Anti-Hero central: This is a well written medieval type fantasy with lots action, violence and interesting characters. There is no romance to really speak of except the minimum amounts that are required in such a story - or any story dealing with human beings who are social creatures with emotions. I enjoyed the setting, the characters and the style.
That being said,,, I only gave this book 3 1/2 stars because David Dalglish doesn't have heroes or good guys in his stories. He has conflicted anti-heroes who are apt to cause as much damage and commit almost as many despicable acts as the"villains." In many cases that makes for a better more realistic tale with believable protagonists and antagonists. The problem with David Dalglish is that he. carries the conflicted anti-hero thing too far. His heroes aren't likable. In some of his books (the Half Orc series for prime example) the main characters are despicable hateful creatures who should be the villains of the story.
This is not as prevalent in "A Dance of Cloaks" as in many of his other books, and this is a good book worth reading if you like violent medieval fantasy settings...., but in general I personally am moving to other authors with conflicted but likable heroes instead of all villains and nobody worth cheering for.
That being said,,, I only gave this book 3 1/2 stars because David Dalglish doesn't have heroes or good guys in his stories. He has conflicted anti-heroes who are apt to cause as much damage and commit almost as many despicable acts as the"villains." In many cases that makes for a better more realistic tale with believable protagonists and antagonists. The problem with David Dalglish is that he. carries the conflicted anti-hero thing too far. His heroes aren't likable. In some of his books (the Half Orc series for prime example) the main characters are despicable hateful creatures who should be the villains of the story.
This is not as prevalent in "A Dance of Cloaks" as in many of his other books, and this is a good book worth reading if you like violent medieval fantasy settings...., but in general I personally am moving to other authors with conflicted but likable heroes instead of all villains and nobody worth cheering for.
