No cover

Bloody Rose (2018)

546 pages

English language

Published Jan. 2, 2018

ISBN:
9780316362535
OCLC Number:
1000583018

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4 stars (1 review)

"A standalone adventure featuring a band of female mercenaries in the world of Kings of the Wyld from author Nicholas Eames, who has been hailed as "the voice of modern fantasy" by Michael R. Fletcher. Live fast, die young. Tam Hashford has always dreamed of living through glory days of her own. With a renowned mercenary for a mother and an illustrious bard for a father, battles and adventure seem the only way to really live. So when she learns that the most revered mercenary crew in Grandual is in need of a bard, she grabs her lute and goes on tour. Led by the infamous Bloody Rose, Tam and her new band embark on a mission that will earn them everlasting fame -- or certain death"--

1 edition

Cheese

4 stars

I struggle with my opinion of Eames' books; like Orkonomics, it's sort-of comic fantasy. Well, I really like Discworld books, so this should be an easy fit? Except for me I don't always gel well with the humour for reasons I can't quite explain.

Re-reading Hearts of the Wyld helped before starting Bloody Rose. This one feels more serious. Again, harkening to Discworld, like some of Pterry's later work where he corrects injustices. I wonder if it's inspiration. The world is getting a bit more fleshed out, with some people from the first book returning as secondary characters. Towards the end everything feels quite blurry though - a Marvel-style everyone fighting and dying and surviving all at once.

I'm also missing a lot of jokes again, I'm sure. It took me a while to realise why red hair die came from hucknall beans.

Getting four stars for being an enjoyable …

Subjects

  • Women soldiers
  • Mercenary troops
  • Adventure stories
  • Fiction