The book's blurb says "perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell," but that isn't going to do this book any favors, because it does not live up to such hype. In fairness to Matthew Harffy, few could live up to Bernard Cornwell anyway. But even without the hype, this book was a bit of a disappointment.
As I am finding with many novels, it's the characterization that is lacking. I did not feel any kind of connection to the protagonists, and I felt the antagonists were very one-dimensional, they didn't seem to have any real motive for their actions, you were just supposed to accept the fact that they were evil and that's that.
The writing quality was good, apart from the fact that there was way more 'telling' than 'showing', which I think contributed to the poor character development. Likewise, the plot would have been better if I'd cared more about the protagonists, or if the antagonists seemed less superficial. As it was, I didn't really care much what happened and wound up skimming the second half.
History Chick - I am the same - just not connecting with characters or story of some books (even those with a 5 star review). Guess I am getting a bit more fussier.
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