Customer Reviews

City of Rogues (Book I of The Kobalos Trilogy)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this book because most of the reviews are so good. I thought to myself: Hmm, a book that has god reviews mustbe good right? Ehhh. I will say that the book had me interested from beginning to end, but only because I thought that there would be some type of reversal at the end.



+++ Spoiler ALERT+++




In this book, all or most of the characters have roles that they should not have. The hero states that the main villain is the cause of all his misery and woe, and yet you find out that the "villain" might be a great crook, but he certainly is NOT the vilain he is made out to be. He is instead quite reasonable for a man in his position.

The "hero" does not deserve that name, for he is not a virtuous man at all. The only thing he defends is his revenge, and that gets plenty of other innocent men killed. He, for all his skill, is not a man of reason, nor does he give or even try to offer any reason whatsoever for what he does. He does not reflect upon that which moves him.

The maiden is another moral conundrum. She is the disciple of a fencing master, whom she betrays when she is not even sure why. She offers an excuse though, that she wants to learn from "the man who fights so strangely", but the book presents her master as the most skilled of all three.

In short, the "villains" are written as fairly common men, but certainly not deserving of death, while the "heroes" do seem morally abhorrent to me.

As for the story line. You are told from beginning to end that the main character wants to take his revenge on somebody. When he finally does, he shifts his attention to something totally unrelated to his prior life, and he still moves on with the same desire for revenge. As a reader I had to ask myself "Why?"
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As I said before, this book kept me reading from beginning to end. In fact, there is no reason why the main characters have to be heroes. If I am this disappointed with the characters, it only speaks well of the author who can create in me such strong feelings. So, just as many people have written before me, I must say that the author has great talent, and I will be reading further work. However, for better or for worse, I like books in which the characters have what they deserve, and this is not one of those books. I am not going to read the rest of the series.

This book is good, it is an enjoyable read. There are a lot of things about the book that are annoying, but overall it still kept me interested.
Some of the language is a bit strange, for example there is a "busted window". The adjective really stands out as on odd choice of slang. There is also a very uncomfortable moment when some street urchin says to the hero "that's why you love me", and the hero replies "yes, that is why i love you". I couldn't help wondering where such a strong emotion had come from given that they had only really had a couple of business interactions.
The story also takes a dramatic turn at the end, where a couple of people who have just met are discussing something, and all of a sudden the hero proclaims a new perilous mission he must undertake, but it really comes from nowhere, it is just a way of setting up the next book even though it doesn't seem to relate to anything that had happened.
There are a couple of aspects of the book that are written almost like a mystery, as if you should be guessing and wondering who etc, but that side of the book sort of falls flat. Overall, there were a lot of bizarre aspects to this book, but for some reason, it still held my attention and I did enjoy it, even if I was sometimes laughing at the story instead of with it.

The sample chapters clearly show that the author can write well, promising a tale of daring and creative revenge in the spirit of The Count of Monte Cristo. There was even a point early in the story where I was rubbing my hands together with glee because it seemed like the villain was going to unwittingly hire the alter ego of the man trying to assassinate him to track down the man trying to assassinate him. And that was gonna be awesome to watch!

Unfortunately, this was only one of the really amazing potential plot twists that just failed to materialize - hinted at and then just dropped. If the author had lavished as much attention on the middle and end of the book as he clearly did on the beginning, City of Rogues could have been so much more than just another fantasy novel with familiar tropes, stock characters, and modest world-building.

It's not a bad story, mind you, but I can't help but feel it could have been so much better if the author had made some bolder plot choices.

The characters are very one dimensional and easy to predict. As such the book was a straightforward easy read, and for the price on the kindle I am not horribly unsatisfied. Characters are littered throughout the book who are brought to life through the entire book only to serve some minimal purpose at the end and then the characters are removed. There are budding relationships that are awkward and seemed forced. All in all, worth the price, but I wouldn't read it again nor recommend it to another with all of the low priced novels available on the kindle currently.

This book is a great read-- better than I expected (I had never read anything else by this author) and I hope to read more. This is a great book if you enjoy epic fantasy and I am looking forward to reading the others.

It's hard to discuss it without giving away the plot (I hate spoiler reviews) but it was an enjoyable read.

FYI-- I bought this book for a dollar on Kindle-- what a bargain for great entertainment.

-- No spoilers --

I bought my Kindle with the intent to buy and read low-priced novels from unknown and indie authors. So far, that experience has been pretty rewarding. City of Rogues made me pause, though. This novel has the foundation to be good book, but is lacking in important areas.

The best part of City of Rogues is the pace and action. There is constant action, and the plot moves forward at a good pace, certainly not too slow, but also not too fast. The plot helps the pacing, but is pretty straightforward. The language is clear and makes for an easy read. The action scenes are written quite well. The level of worldbuilding is satisfying, even original in places, and hints at some interesting matters which may become relevant later in the trilogy.

I was mainly disappointed by the characters. Ty Johnston created some promising characters, notably Kron, Belgad , Gris, Markwood and Randall, and to a certain extent also Lucius, Adara, Wyck and Stilp. But the promise never develops into something more, as the characters stay two-dimensional, and at several junctions in the story make some head-scratching decisions based on weak explanations. Also, I never had the feeling that I really got into the characters skin, and had trouble to identify with them and care for them. The fact that the POV would jump from character to character, often in mid-scene, didn't help at all. On the flip side, Johnston at least did paint most of the characters grey, with the villains showing some positive traits, and the heroes some bad ones. It just wasn't developed enough, much to my regret.

Overall, this book shows some promise, and I may end up buying the next book. But City of Rogues could have been so much better, and it is a pity that it isn't.

Ty Johnston has created a character in Kron Darkbow that reminds me a little bit of The Punisher. His family was killed and he is going to get revenge no matter what it takes. When he finds the wizard responsible for the actual killings he finds out that the order came from another. He switches his target immediately not caring that he is now taking on arguably the most powerful man in the city.

As other reviewers have stated this book really does not leave you guessing at what is going to happen, but it does its job very well. The scenery is described with enough detail that you know what the environment looks like, but it does not bog the story down. Action is the number one thing in this book and there is plenty of it: chases, narrow escapes, assassins, sword fights, magic, torture, etc...

The second book promises a much bigger bad guy to take down and a few new friends to help out. I will be picking it up in the near future for sure.

I thought this was pretty good. I was excited to find out what was going to happen next. I see other's point about how the "villain" had his good points and it was hard to hate him completely and how the "hero" had his bad points and it was hard to love him completely.

This was a switch up from typical heroes/villains, that's for sure.

Still I found the story exciting and would read more of Ty Johnston's work.

I get the feeling that this author has played a little too much "Final Fantasy".

That said, the book was great but mostly unoriginal. Sometimes, though, lack of innovation can result in a charming read, which is what this was. You get the standard wizards and warriors type of setting, with characters mostly what you'd expect. But to agree with another reviewer, those characters don't seem to fit into typical roles--and that makes the book all the more interesting. In fact you might go so far as to say that the roles of the protagonist and antagonist have been completely reversed. The main character, Krom, seems pretty much hell-bent on taking one guy down, and although that guy is clearly morally reprehensible...Well, so is Krom. By the end of the book, his quest comes full circle (you'll know what I mean when you finish).

This book is for the most part written well, but there are a few bits of dialog scattered about which are written the way they might be said, but not written the way you want to read them. Sometimes it can be a bit annoying, but at least it's realistic. Sometimes the diction seems like it could have been better polished before the book's release. Most notably are a few spelling or formatting errors (very minor, but still one will most likely notice them before finishing).

The best part of this book, hands down, is the story. Like I said, it comes full circle in a way, and I love books in which the beginning parallels the ending. Ty clearly outlined exactly what and how he wanted events to take place, and very rarely do events feel like they are disjointed or unnecessary.

Ultimately, a good read. I'll be sure to pick up the next installment once I have a couple bucks.

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Search Jeffrey Joslin under Kindle on Amazon to find my own works.

The story does not hesitate to unfold from the very beginning, and pulls absolutely no punches. Each line is placed with intention and importance (which is something I wish I could say for other writers), and when the seldom deviation does occur it doesn't leave the reader bored. Ty introduces us into a world plagued with tension, murder, revenge, and bribery, and does a fantastic job emphasizing how fast the darkness could fall. The first chapter, for example, illustrates the frailness of safety in a world ripe with conflict as Trelvigor, a mage, slays an intruder only to discover it was a minor distraction. Kron Darkbow, lured by the taste of revenge, pays a visit to the man responsible for the destruction of those he loved only to discover an alarming truth. That Trelvigor was merely a pawn, a wizard on Belgad the Liar's payroll, a barbarian chieftain who rules with mob-like tactics. As the story continues, the lies travel deeper into a well of deceit that Darkbow is eager to punch through. Furious, Belgad tries everything in his power to trump this pesky intruder, terrorizing his own people, utilizing fear as a weapon, while tapping into retired recruits in desperation. Darkbow, though skilled beyond that of most knights, will face a test that, in the beginning, appeared all too easy.