It baffles me how this title won so many awards. Not to yuck others’ yum but good grief. I got about 2/3 through this thing until I decided to stop torturing myself and put it down for good.

How could someone write a main character as thoroughly, mind-bendingly boring as Shadow? The premise is simple enough and sounds downright intriguing; unfortunately it’s a slog—and not even an enjoyable one at that. A very easy read but come up for air after reading 125 pages and you’ll find the story advanced a centimeter. This one missed the mark for me.

2.5 stars. I decided not to finish this book around page 350, and here’s why:

It turned out to not at all be the book I was looking for. I’ve been in the mood for stories that center the dark antics of a thief/band of thieves and thus really enjoyed the first half of this book, but once Part 2 rolled around, my interested waned page by page.

Part 2 featured way more politics and religious zealotry; this duchy vs. that duchy, the Pretender vs. King Tomas, the Covenant vs. Heretics—really just a retelling of The Crusades and the Hundred Years War all rolled into one.

That is to say, I’m hard-pressed to see how this falls into the Fantasy genre; if you asked what the magic system is in this book, I couldn’t even tell you (after reading almost 60% of it..). A woman having visions of the coming Scourge because the moralities of the crown-sanctioned religion were shunned is hardly fantastical and barely interesting to me.

I really enjoyed most aspects of this book, but so many things just didn’t connect or felt disparate looking back. The entire interstellar/space aspect felt like a last minute add-on and the overall story would’ve been the exact same without its inclusion. The ending, for me, was a *really* big let down—3 chapters of endless fight scenes with just, bones flying and a big construct with tentacles and sword play…it got old quickly (but I recognize that’s also personal to the kind of things that hold my attention as a reader; protracted fight scenes are often boring to me).

On the plus side, the irreverence of Gideon Nav and the interactions between some characters was super. I loved the shitty teens & Magnus, for example. A solid 3.5/5

Overall Rating: 4/5

Prose: 3/5 :: Written in a very colloquial way. I absolutely

loved the filthy rawness of the narration style, though I recommend reading a sample online/in store before buying.

Pacing: 4/5 :: Never a dull moment and very easy to read

Characters: 5/5 :: These folks were written so well. The reader comes away with an understanding of what makes each of them tick and their individual personalities, craggy and foul-mouthed as they are, are so much fun.

Read this book if you're looking for: Laugh out loud debauchery, simple magic system, adventure, pottymouth characters, a world with inventive textures

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Prose: 3.5/5 :: some turns of phrase stuck out and there were a few instances where the sentence structure was a bit garbled, but overall very readable.

Pacing: 4/5 :: There was never a dull moment in this book; indeed every chapter had a clear purpose and through-line to the plot

Characters: 5/5 :: I can confidently say I

know the MC and a few of the members in the band of thief brothers. Side and foil characters did not feel hollow. All things being equal, I wish we spent a little more time uncovering the backstory of the primary 5-7 Brothers. The MC's character development was front and center

Read this book if you're looking for: A quick read, a brutal little shit of a MC, antics from a band of thieves, vengeance, some fantastical elements (necromancers)

I was looking to branch out into fantasy for a while, as my usual romp in sci-fi was becoming a bit stale. I’m not into dragons and hard magic and fairies, thus complicating my foray into the fantasy genre as a whole (I’m still learning which sub-genres to dabble in that fit the bill).

This was a very good read. Not perfect by any means, at times slow and uneventful to be sure, but it was the perfect palate cleanser and first dive into fantasy.

Above all, Name of the Wind is just a good story and had elements I gravitate towards. The writing was illustrative, the scenes and their depiction were efficient—imaginative, whole, but not so overly described as a lot of authors tend to do (ironic though as the novel is lengthy at 720 pages). Kvothe’s performance at the Eolian remains one of my favorite scenes.

Do I have questions and are there subplots and mysteries unresolved/left alone? Absolutely. Did I skip over some passages where Kvothe and Denna spend time on nothing together? 100%. In fact, this is my primary qualm with the book—like all male writers, Rothfuss struggles to write women characters well, as whole humans with depth. He also struggles in some instances to write about love and affection beyond the pull of “mystery” or “who knows what women want, am I right?” As a sci-fi reader, this is hardly new. Disappointing, but not surprising.

Tl;dr: a great story that meanders and takes the scenic route but pushes forward at a good pace, you’ll be left with unresolved questions. You’ll want to read over candle light while eating barley bread and butter with your stew and a side of dark ale while reading. A great Fall read.

I’m conflicted about this book. Though understanding that it is an exceptionally short read and had to end in a timely fashion, I still wasn’t entirely convinced/pulled in until around pg. 100.

Murderbot is a likable character well enough, though the surrounding characters were a bit underdeveloped (Arada, Overse, Bharadwaj) and almost hollow. Again, less of a big deal because of how short the book is, though still a bummer.

My biggest bone to pick is the overuse of conjoined words (SecUnit, GreyCris, HubSystem, EvilSurvey, etc). I read a lot of sci-fi—I know this is common practice in the genre, but to me it felt overused.

The ending made me want to continue reading the series to get a bit more of a fuller experience and dive deeper into the Murderbot world, however.

I read a lot of sci-fi, probably more than any human should, but I have *never* read anything quite like this.

Chambers created a fantastically inclusive, positive story that features a novel plot line—even if some of the tech & fringe objects are present in other space-based books (which, as a reader, I appreciated & found it added to the overall value of the story; familiar yet in a brand new context). The characters are not only realistic, but their progression, quirks, and development are seamless and add to the overarching theme of the book.

It’s so refreshing to read a novel where the women are complex, layered individuals rather than foil archetypes. There is room for any and all types of people, scales or no scales, pairs or heretics, organic or AI. Though the story is kind and overtly approachable, there is still plenty of action & intrigue along the way. Though if you’re looking for a fast-paced page turner filled with gore and mystery, you may look elsewhere to satisfy that itch.

But ultimately I think this is a novel every sci-fi nerd should get their claws on; come for the story, stay for the writing.

My one and only critique would be the grammatical misuse of “sometime” which should instead be “some time” (and similarly “anytime” vs. “any time”). But this editing issue is a minor star in a vast galaxy and hardly occludes the brilliance thereof.

Will absolutely read the rest of the series

I tried with all my might to enjoy this book, and to a certain extent I did--what, with all the intriguingly complex species and far-out biological details, it was a treasure trove.

However, the writing made this book practically unreadable. The dialogue was weak and forced, exclamation points & "OK" abound. Page 300 came and I still had to actively try and remember who each character was in any given situation.

This aside, I very much appreciated the lengths to which the author went to make this novel feel as if it were non-fiction; the map of the island, the drawings of island-dwelling species, the website dedicated to making this book come to life, etc.

2 stars due to writing style

I'm a long-time fan of Agent Pendergast's as well as Preston & Child; therefore, without any doubt in my mind, I can say this is one of the best novels in the series.

Can we all take a second to appreciate the perfection that is Constance Greene? Her character is fantastically written, and this novel upholds her rather baroque 19th century-esque character very, very well. So much so, that those who are well acquainted with Constance Greene's peculiar existence find themselves conflicted--we see the legal case and pertinent view of the court/ Dr. Felder, though we hope she will be able to continue her stay at 891 Riverside Dr.

The weaving skills of Preston & Child never cease to amaze me, and this book is no exception. Though the story ended rather abruptly, I'm assuming it is due to the next novel in the series that will hopefully pick up where Fever Dream left off.

Highly recommend this book, one of their best.