Alex Marshall (7)Critiques

Game doth recognize game???? No.

I think that sentence epitomizes why this book was a 2.5/3 star read versus a 3/5/4 star read for me. It was just trying so so hard to be clever and funny in a way that often detracted from really getting to know the characters and understand their motivations. Ultimately I will read the next book because I'm curious to see where Marshall is taking this, but I hope it focuses more on the plot and less on wordplay.

I like the sub-genre of grimdark fantasy. Right now I don't think anyone is doing a better job of it than Joe Abercrombie. I had heard a lot of early positive things about A Crown for Cold Silver. I was looking forward to getting my hands on it and seeing how it compares. The good news is the book is quite enjoyable and introduces some really interesting twists to the genre. The bad news is that it starts a little slow and the author made some stylistic choices that were a little rough for me.

The story starts many years after Cobalt Zosia and her five villains have conquered the Crimson Empire only to be overthrown themselves. Cobalt Zosia is believed dead and the five villains have scattered around the empire to lick their wounds. The only problem is someone claiming to be Zosia is stirring up the shit again. The five villains begin the long trek to find this new Zosia and see who the hell she is and what the fuck she is up to.

I liked the basic plot. It wasn't anything particularity new to the genre but it did have some nice twists. One of the best parts of the book is how Alex Marshall plays with gender. That alone was almost worth reading the book. I was also a huge fan of the devils and loved that people ate bugs as their drug of choice. The story starts slow, but about 100 pages in Marshall starts applying gentle pressure to the accelerator and the book begins to build to a giant battle where nothing turns out the way you think it might.

The world building is great in the novel. It was definitely a playground I want to return to. Despite its length, I felt there were a lot of little mysteries left lying around. I can't wait to see where they go in the next book. Marshall can also write a fight scene but remember this is grimdark so heads will be flying and curse words will be spewed. One of the most surprising aspects of the book for me was how funny it was. There were plenty of laugh out loud moments nestled in between all that blood.

There were a few things that worked against the story but they were not book killers for me. The world building and introduction of the characters in the beginning of the book was a tiny bit slow. I think some of the characters could have been introduced later or some of the world could have been left a mystery. There were some interesting style choices in the writing also. Some of the language felt like it was plucked right out of the real world. Sometimes this worked and sometimes it felt a little awkward. It's hard to describe. It just seemed to pop off the page and make me think about it. It was distracting but it didn't happen often. I also felt a few of the characters were a little been there done that. Marshall was clearly trying to bring something new to the table, which I believe he succeeded at many times. So whenever I ran into a character that felt fantasy 101 I was a little put off.

The small things did not stop me from enjoying it though. I will gladly pick up the second book (especially since this one basically left off with a giant cliff hanger). While not as good as Abercrombie or Scott Lynch it was worth the read. Block out some time and dig into this monster. Bring some safety goggles though, it gets a little messy.


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This book was a review copy provided by Orbit Books.

Oh my god. What can I say about this book? Fantasy? Check! A bunch of irreverent, crusty old f*cks that rib each other with every breath as well as not trusting each other as far as they can throw one another? Check! Plots within plots? Hella check. Magic? Oh hells yeah. Demon/devils? Double check. Hilarious and dark and humorous and sarcastic and well written? ALL the checks. Mark it down as one of my favorites. I cannot wait to read more!

Extremely disappointing. I won't rehash the synopsis here since anyone can just read the summary for themselves but I will say what was promised in the synopsis was not what was delivered in the story. I was expecting a retired old warrior queen turned peasant to experince a moving personal tragedy that would propel her to come out of retirement and seek revenge. She would bust out the old sword and armor from some hidden chest and get her old band of warriors back together (kind of a la RED but in a fantasy world) and go out there seeking vengance and kick some butt. That did not happen at all. The main issues I had were 1) Too many new characters introduced too fast 2) Too may different places introduced too fast and no map to help you 3)some chapters were just way too slow 4) too much POV shifting 5) any time a weapon is mentioned it was swords, axes, knives etc but then completely out of the blue a character suddenly has a pistol, can you have guns and swords in the same world? Yes that's fine but you have to stablish what level of technology the world has at the beginning of the book or else it's completely jarring to the reader 6) everyone that was supposed to be a badass spent most of their time declaring they were a badass warrior without actually doing anything badass, this was the biggest of the disappointments.

I have no idea why this book is getting good reviews. It's a poor attempt at epic fantasy, that is so over the top as to seem mocking. I appreciate that the main character is a badass older woman, but you have to get to the part where she does something, and that 80 page slog is one I was just not willing to make. Stupid names, stupid religious concepts, stupid transitions between character viewpoints that make no sense and really, deeply unappealing characters with no belieable motivation. Go read Rothfuss and learn how to tell a story.

Usually I'm not mean about reviews, but wow, did I hate this book.

WHO SUCKED ME IN
Don't have an degree in reading on YouTube in their video published on 24 okt. (Note to myself link the video!)

The reason why I want to read this is because she said the author wanted to create a world without -isms.
The way the youtuber talked about it, it sounded like it worked. Even with the flaws she pointed out, it sounded like even that would work for me!

Strange I didn't know that a fantasy world without -isms would be so appealing to me. I mean that why I read fantasy so you would think I'm used to it but no... Apparently I want more stories like that.

A Crown for Cold Silver started out slow and made me wonder just how many characters I was going to be introduced to before I got to the story. Then, it got so good that it became one of the best books I’ve read this year, and I’m hoping Alex Marshall writes a sequel. The story didn’t end on a cliffhanger, but I can tell there is more to be told, and I want to know what happens next, especially with Zosia, my favorite character by far. All of the characters are great. They’re complex, flawed, even irritating at times, but Zosia is amazing because she kicks major butt, but makes plenty of mistakes, and she’s an older character.

In fact, none of the characters in this book are your run of the mill Fantasy characters. Not everyone is white, straight, young, and beautiful or handsome. The older woman, Zosia, isn’t a witch, and Hoartrap, who is a sorcerer, is built like a barbarian. These are just two of the characters you meet that don’t fit the average Fantasy archetypes. The world is racially diverse, gender norms don’t exist, and sexuality is a non-issue in their society. However, the author doesn’t present these details in such a way as to make the story into one that either has no morals or is vastly superior to our own world. The world in which the characters live is as messed up as ours. They just have different problems.

This book is not for kids, or anyone who has a problem with excessive cussing. I don’t think there’s a single character that doesn’t let some foul language rip at least once. There is also a lot of bloodshed and violence (none of it is sexual though), and the characters get themselves into quite a few deadly situations. Not all of them make it, and the ones that don’t aren’t the ones you expect. Actually, you should be prepared to be surprised by quite a few events throughout the story, because around the time when you think you have everything figured out and know who is up to what, you’ll end up doing a double take. You might do several double takes before you’re done. If you’re looking for an epic fantasy full of non-standard characters, or if you love Dungeons and Dragons or the “A Song of Fire and Ice” series, you’ll love A Crown for Cold Silver.

This one surprised the hell out of me.

I mean, I liked a lot of the aspects of the first in the series, all the cussing, girl-chasing, older matron ex-queen bent on reclaiming her lost queendom, the heavy-metal aspects of getting the evil band back together and being the underdog villains amidst wonderful dialogue and demon-strewn wastelands (that they may or may not have had a part in bringing about). I was even thrilled by the effortless way that the world-building automatically assumes that sexual orientation or even reorientation or simple desire is never a negative thing. Women and men are pretty much people who do whatever the hell they want to do, and it's all grown-up choices without cultural or religious bullshit getting in the way. F/F, M/F, M/M, transgender, it doesn't matter. Things swing with story, circumstance, and plain surprising desire. I swear, if this series wasn't all about war, revenge, murder, torture, and all sorts of hellish magic and demons running the land (or sitting on one's shoulders), I'd be yelling from the treetops that this whole world was an easy, unstrained utopia that even Star Trek couldn't touch on any one of its pleasure planets.

That being said, all of this is even more evident in the second book, only it seems even more effortless and I'm loving ALL of these crazy characters even more than before.

What? The whole action from the first novel has just been superseded by a whole rising island of demons? Oh hell, what are our badass bad-guys going to do? Finish what they started, or freaking save the land?

Seriously, this book is too interesting to miss. I didn't even know which way the coin was going to toss, and I frankly didn't even care. This ride was just too fun.

It may be coming off the heels of grimdark epic fantasy, but this feels like something a lot more genuine and funny and emotional than most of the stuff I've read. Yeah, funny grimdark. Whodavethunk? I think it's the old matron's cursing as she swings her heavy metal around. Or the way her eyes can't get pried by that pretty girl's bottom while two brawny old men who'd lay their lives down for her look on like puppydogs in the old woman's direction, forlorn. Awwww.

And then there's so much awesome demon shit, warlocks, totally nasty battles, and totally emotional battles, too, wrenching the way only a good story can wrench.

I've gone over, pretty fully, to this dark side, this bad boy (or girl) of epic fantasy. I've read quite a few and somehow, this one is just kicking my ass in a really good way.

Now, I'm pretty much going crazy with the idea that I'm going to have to wait for the next. Grrrrr...

So, a middle aged female Heavy Metal Rocker comes out of early retirement and decides to Bring Back The Band. She wants to Tear The House Down, with a passion and verve that seems very unlikely for a woman of her age... or so everyone thinks. The stage is set, a bunch of aging rockers fill the stage, but there's a twist: the auditorium had come for a Christian Rock Band with obvious religious tones. The battle commences!

This is what the story IS, assuming there's no actual music involved.

The middle-aged kick-butt woman, Zosai, is actually an accomplished warrior who had brought a kingdom to its knees, dropped out of the scene to live the quiet life, only to be Brought Back In when all her loved ones get massacred. She gets her old generals, who all think her dead, and take on the world.

Pretty standard fare, all told, except for the little hooks that make this epic fantasy stand out. Namely, the age and sex of the protagonist. I like her almost as well as I liked Chrisjen Avasarala from the in the Expanse series. She's a strong female protagonist who happens to be a bit more realistic than the legions of YOUNG and strong protagonists littering the battlefield.

The second bit of goodness that makes the book stand out is the insistence that a person's sex means squat. In that respect, it's very D&D. Everyone lives lives, has sex, goes to war or makes families. There are no cultural restrictions. This is obviously on purpose. Gay or Straight is meaningless except on a personal basis. No one is looked down upon or forced to be anything they don't to be... unless you're talking about religious persecution, and the self-flagellating religious nuts under the rule of the Empire are pretty crazy.

Other than these little tidbits, the novel is pretty standard fare for epic fantasy. It's long, there's lots of conversation and bickering and flirting between the band members, there's a lot of confusion on both sides of the war, and the epic battle is decent. It's better than older style fantasy, but pretty average for the modern stuff.

I wanted to like it more. Perhaps I'll enjoy it even more as it progresses further. It's certainly competent. I just think it needs to stand out more. The characters are fine and fun. The action is good, when it happens. Perhaps I want more plot. I don't know. It IS hard to review it because what I think it needs seems to elude me. I feel like it's missing "something".

Regardless, I'm quite happy to have read it.

Now on to other matters.

Alex Marshall is a pseudonym for "an acclaimed author in another genre".

As of this writing, I have not figured out who it is, except that it is probably someone in the Orbit brand of books who wanted to see if they could break successfully into the Epic Fantasy genre. It is rather annoying, because now I want to read the author's other works and see how much of a stretch and change in style is happening here. The curiosity could, very likely, kill me.

Let's see how long I survive! ;)

Thanks, Netgalley

Some epic fantasy is all about the meticulous worldbuilding, others about the way it's written, and others love to revel in the plot.

This one just finishes us off in the trilogy by being bloody FUN. I may have mentioned in the previous books how much I love crusty old women taking up the sword and waging war and all, but this takes it all the way. The whole world is embroiled in a fight of mortals against demons and past enemies team-up.

Bt do you know what's best? The damn crusty language. It's like the whole book is full of Irish humor and insults and everyone is randy as hell. And it's written in such a way as it's positive and delightful. Celebration of life, as, you know, everyone's pretty certain of a nasty bloodbath. :)

So yeah, I had a fantastic time. Gibbering horrors, bright characters everywhere, vivid text. This is a trilogy that is a delight to read. :) Grannies and their demon dogs rule! :)

So yeah.

I went into this warily. A lot of ~mercenary fantasy~ nowadays is so try-hard and often fails to be casually humorous/clever and blithely bloody.

Well...my wariness was completely unjustified. I had as swell a time reading this as I did any of the early Black Company volumes or God's War or Best Served Cold. The world-building could have been done lazily and I still would have enjoyed this for the characters and dialogue. The world-building, however, was also pretty damn awesome. Some familiar concepts, but also a lot of new ones. The Wildborn (a race w generally human characteristics but with a variety of animal features like horns or forked tongues), some flipped-on-its-head Satanism as the main imperial religion (inverted crosses used as religious symbols and a Black Pope and the Fallen Mother FANTASTIC), arranged same-sex political marriages with the use of surrogates, genderfluid nobles, a 50 year-old bisexual female anti-hero protagonist and a couple of multi-dimensional female "villains". And that's just half the stuff I wanted to list.

Still plenty of interesting questions rolling around after I finished the last page and I can't wait for the next book.

Anyways, I have no idea how this hasn't been on more HIGHLY ANTICIPATED FANTASY BOOKS OF 2015 lists, but as soon as more review copies drop, it should be.

So. Damn. Good.

A War in Crimson Embers by Alex Marshall is the third book in the Crimson Empire trilogy and when we last left off, the heroes had all been separated and sent off to face their own trials. Scattered over their vast star, each character faces tremendous difficulties as they fight their way back to each other. As each hero wins through and they reunite, they now face their greatest test as they must stave off an apocalypse and hold back the nearly immortal devils and monsters of Jex Toth.

This epic fantasy story is filled with danger and betrayal at every turn. As the mortals get set for the final confrontation with the demons, there are many dark twists and turns. As Cold Zosia tells the group, “Let’s save the Star, stay alive and get f__king drunk – in that order!” The author does not shy away from extreme violence and gore but does pepper his story with plenty of humor and spicy romances. With larger than life characters, bold language and vivid descriptions [A War in Crimson Embers] was an excellent closing to this inventive, brutal and fun fantasy trilogy.

A Blade of Black Steel by Alex Marshall is the second book in his Crimson Empire Trilogy and once again we are pulled into the battles, treachery and betrayals that are woven throughout this story as the Cobalt Company Rebels battle the Crimson Empire and, more importantly the real evil enemy, the religious fanatics that call themselves the Burnished Chain.

All the characters from the first book (except for the ones who were given gruesome deaths) are back, so there are a number of story-lines to follow but all involve battles, horrendous monsters, old and new rivalries, revenge and friendship. The former Crimson Queen, Zosia challenges General Ji-hyeon for leadership, the mercenary Maroto finds himself on the newly raised island of Jex Toth where he connects with a group of ship-wrecked pirates, and a group comprises of his friends and his enemies are travelling, trying to find him. Also lurking in the background is the sorcerer Hoartrap The Touch ready to stir up trouble for everyone.

Another great read in this trilogy and Alex Marshall, which is the pen name for author Jessie Bullington, has set his characters up for a rousing finish to this epic adventure. This is as dark and grim a story as one could possibly want, but it’s also full of exciting exploits and lively humor that help to raise this military fantasy to a higher level.

Flawed heroes, unexpected outcomes, insane magical battles and the words - oh my god the words, or maybe I should say "the sentences", because anyone can say a word, it's the stringing them together that seems to be the hard part.

Another crazy thing about these books. The cast seems to be "pan sexual" with one character having 2 dads, 1 character having a mom who's a man, characters of the same sex who were formerly straight deciding to experiment, bisexual characters, characters into S&M etc... . Okay so that's not so crazy BUT the crazy thing is that NONE of it is extra fluff to sell books. Every word of it adds to the story. There are no ripped bodices and penetrating manhood going on here. It's character development, it's part of what makes the characters more real.

So this is definitely one of my all-time favorite fantasy series, though it's a "different" kind of fantasy. It's definitely not "high fantasy" none of the usual LotR's stuff. it's too much fun to be "grim dark". It's like "grit fantasy" or maybe "High Def Fantasy" because there are heroes, but you're seeing every pimple, blemish and varicose vein on these characters, and though they do win their fair share of battles, they end up getting the shit kicked out of them more often than not.

Last note, if you're into audiobooks, I highly suggest listening to these. The narrator is absolutely amazing.

I think I've found a new favorite author. This makes 3, 5-star books in a row for Alex Marshall/Jesse Bullington. It's fantasy, but it's almost like he didn't read any fantasy before he wrote it or like he made a check list of all the fantasy tropes and then made sure to avoid them all. But it's not just the originality of it all, it's the characters, it's the writing, it's the wit. This isn't "read through this part to get to the good part" kind of writing. This is "every single part is the good part" kind of writing.

Highly recommended (especially on audio) to anyone into gritty fantasy without dragons, elves, dwarves or hobbits. There are demons and wizards and monsters however, as well as the occasional boys kissing and also girls and boys kissing, though that isn't a focus of the story.

Grim fantasy, but with less (i.e., no?) rape and more gender bending than one might find in, say, George R. R. Martin. Still suffers from the more-characters-than-space problem that's common in the genre.

I loved the Brothers Grossbart (written under another name) and I loved this in a whole different way. The thing they had in common was amazing writing. It's gritty, the world is fleshed out enough to be interesting without being over-detailed, the characters are amazing and realistically flawed. Some very cool magic going on, I love the devils idea.

Other than all that, I think the thing that makes it the most original is that there's not really a completely obvious plot. The characters in this book don't need to throw the ring into mount doom or find the holy grail, or defeat the dark wizard to save the princess. Most of the characters have some kind of goal that has put them in the situation they're in, but that's not pushing the whole story to the end. Instead events are happening, people are dying, there are large political movements taking place in the background, people are betraying each other, but it all seems very "organic".

Can't wait to read the 2nd and 3rd books. My wife has ensured me they're just as good as the first one.

I started this book with great expectations, because some of the reviews I read promised the kind of story I enjoy, that of an interesting character journey in an epic setting, but unfortunately my expectations were not fulfilled...

Full review at SPACE AND SORCERY Blog

I have had A Crown For Cold Silver by Alex Marshall on my shelves for some time and was rather intimidated by it’s sheer size. And, indeed, this is not a quick read, but this sprawling fantasy epic grabbed hold of me right from the start with it’s great writing, imaginative plot and superb characters and made this a wonderful immersive reading experience.

There are many characters to follow each with their own distinct viewpoint, but mostly this book is about Zosia, known as Cold Cobalt, the Banshee with a Blade or First Among Villains. She had been the leader of a group of formidable rebels but they had disbanded and were living separate lives until Zosia’s life was overturned, her husband and her village destroyed. After 20 years she sets out on a revenge trail and her rebel group once more gather to fight at her side or do they each have their own agenda?

Old grudges, conflicting religious beliefs, imposters, revenge, betrayals and a rather captivating demon dog ignite this story, and the author sprinkles plenty of humor and wry observations along the way. A Crown for Cold Silver was a gritty, dark story with driven, brutal and violent characters that were also engaging and extremely fun to read about. I am looking forward to continuing on with this trilogy.

Looking for the next big fat epic fantasy? 'A Crown For Cold Silver' just might fit the bill. It looks like 'Alex Marshall' is a pseudonym, so I'm not sure if this is actually a debut - if it is, it's a very good one.

Twenty years ago, the revolutionary warrior Zosia, known as Cold Cobalt, with the help of her Five Villains, managed to engineer a coup and install herself as Queen of the Crimson Empire. However, Zosia was better at fighting than ruling. Her idealistic plans for social reform and justice failed, and her reign was short-lived.

In the two decades since, the state of the Empire has not improved. The current Queen shares power with the Black Pope, leader of the religion of the Burnished Chain - who have been gaining in influence. The citizenry have taken to graffiti proclaiming the heresy that 'Zosia Lives' - in their hearts, if not in truth.

However, the rumor that Zosia might be alive in truth, and gathering another army, is spreading - and these rumors attract the attention of the now-aging warriors who once were known as the Five Villains.

In many ways, this is a very traditional fantasy. It's got sorcerers, barbarians, warriors, royalty, demons... it follows the collecting-of-an-ensemble of characters and progressing through intrigue to a rip-roaring climactic battle. However, it also has a good number of original details, and the characters are far from stock... they're engaging and entertaining, and really shine as individuals, even though the large cast means this is more of a 'tapestry' than a character study.

One thing I enjoyed about the book was its presumption of total gender equality. Lately, there's been a deal of criticism leveled against some fantasy authors for hewing too closely to the prejudices of the past. In a way, I think this book was an experiment to do traditional fantasy without any of that.

There are quite a few different cultures portrayed in the book. I feel that one of the weaknesses of the book may be that although there is no parallelism with our (Earth's) history or geography, the author uses linguistic 'short-cuts' to evoke the cultures rather than actually describing them. For example, one society uses Korean-style names, while another sounds like India. I would have preferred more fully realized, original backgrounds for the characters.

The author may have been trying to show that you can be 'India'-ish, for example, without including the prejudices of India's history - but I'm not sure that aspect worked all that well. However, I did like the total mix-up of normally gender-associated character traits. Here, you won't find any girls who wish to be pirates donning boys' clothes and running away. You won't find any women struggling to prove themselves in a man's world. No tribes of Amazons. No gender-swapped kept house-husbands. The book is not ABOUT gender at all. It's about individuals, in a world where gender (and sexual preference) just isn't an issue (except, well, as it affects individuals on a personal level.) And at that, it's wholly successful. I'm not saying that every fantasy book should do this - far from it. But it should be an option, and this one felt fresh and interesting.

My only other complaint would be that at times it did drag a little bit. It's a long book, and there were a few spots where it *felt* long. But at no point did I consider stopping!

The book ends - not on a cliffhanger, but with plenty of more story to come. I'd definitely read any forthcoming sequels.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Orbit for the opportunity to read. As always, my opinions are solely my own.

I enjoy the "retired warrior coming back for vengeance" trope. This is a well written intriguing spin. I'm looking forward to the next book.

There may be a lot to keep track of, but I love the "attitude" or tone of this book. Some great humor through out. Full Review to come.

‘It was all going so nicely, right up until the massacre.’

A young cavalry officer figures he’ll make a name for himself and make his daddy proud when he leads his soldiers against a small village. He is particularly impressed with the mayor’s house which he will claim for himself after, of course, slaughtering the entire village and killing the mayor’s husband. Next, he will kill her and maybe even her dog – that should be easy. Except the mayor isn’t your average old lady, what look like wrinkles are actually battle scars, and her dog – well, he isn’t really a dog in the usual, um, canine sense. Talk about picking on the wrong person. Because the mayor of this small village is actually Cold Zosia, she of song and legend, thought dead for two decades, who with her Five Villains, once led a rebel army against the Crown and won it only to seemingly die in a fall over a cliff during a duel for that crown. Now she’s out for revenge and she won’t stop until she gets it.

If you’ve read any reviews of A Crown for Cold Silver by author Alex Marshall, the phrase ‘trope-bending’ gets repeated a lot and there’s certainly plenty of that – there’s gender-bending eg duels between women for the crown and men in arranged same-sex marriages; women tend to be the dominant sex when it comes to positions of power like Crown, Pope, or General; Zosia and her Villains are a great deal older than your average young hero or heroine and way more cunning; and the one guy who seems to have all the traits of the usual hero, honour, loyalty, etc, is the least respected. It’s been called grimdark and there’s certainly aspects of this but, at the same time, it’s more positive than your average grimdark fantasy; and when it comes to the big battle (there’s always a big battle), things don’t exactly go the normal way of these things. But it is really the world-building, the complexity of the plot and the characters, and the dark humour that kept me up at night reading.

One caveat though: there’s a lot of cussing and violence so, for anyone who is offended by four-letter words, violence, or, for that matter, gender fluidity, this will probably not be the book for you. For others, a definite big Yes from me!

I tried desperately to like this book, as the writing was initially so unique. For a while it was interesting in that nothing seemed to be nailed down - setting, time, place, characters, everything was nebulous, amorphous, and that was intriguing for a while. However, after a time the book slogged and it advanced glacially. I kept waiting for the story line to clarify, but it never did for me and the ending left me with the feeling that the book was obviously written with a sequel in mind. The conclusion was disjointed and unsatisfactory, and I felt cheated for having spent so much time only to feel like saying" That's it?" at the last page. I would not recommend it and I will not be reading anything else by this author.

Just finished but it had Some things I really liked Ill get the review done soon