second in the Low Town series. inwhich The Warden reaches a breaking point, and a whole lot of things get broken along the way. the language is clear and sharp, and it cuts, drawing blood in every line. in his head, and in his actions, he relives a war, sets off a general Accounting, and almost loses a family. there's a mystery or two he solves too late, a town he just can't quit, and a boy he tries to fix (a chump move, he knows) because of the few things he still believes in against his better judgment. it's not really Noir, but it's definitely hard-boiled fantasy (which doesn't come by that often). and it's very grimdark in outlook, following Warden's Point of View: except he's got layers and ethics and so much that matters to him, even when he wishes it didn't. and the writing's so good it's addictive, and the story itself is so compelling you can't help turning the next page. ( )

I have to admit I love this one a lot more than the first novel. It might be because I'm getting into Polansky's style or it could be because the Warden finally grew on me after the events finally played out in the first novel.

Either way, it doesn't really matter because this novel was perfectly awesome all on its own. It was riffing the horrors of World War I with a magical slant beautifully, even written as a slow reveal of the Warden's past as he goes about his dark days in Low Town in the present. I honestly loved getting to know him much, much better, learning that he was even more despicable and heroic than I had first gave him credit for. What a cool blend of regained conscience, doing the right thing, and bloody-minded and overwhelming revenge that takes on the whole damn world.

I mean, here we go from being nearly perfectly apathetic after being drummed out of the spy business, to feeling extremely guilty for a past wrong, to doing a half-assed job to make up for the guilt, to failing, and in failing, decide to make it right by burning the whole motherfucking world to the ground.

It actually turns out pretty much as epic as it sounds, too.

I'm SOOO tempted to start reading the third novel right away, not that there's a cliffhanger, because there isn't. I'm just that invested in the world, now. :)

Here's to the dirt and slime of the world! And let's hear it for our favorite drug-pushing, orphan-saving, black-hearted murderer, and pretty decent human being, the Warden. :) *clink*

Even if he's an asshole, he still has his good points. :) ( )

I enjoyed this tremendously, even more than the first one. It takes the gritty, filthy, cityscape scene-setting of Low Town and builds ruthlessly upon it a story so noir it should come wrapped in a trenchcoat. We get our hero being taken apart by his history in brutally unflinching first person narrative, and we get regular flashbacks to the most excellent fantasy-world version of the First World War I've ever encountered. The slightly bothersome cliche elements from the first one have been replaced by vicious and vibrant multicultural poverty and privilege and power remain core themes. It's hard and it's witty and I loved every moment of reading it. ( )

A great followup. A tighter plot. The writing is top notch as in the first novel. The novel alternates between the war and the events in Low Town.
Noir and Fantasy work really well once again.
The warden is a fine anti hero. ( )

There were times when I didn't quite care enough and where the past and the present stories got muddied a bit too much, I could see what the author was doing but in some ways it interfered with my enjoyment of the story. On the other hand seeing how Warden came to be the man he is now is interesting.

It's a story with a lot of twists and turns and a lot of layers. Warden thinks he's clever but many other players are also being involved, Warden has the advantage that several of the players want to keep him stirring things up.

Interesting, I'm curious where the story is going to go from now. ( )