Comments on: Review: Company of Liars, Karen Maitland

By: Beth F

Beth F — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 14:21:12 +0000

Soot. I have been harboring very high hopes for this one. Now after your review and some of the comments, I see I’d better set my expectations just a bit lower. I still plan to give it a go. Maybe in audio…

By: Jade

Jade — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 10:13:42 +0000

When I saw you’d reviewed this I had to comment – I do really like Karen Maitland. I agree with most of your criticisms about this one, though: from an early stage the ending felt grimly inevitable. I also found some of the ‘lies’ offered by a few of the characters to be just too surreal. The darkness of it was something I actually rather enjoyed, but that’s just me, and of course once you know where the story is going it becomes a bit depressing.

The basis for my Maitland-love is mostly ‘The Owl Killers’. I found the story to be far more immersive and easier to get into, helped by the fact that there are several POV characters with a range of backgrounds and motivations; it is quite dark and disturbing again but I think more subtly so, and the added suspense and tension just made it impossible for me to put it down. From a historian’s perspective, it was easier to buy, too, and that always helps!

By: Marg

Marg — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 05:55:27 +0000

A couple of years ago I was desperate to read this book but it didn’t happen, and then it kind of fell of my radar and now I don’t seem to be all that fussed about it! Maybe one day. Then again, maybe not.

By: Anna

Anna — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 18:47:23 +0000

Sounds like this book could have been shorter if it was a lot of the same stuff. I found a copy in the free book section in the train station awhile back. It still sounds worth reading at some point.

By: Audra

Audra — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 18:17:13 +0000

I just loved Doomsday Book — so I’m curious about this one. The cover is quite striking, too.

By: zibilee

zibilee — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 16:04:45 +0000

I really disliked this book and felt that it was overlong and had a lot of jarring aspects that I felt didn’t work well together. I had been hoping that the plague aspect of the story would take the forefront, and was disappointed when that was not the case. It sounds like you came across some of these issues as well.

By: blodeuedd

blodeuedd — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 15:34:03 +0000

Nice honest review. And well, I might just skip it

By: Jodie

Jodie — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 15:13:47 +0000

Did you really guess the narrator’s secret? I didn’t get that one until right at the end – smart you. I think you’re right, it could easily have been shorter without losing anything, but I loved the dark atmosphere so much.

By: cbjames

cbjames — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 15:10:22 +0000

I had basically the same reaction you did. Too much loose plotting and secrets that were too easy to guess. And, once I found out what all the secrets were, I felt there were some that were not believable given the context ot the times. It was the 14th century afterall.

By: bermudaonion (Kathy)

bermudaonion (Kathy) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 14:50:33 +0000

Well, I have to say that when I saw that cover, I was immediately drawn to the book, so I’m disappointed to see that you didn’t just love it. I still think I’d like to give it a try one day.