Thicker Than Water

Another thrilling (mis-)adventure in the life of Felix Castor.

Carey is really good at this, and once again he does not disappoint. The writing is witty and the plot is intriguing. The book builds on everything from previous books without actually requiring you to read them first. (Although I would recommend to do so, just because they are really good! :)). It also has some very interesting new information about the nature of demons, that hopefully will be explored more in the future.

I did see 2 of the big reveals coming quite early on and I had the feeling at least one of them should either have been revealed sooner or covered up a bit more, because it was just too obvious already.

As we get closer to the end the first person narrator moves away from one of the main plot of the book and so it feels a bit like we are missing out on the details of that ending in favour of the set up for the next (and final) chapter of the saga. That set up is very exciting, but I still would have liked a few more paragraphs about this book's plot wrap up.

Anyway, great book, worth reading!


Thicker Than Water by Mike Carey
My goodreads-rating: 4 of 5 stars

Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard

Anthropmorphic Elephants in space! \o/

(Actually the Fants are mostly not in space, but that wouldn't have made as catchy a tagline.)

I really enjoyed reading this book and i can wholeheartedly recommend it for being a beautiful, funny and exciting journey. The narrative is well paced and written. The world is really interesting and well crafted, and its different races and characters all have their own charm.

So, one might ask, why not a higher rating then? Well, for me, some of the logic in the book just did not hold up, both in regard to the actions and decisions of the characters (mostly one particular character, the main character's best friend) and to the the way nefshons work when it comes to memory. Also, something that was casually mentioned in the blurb turned out to be something that was supposed to be a reveal towards the end of the book. Granted that is not the book's fault, but it somewhat diminished the experience for me. Plus the consequences of that revelation and what was uncovered about them where a bit of a let down as well. Last and also least, a minor thing: I am still disappointed that the Giant Panda friend of the main character, that was mentioned as an example for that particular species in the appendix, never actually appeared in the story.

All in all, it seemed to me that the book could have used one more editorial overhaul to strengthen its overall coherence.

However, despite all that and as mentioned earlier, I still enjoyed it a great deal. It was a good book, I just feel it could have been a really great one. It started out extremely promising but in the end sadly just did not quite make it - at least for me. But please, read it, enjoy it and make your own opinion! :)


Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard by Lawrence M. Schoen
My goodreads rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sleeping Giants

Oh dear, it feels like I am just handing out five star reviews left and right these days. But rest assured they all deserved them, and this one does as well. :)

I loved the interview storytelling approach. It's the first time I read a book that used such a technique, so I cannot compare, but I can say the way it is executed here is admirable. Without having an actual narrator, there is still action, suspense, character development and a conclusive narrative. It also sets up a world, or rather a universe, that is intriguing and that I am eager to learn more about.

Kudos to Sylvain Neuvel, this is a fantastic first that stands on its own, but also lays the foundation for (hopefully) a lot more to come!


Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
My goodreads rating: 5 of 5 stars