2018-04-24
I have to admit I couldn’t get into this book for some time. There are a lot of characters, and I often struggled to differentiate them – some had similar names, others went by more than one name, and some had popular names from Irish mythology – none of which made for easy reading when tired.
However, where this story absolutely excels is in its treatment of relative morality, and does so in a way I’ve not seen any other book manage to achieve. While Gemmell retains his trademark core morality of “good vs evil”, he dares to make us sympathize with “evil” characters, while also despising other characters who will do “good”.
The overall effect turns an otherwise simple story into something far more complex and compelling, and I will probably need to read this again in future in order to truly appreciate it – probably when less tired. 🙂
Rating: 4/5