REVIEW: ALONG THE RAZOR'S EDGE BY ROB J. HAYES

ALONG THE RAZOR’S EDGE by ROB J. HAYES

★★★★☆ (4.25 stars)

Before I get into the review of this gripping book, I want to contextualize my ratings going forward.

I'm going to try to be a bit more rigorous in how I evaluate books — not overly prescriptive, but holding books to a higher standard. Under the new system, a 4-star is not like receiving a B in school (which everyone knows means it’s "just okay”), but rather that it's absolutely worth reading, there are simply some things I took issue with. Anything under 4 stars I likely won't review publicly, so no need to worry about that. 5 stars will be rare — there will have to be something absolutely unique and very nearly flawless for what's it's trying to achieve.

Now, the blurb, then onto the review!

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No one escapes the Pit.

At just fifteen Eskara Helsene fought in the greatest war mankind has ever known. Fought and lost. There is only one place her enemies would send a Sourcerer as powerful as her, the Pit, a prison sunk so deep into the earth the sun is a distant memory. Now she finds herself stripped of her magic; a young girl surrounded by thieves, murderers, and worse. In order to survive she will need to find new allies, play the inmates against each other, and find a way out. Her enemies will soon find Eskara is not so easily broken.

An emotional roller coaster in this unique coming of age story. Perfect for fans of Patrick Rothfuss and Mark Lawrence, be one of the first to dive into Award-Winning Author Rob J. Hayes’ new epic fantasy world.

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Along the Razor's Edge has all the trappings of great grimdark — a gritty, unrelenting setting and a cast of morally gray characters, most with both good and evil drives behind their behavior — as well as epic fantasy — floating island cities, an intricate and intriguing magic system, war and war heroes, and huge, land-wide stakes. There's a lot to love, and it's an enjoyable read that will scratch the itch for a gritty read.

So why 4.25 stars? 

There are several aspects of the writing, plot, and characterization that fell a bit below the mark. Not enough to make me put the book down, and they got better as you progress through the latter half of the book. However, they kept it from being a perfect read for me.

CHARACTERS

Eska is in many ways a great protagonist. She's headstrong, talented, and irrationally stubborn with a temper as liable to get her into trouble as out of it. She makes mistakes, but you see the potential for 

But it's this temper that's my first issue with her. So! Many! Exclamation points! She really likes to hate people, which is all well and good — but does she have to say it so much?

But if you can roll your eyes and ignore the many, many outbursts, you get a more nuanced picture of who Eska is, and the softer emotions running under the hard exterior. And the anger is not unwarranted — "I am the weapon" becomes a refrain, as she was formed by her empire to be a living war machine. 

Hardt, Josef, and Tempura were also great characters. Josef in particular held my attention throughout, as he was so complicated as to be impossible to pin down.

PLOT

Overall, the plot is interesting and well-paced, and it kept me wondering how exactly we were going to get to the end goal — a good sign, in my opinion. It's exciting at times, touching at others, and doesn't bog you down. The beginning is a bit slow, but we'll get to why in the Writing section. The flashbacks were well-executed, interspersed at appropriate moments and never dwelled upon.

My major issue with the plot is Eska is too damn lucky in the first 50-60%. She makes imbecilic mistakes and loses her temper at the wrong times, and yet somehow makes it out with maybe a bruise or two, but usually ahead of where she was before. Again, it wasn't so egregious that I couldn't tamp down my protests, but it was enough to needle.

WORLDBUILDING

I have very little in the way of complaints about worldbuilding — in fact, it was unique and detailed enough to make me more than a bit jealous! The Pit was a world unto itself. I loved the schools of magic, the mystery surrounding the Djinn and the Rand, and I'm excited to see more of the world. It would have been nice to see more in this book, but the flashbacks gave me enough tastes to not be dissatisfied.

WRITING

Overall, Hayes’ writing is top-notch — invisible (in a good way), poetic at times, with several one-liners that stick the landing. This isn't a book that makes you cringe as you read, far from it. But Hayes does make one artistic choice that went overboard for me and, in the beginning, really bogged down the story and my enjoyment.

For context, the story is written from the perspective of an older, possibly wiser Eska. One advantage of this look-back technique is that the writer gets to contextualize the actions of their younger self. However, Hayes massively overutilizes this, so there are pages where you get Eska saying something, then a paragraph of explanation of why she said it, then someone responds, then a paragraph of explanation… The other way it appears is that every few pages, Eska reminds us that one day, she will do such-and-such impressive deed — become the Corpse Queen, defy gods, destroy the Pit, just to name a few. Again, sparingly, this can be a wonderful technique that builds intrigue. But as it was used, I was pulled out too much from the story at hand, it slowed it down, and it began to decrease my interest in the story overall.

This quirk of Hayes writing, however, gets much better as we get to the second half of the book. So if it bothers you as it did me but you're enjoying the story, stick through it — it's worth it in the end!

IN SUM

Fans of Hayes won't be disappointed and readers of grimdark fantasy will be pleased with Hayes' latest series. Along the Razor's Edge is a worthy summer read for anyone looking for their next epic tale, and if you're alright with the above caveats, you'll definitely enjoy it!