Polansky proves himself a weaver of intricate tales with this first shot across the bow of the fantasy genre. In the same bleeding vein as Abercrombie Low Town pulls no punches in the grit department. The story feels real and the despair is palpable. While the filth and blood are present neither ...
4.5 StarsI really enjoyed this dark and gritty fantasy with a highly flawed protagonist/narrator who managed to make me laugh out loud several times. The world building is on a slightly smaller scale, but is still fantastic and unique. The mysterious plot line kept me turning the pages and the ...
Above. A great width of pipe beat its steady tune, though as children of the slums they gave no more thought to the noise than they would the beating of their own hearts. On either side were bleak walls of faded red brick, tenement houses much like the one that Pyre had grown up in, finger-width ...
The day after the battle was spent in a riotous orgy of victory, fuelled by loot stripped from the dead Marchers and, Bas felt unpleasantly certain, the hoplitai themselves. It was nothing like what had been won during the war against Salucia, or on the day of Dycia’s fall, but still, the weapons...
I put on my clothes and coat, trying to avoid contact with the wound as I did so. Walking out, I banged my shoulder against the wall of the flophouse and had to stop myself from screaming. I couldn’t go back to the Earl like this—they’d be cutting off my arm in half a day. And I didn’t want to al...
It was half a trek, and I broke up the monotony with a hit of breath when it felt appropriate, as it often did. This section of the city was mostly industrial, cavernous mills and foundries with little nightlife to speak of. Yancey’s having to play there was a sign of the blight that had overtake...
He pitched his voice to characteristic nonchalance. “Hello?” “M,” Celise said from the other end, “how wonderful it is to speak to you.” “You’re not Kristen.” “Is that what your phone was reporting? Technology these days. The world has been going downhill since the gramophone.” “Indisputably. Wel...