Articles of Faith

A fantastic romp of an adventure! The Black Hawks is first and foremost fun. There is nothing hugely original about the plot or the world, but the story is just great fun. It follows a squire like ‘sworn man' trying to protect a prince as they travel across an unstable country with many different factions trying to capture said prince. The band of mercenaries they end up travelling with are a foul mouthed but endearingly real feeling group of outcasts and misfits. I honestly think Lemon might be one of the most entertaining characters I have ever read. She lives up to her name in a brilliantly amusing way. The rest of the Black Hawk company are all well formed and interesting characters in their own right too.

Whilst the writing was incredibly fun, the plot was a bit of a mess in places, which holds me back from awarding the full 5 stars. The start sequence was somewhat hard to follow and some of the character motivations are somewhat opaque. The later twists are all clever though.

Very intrigued to see where this series ends up!

Chel is bored and miserable in a city where he was sent to be a sworn man to his step-uncle, up until he unintentionally becomes the protector of a young prince running from war. Up until the two of them get kidnapped by mercenaries, which only makes things much more complicated. Misfortunes start after that for real. The title of the book really gives you a clue about what is the best about the story; it really shines when Chel, prince Tarfel and the Black Hawks mercenary group interact and go through all sorts of insane things together. So really, my recommendation is that you should just push through the first part with the kind of... not particularly interesting stuff and then everything will be awesome. This little wait is the reason why I took one star from it, because I feel there is a lot more ahead of us and the second book won't need the setup. (Hopefully book 2 also won't disappoint like [b:The True Bastards 34299732 The True Bastards (The Lot Lands, #2) Jonathan French https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1560049511l/34299732.SY75.jpg 55353538] did to me, sadly.) The characters are all fine by themselves, though it all makes sense with them as a group. Their interactions are fun and range from bickering to grudging respect. Then again, there are still a lot of things to discover about them so hopefully that will happen. The story was unpredictable, not necessarily in a huge way, I simply had no idea where they were going with the plot. The big, final plot twist wasn't bad, though it felt kind of abrupt and to me not all that jawdropping. Not like that's a bad thing, I don't mind. Definitely a book I recommend and I'm excited about the sequel.

This was a meh book. It didn't grab my attention wholly (I listened to it) and I skimmed over some points.

MC was boring and lacked any character. I was far more interested in the side characters.

The story could have been interesting if the character was. Otherwise it was meh.

I feel you'd like this if you like kings of the wyld.

This is a fun, fast read. I loved it! This band of misfits has a special place in my heart. So many great characters to love, but I think Lemon is my favorite. She is hilarious. I highly recommend this to all fantasy fans. I am ready for more!

I received a copy from Net Galley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3 starts that dropped to 2.5 with that ending.

I just could not find it in me to care for any of these characters. Even ending in a cliffhanger could not bother me enough to pick up the second book. Maybe I will if I ever get that bored.

It was just trying too hard to be cool but it keeps missing and missing and missing.