C. L. Norman

I just finished reading Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie.

I was attracted by the blurb on the cover that mentioned a female mercenary who is left for dead and vows revenge on those who tried to kill her, and that the best killer in the world is sent to finish the job. Mercenaries out for revenge and assassins sounded right up my alley, so I checked the book out.

I have to say up front that I haven’t read any other books by Mr. Abercrombie and this was my first experience with his writing. I adored the level of detail and the characterisations in the book. Almost everyone could be classified as a rogue and I had no problem with that.

The pacing of the story was a little odd for me. It read more as episodic than as one continuous narrative. So there were a lot of ups and downs in the tension through the story. This made for natural places to put the book down for the night. I could get use to that type of pacing but it felt uncomfortable in places.

The ending was a little weird for me and I don’t want to give anything away so I won’t give details. I expected certain things of the story and was surprised often that events didn’t unfold in the way I anticipated or wanted. As I mentioned before I am a sucker for a happy ending and this ending was neither good nor bad. It just was.

I came away feeling like the author set out to make a statement about revenge. I definitely felt “cold” by the process in which revenge was sought and achieved.

The story made me think. I picked up the book for a fun, roguely read. I didn’t get that. I am still thinking about the book and probably will continue to for several more days.

        

I finished a very good book yesterday. Cast in Silence by Michelle Sagara is the fourth book in a series featuring a character who I think can be classified as a rogue. 

Kaylin Neya is part of law enforcement but she wasn’t always. She also performs her duties in a way unique to her and not necessarily by the book. She has a funny way of opening her mouth before she thinks things through. A tendency I can heartily empathize with. Just ask my coworkers, family, and friends.

Kaylin lives in a world that is very different than many other fantasy genre settings. Her world is peopled by races you don’t usually see in other places. No elves or dwarves here.

One thing I particularly admired about this book, now that I can’t help but read with an eye toward writing technique, is the dialogue. In many places the dialogue provided exposition. However instead of explaining every little thing, I noticed that there were “holes” in the exposition. Places where the characters involved had figured out something but didn’t belabor the point or spell it out to the reader. This encouraged me to keep thinking and wondering and brought me deeper into the scene.

I have a terrible and chronic leaning towards overexplaining things. I hope to one day master or least reach journeyman level in holding back from my reader enough to keep them guessing and engaged.

Thank you, Ms. Sagara, for a great read.