I read through 2 1/2 books of the Noble Dead series by Barb and J.C. Hendee. It had most of the ingredients I need. Dark, serious tone, regular insight to characters' thoughts and feelings, and some brutal violence to up the stakes.
What it was missing was truly tortured characters. While the expressed inner feelings of characters told me what they were feeling, they didn't seem to be preoccupied with their feelings enough for me to buy that they were as troubled as they claimed now and then. And the issues bothering them never quite seemed to be THAT monumental. Sick as it may sound, I like my characters to be emotionally tortured.
After reading some samples online and making some reservations at the library, these are the next books on my "try out" list.
I'm a sucker for a cool cover, but I also found myself interested in the first chapter, where a young girl is desperate to escape the life of prostitution she has been sold into. Reviews inform me that there's plenty of the usual sword and sorcery goodness to come in the book, but this beginning reminded me in some ways of Brent Weeks' "Night Angel Trilogy" and anything that can do that is worth a further look for me.
This was not the cover that initially got my attention. (The yellow and purple on this one make it look like a romantic fantasy to me.) The prologues (yes, there are two) had a great sense of dark foreboding, although the first chapter made for a bumpy ride as I got a handle on the strange dialects and lingo of this fantasy world. This will be the third time I've read through the first chapter of this book. But this time, I continued to the second and was delighted by a shocking twist and some more dark elements like those in the prologues. I suspect that if I allow myself to be stretched a little, this might be a very rewarding experience.
Not sure at all what to expect from this one. Two chapters in and no hint at even the existence of magic. If magic is too sparse, it may not hold my interest. The first chapter had some great visceral combat, but if some more emotion isn't injected into future combat it may become repetitive. On the other hand, a disgusting, pathetic and oddly sympathetic character is introduced that I suspect I'll be captivated by. This book may have the most promise of all three.
Hopefully at least ONE of these will be a new author I can sink my teeth into!
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