Stuart Simms's Blog

Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is my first 5 star book of 2023 based on the following criteria:
-I struggled to stop reading it and I was thinking about reading it when I wasn't reading it
-Logen Ninefingers being a secret soft boy
-Jezal dan Luther becoming my favourite character after being my least favourite character in book 1
-Glokta's POV, enough said
-War was an important part of the story without this feeling like a war story
-Line after line of quotable dialogue



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Briardark by C.L. Werner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was another great insight into the lives of "regular" people in the worlds of Warhammer. While it built toward a shared mythos with the other 'Murghast' books, it was a deeply personal story and shows the kind of agony and grief that results from the commonplace threats of the Warhammer worlds. What I found most interesting about it was how it showed entities like Nagash, typically always a villain, being a source of comfort and guidance for his worshippers alongside the other gods, and how his agents aren't just simple monsters but could be a force for good.



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Gothghul Hollow by Anna Stephens

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I've been really enjoying the Warhammer Horror and Crime series. The worlds of Warhammer have always been inherently horrifying, but when you take characters who are less well-equipped to deal with threats than the average superhuman warrior you start to understand just how terrifying life in the Mortal Realms can be.

'Gothghul Hollow' is a great slice of horror for this most bleak time of year when the nights are long and the days are cold. There's an engaging central mystery and a cast of characters who all felt like they had something to contribute to advancing the story. This is the first book in the 'Tales of Mhurghast' series and I'm excited to see how it continues and builds towards something bigger.



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The Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


After being a little disappointed by 'Blood of Elves' I was pleased to find 'Time of Contempt' to be much closer to what I expected from a 'Witcher' book. The conspiracies, mythology and characterisation I loved from the games were all present in this book and I'm starting to understand why the series has such an enduring appeal.



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A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I'd been planning to read this for years, reminding myself to pick it up almost every time I went into a book shop. I was looking forward to reading it based on the overwhelmingly positive reviews, so it was really disappointing when I didn't enjoy it. There are some things to recommend about this book. It does a good job of showing a character who is enamoured with the society and culture of an empire that is threatening to annex her home and the complex feelings that would create. The world building surrounding the central empire is quite well done, though the details of their culture and the way their society works felt superficial.

Overall I struggled to finish this book and actually wanted to put it down more the closer I got to the end. The book often seemed like it existed solely so that there could be a sequel. The events of the book felt like they happened too rapidly for the timescale they cover, but it also seemed like there wasn't enough happening to take the story from start to finish. I can understand why people enjoy this book and I do believe I was the victim of too much hype prior to starting it, but for me it didn't live up to expectations.



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The River of Silver: Tales from the Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The Empire of Gold was an incredible conclusion to the Daevabad trilogy, but still left me wanting more stories set in that world. The River of Silver satisfied my need for more stories and also left me wanting more. The individual stories in the book cover some events we've seen or heard of before, but provides new perspectives and new context, and we're treated to a few "deleted scenes". S.A. Chakraborty's writing is as beautiful as it always is and her characters are as richly detailed and motivated as they always are.



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Far from the Light of Heaven by Tade Thompson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


After struggling through Rosewater I wasn't sure I wanted to give Tade Thompson another chance, but I was pleased to discover that I actually enjoyed this book. The story is a straightforward, but engaging tale about a series of murders aboard a colony ship and the setting around it builds a rich Afro-centric vision of human expansion into a distant solar system, as well as the unsurprising culprits that would threaten a black-led endeavour.

My main criticism of the book is its slightly discordant storytelling which made me feel as if I was experiencing long lapses in concentration. The multiple POVs confused what exactly was happening in certain situations and I felt like I was piecing together events which should have been more clearly described. At times it seemed the story bore little relation to the wider universe, but it was capably resolved.



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Arm of the Sphinx by Josiah Bancroft

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


While I felt like Arm of the Sphinx was missing a little bit of the magic which made Senlin Ascends such a delightful read, the second book continues the series with an intriguing and richly-detailed story. The main cast of characters are united after the events of the first book's finale and their interactions are not only entertaining, but faithful to their individual personalities. The story focuses on their need to keep their stolen airship running while Senlin continues his quest to find his missing wife in the heart of one of Babel's most powerful kingdoms.

I felt like the book lost some momentum towards the end, but it was still engaging throughout. This book is generally more action-packed than the first and features a genuinely incredible aerial sequence that feels grounded within the rules of the world.



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The Wolf in the Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


An epic tale capably told through the perspective of a really interesting narrator, who is trying to find their own place in the world in defiance of gender norms. The story is epic in scale, from physical journeys across the harsh landscapes of the Arctic circle to spiritual journeys through the worlds of Inuit and Norse mythology. A realistic cast of characters and the close-knit communities that surround them help to ground the story even as the book ramps up towards a spectacular finale. The clash of different cultures is well-handled for the most part, although I felt some of the tension was removed by a MacGuffin partway through.



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Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I loved Dune and I really wanted to love Dune Messiah as well, but in reality I barely managed to finish it. Like its predecessor it raises some interesting themes, but I never felt as if any of those themes were ever fully explored. Instead the themes of the book are half-heartedly discussed by an unlikable cast of characters through turgid dialogue against a revolving backdrop of bland locations. These impenetrable discussions form the entirety of the book's action and too often any dialogue or narrative concerning the meta-physical side of the story felt like a parody of the original Dune.



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