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started out okay, but quickly devolved into one of the worst books. KCF was right.
http://icebergink.bl...gnus-flyte.html
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City Of Dark Magic - Magnus Flyte Did Not Finish
#1
QuickTidal 
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Posted 03 January 2013 - 03:23 PM
"When the last tree has fallen, and the rivers are poisoned, you cannot eat money, oh no." ~Aurora
“Someone will always try to sell you despair, just so they don't feel alone.” ~Ursula Vernon
“Someone will always try to sell you despair, just so they don't feel alone.” ~Ursula Vernon
#2
kcf
- High Fist
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Posted 03 January 2013 - 04:00 PM
this one was so awful that I didn't bother to put my review here. But, I see that others have attempted to read it, so I'll do my usual review excerpt here - I actually had fun writing the review because the book is just that awful and the bizarre way it's been publiczed.
Quote
I wasn’t expecting a SFF masterpiece with this book, but at worst I was hoping for a fun urban fantasy and travelogue of Prague that would have me fondly reminiscing about my times there. At best I was hoping for a suspenseful and scholarly feeling book with an immersive atmosphere – such as The Historian or Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Unfortunately, it was far worse than my hopes. Instead of some minimally entertaining thriller in the darkly magical setting of Prague, City of Dark Magic is little more than a 'gritty' version of Disney’s Princess mythos – and that description makes it sound more interesting than it actually is. And by gritty I mean sex, often from behind, in public and involving religious monuments – truly you would think the author of this book really is a man rather than two women.
The set-up for the plot is a formulaic wreck that checks pretty much all of the boxes. An attractive young women with a checkered past who is extraordinarily brilliant [check], an eccentric and even more brilliant mentor [check], who is killed in mysterious circumstances [check], a rich benefactor emerges [check], an all expense paid trip with salary to boot to someplace darkly exotic [check], where she meets a prince [check], who was a drummer in a rock band before he was a prince [check], she uncovers an evil government conspiracy [check], and travels in time [check], … I refuse to go on, but could.
Somehow, I continued the book, though I very nearly stopped reading it many times. I’ll be honest, it does improve a bit once the plot gets rolling. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not good unless you’re a Hollywood blockbuster writer, but it’s at least tolerable (helped out by the setting).
As a travelogue for fond memories it unfortunately didn’t quite measure up – with Prague being such an interesting place, their descriptions come off as flat. Almost as if they haven’t ever been to Prague, walked its streets, or talked to any Czechs over half a dozen beers. But they at least had a good map and got it right with the cab driver.
The historical connection to Beethoven was also a relative failure of the novel. In the beginning I could have sworn the author was some Princeton graduatementally masturbating bragging about all they learned about the real Beethoven. But even the authors got bored with that and very nearly forgot about it. City of Dark Magic could never decide if it wanted to be a magical/historical mystery or a contemporary government thriller – as a result, it’s neither and the result is an unfocussed mess.
Full Review
The set-up for the plot is a formulaic wreck that checks pretty much all of the boxes. An attractive young women with a checkered past who is extraordinarily brilliant [check], an eccentric and even more brilliant mentor [check], who is killed in mysterious circumstances [check], a rich benefactor emerges [check], an all expense paid trip with salary to boot to someplace darkly exotic [check], where she meets a prince [check], who was a drummer in a rock band before he was a prince [check], she uncovers an evil government conspiracy [check], and travels in time [check], … I refuse to go on, but could.
Somehow, I continued the book, though I very nearly stopped reading it many times. I’ll be honest, it does improve a bit once the plot gets rolling. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not good unless you’re a Hollywood blockbuster writer, but it’s at least tolerable (helped out by the setting).
As a travelogue for fond memories it unfortunately didn’t quite measure up – with Prague being such an interesting place, their descriptions come off as flat. Almost as if they haven’t ever been to Prague, walked its streets, or talked to any Czechs over half a dozen beers. But they at least had a good map and got it right with the cab driver.
The historical connection to Beethoven was also a relative failure of the novel. In the beginning I could have sworn the author was some Princeton graduate
Full Review
#3
QuickTidal
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Posted 03 January 2013 - 04:55 PM
kcf, on 03 January 2013 - 04:00 PM, said:
this one was so awful that I didn't bother to put my review here. But, I see that others have attempted to read it, so I'll do my usual review excerpt here - I actually had fun writing the review because the book is just that awful and the bizarre way it's been publiczed.
Quote
I wasn’t expecting a SFF masterpiece with this book, but at worst I was hoping for a fun urban fantasy and travelogue of Prague that would have me fondly reminiscing about my times there. At best I was hoping for a suspenseful and scholarly feeling book with an immersive atmosphere – such as The Historian or Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Unfortunately, it was far worse than my hopes. Instead of some minimally entertaining thriller in the darkly magical setting of Prague, City of Dark Magic is little more than a 'gritty' version of Disney’s Princess mythos – and that description makes it sound more interesting than it actually is. And by gritty I mean sex, often from behind, in public and involving religious monuments – truly you would think the author of this book really is a man rather than two women.
The set-up for the plot is a formulaic wreck that checks pretty much all of the boxes. An attractive young women with a checkered past who is extraordinarily brilliant [check], an eccentric and even more brilliant mentor [check], who is killed in mysterious circumstances [check], a rich benefactor emerges [check], an all expense paid trip with salary to boot to someplace darkly exotic [check], where she meets a prince [check], who was a drummer in a rock band before he was a prince [check], she uncovers an evil government conspiracy [check], and travels in time [check], … I refuse to go on, but could.
Somehow, I continued the book, though I very nearly stopped reading it many times. I’ll be honest, it does improve a bit once the plot gets rolling. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not good unless you’re a Hollywood blockbuster writer, but it’s at least tolerable (helped out by the setting).
As a travelogue for fond memories it unfortunately didn’t quite measure up – with Prague being such an interesting place, their descriptions come off as flat. Almost as if they haven’t ever been to Prague, walked its streets, or talked to any Czechs over half a dozen beers. But they at least had a good map and got it right with the cab driver.
The historical connection to Beethoven was also a relative failure of the novel. In the beginning I could have sworn the author was some Princeton graduatementally masturbating bragging about all they learned about the real Beethoven. But even the authors got bored with that and very nearly forgot about it. City of Dark Magic could never decide if it wanted to be a magical/historical mystery or a contemporary government thriller – as a result, it’s neither and the result is an unfocussed mess.
Full Review
The set-up for the plot is a formulaic wreck that checks pretty much all of the boxes. An attractive young women with a checkered past who is extraordinarily brilliant [check], an eccentric and even more brilliant mentor [check], who is killed in mysterious circumstances [check], a rich benefactor emerges [check], an all expense paid trip with salary to boot to someplace darkly exotic [check], where she meets a prince [check], who was a drummer in a rock band before he was a prince [check], she uncovers an evil government conspiracy [check], and travels in time [check], … I refuse to go on, but could.
Somehow, I continued the book, though I very nearly stopped reading it many times. I’ll be honest, it does improve a bit once the plot gets rolling. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not good unless you’re a Hollywood blockbuster writer, but it’s at least tolerable (helped out by the setting).
As a travelogue for fond memories it unfortunately didn’t quite measure up – with Prague being such an interesting place, their descriptions come off as flat. Almost as if they haven’t ever been to Prague, walked its streets, or talked to any Czechs over half a dozen beers. But they at least had a good map and got it right with the cab driver.
The historical connection to Beethoven was also a relative failure of the novel. In the beginning I could have sworn the author was some Princeton graduate
Full Review
Yeah, after getting as far as I did, I totally agree with your review sir. In future I should listen more to ya.
And it was fun to write my negative DNF review anyways.
"When the last tree has fallen, and the rivers are poisoned, you cannot eat money, oh no." ~Aurora
“Someone will always try to sell you despair, just so they don't feel alone.” ~Ursula Vernon
“Someone will always try to sell you despair, just so they don't feel alone.” ~Ursula Vernon
#4
Ukjent
- First Sword
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Posted 03 January 2013 - 07:57 PM
The pseudonym of the authors is nearly enough in it self for me to want to read it. In Norwegian the name is "Magus float" and it just sounds so weird that I got a bit curious, so i checked out your reviews. Main person interested in music? Always a good sign, just read any novel of Ian Rankin, sex why not, as long as is done in a good way and it's gives something to the story, porn I can watch/read elsewhere. Prague, wonderful city, visited it 1.5 years ago and would love to return there. But the we got the trailer, a mysterious prince, you don't have ones of does in Europe, why to many magazines especially German and English ones to make them mysterious. And of course the plot sounded like rubbish, so I'm just glad that I don't have to waist any money/time to read it.
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