Explore our new BookBrowse Community Forum!

Read advance reader review of Low Town by Daniel Polansky, page 3 of 4

Summary | Reviews | More Information | More Books

Low Town by Daniel Polansky

Low Town

A Novel

by Daniel Polansky

  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Published:
  • Aug 2011, 352 pages
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About this book

Reviews


Page 3 of 4
There are currently 23 member reviews
for Low Town
Order Reviews by:
  • Vicky S. (Torrance, CA)
    Great Descriptions
    The author does a great job of describing the environment and I could feel that I was there while reading the story. I liked the mixture of fantasy, adventure, relationships and mystery though the writing felt a bit affected at times.
  • Maggie R. (Canoga Park, CA)
    Low Town
    Elements that are interesting combine with others that are not so well developed. The result is a promising first novel by an author whose imagination should produce more consistent works over time.
  • Daniel A. (Naugatuck, CT)
    Low Town
    This first novel by the author is a cross-genre story; a science fiction and murder mystery. I found myself immersed into the plot until the very end. People have told me that I have an above average vocabulary, but I had difficulty in reading parts of this book. I'm sure if the author used simpler words, he would reach a wider audience. Overall, I enjoyed reading it.
  • Catharine L. (Petoskey,
    not for the faint-hearted
    The title, Low Town, describes exactly what the reader is in for. If you enjoy reading about drunks, druggies, and degenerates, this is the book for you. It is a mystery; and Warden, an ex-government detective, discovers the first of several murdered children and becomes involved. A glossary would have helped to define words - scryer, wyrm. Most of the characters had few redeeming qualities, and I didn't care what happened to them.
  • Melanie H. (Beaver, WV)
    Low Town
    This book is very dark and violent. I tried to finish reading it because the plot was intriguing but could not get past the violence and drug underworld characters. The unusual descriptive words prevented the story from flowing and made reading a little difficult.
  • Heather K. (Brooklyn, NY)
    The Road Well Travelled
    My feeling about Low Town is one of deja vu: I've been down this road before.

    Warden is physically and emotionally scarred by life, a loner, a drug addict and dealer who used to be on the other side of the law. And despite all he's seen, all he's suffered and lost, he still ... cares, looks to protect, seeks justice. He doesn't want anyone to know he still has a bit of a heart, nor that he yearns for some sort of redemption. He's not a likable individual: gruff, harsh, prone to violence, smart, canny, and lethal.

    And fiction abounds with precisely this type of protagonist. I wish I could say something about Low Town sets it apart from other similar novels, but there isn't anything particularly new about the author's approach to this theme. Except, perhaps, for the spurts of peculiarly contemporary language -- this is largely a medieval setting, so the vernacular was jarring. There's some small bits of humor (not nearly enough to offset the horrifying brutality), there's suspense, there's a conclusion, and a few of Warden's mysteries are, throughout, revealed. It is well written (despite my snarky comment above about the language), and much of the writing is beautifully crafted. But it wasn't much fun to read, and Warden wasn't much of a hero to root for, so for me it was a disappointment.
  • Kim L. (cary, IL)
    Grim tale
    Interesting characters. The author does a good job of describing the setting and the characters. It is a dark and grim tale. The author aptly brings this across through his use of words. I found it difficult to read only because the subject matter is sad.

Read-Alikes

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Graveyard Shift
    Graveyard Shift
    by M. L. Rio
    Following the success of her debut novel, If We Were Villains, M. L. Rio's latest book is the quasi-...
  • Book Jacket: The Sisters K
    The Sisters K
    by Maureen Sun
    The Kim sisters—Minah, Sarah, and Esther—have just learned their father is dying of ...
  • Book Jacket: Linguaphile
    Linguaphile
    by Julie Sedivy
    From an infant's first attempts to connect with the world around them to the final words shared with...
  • Book Jacket
    The Rest of You
    by Maame Blue
    At the start of Maame Blue's The Rest of You, Whitney Appiah, a Ghanaian Londoner, is ringing in her...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

They say that in the end truth will triumph, but it's a lie.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

F the M

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.