I received a free copy of this book from Readers First in exchange for an honest review.
This book is the fictional debut for this author and the first in a series set within Europe during the Thirty Years’ War. This is a time I knew virtually nothing about so I was really interested in reading this book to learn more. Helpfully, the author has inserted a note at the opening of the book which provides a basic summary of the main events and any pertinent facts which I found very useful.
I was a bit daunted by the size of this book when I received it but I did really like the cover and in the intricate red wax seal detailing on the front. It is not just the physical size of the book but the sheer geographical scope that might be a bit much for some readers. Although the author explores it well, it was a bit overwhelming for me and I struggled to keep it all visualised within my mind.
The structuring of the book certainly helped to ease this and it is certainly well-researched and fleshed out but it also meant in each new place we were being met with new characters even in the very last few pages of the novel and this was just a bit too hard for me to grapple with. I love getting more of a deeper connection with the characters so I can engage more with their thoughts and feelings and visualise them better as I read. The cast of characters was just too vast for me to warm to but it shouldn’t deter other readers as the plot is certainly detailed and impressive.
One warning I should make is that there is a lot of descriptive violence in this book and I did struggle with this at times. I found the main protagonist, Jack, a bit hard to relate to because of the aggression he displayed at several points. Although I sympathised with what he had gone through, I just could not warm to him.
It has a very lively, gritty pace to it and does contain slang and some swearing which also might be off-putting for some readers. Overall, I was glad I read it – I learned some history and its clearly an impressive work, I just didn’t engage with it as much as I was hoping I would. I am not sure whether I would read the rest of the series, but I got the impression it was setting the scene for some more intense plot twists so I may still be drawn in when they get released too.
This book is the fictional debut for this author and the first in a series set within Europe during the Thirty Years’ War. This is a time I knew virtually nothing about so I was really interested in reading this book to learn more. Helpfully, the author has inserted a note at the opening of the book which provides a basic summary of the main events and any pertinent facts which I found very useful.
I was a bit daunted by the size of this book when I received it but I did really like the cover and in the intricate red wax seal detailing on the front. It is not just the physical size of the book but the sheer geographical scope that might be a bit much for some readers. Although the author explores it well, it was a bit overwhelming for me and I struggled to keep it all visualised within my mind.
The structuring of the book certainly helped to ease this and it is certainly well-researched and fleshed out but it also meant in each new place we were being met with new characters even in the very last few pages of the novel and this was just a bit too hard for me to grapple with. I love getting more of a deeper connection with the characters so I can engage more with their thoughts and feelings and visualise them better as I read. The cast of characters was just too vast for me to warm to but it shouldn’t deter other readers as the plot is certainly detailed and impressive.
One warning I should make is that there is a lot of descriptive violence in this book and I did struggle with this at times. I found the main protagonist, Jack, a bit hard to relate to because of the aggression he displayed at several points. Although I sympathised with what he had gone through, I just could not warm to him.
It has a very lively, gritty pace to it and does contain slang and some swearing which also might be off-putting for some readers. Overall, I was glad I read it – I learned some history and its clearly an impressive work, I just didn’t engage with it as much as I was hoping I would. I am not sure whether I would read the rest of the series, but I got the impression it was setting the scene for some more intense plot twists so I may still be drawn in when they get released too.