A slight and unreliable review for a ginormous book

The City Stained Red by Sam Sykes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am not really the audience for this book, which makes me an unreliable reviewer, but I plow ahead for my own reasons. Continue for entertainment purposes only.

I knew it probably wouldn't work (for me, I must emphasize) before I opened it. This comes out of a sub-genre that I just haven't learned to appreciate (though I keep trying, from time to time). However, I like the author and wanted to support him by buying the book, and since I got it signed I didn't want to leave it unread on the shelf. I'm a fan. SRSLY. However, in terms of my reading enjoyment, I could only give this a 3 or so. I liked some parts, some characters, like Kataria and Lenk, but I didn't care for others.

Maybe this is country and I'm rock 'n roll. Or this is punk and I'm Mongolian throat-singing. That kind of thing.

However, without threading the needle too much, I believe it's an objectively better book than my personal response indicates, so I actually give this a 4. I see that it does some things well, especially creating characters with meaningful motivations who are more complex than most D&D adventuring party sorts of books. For that and a couple other reasons (fairness, justice, a nagging feeling that I missed something, fanboy loyalty) I bumped up my score.

In a slightly clearer version: those who usually enjoy this sub-genre will like this novel. They should get their own copy, though.

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