Here's a very brief re-cap of the series so far:
Prepare yourself for plenty of action, tears, horrifying
choices and mythical monsters. Lots of them.
Gorgeous front cover... |
Just as in the first two books that precede it in the Name of the Blade series, Frail Human Heart (originally titled 'Frail Mortal Heart') is bursting with
amazingly detailed pieces of description, a ship-load of emotional
roller-coasters and characters that never back down from a fight. Zoë Marriott
doesn’t just ramp up the action and the tension though, she also builds up the
relationships between the characters and is totally unafraid to break them down
and put them back together again in a way that completely undermines everything
you (and Mio) thought you understood. As
the last in the series, it definitely doesn’t disappoint.
I won’t go into too much detail (because of *spoilers*), but particular highlights for
me include: the kitsune and their world, the memory scenes, Mio and her family
relationships, the beautifully integrated Japanese mythology that underpins
everything (you can tell a ton of research went into this book) and, though it
might be a little spoiler-y, I have to add Ebisu’s jellyfish and the dragon to
this list too – the scenes with her had a gorgeous dreamlike quality.
An interesting detail of this book - and Darkness Hidden – that I haven't really
encountered before is the ‘Previously
in…’ section at the start of the book. For some readers who are reading all
three books quite close together this could seem annoying and unnecessary, but
I found it quite helpful and less annoying than having the previous events in
the last books constantly reiterated as the story could continue faster and
build up tension without having to slow down to reflect on past events.
Overall I loved this book, as I have loved all of Zoë
Marriott’s since I first discovered The
Swan Kingdom. It’s a real departure
for her as an author that I was initially a little wary of as I wasn’t sure how
the mythology was going to blend together with London as a gritty, urban setting,
but it really pays off and shows how she can be equally at home in urban
fantasy as she is in high fantasy.
...and there's some pretty stuff inside FHH too! |
And, if you’ve read and loved Frail Human Heart because of those Japanese influences and you want to read more of Zoë Marriott’s novels, I’d definitely recommend Shadows on the Moon as your next book to curl up with!
For more information on the Name of the Blade trilogy, go to Zoë's blog, which you can find HERE. You can also follow her on Twitter @ZMarriott
A selection of what's on my bookshelf |
Do you like urban fantasy or high fantasy? Or both? If you have any books you'd like to recommend, please leave them in the comments!
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