Poison study

As many of you know, I haven't found any decent fantasy novels out there aside for Pratchett, Gaiman and (Jim) Butcher books. (Since Rowling believes that her Harry Potter books are NOT fantasy, and since book 7 was utter crap anyway, I left her out.)

Mostly, I'm unable to stomach the horrid fantasy names, the tree hugging, the "wonderful creatures" and the happy-happy braindead, busty maidens who are more often than not in distress. Also, sickeningly sweet or overly dramatic stuff makes me retch. Lengthy explanations of perfectly beautiful men teenagers (Seriously, beautiful? Men?? How about good old drop dead gorgeous?) and sweet/wonderful smelling morning breath and skin sparkling like diamonds just freak me out. And makes me think that the writer should keep her overly sexual daydreams to herself or her blog and get her brains f*cked out... not that she has any.

Anyway. Back to Poison study. I saw it in passing while I was browsing for other books. The flashy cover and the title interested me. At first I thought it was going to be horrid and mushy so I didn't touch it, but yesterday I was bored so I decided to give it a go.

What can I say? While the book was not perfect, it didn't contain lengthy odes of descriptions, its plot wasn't as predictable as the average Hollywood movie (Although most Hollywood movies do not have a plot anyway.) and captured my interest. Most of the time I completely forgot I was reading a fantasy novel. It had a solid background story that sucked me right in and while it had some Mary Sue-ish elements, it wasn't a Mary Sue book. It also had one of the best description on magic (regarding the story's universe) I've ever read in fantasy novels. (Pratchett's still the best in my book.) I must admit I was thoroughly amazed.

I was also very much interested in the main male protagonist, a potions master. Angular face with black hair and blue eyes - he was the only character given so much detail. A pathological sociopath, his hobbies included poison study, assassination, espionage and Machiavellian political warfare. When bored, he poisoned the food taster's food, leaked false information for later usage, carved exquisite statuettes, used stealth to move around so he would stay in shape and played mind games with people he wanted to trust. What can I say, the guy's awesomely created.

So... what did the book lack? For one: descriptions. I could have done with some more description about the female main hero (Yes, you heard right!) and mostly any and everybody else. The castle was described a bit, the clothes, but still, it all could have done with more details. It also could have done with a few jokes... But that's just what I like. And I must also admit... it could have used e bit more passion. I mean it sounded a bit detached, although the protagonist was detached anyway, but I hope the next book shall be better.

I'm going to read it tonight.