Book Review: The Barbed Coil
The Barbed Coil by J.V. Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I'm not one that easily gives four and five star reviews, but this book definitely deserves it. The writing is excellent, and even though there are a lot of descriptive parts in the book, it's not boring, tedious, or too wordy, which are pet peeves of mine with heavy description. The story itself flows well, and the characters are very well developed and deepened throughout the book, keeping the reader not only interested in the story but the players as well. What I'm most impressed with is the fact that the author manages to juggle many converging story arcs without getting tangled up or leaving lose ends, which really makes this novel stand out. I've read this book a handful of times over the years and I keep coming back to it for these reasons.
The fact this this is a complete, stand alone fantasy novel is just icing on the cake. I've found it quite hard to find single books that don't fall flat or fall into the 'easy read' category. This is a book that keeps your attention, and keeps you guessing as well. This book's story is like a long thread that you pull forth little by little, totally engrossed with the section you are looking at right in the moment. It holds your attention so fully that you don't have time to think about what will happen next - you just turn the page and are drawn forward into the next section with nary a bump in the road. If you haven't read this book - go pick it up now. You won't regret in the least!
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