November 2017 - Age of Assassins by R.J. Barker

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

Thank you to everybody who voted. A great turnout that went wire to wire for this book and Illuminae which we'll have to group lead. Boy am I ever overcommitted for November.

[Ahdam]

Can't wait for this it sounds very interesting

[Veronica]

I'm in.

[Choko]

Spot saved:)

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

I'm VERY excited for this one. :)

[[deleted user]]

I'm in!

[Seán]

I'm intrigued enough, I'll add it to the list!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I'll tentatively agree to participate... I'm pretty new to planning reads this far ahead...

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

Damn but this seems forever ago and yet I can't believe November is less than two weeks away.

[Diana Stormblessed]

In

[Margret, Caladan Brood Face]

I'm in

[Chris]

I forgot about this book until yesterday, so I bought it today and now I'm ready to go! Just need some beer, chips, and nuts! WOOT!

[Adam]

I read this a few months back but I'm definitely interested in following along with your thoughts!

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

I'm going to be fashionably late, as it runs the whole month and I'm trying to get a head start on Stormlight Archive. Looking forward to some early thoughts though. :)

[Joshua]

I'm in!

[Danielle]

I'm new here but I'm in!

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

Welcome aboard.

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Lmao I was wondering why no one had started yet. Yeah, it's still October.

[Chris]

I want to finish The Blade Itself first and I should be done in a day or two, then I'll start this right away.

[Seán]

I'm still hoping to pick it up cheap in print or on kindle, so if that happens I'll be in!

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

Plowed through a few chapters this morning.

Prologue

(view spoiler)[Interesting that mages caused the scourging of the land and their blood heals it. I wonder if this will be dystopian on top of epic? Because that would make two books with that combo in a few weeks. Maybe it's growing as a double genre (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 1

(view spoiler)[Between the club foot and his calling her master I kept thinking of Marty feldman and young frankenstein. I hope he doesn't do that relentlessly the entire book. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 2

(view spoiler)[Cool little scene between the queen and the assassin. So far I like the writers style although none of the characters have captivated me yet. I do sort of want the Queen's son strung up. (hide spoiler)]

Interlude

(view spoiler)[Not sure I see the point of this one. We already knew she bought him from slavers and the back story didn't really buy us anything else. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 3

(view spoiler)[I'm thinking those swords are the real thing and will play a big role down the line. His hubris over the swords could be the start of breadcrumbs to his identity being more than what he seems. (hide spoiler)]

[Samir]

I'm gonna start this on Monday.

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

Chapters 4+5

(view spoiler)[
Getting the story of Heamus and his maid was his king took from him and then meeting the stable girl I think we see the same path for our young assassin. The king is waiting certainly is a big enough ass to warrant getting a shank.
(hide spoiler)]

[Margret, Caladan Brood Face]

Starting today

[Islandmaria]

Just picked up Age of Assassins! Will be reading it today!!

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

Chapter 7

(view spoiler)[I wouldn't expect you to understand a mother's love.......I would be surprised if our assassins aren't mother and son after all and we get the backdrop of how he was either taken from her or she gave him up and then changed her mind. (hide spoiler)]

[Veronica]

I started this last night, read through the first three chapters. It seems okay so far though I don't feel hooked yet.

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

Veronica wrote: "I started this last night, read through the first three chapters. It seems okay so far though I don't feel hooked yet."

I'm through chapter 9. I'm torn so far. The pacing is super slow. I really have no affinity for any of the characters. I like the world. I think the writer has a very elegant writing style that really flows.

I think people who don't mind a slower pace and invest a lot in the writing style will like this. Also lovers of old school fantasy like Gemmell and Tolkien.

I'm hoping things get moving at a faster pace.

[Joshua]

Haven't read as much as some of you guys, but there are some definitely some interesting aspects to the prologue and the first chapter.
As other people have said, it is a little slow. Sometimes jumping straight into the action doesn't give you enough information though.

[Chris]

Starting tonight, so I'm happy to be joining ya'll!

[Islandmaria]

Scott wrote: "Veronica wrote: "I started this last night, read through the first three chapters. It seems okay so far though I don't feel hooked yet."

I'm through chapter 9. I'm torn so far. The pacing is super..."

Me too!

[Solseit]

I am late with this read!! Catching up today! :D

[Margret, Caladan Brood Face]

I'm definitely not hooked yet, feels same old same old to me with little excitement

[Mayim]

Just popping in to check how you like the book ladies and gents. Yay or nah? Gemmell and Tolkien are my middle names so perhaps I'd like it? On the other hand, I have had enough slow book in the recent weeks. I think I'll wait until the series is out and then binge it.

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

I'm through chapter 12. It's still pretty flat but at least something happened this chapter to give me hope.

(view spoiler)[I think a lot of books I might have seen that they were both mages but this one has been such a slow pace. (hide spoiler)]

[Shaitarn]

Started today.

[Solseit]

I finished Chapter 17. It is not bad at all, it is a good assassin story, yet it is not innovative.

I think the strength of the story comes from the interaction of the protagonist and his master. It is a strong relationship to be honest; besides that, the world is quite limited (so far it all happens in one location), the world building is quite simplified.
Yet, I keep reading. So there has to be something that is interesting me!

[Margret, Caladan Brood Face]

Mayim- I’m saying nah

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

Margret wrote: "Mayim- I’m saying nah"

Ditto. It's not awful but it's so simplistic and my god I hate the relationship between Girton and his master. The way they feed information back and forth to each other just comes off as stupid.

[Samir]

I'm supposed to start this tomorrow but your comments are making me reconsider.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I forgot I signed up for this before setting up my tracker... I'm kinda in the Mayin/Samir camp tho... comments aren't promising, and I've read enough slow reads lately...

[Solseit]

For me is a 3 stars read - maybe because I was mostly listening to the audiobook the book kept me interested. It is not the best fantasy book, it is not the best assassin book (and I still need to find a good one at that) but it isn’t bad either. Mostly I would say this is more a YA book.

[Veronica]

I've read through the first eight chapters. I've warmed to it a bit more but I'd agree that it has a very simplistic feel to it. It's not blowing me away and it's not in that unputdownable category for me. I actually prefer the parts where Girton is on his own as opposed the ones where he is interacting with his master. Overall though it doesn't feel very assassin-y. I'll keep reading it in spurts throughout the month.

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

Through chapter 19 with no change.

[Danielle]

I agree with Aristea, it definitely has a very YA feel to me, especially in the way the characters interact.

[Danisha]

Samir wrote: "I'm supposed to start this tomorrow but your comments are making me reconsider."

I'm kind of in the same boat and I've seen mixed reviews elsewhere as well. I'm also coming off a ready good read high, Beyond Redemption was great and I just finished The The Warded Man(The Painted Man) in the Demon Cycle Series which was a top read of the year for me, and now I'm currently reading The Library at Mount Char which already is taking me on a crazy journey, I'm not sure a slow pace will keep up with the rest of my reads. I'll creep around for a bit and wait to see some more comments. Enjoy the read guys.

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

Danisha wrote: "Samir wrote: "I'm supposed to start this tomorrow but your comments are making me reconsider."

I'm kind of in the same boat and I've seen mixed reviews elsewhere as well. I'm also coming off a rea..."

Beyond Redeption and Mount Char are both terrific.

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

Danielle wrote: "I agree with Aristea, it definitely has a very YA feel to me, especially in the way the characters interact."

I think that's a fair interpretation.

[Seán]

Danielle wrote: "I agree with Aristea, it definitely has a very YA feel to me, especially in the way the characters interact."

That's kind of the impression I got from what I've read about it. I know using 'YA' as a measurement of my interest in a book may not be the best, but it's been pretty damn accurate so far.

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

Seán wrote: "That's kind of the impression I got from what I've read about it. I know using 'YA' as a measurement of my interest in a book may not be the best, but it's been pretty damn accurate so far. ."

Honestly the character development and interaction is below most basic YA books. The writer also spends a lot of time depicting things like walking from one end of the castle to the other. The writing isn't bad but when an entire page is that description with no real value to the story or character development it's not going to get a high grade.