Could not get into this book at all, and I do like Mike Carey fiction. Got about a third of the way in. Bit I read was really short stories connected by a newly arrived army tasked with defending the border. Maybe I struggled because I don’t like short stories but as I like this author that shouldn’t have mattered. ( )

A very interesting and layered sort of story, much like its sister novel, [b:The City of Silk and Steel|17403672|The City of Silk and Steel|Mike Carey|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361361157s/17403672.jpg|18005586]. As with that novel, this doesn't flinch from the hard truths of its setting - the unpleasant realities of life for those less-privileged, and the lack of safety and justice that comes with it. And as with that novel, House was concerned with the personal stories within a broader sweep of historical forces and events.

In some ways, I found this the most challenging aspect of reading the story; it was so focused-in on the "small" - but vitally important to the participants - events of this particular microcosm of the First Silesian War. In some ways, it seemed like only tiny things were happening, but the entire novel pivoted on those tiny things - stray words, careless actions, minor overreactions snowballing into something that swallowed everything... but still, "everything" was only a house, a company of soldiers, a village. It's both vital and trivial.

So while I think this was a very good book, with strong and interesting characters engaged in meaningful developments, it was also at times quite dragging to read. There's a lot of food for thought, though, in ruminations of the importance of our stories - of everyone's stories. ( )

As an impulse purchase, bought purely because I liked the cover, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Whoever wrote the back cover blurb isn’t doing the book any favours, I nearly put it back on the shelf. so don’t be put off. (The blurb does makes sense after you’ve read the book, but since its aimed to draw in people to buy the book it fails in that respect in my opinion).
The book is a collaboration between three related authors, which also made me a little wary. Usually when a story is cobbled together between several authors, it shows. This time however, I couldn’t find the seams. Set in the Austrian empire near the Prussian border in 1740, when Frederick the Great has just taken power, it covers the garrisoning of a troop of Austrian soldiers at an old manor house. The lead character is Drodze, a young lady who has cast her lot in with the army’s cook, who is a nasty piece of work, and one of the villains of the piece. She has the ability to meet the former inhabitants of the house, and they persist in telling her stories of their life. These stories take up a significant portion of the book, and most are engaging short stories in their own right. External to this, the other main story arc involves the stupidity of the commanding officers in the way they interact with a local village as they try to uncover the mystery of what the villagers are hiding from them. While I found the reason behind the stories, and the supposed impact of these stories on the climax of the book to be a little tenuous, I was happy to go with it, as I found it was a book that once I picked up, I wanted to keep reading, and I managed to get through it in a couple of days. I subsequently realized that one of the authors is Mike Carey, who is also the writer of Lucifer, so you know you’re in good hands. ( )

Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

To me, this was an unexpectedly nice surprise of a book. The story gripped me from the first pages and wouldn't let me go until I reached the end of Pokoj's fate.

In the days leading to yet another 18th century war, a new regiment is sent to the house of Pokoj, near the Narutsin village at the Prussian border. While there is immediate distrust between the soldiers and the villagers, tension continues to rise as Drozde, the quartermaster's woman and puppeteer of the soldiers, learns stories and truths from the inhabitants of Pokoj.

I liked it, a lot. Drozde's story was very interesting and the writing was great. While this is a ghost story, and the ending was slightly predictable, I think it still gave a new twist to it, which I liked. The ghosts' stories that are interwoven with the main story were nice, although of course, one was more interesting than another. I do think, however, that there might have been a little bit too much drama, for my liking at least, surrounding Drozde.

Nevertheless, I would certainly pick up another book by these authors!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! ( )

Long, but an easy read if you want something undemanding. It was obvious from the start where it was going, and there were sections where it was easy to skim, but overall OK. ( )