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Wanted: book reviews for the Library!

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Crimsonsphinx:
Thats a bit dangerous isnt it Rufus?  Some people have very strange tastes in books  :)

Im going to have to reread some of my books to get a good clear view.  But ill probably review Magestorm, Slaves to Darkness Trilogy and Hammers of Ulric.  These are the 3 best warhammer novels/novel sets IMO.

Depending on the reception my reviews i might go into my other horde of GW novels.

Captain Tineal:
Being a reader of exceptional prowess, and a writer of moderate skill, The Captain would like to cast his steel helm into the ring and will presently go buy some books to review.  Its a dirty job, but you dont get to be Captain by keepin clean.

The Captain

Guvnor:
Guvnor stitches together some pages and starts to review them...

Con El Pueblo:
That sounds great, I'll post a few after Christmas...

I have about 50 different Black Library Books, ranging widely in quality  :shock:

I'll post some slander about the Blood Bowl novel, for sure  :wink:

Dibs on the Slayer series! :D

Patriarch:
Forged in Battle is the first BL book by Justin Hunter.  For a number of reasons I wanted to like this book.  I had purchased a beautifully painted  Empire army.  It's colors were those of Talabecland.  FiB is about a Talabecland Empire halbadier company fighting a Beastmen invasion.  My main opponent just started a Beastmen army.  The stars seemed to align here.

The good news is that the subject matter is interesting. The halbadiers are known as "The Ragged Company".  They are all that stands between the Beastmen and their hometown.  The writing is easy to read, and the action is fairly fast paced.

The bad news, this is one of the most problem plagued books I have ever read.  It is so obviously a "first novel" it is laughable.  It features bad writing, bad construction,  bad literary license, and bad storytelling.  For instance, "The Ragged Company" has a past with which the reader is apparently supposed to be familiar.  It is taken for granted the reader knows about the RRC's poor circumstances and previous hard knocks.  Maybe this is presented in a previous short story in a magazine or anthology.  I don't know, and the book doesn't say.  OK, I'll can accept that I don't have all the information.  So, why the name Ragged Company?  Have they been worn down by numerous battles?  Are they outcasts and petty criminals forced to fight for Sigmar and Talabecland?  Are they simply unshaven veterans who eschew discipline and spit and polish for no-nonsense sharpened steel?  No, they are the Ragged Company because their uniforms are ragged!  Ragged, as in patched and torn.  Why are they ragged?  Dunno, the book never reveals that fact.

Without giving away a single secret, can we guess if the Sergeant is tough or soft?  Is the officer heroic or cowardly?  Is the Burgermeister in charge of the town honest or corrupt?  Are the BM's mysterious visitors good or bad?  Is the forrest "Dark and Forbidding"?  OMG, that phrase is used EVERY time the Dark and Forbidding forrest is described, and the book takes place mainly in the Dark and Forbidding forrest.   Reeks of Formula, does it not?

The really difficult part of the book is the incredibly poor proofreading.  My favorite sentence is "He was terrified by the terrifying creature".  There are so many more gaffs like this one, it is actually fun to spot them as they pop up.  Ordinary characters make trips across the entire province of Talabecland in a day and a night.  There are almost no suprises.  The big finally is not big, or final, because the last desperate attempt to thwart the enemy actually succeeds, but has no discernable effect.  Then, other events occur which render completely irrelevant the previous 50 pages of action.  That is major pet peeve of mine, and it occurs all too often on books and movies  (who cares if whats-her-name risks her life to free Jack from Steerage on the Titanic if he is going to die anyway!).

I honestly can't say don't read this book.  I have to say I enjoyed the book, probably because of the perfect match with my Talabecland army and my friend's Beastmen.  But, I really can't recommend it because I know some folks will feel they wasted their time and money.  Let's just say that if the reader's expectations are not to high, the reader can excuse spotty writing and storytelling, and the reader has a sense of humor, there are worse ways to waste one's time.

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