Jason

This was a simple, quick read with good characters.
It was a bit of a mixed bag for me with several sections that were tense and well written, and others that felt somewhat amateurish. I don't mean that as an insult to the author, but more of an indication of sections that pulled me out of the story because of a writing style that seemed to change in quality. More often than not during dialogue or an overuse of metaphors that made it feel like I was being spoon fed. I did note however that these occured more often earlier in the book.
Then there were other sections that were so gloriously descriptive and gruesome that had me feeling everything.
Overall this fell short of being great and was more of a popcorn read for me.

Love the setting and the characters. Such a unique world has been created here and I can see many great ideas for future books. For a debut, this author has the rare gift of being able to paint a picture without getting bogged down in superfluous language. I was able to visualise all the settings which is something I struggle with sometimes, and considering the crazy universe this is set in, it's no mean feat to get me to effortlessly see through the authors eyes.
It took me to another world.
Easy to read, but a complex and fun adventure.

Started strong but got bored

I really enjoyed the first half of this. Then something happened and I found it becoming a bit of a chore to read. I don't know why. The story was strong. I ended up listening to the last 30% via audiobook on double speed just to get it finished quickly.
Again, the story and concept was good, but just maybe not my cup of tea.

Quite frankly one of the best books I've read for some time. I was expecting this to be more sci fi than what it was. This was much more along the lines of historical fiction - which I really have absolutely NO interest in.
Says so much then that I struggled to put this book down. Not once was I disappointed hat this wasn't what I was expecting.
I don't think I've read a book where the characters have been so masterfully developed.
I felt physical sensations with the the characters that I have never felt before because they were written so descriptively - yet without ever looking like the author is trying to get me to understand something I couldn't possibly understand.

The beauty of the writing demonstrated wonderfully with the following quote:

The light of the rocket reflected off her bright eyes as if the fire of her soul were coming out to push the rocket into the sky.

I would like to thank Netgalley for an uncorrected proof in exchange for an honest review.

This is not a genre I have ever really had any interest in at all. I generally stick to Sci-Fi and Horror. This book however has opened my eyes to another world.
I found this absolutely compelling.
I've not come across many books that make me think and care about the characters after I've put it down. And now that it's over I find myself missing them.
The story is deep and perfectly paced, the setting is beautifully realised, and the characters are compelling and realistically fleshed out. All in all creating a world that I found myself sucked into and struggling to leave.

This is a gem of a book and I recommend it to anyone that likes an all round brilliantly crafted story.

If that doesn't convince you, I loved it enough to purchase the final copy. This author deserves to be rewarded for the journey he took me on.

I'm very conflicted with this book. I so wanted to enjoy it but it was extremely hit and miss for me. I loved some of the character interaction immensely, but at other times found it extremely wooden.
Go into this understanding that it is hard sci-fi. And for me there was too much science and not enough fiction.
There would be times where I found myself finally connecting with the characters only to then have them ripped away from me by 2 chapters of scientific exposition. By the time I slogged through that I had lost the connection I had just made with the characters.
I enjoy reading the science that drives a story, but I just found that there was far too much here and it broke up the flow of the book for me.
Ironically, the final few pages had some of my favourite character work, but at that point I was too exhausted to care much.

That said, I'm glad I read this, and I'm left with a dilemma because if the areas of strong character work that I loved are carried through to the second book more consistently, and the exposition is toned down, I would love to read it.
However I'm not sure I'm willing to take the risk.

Only the second book I've not been able to finish. I can't stay awake. It's a textbook disguised as a collection of stories. No humour. No character development. No heart.
Interesting ideas written by someone that fails to capture my imagination.
I enjoyed Babylon, but everything else felt pretentious.
Sorry. Highly rated, but for reasons I don't understand

This was a good little ghost story. A short, quick read but nicely paced and well constructed. I didn't think a “found footage” style would work in print, but this was done very well.
I must admit I would have liked it to go on a little longer, but that's hardly a criticism. More of a, “I enjoyed it enough to want more”.

sigh I really wanted to like this book. I enjoyed the human story very much but the spider chapters felt like they were written by a different person. Exposition, exposition, exposition. I just didn't care. It felt like I was reading a school text book instead of a story.
It all came together with a good climax, but by that point I was more happy about finishing the book than I was about enjoying the story.
Obviously a talented author, but this didn't do it for me.

Schwab has become one of my favourite authors in both the adult and YA field (this is . She seamlessly develops completely unique worlds and stories without the need for extensive exposition.
Her prose flows beautifully and naturally - making you forget you are reading a book.
Just another excellent read and another completely unique concept.

Never have I hated a story that I loved so much.
This was wonderful, frustrating, confusing and a pain in my butt to get through.

It took me a while to figure out why I could not get my head around this book. Then it hit me; too many characters.
Let me clarify, not just too many characters, but that fact that the author did not stick to the same naming convention for each character essentially created 3 times as many names to keep track of.
The fact that there's a cast of character at the very beginning of the book should have been a warning sign, but when you also decide to start calling the characters by their nick names, last names, first names, house position names and descriptive names means that I gave up trying to understand who was talking to who half the time - no, virtually all the time.
This completely ruined any sense of understanding of the intricacies of what I wanted to be a wonderful world.

By half way through this just became an exercise in refusing to not give up. However I was just going through the motions because I refuse to not complete a book.

This saddened me, because when this book was good, it was exceptional. I loved the two main characters. The relationship between them and the witty dialogue was top notch. But I just could not be bothered keeping up with anyone else. I didn't care who died because I couldn't actually place who it was.

The fact that this was a hard slog for me is reflected by the fact that it took me TWO MONHTHS to get through.
That is not a sign of a book that I enjoyed reading.

A shame, because I really should have.

Firstly I would like to thank Netgalley for providing a free, pre-release copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! I went into this with no idea what to expect. I quickly found myself completely engrossed in the world that Cameron created here. His writing style was flawless to me. Absolutely beautifully crafted prose, completely fleshed out characters (and there's a lot of them to flesh out), and world building that had me living in it.

A word of warning if you have not read any other reviews.. This book probably should have a trigger warning for almost everything!

You will have a good idea within the first 3 chapters. This is dark and descriptively gruesome.
There's Murder (including children), rape, sexual violence, chauvinism, general violence, and extreme language.
This does settle as we get more into the story, but it never really goes away.
Think Game of Thrones mixed with Lord of the Rings.

That said, all the above serves a vital purpose to the story, and this has to be one of the tightest stories I've read in a long time. It feels like the Author knew where this was going before he wrote it. Everything has it's place, every character has their place, and every Trinket has it's place.

I loved this book so much that I threw away my free review copy at 70% and bought the final book.

Look forward to seeing more novels from this very talented Author.

Fun read

This was my first foray into action/adventure. Love these type of movies but never tried it in book form.
I must admit that it took me a little to get into it, but once I did it was a fun little read. I enjoyed the biblical focus of this - reminding me very much of Indiana Jones Last Crusade.
I found this a light read and a good diversion.

Possibly the best book I have ever read.

This is the first time I've ever read a Sanderson book. Obviously I know the hype around this author and his books. But I've taken a while to get around to reading anything of his.

This is one of those moments where I find myself facepalming myself.

Why? Why did I leave it this long?

The hype is real. There's a purity an cleanliness to his writing which made every page just embed itself into my brain with no effort whatsoever.

I rarely had to re-read a sentence or try to figure out what was going on or what he was describing visually.

It's just fantastic to be able to pick up a book and know that it will almost read itself to you.

And nothing felt rushed. This is an epic story with a huge lore and magic system, but not once did it feel out of control. Sanderson knew how this was going to play out from start to finish. It was obvious he knew where it was going, and he took the time to flesh everything out before things started heating up. The stakes were high because the time was taken to get me to know and love these characters - and their history. And at no point was I bored or wanting to "get on with it".

I can't say enough about this book. My only regret is that I haven't got the next ones in the series all ready to go yet. I can't wait to get my hands on them and really soak up this world even more.

5 out of 5.. 10 out of 10. A+ and then some.

Just..read..it

Absolutely loved this! Not normally my genre but I was hooked by the accessible writing style and premise.
Good characters and captivating dialogue.
I found the action elements extremely visceral and easy to follow which is often something I find challenging.
This was my introduction to Koontz and gifted to me by a friend. It was a wonderful journey.

A letter to the author....

Oh my God Scott!
This was by far one of the craziest, yet wonderful books I have ever read!
I usually have issues being patient enough to try and figure out exactly what the hell is going on in books that don't want to at least start trying to explain things within the first few chapters, but I was so caught up in the sheer delightful mindfck of not being able to even guess what the hell was going to happen next, that I didn't care.. I just wanted to know what these characters could possibly show us next. Everything that happened was vividly described yet not superfluous in any way. Such a rare treat in fantasy/sci-fi writing.I also laughed out loud in many places, which is something I rarely do when reading.The characters were wonderful, the story was batsht crazy yet somehow made perfect sense, and all I feel now after finishing it is disappointed because you HAVEN'T WRITTEN ANY MORE BOOKS!

However, after stalking you on your website and blog, and understanding the reason why you haven't yet released any more fiction, all I can say is thank you.
Thank you for not only taking the time to make sure this was right before you released it, but also for not jumping into production line mode and releasing hollow, cookie cutter stories for the sake of making a quick buck.

Because of that, I can safely say you have a definite sale here for whatever you do end up releasing next (if anything), no matter how long it takes to be ready.

Thank you again for the journey you just took me on.

Very enjoyable

I was ready to give up after about 50 pages, but am glad I continued. That first 50 felt cold and emotionless. Steeped in exposition that was of little interest to me.
Then all of a sudden the real story kicked in and it was masterful. The differing points of view all slowly converged together over the course of the book in shorter and shorter sections making it feel like the net was closing in on the jackal. Very clever and very effective.
This is not my genre at all, but I'm extremely happy I gave it a go. I'll certainly read more.

Great book

A well written, unsettling story. My first time reading Michael Bray and it won't be the last.
This was easy to read, flowed beautifully and had a well crafted relationship between the two main characters that ensured that I was invested in what happened to them.
Some truly unsettling moments here that had me hooked.
I know a good book when I find myself reading it in the loo!
Look forward to reading the next in the series.

First book I've read this year (it's only January at time of writing!), and I'm not sure if it will be topped.
I loved everything about this book. Good, flawed characters, buttery smooth writing style, and despite there being a sequel, this is a complete story which is becoming harder and harder to find in this world of book series and cliffhanger endings.

First page turner I've read for quite some time. Didn't want to stop reading at any point, and was only forced to due to time restraints.

First time reading this author too. Easily a new favourite and will be buying more.

So many “firsts” in this review! That's gotta be good right?!