No central antagonist and so, flat and episodic.
581264
Because there is no main antagonist, the story line tends to be a little flat and predictably episodic: one unrelated encounter after another. Are these encounters well-written and interesting? Yes. But too much predictability: rape, pillage, plunder.

The main character lacks any real need for personal growth and, in a few ways, is not believable. Some of his actions and reactions were out of the blue and totally out of place in one section where he confronts a penitent man.

I liked the book simply because it was a good fictionalized account of survival.

I think the author is a a good writer - even with some punctuation and missing words - and he is easy to read.

I think the main problem for me in not getting the next book was that the book lacks any recognizable theme or lofty premise. That and it all seems so highly improbable.

But do read it for the survival stuff.
4103035
No one was phoning this one in, it just seemed episodic - like a few episodes of a TV fantasy drama, of which there are not that many. As a lead-up to something or a transitional piece, it seemed fantastic but hardly necessary as a standalone movie. Maybe this is just the way-of-things in a world where these comic universes must find a way to stitch together multiple story lines. Even with all the build up, the Dark Elves seemed hardly threatening when defeated by a mere science project. "Everything will be status quo and all-well except for the death of nameless soldiers and a conveniently unknown and unimportant character killed off, not to mention that Loki is still dastardly." Everything looked polished and was well organized but still had the drollness of Shakespeare in the park.
2639083
This is cookie-cutter Space Opera.  Nothing more, nothing less.  We got your Square Jawed Manly Heroes, your Beautiful and Smart Damsels In Distress, a Wise and Benevolent Ruler, and, of course, Ruthless Savage Enemies.  If that's your cup of tea, by all means dive right in.  It's not a great example of that particular genre, but I suppose it'll do.

If you like your plot, characters, and villains, to have more substance than flimsy cardboard cutouts, look elsewhere.

What especially bothered me was not necessarily that this sort of book is something most people outgrow after middle-school; it's how sloppy it is.
- Our Ruthless and Savage Enemies are an advanced space-faring race obviously experienced in war, yet whenever they are about to overrun our Valiant Heroes, they turn around, retreat, and patiently wait for the Good Guys to re-group and prepare for the next onslaught.  This happens more than once.  I think the author simply ran out of semi-plausible things for the heroes to do to stave off their inevitable defeat any longer.
- This space-faring race apparently has effective anti-aircraft weapons, but somehow no aircraft themselves with which to simply kill our heroes from the air.  Nor do they make any use of aerial troop transport after landing the initial force.
- They have magic laser weapons, but can't defend well against bullets.  Our valiant heroes fight with bullets, but their armor conveniently does a decent job reflecting lasers that are simultaneously a big surprise they weren't expecting.
- The bad guys have ground troops that are equipped with their magic laser rifles, a single big magic laser gun, and that's it.  No artillery, no explosives, no armored vehicles.  Not even grenades.  Really?
- The enemies supposedly have super-accurate guns that can strike over a very long distance.  But when our hero and his damsel are in peril and are the only convenient target to shoot at?  Can't hit the proverbial broad side of a barn.
- An empire spanning many planets spread very far apart can apparently get by with an inter-planetary military of only 30,000 ground troops plus a Navy.  Seems to me that number is missing at least a couple zeroes.  No mention of an Army is made anywhere.
4123427
The novel lacked a central theme and the characters were not well developed. John lecare has nothing to worry about
234979
The intent of this book was to establish the main characters of the new Voyager crew. Unfortunately, that's all there is to it, and it's not even well done. The character descriptions are quite vivid, but there is not a lot of depth to them. Essentially, the major characters are either suffering from psychological "old wounds", or the people attempting to heal them. The character interactions are well done, but similarly shallow. The general descriptions of people and places are fairly good but still shallow. I would normally describe the action now - but there isn't any! Up to about page 200, nothing solid happens, and not much really happens after that. The author begins story after story, virtually one for each of the characters, but there is almost nothing beyond that. In a duology, at worst you should be halfway through most of the stories by the end of the first book. Here *nothing* is developed beyond the first elements.

I cannot recommend this book in any way. This will almost certainly not help decide whether the second book is worth getting. It is not remotely worth it as a stand-alone book, because it isn't even half of one. Finally, I have not gotten or read the second book yet, but I strongly suspect you could read that book without any need to read this.
2474798
There are no words. I wasted a couple of hours reading this nonsense. About half way through I thought it was one long promo for Google and Ikea. Predictable story. Utterly unsympathetic characters, especially the heroine. I only finished it because  I purchased it. Give it a pass. The one star is because I can't give zero.
551720
This is the final installment in the Atopia Series. I really liked the first two novels and expected the third to be similar. It's nothing like the earlier novels though. Instead of a city (Atopia) and the earth (Dystopia) with many points of view we get multiple timelines with only one point of view. And... not much happens. No action, endless pseudo-philosophical debates on reality and simulation, and a really poor ending.
4877607
The writing style is flat and reminiscent of a high school assignment.  The characters are one dimensional and the plot crawls along in a predictable fashion.  There are many, many cliches but the most egregious is the "evil military" that is the main antagonist.  The entire British military is a stock, Fascist slave driver; I doubt the author has had any experience with current members of the military.
2838197
The Dude needs no introduction, no summary, and especially no main plot, 10/10
3222157
The Heroes is a simple story about a pointless battle in the middle of nowhere.  We are never told the reason for the battle - although it is clear that it is a mere skirmish in a much bigger war than most realise, especially if you have read the First Law trilogy and/or Best Served Cold.  This being Joe Abercrombie, there is mud, dirt and death in abundance.  There is no "good vs evil" here, with good and evil on both sides.  Actually, on both sides there is not a lot of good, and even the evil is of the mundane selfish type rather than of the "evil overlord planning to rule the world" variety (that stays well and truly in the shadows here).

There are 6 main points of view, with the tale told in the now standard rotating POV style.  On the Union side, we have disgraced swordsman Bremer dan Gorst, the ambitious Finree dan Brock seeking advancement for her husband, and Corporal Tunny, who defies description save as a combination of Flashman and MacAuslan.  But having said that, here is Tunny described to some new recruits:
"Boys, this here is the famous Corporal Tunny, one of the longest serving non-commissioned officers in General Jalenhorm's division. A veteran of the Starikland rebellion, the Gurkish war, the last Northern war, the siege of Adua, this current unpleasantness, and a quantity of peacetime soldiering that would have bored a keener mind to death. He has survived the runs, the rot, the grip, the autumn shudders, the caresses of Northern winds, the buffets of Southern women, thousands of miles of marching, many years of his Majesty's rations and even a tiny bit of actual fighting to stand - or sit - before you now. He has four times been Sergeant Tunny, once even Colour Sergeant Tunny, but always, like a homing pigeon to its humble cage, returned to his current station. He now holds the exalted post of standard bearer of his August Majesty's indomitable First regiment of cavalry.  That gives him responsibility--" Tunny groaned at the mere mention of the word. "--for the regimental riders, tasked with carrying messages to and from our much admired commanding officer, Colonel Vallimir. Which is where you boys come in."

On the Northern side, there is the straight-arrow Curnden Craw, the scheming "Prince" Calder, and raw wannabe hero Beck.

There are also a number of other perspectives we see only fleetingly, for one reason or another.

But not all points of view are equal - Calder gets the bulk of the story, and is almost, but not quite, the protagonist of the whole book.  And therein lies the problem - I loved The Heroes, could not put it down, but the lack of a protagonist to tie the story all together meant it seemed to lack a "golden thread" and somehow just did not live up to its considerable promise.  I guess that's a way of saying that I thought I the book could have been better - or rather, that I could have liked it better.  Mind you, after complaining that the books lack a true protangonist I also would have liked to have seen a lot more of Corporal Tunny, who probably has the least screen time of any character, so at the end of the day I'm wanting to have my cake and eat it too.

The Heroes, by the way, are a stonehenge like collection of rocks on a hilltop.  There aren't many human heroes on the battlefield.

This book works as a standalone story, but is better read as part of the greater Abercrombie ouvre - in which it is a short pause, a sideshow, and yet providing a little depth to the stories already told and those yet to come (there are 4 more under contract, apparently).  There is dark humor, mud, blood and gore here, toegther with snatches of what might almost be heroism, but is more likely stupidity.  It may not be Abercrombie's best work - I think that was Best Served Cold - but its gripping, honest, and well worth the read.
380748
While the author had some good ideas for their fantasy world and for what could happen to their cast of characters, they lacked the skill (or inclination) to really develop either of these things.

Characters are not developed and no backstory is given for the world. There's no point at which the reader is given a framework or a setting in which to place events. Facts are given out as needed to advance the plot, and not until needed, which makes the story feel flat. There's no nuance, no character development, no particular reason why we should care about either the characters or their adventures.

The writing itself is adequate (not really good) and the editing acceptable with just a few uncorrected errors, but this is not "epic fantasy" because it's not "epic." All of the action takes place over the course of a couple of days, not enough time to form a connection with any of the characters, given the lack of any supporting details. The story is very linear--moves from A to Z as quickly as possible--which makes it boring.

It's an okay story for a 10 year-old, although I personally think the $2.99 price is too high for 100 pages of text.
4069804
When I first stumbled across the Jack Reacher series a couple of years ago, they were exhilarating.  The old Reacher was a great anti-hero, a bit ruthless, kind of cold, but eminently likable.  The plots of the first few books were clever, dark, and supremely entertaining.

The last two or three books, however, have quickly dropped off in quality and originality.  Reacher has become a cliched cross between Rambo and The Terminator, utterly flawless in his tactics and able to defeat bad guys without breaking a sweat.

"Nothing To Lose" is easily the worst entry in the series.  Even the names of the two towns, Hope and Despair, demonstrate a shocking lack of originality.  In case you couldn't guess, the people in Despair are up to no good, while the people of Hope are angelic and helpful.  And Reacher will - have no doubt - take the bad guys down.

There's not a single surprise in the entire book, every key event is either telegraphed in perfect clarity, or simply a deus ex machina to unravel an otherwise unsolvable problem.

Lee Child needs to take a holiday from the Jack Reacher assembly line.  We know he can write great, interesting, thrillers.  But what he's been putting out lately has been flat and uninspired.  Maybe it's time to put Reacher away and try something else.  Until he gets back into form, I suggest readers do the same.
3838597
The characters are told in an extreme one-dimensional sense. Very little  traits are included beyond the necessities needed to drive the story along. The out-of towner returning home all-grown up is a classic archetype, yet, the telling of this tale offers nothing that is either original, or evocative. There was nothing pulling one into the narrative, nor the characters, because their presence, up to and including the lead protagonist, existed soley to drive the 'home-coming' plot; when it should have been the characters themselves driving the plot.
2597806
Trite. Offensive and, hopefully, forgetable.
1378555
Imagine a world where every character's inner monologue is forced and fake-sounding. Where every race is cliche to the point of ridiculousness. Where fantasy-racism is apparent in every line about how ALL dwarves automatically know how to bludgeon people to death with an axe on the genetic level, and that while they may befriend humans they would NEVER be attracted to them.  Where the only character to actually feel real is killed off within a few pages and everyone else feels like a paper-doll cut out.  Where new races and major powers can appear out of nowhere without anyone ever noticing their existence until TOO LATE! Where the main character was apparently dropped on his head as a baby and totally lost the ability to prioritize the importance of saving the world versus helping a family chop wood. Where every chapter must contain the same whiny inner monologue about how hard it is to now know how true dwarves live. Where every journey is made long and ponderous by needless side trips and errands. Where a book that had the potential to be be really interesting and have some cool dwarf-politiking was a complete and utter fail.  Welcome to the world of Dwarves...
1040936
After a few hours it all looks the same.  No real story no real depth.
3366554
Poetic, terse beginning.  Looks promising.  If you are having trouble falling asleep this is the picture to watch, and, that's exactly what I did two times!  No action, no adventure, no information, and very little dialog, so no interest.  Pick something else.