Grey Sister - Mark Lawrence

In Mystic Class Nona Grey begins to learn the secrets of the universe. But so often even the deepest truths just make our choices harder. Before she leaves the Convent of Sweet Mercy Nona must choose her path and take the red of a Martial Sister, the grey of a Sister of Discretion, the blue of a Mystic Sister or the simple black of a Bride of the Ancestor and a life of prayer and service.

All that stands between her and these choices are the pride of a thwarted assassin, the ambition of a would-be empress wielding the Inquisition like a blade, and the vengeance of the empire’s richest lord.

As the world narrows around her, and her enemies attack her through the system she has sworn to, Nona must find her own path despite the competing pull of friendship, revenge, ambition, and loyalty.

And in all this only one thing is certain.

.

There will be blood. 

Hardcover, 400 pages

Published April 3rd 2018 by Ace

Book of the Ancestor #2

Fantasy

Library

My thoughts:

I was ...unimpressed :/ Book 1 was so good and then I read this and was all eh. I even started skimming at the end. It just lost some of it's shine. Instead I felt like we got mean girls in a fantasy world. Even Nona was so meh.

I am still really fascinated by the world! I want to know from where they came, why, and what about the culture before them!

But do I wish to read more about Nona? Eh. Sigh, that says it all :/

Disappointing 

Red Sister - Mark Lawrence

"I was born for killing – the gods made me to ruin"

At the Convent of Sweet Mercy young girls are raised to be killers. In a few the old bloods show, gifting talents rarely seen since the tribes beached their ships on Abeth. Sweet Mercy hones its novices’ skills to deadly effect: it takes ten years to educate a Red Sister in the ways of blade and fist.

But even the mistresses of sword and shadow don’t truly understand what they have purchased when Nona Grey is brought to their halls as a bloodstained child of eight, falsely accused of murder: guilty of worse.

Stolen from the shadow of the noose, Nona is sought by powerful enemies, and for good reason. Despite the security and isolation of the convent her secret and violent past will find her out. Beneath a dying sun that shines upon a crumbling empire, Nona Grey must come to terms with her demons and learn to become a deadly assassin if she is to survive…

My thoughts:

First, I so did not like another book I tried by him. I read a few pages, the main character, a lad of 14 brutally rapes a girl and I was all wtf. Yes it was grimdark, yes he is not a hero. But no, I do not want to read about a rapist going around raping and killing. F that.

SO you can see why I hesitated giving him another go. But hey, I have been burned before and tried again. And I am glad I did.

Nona ends up in a convent where they make assassins, spies, or just the regular sort of nun who prays. She is obviously made for the martial part as we meet her when she is about to be hanged for murder...at 8. Instead she is whisked away and gets to live (of course things are not that easy, someone plots revenge). We then follow her for a bit, she grows, she learns, she makes friends.

Around her a world is crumbling. I did wish it had been even more fleshed out. I just love a good world. But maybe it is made to be vague (and yes we do get lots of info but hey I want to feel it, oh and maps! I love those.) What we have is a planet where the people got to from the stars. But why is the tech gone? What  is the shiphearts under the convent for an instance? Oh and where there 4 different sort of aliens that arrived? Cos one race was big and strong. One race was fast. One had magic and the 4th I forget. That does not sound like the same race...but then again they can have children together so they must be the same. Also why is the moon falling down? So many things to ponder.

Conclusion:
There is action, there is blood, there is poison and from blood she rises. I read it fast...as fast you can read when I only read when she is asleep. And I want more.

Cover

Eh, it makes me think of Soviet, like she is some red sister growing up in Siberia, in a gulag

Hardcover, 500 pages
Published April 6th 2017 by Harper Voyager (first published April 4th 2017)
Book of the Ancestor #1
Fantasy
Library

Early Review: Prince of Thorns - Mark Lawrence

Series: The Broken Empire 1
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 384
To be Published: August 4th 2011 Harper Voyager
Review by Mikael

"Before the thorns taught me their sharp lessons and bled weakness from me I had but one brother, and I loved him well. But those days are gone and what is left of them lies in my mother's tomb. Now I have many brothers, quick with knife and sword, and as evil as you please. We ride this broken empire and loot its corpse. They say these are violent times, the end of days when the dead roam and monsters haunt the night. All that's true enough, but there's something worse out there, in the dark. Much worse."

Once a privileged royal child, raised by a loving mother, Jorg Ancrath has become the Prince of Thorns, a charming, immoral boy leading a grim band of outlaws in a series of raids and atrocities. The world is in chaos: violence is rife, nightmares everywhere. Jorg's bleak past has set him beyond fear of any man, living or dead, but there is still one thing that puts a chill in him. Returning to his father's castle Jorg must confront horrors from his childhood and carve himself a future with all hands turned against him. 

............................................

Brother Jorg, Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath, will be King by fifteen. Emperor by 21, probably. But at the moment he is a road bandit, rapist, butcher, torturer. And he is the hero of the book Prince of Thorns, by Mark Lawrence. 

You get heroes of all kind in fantasy literature – heroes with varying degree of skill, powers and motivation. The good guys are pure of heart and clean of face. Then we have the anti-heroes, the unwilling heroes who have the hero-hood thrust upon them, but they always come through, and finally show their heart of gold. 

Brother Jorg is at the far end of that scale, you might say. He is a stone cold bastard, thirteen year of age, killed more men than the plague. But ok – the land is riddled with war; the feuds between the little kingdoms have been going on for decades, centuries. If he can become the Emperor, at least there will be no more war. 

Prince of Thorns is the first book of a trilogy, where we will follow Jorg’s path. The set is an alternate Europe (with magic, ghosts and monstrosities), refreshing it its simplicity. The focus is entirely on Jorg. His stubbornness and lack of fear is legendary – he survives against overwhelming odds by a mixture of intelligence, brutality, dirty tricks, cunning, necromancy, etc. 

What do I think about it? If you can get through the initial revulsion in the first dozens of pages (where the author really grinds your nose into the feces of brutality and immorality, to get your mind on the right track) it’s a wonderful book! A page turner, I personally read it in one sitting. Ok, you may learn that Jorg has had a rough childhood to motivate his deeds, but that doesn’t really matter. It is refreshing to just be able to follow the machinations of an artful bastard, winning against all odds. Just don’t expect much romance and love – there is a hint, but no more. 

Conclusion:
Extremely different! But refreshingly so. I will read the other two books, that’s a promise. 

Rating:
Recommended, for some 

Cover:
Extreme evil – sets the scene for things to come

 PS from Blodeuedd, he said that he is giving it a really strong 4

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Now let me introduce you to today's guest reviewer:

 

My name is Mikael and I like fantasy. 

(*applauds*, great introduction, lol, my own fault, I told him he could write it that short *headdesk* But what more, he is from Finland like I am. And I begged him to read this book and review it since I must confess I hit a spot in the book and could read no more. But after this awesome review I will read the book one day. Because the writing was great but I just have to get past one upsetting thing in the beginning).