I enjoyed a lot the highly original and very complex word-building and secondary characters (especially the Infernals). I loved some of the quasi-antagonists (the First, the Man-Shape, Samael) and got thrills from some of the really really bad guys. I also loved the writing - often very poetic.
The story is much better, complex, realistic and developed than the first book in the series.
All in all, a very good book that would have gotten a 5/5 from me... except the main character, Vesper. Not only could I not feel for her YA... everything, but even so she was unconvincingly built as a character: always failing and being weak (so no suspense ever in her behavior); and being the whole book one way, then, in the end, suddenly acting the opposite just to close the story. Then back to the former self, as if nothing happened.
So, a 5/5 book as a whole, but with a very big drawback. ( )

I don't know what it was about this book, but it really hit all the right spots for me. What really blew me away the most was the absolutely gorgeous and disturbing descriptions of hoards of demons both friendly, neutral, and evil that roam the world. Truly mind-blowing.

This is an epic fantasy without hoards of heroes. This is a quest novel featuring a girl, her baby goat, and a couple of broken knights that guard her and the one sword that is anathema to all demons. Whereas the first novel with the Vagrant had an interesting "who is this guy" vibe, we know exactly who the baby grows up to be, and this is her journey. And what a journey.

I think I liked this about two times more than the first. Maybe the author is hitting his stride and maybe I've just fallen completely under his spell, but everything about this novel speaks to me of quality, from nearly lyrical and fabulous phrases that crystallize the horrors all around them to the depths of the characters' troubles to the reveals about the real history of the sword.

I loved the history something fierce. It's totally hard SF and it's truly fascinating to try to piece together how that world became this demon-infested wasteland of the present.

You know what this reminds me of? The best end scenes in all of the epic fantasies going up against horrid hoards and devilish demons, but rather than setting it up for a final climax, we get all that delicious goodness throughout the book, like a lot of icing in a LOT of layers in a cake. :) Yummy. And the fact that the real climax is one of PEACE is just as deliciously jarring and delightful, like spears of light and life through the darkest pits of hell. :)

This is really good stuff and I was reminded heavily of Jemisin's [b:The Fifth Season|19161852|The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1)|N.K. Jemisin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386803701s/19161852.jpg|26115977] and [b:The Obelisk Gate|26228034|The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth, #2)|N.K. Jemisin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1441406262s/26228034.jpg|46213537] for the feel and the hints and the need to piece together a truly awesome world. :) ( )

I want to like this series a lot more, but I just can't. It feels like there is a story here that should be so much more than what I'm reading, which is frustrating. Instead, we get a lot of what feels like filler until Vesper gets to the breach, which is over way too quick. Another reviewer put it best by saying "It's almost like things just happen in the book and you're like 'umm okay is that it?'"

I'll read the last book in the series just for completion-sake. I'm hoping it will be a great ending to it all, but I'm not very optimistic. ( )

The goat kid was the best part. ( )

Review soon on my blog https://thebloggoblin.com but I loved it

the review is up at https://thebloggoblin.com/2016/12/25/hobs-review-of-the-malice-by-peter-newman/ ( )