Daniel Polansky

Leading a life of crime in a back-alley region of the Thirteen Lands's finest city, the Warden discovers a murdered child and is catapulted back to his former life as a secret police agent before embarking on a dangerous game of deception between his former supervisor and dangerous underworld bosses. A first novel. 40,000 first printing.

A Novel

Low Town

Sarah Escorsa

· This One Sounds Deliciously Dark Buddy Read (TOSDDBR™) with Cathy and Robin ·

Actual rating: 2.5 stars.

I read this book because Daniel Polansky = The Builders, which was slightly awesome despite all its characters being silly animals. Hence the present disappointment and current dumbfoundation. The truth is, this little story here has me a teensy bit confused:

۰ I did not like this book.
۰ I did not not like this book.

۰ I may read the next one in the series.
۰ I may not read the next one in the series.

۰ I might be slightly hesitant and a little unsure about this one.
۰ I might not be not slightly hesitant and a little unsure about this one.



This book isn't bad. It's well written. It's deliciously dark. It's character based, which I always find super yummy. The world has potential. The atmosphere has an exquisite Victorian/Jack the Ripperish feel. BUT.

① The pace is so uneven it made me think I was suffering from ADHD. One minute the story was gripping and captivating and stuff, and the next I was skimming away like a maniac. Towards the end I think I skimmed more than I read. Sigh. The story might have been more interesting and faster paced, had the author focused a bit more on developing the world vs. trying waaayyyyyy too hard to make an atmospheric read of it. But he didn't, so it didn't. 

② The MC is as emotional as a truckload of bricks. That's the case of most characters in this story, actually. What makes it worse in the MC's case is that he is an insensitive bastard. And an egotistical asshole, too. I lurrrve my aggravating anti-heroes but this is one of these guys you just can't bring yourself to care about. Bloody hell, this was so bad I couldn't even bring myself to hate him with glee! Now ain't that a depressing thought, my Little Barnacles? Plus, the guy is boring as hell. He's a non-stop rambler. He's blah blah blah-ing with himself all the time. Which is something it I never fail to find extremely compelling. So yay and stuff. But what really really really really sucks here is that this guy could have been an awesome, harem-worthy character. He's an ex war hero/special ops agent/investigator/whatever turned addict/ drug dealer/dark overlord wannabe for shrimp's sake! I should have fallen head over heels for the guy! And done the Poof Gone Harem Thing (PGHT™) on him! But Polansky ruined his wondrous potential, so I didn't. What a rip-off.



As you should, Mr Polansky, as you should.

③ The whole freaking book is an emotional flatland. I didn't give a damn about any of the characters. Their development is as lacking as the world's. They are one-dimensional, bland and feel completely lifeless. One character could have, if not saved the story, then at least made it more engaging. But it didn't happen. Mostly because the reader is not given enough information for said character to make sense. And because said characters' actions towards the end of the book were as predictable as they were puzzling. And I wish I could explain what I mean by that and tell you more about Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler (not the character's real name, in case you were wondering) and why he/she/whatever/surprise surprise isn't coherent but spoiler spoiler spoiler and stuff. Suffice it to say that I now realize Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler is the only character that might have tempted me to read book 2. Uh-oh. Looks likes the to-read shelf life of this series has just been dramatically shortened.

Well this didn't go quite as planned. When I started writing this fascinating review, I'd decided to go for a 3-star rating and to continue with the series. Now I'm struggling NOT to lower my rating to 2 miserable little stars. But The Builders + I'm feeling uncharacteristically lenient today = I'll leave it at 3 2.5. As for the rest of the series, well…



Get it? Good.

» And the moral of this Bloody Hell It's a Miracle Robin and I Agree about a non-IA Book Life will Never Be the Same Crappy Non Review (BHIaMRaIAaanIBLwNBtSCNR™) is: I have no shrimping idea. You read it and tell me, my Little Barnacles. I'd love nothing more than to be enlightened by one of your ever-insightful reviews ← hahahaha. I'm so funny sometimes.

Jessica Nottingham

As I am writing this while slightly loopy on cold meds, please pardon any rambling that might ensue. It doesn't change the fact that Low Town impressed me so very much, that it has firmly settled Daniel Polansky into my favorite authors list. After reading a short story of his, and then devouring a much longer piece, I can tell you that he is an amazing writer in all formats. His worlds brim with atmosphere, his characters are gritty and realistic, but best of all it always feels like you're seated right in the thick of it. This book was utterly addictive, and I'm honestly so sad that it's over.
 
If you asked me to classify this, I'd have a hard time settling on any genre. Low Town is a fantasy, because magic is in play. However it's also noir fiction, in that Warden falls solidly on the wrong side of the law. There's a gritty quality to this story. Polansky takes the hand of the reader, and slowly leads them into the darkest parts of society. The parts where the drugs run thick, danger is around every corner, and the supposed "law men" are actually the worst of the bunch. What I loved about this was that it set Warden in this gray area between worlds. Once a crony of the state, now a crime boss of sorts, poor Warden floats in this intriguing purgatory of his own making. It allows for so much depth, in both his character and the story that surrounds him.
 
Which, honestly, is why I liked Warden as a character so much. Polansky never labels Warden as a "bad guy" or a "good guy". He's just a man, faced with tons of impossible choices, struggling to make a life the best that he can. I never felt cause to judge him for his choices. In fact, more often than not, I silently cheered him on for choosing to do things the hard way. It's tough to create a character who has a good heart, but does bad things. Polansky does it without even blinking. Warden is wonderful, terrible, and tragic all wrapped up into one. I adored and respected him for it.
 
If you think that the impressive world building, and the brilliantly layered characters, were all that you were going to get? Well, you'd be wrong. On top of all of that, is the type of mystery that keeps you reading well into the night. As I mentioned before, Warden isn't exactly the shiniest character you've ever met. He has enemies, and worst of all he has enemies from both his prior and his current life. Polansky took this opportunity to craft a dark and gritty mystery. One steeped in magic and surrounded by death. I liked Warden before he was wrapped up in this mystery, but I loved him afterwards.
 
Long story short, this is absolutely a series that I'll be following. There's not a single thing about it that I didn't fall head over heels in love with. If you're looking for something a bit different, you might want to check this out. I'll tell you, it's put Daniel Polansky on my shelf of favorites. It might do the same for you.

Low Town A Novel

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