Steven L. Shrewsbury

I received this book in e-book format as an earlier reviewer. This is the second book in the series and I did not read the first one, which I think would have been helpful for this book. The story is passable but I found the over-the-top male barbarian style not to my taste. The characters spend a lot of time talking about who has the longest, how many women they have conquered, and how many people they have killed. At times there are attempts to make them seem sorry for what they do only to have them just keep doing it. A male testosterone ride unless it is parody, which I doubt.… (mais)

Throne of Bastards is the sequel to King of Bastards by Brian Keene. It is sword and sorcery, written in the terse style of R.E. Howard, Lin Carter etc. The ideas are a bit more modern but the style is definitely a throwback. I feel like one of those movie critics who pans an action movie because it has limited characterization, ignoring the fact that the audience wants action over intellectual plot. This is a good read if you like the genre but will disappoint if you are looking for epic fantasy.… (mais)