Bloody Good

A Crown for Cold Silver by Alex Marshall

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


"Winter in the north is liable to make a grumpy panther of anyone..." Sometimes a voice is so powerful, so intriguing, you'll follow it anywhere. Though I love a good action movie, from Avengers to Robocop, I am not normally a fan of the relentlessly gritty and grim, betrayal upon sin upon treachery, especially for 656 pages. I prefer a tale of honor and hope, qualities in short supply in the Crimson Empire. However, there's swashbuckling, swagger and sass. Senseless violence, too. What is it about a bloody good fight? That sense of righteousness and terror blended...the demons in this book feed on emotions, so the demon that lives with former General Zosia is more than thrilled when she is roused from retirement to revenge. She's no less brutal than her enemies--or her friends--and that, of course, is the pointlessness of war.
Marshall is a Tarantino of a novelist, the power of his storytelling voice leading you through the puddles and pools of blood until you're bathed in it. It's not the originality of the story, but the way the author tells it, twisting a trope here, tossing one there, revealing facets compelling and strange. It's a rousing adventure, a companion quest, set in a world where people daily make the choice of "go with the devil you know," or "even death would be better than this."
I love a good story, but when you can luxuriate in the language as well, that’s bloody good.
I received an EARC of the book for review from the publisher and Netgalley.




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