This was (to date) the most enjoyable book I have read this year.
Not the best, no, that is a title that belongs to another book by a
different author, but it was the most enjoyable and to me there can
be a difference between most enjoyable and 'the best'. I hope to
expound on that as this review progresses.
The Ill-Made Knight is unique in that it blankets the world of
knights and chivalry like none other that I have read. If any comes
close, maybe it was
Men of Iron by
Howard Pyle, but then the study of armour and armoury has come a long way since that was written and it has been so
long since I read it. I could be wrong.
Part of the reason it does unique so successfully has to have more
than a little to do with the author's love of re-enactment and living
history. Playing with swords and armour and doing it all on horse
back is
Christian Cameron's hobby and the book benefits from that
immensely. There is no better research an author can partake in than a
living history experience.
I say the book is unique, however it was not wholly unique, and I
hate it when I find myself comparing books, but I cannot help myself,
I have to make a comparison. To me, while the subject matter – the
chivalry, the emphasis on the culture of chivalry, the details of
armour and weaponry – have been done in a unique way, the story
and the main character reminded me over and over, of Thomas of
Hookton and the
Bernard Cornwell series,
Grail Quest. Sometimes I
felt William Gold and Thomas of Hookton, whilst borne from the minds
of different authors, were blending. So many authors glean their
inspiration from Bernard Cornwell's writing, that even though their
own writing is not meant to mimic, sometimes it can. I don't know if
that was the case here. If Christian Cameron was/is a fan of Bernard
Cornwell. Maybe the character similarities are purely coincidence.
Maybe to others there is no similarity and it is just me.
Comparisons, uniqueness and criticisms aside (and there are criticism - they are yet to come in this review), this was a fantastic book and
promises to be a brilliant series. It will find fertile ground with a
whole new fan base that the author has not yet tapped into since so
far his books (not including his novella ebook only things, because I
don't regard them as books) have all been set in Ancient eras. This
is the book, and the series, that will get him the attention of the
Medieval reader.
I gave the book 4 stars out of 5 and, suffice it to say, I do have
my criticisms.
Firstly, let's get the most offensive one out of the
way. I do not ever think there is any reason why an author need go
into too much description when writing a child rape scene. The child rape is briefly described and yet so vividly described. Readers are a smart enough
bunch. Authors do not need to describe it that much.
So that's that. I mention it in my review because I know many readers who would like the warning. I understand that the author may be offended that I have brought this up, but then I am offended as a reader, so I suppose that makes us even.
An editor should have shaved those scenes of the
excessive description. I cannot imagine why they did not.
Speaking of editors. This book was riddled with errors. The wrong
spelling of words eg though instead of thought and typos galore eg
pregnat instead of pregnant.
The book was especially rife with them in the back half.
And "
like a passion play"'. The author used variations of "
like a passion play" at least five times. The use of the term is something one notices as it is not common, so when it keeps appearing, it becomes a flaw.
It was
as if it had not actually been spell checked thoroughly (which clearly it hadn't) or even put
under the eyes of a professional editor. Which is a shame as so much
else about the book, like cover and in fact the writing itself, was
very professional.
Also, a small matter. There was a glossary that I found lacking. A
glossary that detailed armour and armoury and yet there were many
missing off it like buckler and some kind of dart or little arrow (I
know the name, but the name escapes me now). There were others, but
those were the two I remember because I would have liked to see a
description in the glossary.
These errors made me question whether I should be giving the most
enjoyable book of the year a full five stars. I think a half star
should come off my rating for them. But when it came down to it, it
was the contrived feeling of the William Gold hard luck story that
really wore on me and stripped that star down to make my rating four
out of five. I was having a blast with the book for the first half. Only that everything that could go wrong did go wrong and I found myself thinking more and more that it was too much. That surely something has to go right. That it would have been to the betterment of the story to have a few little rays of sunshine.
One wee thing before moving on, which isn't such a negative, just a note of interest. The
book has no chapters. It has about three Parts and there are scene
breaks. But no chapters. I like chapters, they are good places to rest
up. Still, it wasn't too much of a pain and I hardly noticed until about
halfway.
William Gold truly is the most unlucky bastard that ever lived.
An elaborate sketch if I may...
Picture this. A man walks across a cobbled road and trips over a
stone and falls, he gets up, straightens his clothes, walks in the
door of a pub and hits himself on the door frame. Rubs his head,
walks inside, then gets hit in the face by a wayward punch in someone
else's bar fight. Picks himself up, orders a beer, walks to a table
sits down and a chair leg breaks and he goes down. Gets another
chair, goes to drink his ale and the handle comes off and the ale
goes into his lap. Poor unlucky bastard gives up, walks back into the
street. Cart goes passed and splashes muddy water all over him. See's
a whore, tries to procure her services only to find a hole in his
pocket where his money fell out. Gets stabbed by the whore's pimp.
The entire book was like this. Only take out the tripping and
broken furniture and passing cart and add in all the events that
befall William Gold.
Aye, he truly is the most unlucky bastard that ever lived and
as the story goes on it did not feel at all natural.
It was not a deal breaker though. I could still really enjoy the book despite it. It's just that I could have enjoyed it more.
Taking into account typos, errors, repeating of phrases and the downer of nothing going right for the main character, I give the book four stars out of five (as mentioned). But that is not the entire story. The book is still a lot of fun in parts. Was well written. Imaginative. And captured the era well, in my opinion. I am eager for there to be a book two. This series will no doubt go from strength to strength.
- MM
