Jonathan French (1)

Half-orcs get to be politically incorrect, which makes for easygoing fun.

I really like the interactions and the jokes between all the characters.

The story is well-paced, though a bit full of lucky timings and the ending is not that great. It's not a definite "just the first in a trilogy" feel, it's a bit different, it does have an ending, which is a bit preordained, and then it's made clear that there might be more to come. of course, by now we know the trilogy goes on and is complete already.… (altro)

The author called this a gritty story, and that's exactly the right word. A warrior saga is not the kind of thing I'd normally pick up but it had a great staff review at my local indy, and since I was already loading up, what's one more book, eh?

Took me a while to warm up to it but it just kept piling on good stuff: characters, backstory, atmosphere (usually malodorous), creatures of more kinds than I can count. Okay, it was a bit complex for me to really grasp how the many pieces fit together but I couldn't slow down reading to puzzle everything out. I liked it.… (altro)

This was so good! If you like your world-building imaginative and gritty, your characters unapologetically brash, your plot fast-moving and epic, and don't mind some salty language, this book (and hopefully the entire series) delivers. It is simply terrific. Yes, there is plenty of adult language, but I never found it gratuitous; it fit perfectly well with the characters and their hard lives, and if anything it added to the world-building and set this book apart from most mainstream fantasy. Sure, many (most?) of the male characters are incredibly misogynistic boors, and that can be tedious and cringey at times, but that is the world these people inhabit: it feels fitting. This book reminds me a lot of the old [a:Ramsay Thorne|209429|Ramsay Thorne|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]/[a:Lou Cameron|350702|Lou Cameron|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] "Captain Gringo" ([b:Renegade|23474650|Renegade (A Captain Gringo Western Book 1)|Ramsay Thorn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1414596634l/23474650._SX50_.jpg|43066070]) adult westerns: trashy and filthy, but well-written and incredible swash-buckling fun.… (altro)