Official Review: Steel, Blood & Fire

gali · Post by **gali** » 06 Apr 2016, 10:34

Judyk wrote:
gali wrote:
lol I rather liked the "less evil" one though.
Kind of like a motorcycle club romance (lol) great review BTW it convinced me to buy the book rather than read it with my kindle unlimited. Its nice to see a review that so thoroughly explores all of the parts of the book without gibing the whole story away.
Thanks

Thank you. It is a great book!

bluemel4 · Post by **bluemel4** » 06 Apr 2016, 11:43

I really like that this author took the time to make this "epic fantasy" fresh and exciting. I am very impressed that four separate storylines were established and maintained without losing you or the quality of the overall story. I like my heroes and villains to fall within the gray. Great review!

gali · Post by **gali** » 06 Apr 2016, 11:46

bluemel4 wrote:I really like that this author took the time to make this "epic fantasy" fresh and exciting. I am very impressed that four separate storylines were established and maintained without losing you or the quality of the overall story. I like my heroes and villains to fall within the gray. Great review!

The book is very exciting. I enjoyed it greatly. Thank you.

PashaRu · Post by **PashaRu** » 06 Apr 2016, 11:59

Thanks for such a thorough, enthusiastic review! I don't read fantasy, but this sounds like an intriguing read with more than just the tired tropes of dragons, wizards, heroes, and kingdoms in conflict. Glad you enjoyed it so much!

lorenicole · Post by **lorenicole** » 06 Apr 2016, 12:03

Thank you Gali for your well written review of this novel. I like the thought of the characters being shades of gray since that makes them more real. In real life everyone has some darkness in them in varying degrees. I also like that the author did not go obvious with the characters and just do good vs evil which has been done SO many times. This book seems refreshing. It does not hurt that it is medieval fantasy which is one of my favorite areas of reading

gali · Post by **gali** » 06 Apr 2016, 12:23

1_2_5_am · Post by **1_2_5_am** » 06 Apr 2016, 12:43

I was very hesitant of reading any review of this because I fear spoilers, but WOW! You are such an impeccable reviewer!
This review is so riveting that it made me want to read the book even more than I already did!! I really adored the third paragraph when you gave some insight into the characters! That's when I just knew... I'm truly going to have to read this because I am too intrigued not to!!

gali · Post by **gali** » 06 Apr 2016, 14:56

1_2_5_am wrote:I was very hesitant of reading any review of this because I fear spoilers, but WOW! You are such an impeccable reviewer!
This review is so riveting that it made me want to read the book even more than I already did!! I really adored the third paragraph when you gave some insight into the characters! That's when I just knew... I'm truly going to have to read this because I am too intrigued not to!!

Thank you. If you get a chance to read it, let me know what you think.

maruyama · Post by **maruyama** » 06 Apr 2016, 17:37

First law meets Malazan is an accurate portrayal. This book had some excellent takes on otherwise tired themes. Fantasy is not dead, but living and breathing and authors like Batchelder are keeping it alive. Not unlike CB Currie in its nuance and shades, but far more expansive in its epic scope. This is a world-saver like no other.

gali · Post by **gali** » 06 Apr 2016, 21:16

maruyama wrote:First law meets Malazan is an accurate portrayal. This book had some excellent takes on otherwise tired themes. Fantasy is not dead, but living and breathing and authors like Batchelder are keeping it alive. Not unlike CB Currie in its nuance and shades, but far more expansive in its epic scope. This is a world-saver like no other.

Have you read the book? I certainly agree.

TrishaAnn92 · Post by **TrishaAnn92** » 20 Apr 2016, 09:39

Great Review gali! I actually purchased a copy of this book a couple weeks ago! I haven't read it yet but I plan on reading it soon!

gali · Post by **gali** » 20 Apr 2016, 09:49

TrishaAnn92 wrote:Great Review gali! I actually purchased a copy of this book a couple weeks ago! I haven't read it yet but I plan on reading it soon!

Thank you. Enjoy!

I purchased the second book and plan on reading it.

TrishaAnn92 · Post by **TrishaAnn92** » 20 Apr 2016, 09:51

I just started reading The 5th Wave and once I finish it I will probably read this one.

at the rate I'm going, I estimate 2 months.

gali · Post by **gali** » 20 Apr 2016, 09:53

TrishaAnn92 wrote:I just started reading The 5th Wave and once I finish it I will probably read this one. at the rate I'm going, I estimate 2 months.

No rush!

Paperweight · Post by **Paperweight** » 18 Oct 2016, 06:56

APatwary989 wrote:Wow Gali this review was really well written. I will make sure to pick a copy of Steel, Blood and Fire. I think that, as you mentioned, complex characters are what draws me to a book because it shows a more realistic picture of what people in the real world are like.
I've only recently had the courage to pick up a high fantasy book because these always tend to have a very intimidating number of characters within the pages. However after reading A Game of Thrones by J.R Martin, I found that fantasy is a great mix of different flavours mixed in. It is finely balanced with a high character count on one side in order to create a rich and satisfying tale.
Thanks for bringing this book to my attention.

A fantasy is a great mix of flavours- I totally agree!