The Dagger and Coin series is still building up towards a final showdown between a world ruled by force (the military expansion pushed forward by Geder Palliako and his fanatical priests) and one ruled by commerce and negociated settlements (where Cithrin Bel Sarcour fights to prove that banks are not parasites feeding on the blood of their hosts but engines of progress and purveyors of peace). The mundane stories of trade against the grandiose epics of slaughter and war. It struck her how deep...

A solid, but "unspectacular" installment in the Dagger and Coin series. If a trilogy can suffer 2nd book syndrome, maybe a quintet can suffer 4th book syndrome? I expect that this is merely the calm before the storm and we are in line for a strong finale.A love sick Geder Palliako would have been a nice touch for part of the book, but listening to him pine for Cithrin the entire book slowed the pacing of an otherwise dynamic character. I mean, a super villain protagonist bent on conquering the w...

I've written before that Abraham's experience as a protege of Martin is plain in his work. His epic style, his ensemble cast, his multiple POVs all evoke what's best about ASOIAF. But I've also said that Abraham corrects many of the mistakes his mentor makes, avoiding the sprawl and story creep that makes the later ASOIAF books so drifting. The Widow's House continues this amazing epic tradition, marking Abraham as one of the best voices in epic fantasy. It is an absolute crime that a book as we...

This is a terrific series, filled more with intrigue and character than with battles and brute force. Book 4 is a great continuation and one that starts to draw the series towards its conclusion. There is still much to learn in book 5 and I’m looking forward to that conclusion with excitement!

Warning: this is the fourth book in a five-book series, and for anyone who hasn't read all the previous books, there will be spoilers ahead, so read at your own risk.When I first saw the title of this book, I deduced that the widow was Clara, whose husband Dawson was executed as a traitor in a previous book. Clara had a walk-on part in the first book, and her own chapters thereafter, but now she finally takes centre-stage, not necessarily as a player in her own right (although to some extent she...

I love this series, I really do! This was the 4th of 5. I found this one to get off to a much faster start than the other volumes but possibly losing a little pace in the middle.A lot of readers of this book have been disappointed that there wasn't more of Inys in the story, as I was initially; but now I think that would have been a trap cleverly avoided by Abraham. Afterall, Inys' appearance is relatively late in the 5 book story and to have him come in and dominate- well that would be a differ...

”It hardly matters what path we’ve walked to become what we are. Whatever it was, we’ve walked it.”I started Widow’s House hoping it will tell me how an outcast widow works to bring down a tyranny from within. It didn’t. But it’s OK. You know why? Because as much as I love those Authors who meet my expectations, I love those who are able to surprise me even more.And how easy it is to surprise in the 4th book of a series? Not very so, I’d say. The characters are set, the world is revealed, the pl...

I feel like the time for me to realize this series wasn’t for me was back after book one or two, but I can’t quit now because I only have ONE book left and that would sit in the back of my brain gnawing with tiny teeth for the rest of my life, so I must finish this series even though I already know it’s not for me. So. Take my review with a grain of mountain-sized salt.I still can’t figure out why this series doesn’t resonate with me. I should probably just call it a day, and sum it up by saying...

Executive Summary: While not quite as good as The Tyrant's Law, another solid book that sets things up nicely for the final book.Audio book: Pete Bradbury once again gives a great performance, making audio the best way to do this series in my opinion. Full Review Well dammit. I've enjoyed this series so much that now I've caught up and have to wait a year or more for the next and final book. Thankfully unlike some other authors it seems like I won't have to wait too long for the conclusion, an...

Well I have to say that this book is my favourite so far. Having pretty much read 4 in a row I am right back into this story. I was worried that it was going to fizzle out on me as i found it bogging down somewhat in the last book.This book however does pick up the pace a fair bit, especially since the first line in the book mentions a dragon flying, which means after many many pages, finally the bloody dragons are part of the story in reality. I was beginning to think that would be no magic in

I really liked The Widow's House - more than I expected for sure as the series so far has been a fairly consistent read but missing something (whether exuberance or larger than life characters not quite sure as the world building and storyline is top notch) to put it in my top-top; same pov's (Clara, Cithrin, Geder, Marcus), action in many places, the invention of government fiat money, the usual prologue and last chapter from a different pov, cast, taxonomy racesoverall The Widow's House worked...

A penultimate installment filled with war, tactics, and intrigues. The stage for the conclusion of the series has been established nicely. “These are the weapons that greater forces use against each other. Put two boys to fighting each other with sticks, and the boys may come away well or poorly, but the sticks will always be shattered.” The Widow’s House by Daniel Abraham is the fourth and penultimate book in The Dagger and the Coin series. It picks up immediately from the big revela...

Another phenomenal book in a top-notch fantasy series. Still full of surprises. Onward to the final conflagration...One thought: I read another fantasy book recently that used the term 'assets' to mean women's boobs. Of course this approach is sadly common. In contrast, The Widow's House I loved how Cithrin used her assets, as in, her literal financial assets, to get shit done. That's how you do it.

RTCThank you book Gods.....Abraham has 1 more book in the series !Bring on the Spider Priest muah ha hahahahahaha

I'm torn between giving this 2 or 3 stars. I loved Long Price series and The Expanse books - but this series is solidly in the "average" category - this book specifically is the worst of the series. Let me save you the trouble of reading it - nothing happens. Seriously - skip this book and move to the last one and I think you'd be OK. This book is BORING. I was forcing myself to read it. Towards the end, there was a marginal improvement in being less boring, but this one is rough. It's very remi...

Another great installment. The plot has thickened and I cannot wait to read the last book. Inys was the great addition to this book. His causal arrogance and insouciant view of mankind was comedy gold. I do wonder (view spoiler)[ Will Geder betray the priests at the end? For the spiders to be wiped out will Kit be destroyed? Clara, can she sacrifice Vicarian? Will Inys rain down some destruction? (hide spoiler)]

Fantasy Review Barn You follow four great books, and what do you get? Pissed off at Gedar and a nation in debt.Finally the ‘Coin’ comes out in the Dagger and the Coin. This after all was the promise of the series; the landscape of the conflict was to involve both violence and economic pressures. How this would take place was anyone’s guess but the hint of what was to come was there from the first time we met the banker’s apprentice Cithrin. And if our first big insight into how economics would

On the downhill run with this series now and you can see where it's going to finish in the final volume from here.Marcus and Kit find and awaken the dragon Inys, whose information about the origin of the spiders fills in important gaps. Geder falls deeper into his psychopathy with his obsession with Cithrin being a handy excuse to extend the Antean conflict even further afield, even as far as Porte Olivia. Meanwhile Clara continues to plot and takes desperate action by following her son Jory int...

When I sat down to write this, I realized it kind of didn't make sense how much I liked this book....It was all about banking ideas, and an army on the march. Should be kind of boring, right? NOPE! For some reason it still seemed pretty action packed.I will note that the dragon really didn't do much, which was a bit of a disappointment.