Where I Liked It Way More Than Expected. Good News!

Hammers of Ulric by Dan Abnett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this a lot more than most the reviewers I looked at. That's weird. I thought it would be the other way around.

I have tried many times over the years to get into one of those long fantasy game tie-in series with 100 or 150 titles--the kind written by multiple people--and I just can't do it. I'll sort of like one or two titles and try others, and I always end up thinking it wasn't worth my time, that they aren't fun, that they fall flat. They usually feel like imitation fantasy, with half the enjoyment and all of the tedium. It's disappointing, because I think if I did like them, I would have a huge library of stuff to look forward to. You know, if you were on a desert island and had to pick just one series, wouldn't it be good to get a really long one?

Not if they are no good.

I had never read any Warhammer ones but finally got curious enough to overcome my misgivings and take a look, and I really liked this first one. Good news! Then I read reviews and found most people didn't like it for the reasons I did.

So, like I say, weird.

Anyway, for my money, it works. I like how this novel begins as if it's a series of short stories. I like how they gradually come together as a whole novel. I like how I am interested in many of the characters. (That is ALWAYS the downfall for me with the other series--I never care about the characters at all. They're always universally horrible people or colorless, boring, and unsympathetic. Not my thing, obviously.) I like how the characters work together, supporting one another, becoming allies. I like how it's not all action, but has a little romance, a little horror, a little of this and that. I like how, when the action builds, it builds a lot.

Books out of multi-author series for me in the past have always been 2/5 stars, or 3/5. I had hopes this would be a 3 or even a 4. But I really liked it! It was fun! What else could I ask for? All the stars.

I thought it was clever. I enjoyed picking it up. Other people felt different. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. But since I bought one of those omnibus books with two more novels in it, I'm gonna try to do it wrong a couple more times.

Looking forward to it.

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