of freshness...

As with the setting, there is a bunch of characters in the book, but only two of them can be said to be main characters. Isaac is one, of course. He is an eccentric, a genius dropping out of college, hanging out with artist and working for the criminals. On the other hand, he is fat, clumsy, and not really someone you could look upon to. This is what makes him such a lovable and aspiring main characters. The other one is Yagharek. We don't get much from him, and I don't want to reveal spoilers, but those short intrusions with his POVs were really impressing. Miéville succeeded in giving him a very powerful voice, for all his tacitness. As I said, there is bunch of other characters, but with the exception of maybe Lin and Derkhan, they are not too important. But you can be sure that they are written in detail and flamboyant as the rest of this book.

His writing is very good. Although he can become tedious with the details, it can be forgiven. The book is violent, dark and graphic. And after finishing it, I realized that it is maybe a bit too depressing, with no happy end too much pain. Also, the book has a lot of morally questionable or rightly unfair decisions. A big example is with the sick old man in the end. The government, who is in the beginning described as comically evil, turns out to be the real villain.

Another thing I wanted to mention is my surprise with how much of this book I have forgot. When I started reading it, I had a misconception that I know it from the beginning to end, especially the plot. First I was surprised by the quantity of details I really had no recollection about. But the real surprise came when I finished two thirds of the book and realized that I have no idea how the book ends! The moth-hunting, I had no idea about it. I felt like I was reading a different version of the book, with the same beginning but a different ending. And to thing how much pride I put on my memory...

So, if you like weird books, a lot of details and imagination large as an ocean, "Perdido Street Station" is a book for you. You can think about China Miéville as a dark and gritty version of Terry Prachet, having fun on the tropes. Not a book I would recommend to exclusive fans of classical fantasy a la Tolkien.

Anime review: "Mardock Scramble"

I don't remember when I first noticed "Mardock Scramble", but I had it in my AniDB wishlist a long time. The last movie of three came out more than a year ago now, but I had to wait till few weeks ago for subs to appear. And now, I have finally satisfied my curiosity.

"Mardock Scramble" has a very appealing premise: a cyberpunk action thriller. Although I don't really like cyberpunk in literature, I always have a soft spot such anime. And this one looked pretty ambitious, so I thought this one was worth of wait.

The main character of "Mardock Scramble" is Rune Balot, a teen girl forced to a life of prostitution. But her current customer, Shell, turns out to be really insane, burning her in his car. But Rune is saved in last second and "revived" in artificial and upgraded body by Doctor Easter and his partner upgraded Oeufcoque, members of special law-unit "Scramble 09". She has to choose whether to die or to live and testify against Shell. But to stop her from testifying against him, Shell hires Boiled, Oeufcoque's former partner, another experiment with artificial body and unique abilities...

At first, I was thrilled with this anime. It started very intense, with interesting futuristic setting that is mostly implied and not explained, gritty and dark. The animation looked old and new at the same time, CGI heavy. First part ended in a cliff-hanger so I eagerly proceeded with second and third one... To be left pretty disappointing in the end. Not by the ending itself, but by the whole anime, which doesn't live up to the hype.

As I said, "Mardock Scramble" has an interesting, cyberpunk setting. Flying and automatic cars, human enchantments, artificial sentient beings - on one side. On the other hand: drugs, prostitution, government unable or unwilling to stop the crime... But anime fails to develop and use it properly. All we get are vague implications of unclear technology and society. There are anime (or books) that manage to pass only hinting at the setting, but this is not one of them. Well, to be fair, setting is not really that bad objectively, but I expected much more from it.

As for the plot, this was my biggest disappointment. In the essence, I understood there is a story about Rune trying to testify against Shell, and he trying to stop her using Boiled. But everything except that I am not very clear with. This is again connected to undefined setting: why was Shell allowed to attack the only witness against himself, why was there an antagonism between Rune's protectors and Shell's protectors... I was not able to follow half of their talks, and I don't believe it was because of bad translations. And that part in the casino (which is not short) - it's pointless and confusing (even if you know how to play poker, roulette and black-jack).

I also had problems with the overall style of the anime. It was a dark cyberpunk, so one can expect it to be brutal, violent, gritty, with lots of nudity and sex. And as you can see from my choice of literature and anime, I don't have any problem with it - on the contrary. But most of it here was unnecessary and unexplainable, just for fan service. I don't mind it when something is gritty, or dark, or real setting; but what's the explanation of a girl showing up for fight-to-death dressed only in duck-tape.

So, ultimately, I expected much from "Mardock Scramble", but I was left disappointed by it. Not really bad, but if you want to see a really great cyber/SF anime, go watch one of the "Gost in the Shell" anime.

Book review: "The Belly of the Bow" by K. J. Parker

Yesterday when I finished with reading "The Belly of the Bow" by K. J. Parker, I was left very surprised, stunned almost... Let me tell you why.

When I've read "Colours in the Steel" two months ago on my vacation, I found the book very interesting: somewhat dark, eclectic, very well written, surprising in its lack of plot. Its sequel, "The Belly of the Bow", is similar in these points. Two years after the fall of Perimadeia, Baradas Loredan finds himself living on island of Scona, not by his choice, and earning his bread by making bows, a skill he learned as a kid on a farm. He shares island (among few thousand other people) with The Scona Bank, led by his sister Niessa and brother Gorgas, unwillingly. The Scona Bank is at war (their definition is more leaning to a commercial dispute) with neighboring island Shastel and its government, The Foundation, which is several times larger, richer and more populate - which doesn't means they have an advance in this kind of war. As conflict between these two organizations and islands grows, other familiar characters as ex-Patriarch Alexius, self-appointed Doctor Gannadius, Venart and Vetriz, etc., again come into play. And this time, it turns out that Principle (we'll not call it magic) has even more importance than before...

You will notice that in last paragraph I mentioned "the lack of plot". Even though the book itself has a plot - the war in large and small - there is no overall plot or theme to the series. Except in style and characters, and partially in setting, there is almost nothing (yeah, I know it sounds paradoxical) connecting these two books. This doesn't mean that it is a boring book. Parker paints a really detailed story, about war, society, magic... I need to say again, magic makes an important part here, and it becomes a bit more explicit (although not understandable). There is a great scene when the Clerk of Work (I think this was the right title) reveals all the knowledge he has.

Again, Parker's writing is interesting to read. Not for everybody, but I really like the abundance of technical descriptions and small details - you can see that he really got into this stuff he writes about. I admit though that sometimes he drags those descriptions too long. There is much down-to-earth common knowledge displayed as humor and contrasted to high and noble ideas - like the whole Foundation-Scona Bank situation. Also, there is lot of small daily-life scenes and common activities, and Parker usually succeeds in making them interesting or funny.

Even though "The Belly of the Bow" takes place in completely different location than "Colours in the Steel", you can't say that Parker was very generous with revealing the setting. Oh, you have a feeling he has a very defined and rich setting, but he is showing it only in minimal amounts. I've read know that all his books take place in the same setting, so I found this an interesting approach.

Contrary to last book, where it was evident who the main character is, this time situation is different. Oh, Baradas is nominally the main character, but this book is as much about Gorgas as is about him. And other characters get a lot of importance also, especially Alexius and Gannadius (although indirectly, I would say). And Parker really did a great work with Gorgas, who is at the same time a monster and an innocent. He goes into much detail with him, making him very reasonable and capable. I was impressed by his persistence and long-view approach to life, like with the sleep thing.

Unfortunately, there is a point that will sour this book for some people, and that is Baradas. His part is pretty bleak, full of self-pity, acting as a child, and being pretty much a spoil-fun. Things get pretty depressing around the middle of the book, when Scona and Foundation problem becomes larger, and when Baradas travels home (the last third gets more exciting, then). But the real shocker is at the end of the book - you will know when!!! I really didn't see that coming in the end and I am still not sure what to think about it. But this definitely candidates as a crossing of Moral Event Horizon! But in the end, I am really interested what will happen in the last book and how this trilogy will end...

So, even though "The Belly of the Bow" has similar style and quality as "Colours in the Steel", with great characters and depiction of society, it has one very dubious scene that will possibly ruin this book for some readers. Therefore, I cannot recommend it without reservations. Ultimately, my will depend on the last book in series, "The Proof House".

Book review: "Emperor of Thorns" by Mark Lawrence

I don't usually read sequelling books immediately one after another, but like to spread them over some time, maybe insert a reread now or then. But after reading "Prince of Thorns", I just couldn't resist reading "King of Thorns", as I also couldn't resist reading "Emperor of Thorns" immediately it was published last week. With this, I finished "The Broken Empire" trilogy by Mark Lawrence.

"Emperor of Thorns", similarly to KoT, has three plots-lines. The main one, the present, is happening two years after Jorg Ancrath's defeat of Prince of Arrow and becoming a King of seven nations, instead of just one. As the book starts, Jorg is just preparing for a journey to the Congression, a meeting of rulers that happens every four years and on which the Emperor can be chosen. Jorg is going there pretty sure he will be selected Emperor, because if he is not, he will pretty upset... Second plot continues immediately his adventures at Horse Coast, expanding them eventually to continent of Afrique. And while in KoT we had Katherine's story, here we have Chella's story, a POV by character opposite to Jorg from the first book.

If you have read first two books in "The Broken Empire" trilogy, you know what to expect: blood and violence. In my review of "King of Thorns", I said one or twice that Jorg felt softer than in "Prince of Thorns", not killing or maiming people randomly. This is also true here; as Jorg says, he has overgrown killing people on whim, but it doesn't mean that he will balk of anything necessary to protect those he cares about. And people, Jorg actually openly cares for somebody in this book. This makes him at the same time softer and harder than before. Softer, as I said, because he is not a loose cannon anymore; but harder, because he will not stop at anything defending what is his.

I really have to congratulate Mark Lawrence for making Jorg develop so much, but making it feel so natural. And also for successfully making such brutal and unique character, more evil than villains in some books, a protagonist and a person to root for. Because, it is quite impossible not to root for Jorg. And if you have any liking for anti-heroes, gray-morality or for gritty literature, you will just adore this book.

I see that I am not lonely in this sentiment, because my e-book edition had more highlights than last 10 books I read together. And consider that the book was out only few days when I have read it... This will be one of the top books of this year.

The plot is pretty interesting, especially the main one. As the book was coming to close, I kept wondering how Lawrence will be able to resolve all the started threads, but I have to admit that he did it magnificently. This book and trilogy has just a great ending - it leaves just enough questions unanswered, but gives a decent resolution of the story. Jorg keeps pulling rabbits out of his hat, but rarely it feels like something forced - Lawrence makes him pretty believable and consistent. The pace if constantly intense and there is not time for leisure. There are just so many powerful and memorable scenes in the book.

A small objection could be raised that the identity of the main villain is revealed pretty early in the book. Not openly revealed, but there are enough clues to guess it almost at the start. But this doesn't hurt the story much. Also, the plotline dealing with events in Afrique belittles the events in "King of Thorns" a bit, revealing Jorg knew about future more than enough to fix a score...

Setting was vastly expended in KoT, compared to PoT, and in "Emperor of Thorns" it gets filled decently. As I said, enough questions are with no answers to keep us waiting for more, but there are no inconsistencies. When I started reading this series, I would never be able to guess how perfect blend of SF and fantasy it would turn out to be in the end.

Again, I have to repeat my opinion that "Emperor of Thorns" will be one of the top books of this year: thrilling plot, superb main character, with unique and gritty way of presenting the story. A big recommendation for this book and the trilogy to anybody who likes dark stories!

Book review: "Colours in the Steel" by K. J. Parker

This is the first book I have read by K. J. Parker, and my reaction is: why haven't I found about him before? I can't say I was familiar with him prior to this book, but I noticed this name here and there, mostly good references and comparisons.

"Colours in the Steel" is the first book in "The Fencer Trilogy" by K. J. Parker. The story introduces as to the wondrous City of Perimadeia, a commercial and technological center of the world. Except these two things, another thing differentiates this city from the others: its unique legal systems, based on fencers (advocates) who duel to death to resolve the cases. Bardas Loredan is an advocate with quite a few years in the profession (over 10, which is very long for this kind of job), but not especially successful or known for it. A routine case of commercial law and fight with a newcomer will lead to unexpected turn of events: a deadly curse from newcomer's cousin, friendship with highest leader of magicians, and responsibility for defense of so-far-undefeated City against savage (at least until now) barbarian hordes led by young new chief Temrai...

First, I knew I was going to like Parker after reading first few pages. The writing was superb, full of light humor throughout all narration, subtle instead of forceful. I like this very much in books. It is a great fun to read "Colours in the Steel", even though the theme of it is not - imagine style of Erikson's short stories about Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, expanded to a real, serious book. As I said, there is nothing evidently extraordinary, but writing is actually superb and makes you expect more and more of this book. Another thing that reminded me on Erikson is how Parker uses the same trick of introducing a totally unimportant character, focusing on in for few pages and then discarding it. The book is not grimdark, but it isn't exactly shy of grittiness.

Setting is unique. I understand that all Parker's books are set in this same setting, only different parts of it. This book focuses exclusively on City of Perimadeia, with only few mentions of neighboring countries. But you get the feel that setting is competently imagined and consistent. It is based on classical medieval setting, but a lot of focus is put on commerce, technology and society. Actually, Parker even sometimes gets too technical with descriptions of technology. It's not boring, and you can see that he understands what he is talking about, but it can be tedious to read through. Setting is also humorous - like the Holy Pirates, and so on. I will enjoy discovering other part of the setting in next books.

There is no widespread use of magic in the setting, even though already-mentioned Order and its Patriarch Alexius play a great role. Instead of magic, you have (at least for now, we'll see in next books) only the Principle, which encompasses the nature and everything, and sometimes can be used to work wonders... Like the curse over Bardas.

Plot is good, but it is secondary to this book. It is used mostly as a mean to introduce the setting and the characters. And the characters are simply great. Bardas Loredan is perfect anti-hero: not young any more, prone to wine, lazy, not really honorable, cynic. It is really a pleasure to read about him and see the world through his eyes. Other POV characters, Alexius, Temrai, others... are all also great. Especially Temrai, who constantly wonders about his choices - which are sometimes morally questionable, so it is good that he wonders. The plot is pretty simple and predictable, but this didn't damage my joy in reading this book. If you are expecting a happy end and laugh after it, don't - this is not that kind of book. I appreciate how sometimes we skip weeks or months and characters have their own life in the meantime. Also, even though the book finishes the started plot, there is lot to discover behind it - and I wonder where this will take us to.

As I said, I am somewhat disappointed in myself for not discovering Parker before. But if sequels of "Colours in the Steel" prove as half as good as this one, it means that I have a dozen good books to read in future. I recommend this book to all fans of darker and anti-heroic fantasy.

Anime review: "Berserk"

"Berserk" is among the first anime I have ever watched (among first 10, of more than 200 that I watched until now) and it was one of my favorite ever. I even read the manga, at least the published volumes at the time. Curiously, the manga is still ongoing after more than 20 years! So when I saw that something new from the franchise has been coming out, I was excited. My excitement waxed when I saw it was a collection of three movies with the same material as the original anime series, but there was no chance in me missing that. So when the movies were finally dubbed, I jumped right at them...

These three movies in "Berserk" franchise depict the youth of the main protagonist, Guts. A parent-less child, he has grown up with a mercenary band and later become a freelancer wielding in impossibly big sword. During one his jobs, a siege, he single-handedly slays a famous mercenary. This attracts the attention of the Band of the Hawk and their charismatic leader, young Griffith. Initial reluctant, Guts is forced to join them, but later he distinguishes himself and become one of the leaders, strucking a great friendship with Griffith and love-hate relationship with Casca, another young, but female leader. The Band exploits the long-lasting war between Tudor and Midland, so much that King of Midland promotes them to nobility...

I realized that I almost described the whole plot of the movies... The reason for it is that these three movies depict only the "Golden Age arc", which is only the prequel of this story. The real action actually starts after, but this story is also very interesting. Especially when the more fantastic elements of it come forward: the Crimson Behelit, Zodd the Immoral, the God Hand... After mostly classical medieval fighting anime, this aspect of anime is very surprising and increases the tensions... Especially when the Eclipse comes!

"Berserk" belongs to dark fantasy and action genres, with lots of fighting, blood and violence. It is somewhere between shounen and seinen series. I really liked the setting, which changes much from realistic medieval to full fantasy, including a lot of themes. As setting, character change and grow (or descend) during the anime. It is no wonder this is one of most appreciated mange for lots of people.

But this is all applicable to the series itself; but what about these three movies?

The movies are pretty much true to the manga, but they skip some of the details. To those unfamiliar to prior anime or manga, this shouldn't mean much by itself. But on the other way, the original anime, "Kenpuu Denki Berserk", which was 25 episodes long, had much more room to show details and establish a more complex setting and provide the viewers with full "Berserk" experience.

Also, the "Golden Age" arc is not the beginning of "Berserk" manga. Mange starts with current Guts (I will avoid spoilers) and his fight against Apostles, and then he has a long flashback to his past - which is actually the "Golden Age" arc. Original anime follows this principle so it is more successful in hooking new fans. These movies concentrate solely on the "Golden Age" which, in my opinion, is poorer choice. Because, if they have any attention to continue the plot with new movies (and I read rumors that they do plan so), they will be forced to skip this part.

One of the most notable aspects of this anime is the very extensive use of CGI animation. While I don't like it myself, some people do - but I think that most will agree it was done not so good here. It just doesn't look natural. It has some advantages, like that architecture is very detailed and realistic, but moving people are just bad and too generic.

The anime stays true to violent nature of "Berserk", which means that there is a lot (really, a lot) of blood, nudity, sex, violence. When I saw the animation, I though they will "adapt" the show to wider audience; but they didn't and I appreciate that.

I don't remember the music from the original anime, but here is very good.

The final verdict? Even though I liked this new adaptation of "Berserk", I would not really recommend it. For those unfamiliar to the series, I would direct them to the original anime "Kenpuu Denki Berserk", which captures the feeling and experience of manga much better - this version is inferior in this respect. The movies are not bad, but I would really recommend the only to those who haven't watched or read "Berserk" for long time and just want a quick reminder. To everybody else, go watch the original.

Book review: "Blood and Bone" by Ian C. Esslemont

Even though I liked "Return of the Crimson Guard" and even "Stonewielder", after debacle with "Orb Sceptre Throne" my enthusiasm for work of Ian C. Esslemont has dropped down considerably. His new book in Malazan setting, "Blood and Bone" has been out for couple of months. I would usually buy it as soon as it was out, but this time I just wasn't into it. Especially after reading some tepid reviews on Amazon. But in the end, I consider myself a Malazan-fanboy so I just could not leave it unread for long.

As is usual for Malazan books, there are multiple plot-lines, all connected by the fact they are happening on Jacurucu, a continent only mentioned by Erikson and Esslemont until now. Thaumaturgs, a ruling mage-class of largest nation on Jacurucu is on the move: there is another invasion targeting the Jungle of Himatan, which covers whole east half of the continect and is ruled by Ardata, Queen of Witches and Mother of Monsters. Led by Commander Golan, the army will find itself attacked not by enemy soldiers, but something even scarier, the Jungle itself: heat, humidity, wild animals, inhabitants from nightmares, bugs and diseases... But before they even reach the Jungle, on their way they will travel through poor villages between their nation and Himatan. In one of such villages, young woman named Saeng, with unique connections to the dead of Jacurucu, will be saved by her brother Hanu, who was taken some years ago to become Thaumaturg strongest weapon, stone soldier of jakshaka. In the meantime, in south, members of several Adwami tribes, including the young prince Jatal, are gathered by the call of foreign warleader called Grey Ghost, who asks of them a temporary truce and offers a common goal: the greatest raid on Thaumaturg capital ever! And on Stratem, remnants of Crimson Guard have gotten a new contract, by Ardata herself: to get rid of Skinner and his Disavowed.

Somewhere I have read that this book is intended for Malazan fans and nobody else, and I would agree with this statement. Even though is much simpler that Erikson's books, "Blood and Bone" would be incomprehensible to non-fan. There is no real introduction to characters, setting and plots, and it is expected to be familiar with prior events to appreciate all nuances and details. So, if you haven't at least read Esslemonts previous books, don't even try reading this one.

I must say I was pretty surprised by this book, and pleasantly so. The pace is pretty slow, but the book is very interesting. Some would consider it dragged and too slow, but I kind of liked it such. Esslemont even gets philosophical a la Erikson on some occasions. Esslemont is not natural at being mysterious in writing as Erikson is, but here he tries and succeeds most of the times - even though he can get tiring sometimes.

What I really liked in this book were the characters. There are some old characters, but most of them are new. There are even some old hidden as new. In general, Esslemont is much better with his own characters than when he uses and recycles Erikson's. I liked Jatal, who is noble and honorable so much that you know that it will not end well. Pon-lor starts as side-character but in the end becomes one of most important and best. Commander Golan and his nemesis Thorn are simply a great duo. But all other are interesting, too. I can only compliment Esslemont in succeeding making all parties look good and nobody bad.

Even though the book takes place on Jacurucu, you will not found it too revealing about its secrets. I know I am boring and repetitive, but Erikson would be handling it better. Nevertheless, it is interesting as it is. I liked how we get a context of where this book fits in. The descriptions of the jungle and the dangers luring there are pretty good. I was surprised how gritty and even disgusting things became on several occasions, like with the worm-parasites!

All in all, "Blood and Bone" was a pleasant surprise. Again, the book is not on par with Erikson's, but it provides the Malazan fans with an interesting plot and a revelation of new part of setting. So I would recommend it to all fans of Esslemont - though pure fans of Erikson should be careful with it.

Book review: "King of Thorns" by Mark Lawrence

Since I was at vacation the Monday I finished "Prince of Thorns" by Mark Lawrence, Tuesday next day, I continued with reading its sequel "King of Thorns". I must say that it's been long since I have read with such enthusiasm, leaving everything else besides! I was able to finish it at Tuesday after noon.

After getting his revenge in "Prince of Thorns" and becoming a King of Renar Highlands (one of the smaller and poorer regions in the neighborhood), Jorg is still not peaceful because there is another his unfulfilled ambition: becoming the Emperor (of the World, just to mention it).Four years after and he is sitting in his (only) castle, waiting for his future bride (whom he never met) and slowly becoming surrounded by army ten times bigger than the one he has. And to his greater chagrin, this army is led by Prince Orrin of Arrow, favorite by people and nations (for being good and caring ruler), descendant of last Emperor (while Jorg's line descends only from his Steward), and most important, favorite of all magicians and soothsayer (the real power behind thrones). So, what does a person in Jorg's position does? He attacks, of course...

"King of Thorns" is a different book from its prequel. First, it's longer: around 500 pages, where PoT was some 300 pages. While PoT had two timelines (the main one, and one four years ago describing how Jorg becomes what he is), KoT has three. First, there is again the main one, which I described in last paragraph. Curiously, this line of events get only sporadic chapter, at least until the end, when it really hits. Again, there is one happening four years ago, describing what Jorg did after coming to Renar Highlands and what lead to his "quarrel" with Prince Orrin. I was very surprised with this part, because after PoT, I didn't expect to find a classical fantasy quest/journey, where Jorg travels around the country, meeting new and old people, and does some "training". And third, a minor plot-line is a collection of excerpts from private diary of Katherine, who Jorg met in last book and who become his object of... Well, we'll not call it love, so call it obsession. I like it when storytelling is nonlinear and there is lot of wandering during it. So, definitely a plus.

Another thing that differs this book from previous part is that it is much softer. While "Prince of Thorns" was full of raping, murder and torture, "King of Thorns" is much lighter. Jorg is still cynical, dark and "practical", but he doesn't even meaninglessly kill anybody in this book (well, there's maybe that part with the lion...). His band of Brothers is still here, even though much smaller, but they also grew accustomed to some other principles. One could say that this is a complete reversal, but Lawrence wrote it so well that is feels very natural. On the other hand, there are still lots of graphical descriptions and not-so-honorable acts (hello Miana) that we all like so much.

Even so, Jorg is much softer. Not only in his conduct (he in now just a political psychopath, instead of a literal one), but is his skill also. While in PoT there was no task impossible for him, here we see some of his limits. But don't worry, Jorg is a resourceful one. Now he plays for larger scales that just revenge: strength of his country and army, position in game of thrones, even seeking alliances. This book is full of his retrospectives and memories of childhood. Even a happier childhood, in some instances...

As I said, I liked the traveling sequence, especially when he comes in the south - it reminded me to some other, more classical fantasy books when our hero trains to become a hero. If you gave only this few chapters to someone who haven't read "Prince of Thorns", he could have thought this a regular fantasy book... I also liked the part when they met the Circus.

One of strong-points of "Prince of Thorns" was its setting. "King of Thorns" tops it by a good margin. You can see it by map, which is much larger. But you also get more information about its history and present. Magic "system" also gets extended, and some new enemies have their introduction. I have never met Jack Vance's "The Dying Earth" stories, even though I hear much about them. I read some reviews mentioning that post-apocalyptic part of the setting is strongly influenced by this works, so I will definitely read them in future.

While "Prince of Thorns" was a great book, "King of Thorns" is even more so. I can sincerely say that it was one of best books I have read lately, in range of R. Scott Bakker, Joe Abercrombie's earlier books, Patrick Rothfuss. If "Emperor of Thorns", which is due for publishing very soon, be a book good as this one, "The Broken Empire" series will be one of the best ever! Definitely a recommendation to fans of first part, but also for all those who like a darker fantasy.

Book review: "Prince of Thorns" by Mark Lawrence

I have noticed "Prince of Thorns" by Mark Lawrence immediately after it came out, even though I don't remember how (I think of Tor.com), and it's been sitting in my Amazon wish-list ever since. My initial enthusiasms dropped after reading few reviews describing it as grimdark and unnecessary gritty. But last Sunday I decided to give it a try - and finished it at Monday's morning...

"Prince of Thorns" is told from first point of view and narrated by Honorous Jorg Ancrath. When the story starts, he is fourteen years old and a leader of brutal and violent bunch of bandits called the Brotherhood. Killing a brother for challenging him as leader is a normal occurrence. Attacking villages, burning people and raping their women is what the Brotherhood do - and Jorg is a scariest of them. But Jorg is a more than a simple bandit: Prince Jorg, the only heir of kingdom of Ancrath. Jorg was always a precocious child and had the best of tutors. But when he was 10 years old, his beloved younger brother and mother will brutally killed in front of his eyes. Thrown in the bush of briars, he accidentally survives, but something has snapped in his mind... After his father the King decides not to seek vengeance against Count Renar and accepting some material amends, Jorg escapes from home in seek of revenge, but as the book progresses, it will turns out that there are more complex game being played around...

First, if you want to enjoy this book, you just have to accept that Jorg is fourteen and leader of bandit gang. We could now discuss psychological and physical problems of a teenager leading bunch of big old men, but this is out of the point - it is fantasy after all. If you can accept it, you are ready for one hell of a ride.

This book is really grimdark - very brutal and graphically violent. Killing and burning people, raping and visiting whorehouses, unstable relationships in families - you have it all. But after you finish the book, you can notice that most (but not all) of this brutal stuff is in first part of book. Like Lawrence wanted to make a state about this being a gritty book and wished to make an impact. He succeeds in both point very well, and I noticed that "Prince of Thorns" is very successful book, so you can presume that people very hungry for it. Hype for "Game of Thrones" and ASoIaF proves it, as it does the success of Joe Abercrombie's "First Law" series and its sequels, and Richard Morgan's "A Land fit for Heroes" series.

This is not just the story of revenge. It first starts as it, but as it goes on, you will notice that Jorg has other goals of just revenging himself against Count Renar. He wants to prove himself to his father (who is maybe even bigger psychopath than Jorg, in class of Tywin Lannister), but more than that he wants to "win the game" and become the Emperor (we will get back to it later). But he is not the only with a larger agenda, especially when you meet Sageous. The story in general becomes much wider after they return to the Tall Castle. Another interesting thing is the parallel story of four years ago, that explains what happened after Jorg's brother and mother were killed, how he escaped and how he met the band. It also gives more background and explains how Jorg became the man (he is definitely no child anymore) he is.

The characters are also very deep. Since it is told from first POV, you get to know Jorg the best. He is just a crazy and violent psychopath at first, but you will soon see that there is more to him... You know that typical young fantasy hero, who is strong and tall good with sword, has natural affinity to magic, and it is also intelligent, outspoken and charming? Well, Jorg is exactly like that, only he is the anti-hero, using all this traits for getting his goals through, never mind who gets killed or injured along the way. He is terrible, but you have to root for him on account of his gutsiness and "never bend" attitude. Nevertheless, Lawrence is smart enough writer and makes him have some weaknesses, not to make him irritating. It reminds me much on Richard Morgan, whose Ringil is also so confident, but you see him afraid and insecure sometimes. Other characters are interesting and have several shades to them, but Jorg is the star of the book. I liked the short descriptions of Brothers before chapters - they were quite funny (in gristly sort of way). There was also a touch of Black Company camaraderie and Croaker's humor in Jorg's descriptions of his fellows.

Another surprise is the setting. In the beginning, Ancrath is just a typical medieval kingdom, and so it the world. Sure, there are some ghosts and some, let's say magicians, but this is typical fantasy at first. But as the book advances, you realize that this is actually a post-apocalyptic world!! The story takes place in Europe, castles are actually skyscrapers, and some of the magic is actually technology. I liked this turn of events very much. There is some really magic here also, but it fits very well.

Lawrence writing was very easy to read, without being too simple, and the book has very fast pace. Unfortunately, it is quite short - only 350 pages. But, at least is very intense read. Another small objection I have is that Jorg is sometimes just too lucky, even for a fantasy-story protagonist.

So, it can definitely be said that "Prince of Thorns" is not just a "gritty-book". It starts very violently and simply, but it expands in every way: story, characters, setting. For fans of Martin, Abercrombie and Richard Morgan...

Book reivew: "Century of the Soldier" by Paul Kearney

Well, it is almost three weeks ago that I have read this omnibus, "Century of the Soldier", which comprises last three books from "Monarchies of God" series by Paul Kearney, but I've been too busy to make a post about it. Good think I took some notes, because I would be lost what to write.

I have read the first omnibus, "Hawkwood and the Kings" almost a year ago and had a good experience with it, which I described in the post. Again, in "Century of the Soldier", it is hard to make a short description because these are actually three books, and the last one happening almost 20 years after the middle one. But I will make a presumption that you have read the first two books. In essence, there are two main lines. In the east we have Corfe, as one main character, with bunch of other characters, fighting against the Merduks who are once again massively invading Torunna. In the West, we follow events in Henbrion, King Abeleyn's fight to reconquer his throne, helped by wizard Golophin, and return of captain Hawkwood from the far West. And the last book combines these two plots in one, where our heroes fight against the might of the Second Empire, a militaristic theocracy empowered by magic (Dweomer) and werewolves (among other things).

There are several things that differentiate this series from other. There is much sex, especially at the beginning of the first book in this omnibus. Even though I remember some of it from first omnibus, it definitely wasn't so bold. But I was much more surprised by brutal and graphical description of was violence, especially Merduk's rape and plunder through Torunna. Battle scenes are also pretty graphical. Kearney sometimes use trick Erikson often uses: talking through perspective of unimportant character that is later not even mentioned again.

I also liked how Kearney doesn't follow the tropes. We have an uncommon romance between younger man who is one of main characters, and (much) older woman. When I think about it, all love and marital relationships in these books are, well, not very healthy. There is also much of nice ambiguous morale - Golophin and others have to choose the side; Corfe and his love to his "daughter"...

Another specialty of this series is its magic system, Dweomer, but also its coexistence with gunpowder and cannons. Nothing much new compared to first two books, but this is a solid part for Kearney. This is not a classical fantasy - it is a historical fantasy but with a nice touch of magic, maybe akin to Guy Gavriel Kay's books.

What is not a solid part of Kearney is his narration, which is very sterile. In these three books I failed to make any connections to characters, so even when they make unexpected decisions (like Bardolin) or even die (and Kearney is not afraid of killing main characters, which will become more evident later), I just don't care. There was no real spark to interest me in fate of people.

I like Corfe's part in first books (there's no Hawkwood in first book), and things got pretty heated up in second book (which I like better). But pace is too fast in occasions and changes come to abrupt, which results in sudden and not-so-solid resolutions. I would have appreciated it more if the pace was consistent throughout the books.

There are very non-cheerful book - even when they are winning, our characters are not happy. Also, there is virtually no humor (except if you count Murad) and bantering between soldiers is bad (which I really take it as serious flaw).

All in all, "Monarchies of God" have some good points: interesting setting and unique magic system, realistic and gritty tone, complexity. "Century of the Soldier" has all this virtues, but I will remember it more by its flaws: not making any connection to characters and strange pace. Even though the overall impression of the series is more good than bad, I don't believe I will buy anything more by Paul Kearney - there is much more solid things out there.

Book of review: "God of Clocks" by Alan Campbell

This weekend I finished "God of Clocks" by Allan Campbell, the last book in his "Deepgate Codex" trilogy. I really liked his first book, "Scar Night" and found it very gritty and full of epic action. The second one, "Iron Angel" took the series to an unexpected expansion, making it very different from the first one, but I liked it very much also. So I had some expectation from this last one.

In last book, things weren't going were well for our main heroes (although this is maybe a wrong word). Even though they managed to save Dill from Hell's King Menoa, Menoa had used them to deliver twelve unstoppable arconites to the world of living. To thwart him, they devise a desperate plan: former Spine assassin Rachel Heal, thaumaturgist Mina Green, god places in glass body Hasp will lead arconite Dill to the God of Time Sabor, where they will attack the Heaven in hope that this will anger Ayen, mother of all creation, enough that she will destroy all arconites. At the same time, the god Cospinol and his servant John Archer, with former Mesmerist Alice Harper serving as they guide, will try to make a distraction and attack Menoa's stronghold in Hell...

At first, I had some trouble adapting to "God of Clocks" because I forgot a lot what happened at the end of its prequel, "Iron Angel". But I overcome this fast, especially because this book feel almost like a continuation of the last part of "Iron Angel": the Pandermia, the Mesmerists, Hell, arconites, war between gods... Of course, it is hard to add new elements in last book of series, but after a tremendous change between "Scar Night" and its sequel, I expected some surprise.

There are two big flaws in this book in my opinion. First is the constant action. From the page one till the end, you don't get any rest. It's action, action, action. I know that this sound strange, because action equals interesting. But you don't get any time to absorb what is happening and you are just constantly jumping from one scene to another, without really getting an attachment to plot and characters. It all leaves you tired from reading.

I admit that plot is interesting and really unpredictable, but here is the second, more important flaw: the ending. This book looks like Campbell wrote half of it and then decided that he doesn't feel like writing it any more. But since he was obligate to finish it, he wrote up the plot-line that gives ending, rearanged chapter and left everything else at cliffhanger. Sure, book had an ending, even a satisfactory one, but there is just too much question left unanswered. Too much...

Campbell's characters in last two books were superb. Here they retain most of their quality, the old ones. Several new characters are good, although not exceptional. But again, the abrupt ending leaves both heir history and future unresolved and unfinished. The bright point was reappearance of Carnival as a character, but even though she got some pages, they can be compressed to few words: anger, violence, unbending. This would be all right I she got some resolution at the end, but that nonsensical two pages just don't cut it.

All in all, "God of Clocks" was a big disappointment for me. It had a big potential, with really unique setting, great characters and very gritty and dark atmosphere. But sudden ending ruined the experience for me. Not sure if I would recommend this book even the fans of the series.

Book review: "The Half-Made World" by Felix Gilman

As can be seen on this blog, I am mostly dedicated to fantasy series, the longer the better. But I've been tried to broaden my horizon, so I occasionally buy some stand-alone novel, or even SF or something borderline. I first noticed "The Half-Made World" by Felix Gilman on Tor.com, the main fantasy and SF blog that I follow. It sounded interesting, so I put it on my wishlist and bought it few months ago, but read it only last week. My idea about it was as some blend between steam-punk and western.

"The Half-Made World" is set in a very interesting setting. In history and technology level it is akin to 19th century America, but geographically is very different. The East ("the Old East", I think it is referenced somewhere) is more similar to England: a land of peaceful prosperity, colleges and law. The West, divided from East by a large mounting range, has been "discovered" few centuries ago. Before, it was "uncreated" land, a chaos. Now the line of creation is traveling further west, so land between is being settled. It is full of small towns and coalitions, except the two major forces. The Line is ruled by Engines, strong "spirits" embodied in train-like machines, that rule its vast land and people as a perfect machine or bureaucracy: every part of it is replaceable and only a number on paper. The Gun is its complete opposite. It is also ruled by spirits, but these are wild spirits than possess a body of a gun. These guns are carried by the Agents of the Gun, and they give them superhuman abilities like vision in dark, superb sense of smell, great strength, endurance, and healing abilities. But there is a catch - Gun can force Agent to do his will, and since most of the Agents are individualist (meaning criminals, gamblers and other shady men and women), inevitably there comes a conflict between the Agent and Gun that rides him. Usual Agent's activities are kidnapping  blackmail and often murdering of innocent people (not mentioning killing the Linesmen), this chafes to even hardened criminal sooner or later. Just for a record, the Line and the Gun has been in state of constant war almost since Founding of first colonies in West.

In such world, we follow three main characters. Liv, or formally Dr. Lysvet Alverhuysen, is a professor on celebrated Koenigswald Academy in East, after recent death of her (much older) husband, embarks on a journey to West, to work in the House of Dolorous, a mental hospital for victims of war in West. John Creedmore is aged agent of the Gun, inactive for few years, spending his time with gambling and seducing young women (his specialty). Lowry, a relatively high-positioned member on army of the Line (meaning he is placed on top floor, in a small room with no windows - no distraction for his important work) is an ambitious Linesman (which he has to hide, because the system don't allow ambition), almost fanatical in his fight against the Gun. Creedmore and and Lowry are tasked with the same mission: to retrieve the supposedly death General Enver, founder of the Red Republic, the only entity that ever had some success in resisting both the Gun and the Line, who possibly has the weapon capable of destroying both the Line and the Gun. His current occupation and location: a patient in the House of Dolorous.

The book has a very interesting start and you are immediately drawn into its setting. At first, I was reminded to Susanna Clarke's "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell", because of initial Liv's POV, but later I realized it is much more similar to China Miéville's New Crobuzon setting. Far from being its plagiarism, but it has the same feel. It is needless to say that I got hooked up after first three chapters.

Gilman makes his main characters also very interesting. You first feel for them, but as you read you start realizing that they are far from perfect. Lowry is conformist and fanatic, Liv is too-innocent and too above-all (pretentious even), while Creedmore is nice, but actually without conscience. Also, I was very surprised with death of one of the characters toward end of the book.

There is one part of setting that I forgot to mention in introduction: the Hillfolk. They are people of the unmade world, something like very thin Neanderthals. They are enslaved by people in West who use them for menial work. I found the part when Creedmore meets one of their shamans very interesting. For several reasons (connection with the dessert, the river, the old history), they reminded me much on Steven Erikson and his Eres'al.

The plot is interesting, but in some parts it is a bit predictable. For example, I found their first journey into unmade lands exactly as I expected. But in general, the book is interesting and I hope to learn more of its setting and character. Which I will be able, since there is sort of sequel, "The Rise of Ransom City".

All in all, "The Half-Made World" was a very interesting and exciting read. It was nice plot, very good characters and really excellent and original setting. I would recommend it to anybody, but especially to fans of China Miéville.

Book review: "Red Country" by Joe Abercrombie

This weekend I finished reading "Red Country" by Joe Abercrombie. It took me only three days - not that the book was short, but it was so good I just couldn't leave it. I was really into "The First Law" trilogy, but its sequels "Best Served Cold" and "The Heroes" were not as good, so I had fears that all future books will be each a bit worse than one before. Because of that, I wasn't really following the hype around "Red Country" and didn't know much about it, which turned out a great thing because there is one big surprise in here!

"Red Country" has two main characters, which has most of the POVs. Shy South, a young woman with dark past, lives at a farm with his brother Pit and sister Ro, and their stepfather Lamb, in a region called the Near Country. After Shy and Lamp come back from bartering one day, they find out that somebody burned their farm and kidnapped Pit and Ro. There is nothing left for them but to follow the trail that will ultimately lead them to the Far Country, a place with no laws and under gold-rush. Shy is at first fearful that her violent past will surface, but the somewhat fall in background as she slowly realizes that her stepfather, quiet and cowardly Lamb, has a violent and bloody past of his own, none bloodier... Unknown to them, the Near and the Far Country are soon to be visited by famous and notorious mercenary Nicomo Costa, and his even more notorious Company of the Gracious Hand. Important member of this company is Temple (the second main character), their lawyer, a man who always takes the easier path. But even he is slowly realizing that sometimes you can't take the easy path, as the Company plow through the Countries in search for gold, spoils and rebels...

I somewhere read that Abercrombie models his books to different style every time: "The First Law" trilogy was classical epic fantasy, "Best Served Cold" was film noir/thriller, "The Heroes" was (anti) war book. Following this pattern, "Red Country" is a western, but placed in Abercrombie's fantasy setting. We have the almost desolate Far Country made of far-stretching planes (Wild West), nomadic savages Ghosts (Indians), trappers, lawless city full of saloons and whorehouses... I am not really a fan of westerns (not that I dislike them, though), so I had some second-thoughts about this book, but Abercrombie colors everything with his gritty style so everything ends well (or bad, if you are a character in his book).

In my post reviewing "The Heroes", I wrote that Abercrombie is not so good with plots, but that he is great with characters. Well, here he is still great with characters, but he is also very good with the plot. I wasn't able to guess where the plot will take us next during whole book, which is a very good thing. This gets especially interesting somewhere after the middle of the book - you have a big fight that fills like a finally, but there is still another half of the book and you have no idea what you can expect.

Both new and old characters are very good. Shy and Temple are very complex, expressing doubt at their every action, never sure in anything. Abercrombie really makes you feel like you are in their heads. And occasional POV from supporting characters are very interesting. Especially that little stream of POVs before the battle with Ghosts on the plains.

But the biggest news is that this book features HIM!!! And by him I mean one of your favorite characters from "The First Law" trilogy, whose name I will not mention to avoid spoilers. I was completely unprepared for this fact, so it came as a big surprise. Even more so, Abercrombie plays with his old readers by giving hints to whether it is him or not. But when he reveals him completely, there is really no doubt about it - it is him in all his vileness and complexity.

"Red Country" is as gritty as Abercrombie's books usually are: blood, sex, violence, cursing, general evilness of the world... All is here. I was surprised though with how this book reminds me of "The Black Company" books, with its sentiment of melancholy, how things are never going be the same. There are a lot of older characters here, characters that are out of their prime, but still have to give everything because there is no one else... Also, as usual, there is a minimal use of magic - actually, except brief showing of Magi Zacharus, there is no magic even in mention.

In conclusion, I was surprised with how good "Red Country" is, if you are into darker and grittier fantasy. Wonderful characters, very interesting plot and style, and of course, one of your favorite characters. This is recommendation for both fans and non-fans (even though they should better start with previous book than here). I will expect the next book with big hopes this time.

Movie reviews: "Taken 2" and "The Dark Knight Rises"

Two more movie I watched in last week, but I haven't had time to review them.

"Taken 2" I watched last weekend in cinema with my girlfriend. For some reason, girls like this film. My girlfriend loved the first part and insisted on watching the second one; her female friends at work all liked it; and the projection was full of women (I was the only guy in my seat-row) - which is strange because similar action movies usually don't attract many women.

Anyway, "Taken 2" is an average action thriller, differentiated from the first part only in details of setting and plot. Bryan Mills (played again by Liam Neeson), a retired CIA agent, finally succeeds in getting on good terms with his ex-wife, and invites her and their daughter Kim to visit him in Turkey after he finishes his part-time job as bodyguard. They accept and start what they expect to be a nice vacation. But they don't know that after Bryan's rampaging in Paris (topic of the first part), Albanian mafia-boss decided to revenge people he killed. Albanians succeed in taking Bryan and his ex-wife, but they miss Kim, who's only option is to free her father...

There is not much to say about this movie - a peaceful re-introduction of Mills' family, preparation for the plot, and then action, action, action. I've never had a notion of Liam Neeson as action-movies star, but he actually fits it. In my opinion, he's a bit too good in these two movies - which is one of the reasons I don't like these movies. There is some humor, mostly based on Bryan not being used to normal family interactions.

The worst part of the movie was the car chase toward the end - I usually don't like them, but I hate them when they are performed by a teen without her license... Also, I understand when foreigners speak English in public, but why they use it between themselves in private (especially after they have been shown speaking in their own language).

But all in all, "Taken 2" is not a bad movie, except if you totally hate action movies. Not something that I would really recommend, but neither a movie to avoid at all costs.

For "The Dark Knight Rises" I had some great expectations, after watching "The Dark Knight" two weeks ago.

Eight years after events in the previous movie, both Batman and Bruce Wayne have retired from public. Gotham is celebrating Harvey Dent as a hero, and police (given larger authorities after Dent's death) managed to clean the city of criminals. But they don't know what is preparing for them: a corrupted businessman Daggett has hired a strange masked mercenary Bane and they plan to take over Gotham using Wayne Industries' own resources. All this will force Batman once again to come out of hiding, even though he is not welcome in his city anymore...

"The Dark Knight Rises" has some great ideas: retired Batman broken and without hope; superior mercenary Bane with his army of fanatical followers; Gotham under siege that makes Joker's look like a child game; mysterious origins of Bane... But the movie fails in developing these concepts as they deserve.

This is not a short movie (two and a half hours), but it feels very, very rushed. I don't understand why haven't they added another hour or split it in two episodes. For example, there is a 6-month long siege of a whole city, but they only show first and last few days. They should have used it more to show the desperation of citizens, except being only a plot tool to show Batman as ultimate action hero. And Bane - they failed to use him miserably. We don't know almost anything about him (and I don't count those two info-dumps): how does he attract his followers and why are they ready to die for him so willingly? They made him look very impressive; such big guy giving all those philosophical (almost prophetic) speeches (Tom Hardy's voice was brilliant), but they should revealed more details. Neither did the other elements feel right: Batman's/Wayne's relationships with Selina, Blake and Miranda all felt forced and fake.

Another objection I have is that all felt too neat. There is even a definition for such plots where everything is placed in such place that it guarantees hero's victory (Batman Gambit), but they pushed it over the board. Especially with the Pit, and that doctor...

Action felt very subdued in the movie, and I can't really pinpoint any scene as very impressive. Batman's gadget also didn't get much attention - although I liked that trick with rotating wheels on Batcycle.

Unfortunately, I have to conclude that "The Dark Knight Rises" was a big disappointment in my eyes, after such great previous movie. I don't feel sorry for watching it, but I do feel sorry for the wasted potential.