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I Dodici (2010)

by Jasper Kent(Favorite Author)

3.48 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

8817042285 (ISBN13: 9788817042284)

languge

English

genre

Horror

publisher

Rizzoli

series

The Danilov Quintet

review 1: I honestly did not like this book. The whole thing was bogged down in unnecessary details that didn't advance the plot or give any insight into the characters or surroundings. The characters themselves were poorly developed and one-dimensional. They also weren't very sympathetic and I found myself not really caring what happened to them. At some point, about 60% through, I started skipping pages just to get this thing over with. I have an absolute hatred of not finishing books, but that doesn't mean I won't jump around to get it done. I would skip 5 pages, read two (just to figure out where the story was), and skip 5 more. Doing this, I really didn't feel that I lost anything. I was still able to figure out what was going on in the plot and was able to avoid the lo... moreng-winded writing style in this book.I feel really disappointed with this since the idea was solid. But the execution was just terrible. Poor characters, sub-par plot line, and a heavy hand with pointless details destroyed this effort.
review 2: OK I admit it I bought this book under the misunderstanding that it primarily historical with a bit of a fantasy twist, which is OK if after reading it you are a bit more knowledgeable about the events. Twelve by Jasper Kent is subtitled Russia, 1812 and is set at the point where Moscow is threatened by Napolean's army. The background is a huge canvas with great potential. In essence the struggling Russian army engage the services of twelve mercenaries who claim to be able to turn the tide of the war.I also admit that I am not a horror fan, in fact the last "horror" book I read was Carrie, and that was in the early eighties, so I was not sure what to expect but I assumed that the thinly veiled gothic twist might re-awaken a forgotten (in me) genre. Sadly it was not to be, the book was so tedious in its execution with the hero moving from Moscow to the front so often it was confusing as to where and why he was where he was. I lost interest in all the characters none of which was appealing and the vampire mercs were just plain boring. As a plus I thinks that the book was well researched for details of the soldiers but not that there was very much grand historical context in the story.As a re-introduction to the genre it was a complete miss, I will stick to the Bernard Cornwall for my historical derring-do.John Williams less

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