Bloodtide

Rating:
Summary: Bloodtide- A book to review.
Review: Based on the Icelandic Volsunga Saga, this book has everything to keep you interested from beginning to end. The storyline keeps you thinking but the violence and gore keep you reading.
London is in ruins. But 2 families fight to keep their share and their power over the city. Val Volson, a high-rise gang lord who owns more than half. He is the leader of the Volsons and is one of the most powerful men of London. He has a 14-year-old daughter called Signy, her twin brother called Siggy and 2 other sons named Had and Ben. The family is very close and intend to keep it that way. Then in the red corner we have Conor, the owner of the rest of London. Between both the landlords many wars and fights have occurred. Until now. Val and Conor decide to make a treaty. This involves Signy, Val's daughter. She has to go and marry Conor , live with him and even fall in love. This can't seem possible, can it?
The main characters of the book are the twins, Signy and Siggy. We know this for certain because all the chapters are different characters point of view and many of them are named either Signy or Siggy. All of the characters ,human or not, are described thoroughly and give your imagination something to feed on. My favourite character is Cherry. She is a shape changer from the gods and helps the twins through their struggle. She is my favourite because instead describing her as one thing, she is a shape changer so she has many descriptions including a girl, a cat and a bird.
I would say this book is a thriller part horror. I think this because it deals with characters emotions and real issues but also imaginary evil that you expect to be in childrens nightmares. This novel is targeted at 15-18 year olds or maybe even older readers.
Instead of being written in 1st person all the way through, every different chapter is someone else's opinion and point of view. Melvin Burgess uses this technique in many of his books but I think it works especially well here.
I have read many of his books but overall this is my favourite. This is because it is one of a kind and the idea of realistic issues combined with impossible evil is great and very creative. The storyline is great, the descriptions are great and overall this book is great. I compliment Melvin Burgess for his unique writing skills and his creative and overactive imagination!

Rating:
Summary: Bloodtide- A book to review.
Review: Based on the Icelandic Volsunga Saga, this book has everything to keep you interested from beginning to end. The storyline keeps you thinking but the violence and gore keep you reading.
London is in ruins. But 2 families fight to keep their share and their power over the city. Val Volson, a high-rise gang lord who owns more than half. He is the leader of the Volsons and is one of the most powerful men of London. He has a 14-year-old daughter called Signy, her twin brother called Siggy and 2 other sons named Had and Ben. The family is very close and intend to keep it that way. Then in the red corner we have Conor, the owner of the rest of London. Between both the landlords many wars and fights have occurred. Until now. Val and Conor decide to make a treaty. This involves Signy, Val's daughter. She has to go and marry Conor , live with him and even fall in love. This can't seem possible, can it?
The main characters of the book are the twins, Signy and Siggy. We know this for certain because all the chapters are different characters point of view and many of them are named either Signy or Siggy. All of the characters ,human or not, are described thoroughly and give your imagination something to feed on. My favourite character is Cherry. She is a shape changer from the gods and helps the twins through their struggle. She is my favourite because instead describing her as one thing, she is a shape changer so she has many descriptions including a girl, a cat and a bird.
I would say this book is a thriller part horror. I think this because it deals with characters emotions and real issues but also imaginary evil that you expect to be in childrens nightmares. This novel is targeted at 15-18 year olds or maybe even older readers.
Instead of being written in 1st person all the way through, every different chapter is someone else's opinion and point of view. Melvin Burgess uses this technique in many of his books but I think it works especially well here.
I have read many of his books but overall this is my favourite. This is because it is one of a kind and the idea of realistic issues combined with impossible evil is great and very creative. The storyline is great, the descriptions are great and overall this book is great. I compliment Melvin Burgess for his unique writing skills and his creative and overactive imagination!

Rating:
Summary: Bloodtide review
Review: Bloodtide is a novel that will horrify ordinary readers, and make them feel quite disgust. However, the appalling plot of the novel is what made it so intriguing. The novel is unlike any other published works ever on Earth. I think the purpose of the novel is to portrait most of the human being¡¯s evil side of nature, and the unthinkable achievements. Throughout the novel, many morbid human nature are shown, such as hatred, vengeance, greed, and selfishness

The entire novel is about future London and the most important conflict between the two gangs that took over control of London. The two gangs have been fighting each other for many years over this parsimonious city with no real successes. Just when the leader of Volson (one of the groups) tried to appease the conflict and to unite London by betrothing his own daughter to his enemy¡¯s son; a dramatic twist occurred. One thing the Volson did not notice is that his nemesis is actually planning on something far more nefarious as ever¡­

Rating:
Summary: Brutal and Brilliant
Review: I cannot begin to descibe what sort of book Bloodtide is. It is simply genius. How a personal can visualise and dipict a story like this is just mind blowing. I was gripped from the beginning. I new straight away i was gonna like this book. The way the book is layed out and the way in which the language is used is brilliant. This has to be one of the most vivid books I have ever read.
Basically, Its about two of the most powerful ganlords in London, Volson and Conor who sign a treaty. Volson Gives Conor his daughter Signy's hand in marriage for peace. The couple fall in love immediatly, but Conor goes back on his word and destroys the Volson family and territory. To Signy, its the highest degree of betrayl and makes it her life long ambition to destroy the whole of Conors empire and him.
There aren't really any bad bits to the book, abit predictable here and there but thats is really.
This book is utterly brutal, violent and brillant. Don't just take my word for it. Go and read it!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: AMAZING
Review: I do not want to ruin the story for all the people who had not read this book yet, so I'll be really brief.

This book is AWESOME.

Go and buy this masterpiece right now.

Rating:
Summary: Amazon description gives away TOO MUCH!
Review: I have a feeling I would've enjoyed this book far more if I hadn't already known about who was going to die and who was going to shag who. It spoiled a lot of the surprise and suspense, which really blew.

Other than that, the book was pretty well done, but it didn't have the gluing and amazing effect that Smack had. Maybe it was because Smack didn't have an omnipotent narrator point of view? The nonpersonal chapters seemed to cover a lot more story than the characterized ones did. It also would have been cool to see things through Conor's eyes near the end.

If you're into the myth/fantasy/kinda horror thing, you might want to check it out at the library, but I wouldn't buy it for myself. Oh yeah -- don't let anybody else read the amazon description of this book anymore!

Rating:
Summary: Amazing from the first word to the very last
Review: I have read this book time and time again, and still never grow tired of it. The characters in this novel become real and it's so easy to become attached to them, which makes the ending kind of hard to deal with, in some respects. Everything about this book is honest and straight forward. Somethings were meant to chage, while others weren't, and sometimes life takes the course you least expect, for better or for worse. Melvin Burgess is genius and I hope to read more of his books. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a an incredible and gripping read.

Rating:
Summary: Truly a piece of art, painfully perfect
Review: Never have I read a more phenomenal book than this one, 'Bloodtide' by Melvin Burgess, a writer who thrilled readers before with the amazing 'Junk'. 'Bloodtide' revolves around two families in the London of the future, the Volsons and the Conors. For generations, the ganglords now ruling the ruined city have been at each other's throat, but with a treaty between the two families peace seems on the horizon. Val Volson gives his daughter Signy to Conor in marriage. However, Conor turns traitor and murders the entire Volson family, while keeping Signy a prisoner in the tower he made her home. But what he doesn't know is that Signy's twin brother, Siggy, has survived the assault...

From here on, the story turns bloody, extremely violent at times in fact. The uncompromising characters have to deal with their emotions alone in their devastating isolation. Love, hatred, betrayal, pain, death, hope, destiny... The gods play with them and their fates, like when Odin 'gives' Siggy a knife that can cut through anything. The development of the characters during the years the story takes place is both devastating and compelling.
Signy slowly goes insane, as she finds herself at the center of the war, she is pulling all the strings. Conor loves her, and this love will be his ultimate failure, as he finds the destruction of his growing empire in the heart of his being: Signy. Signy on the other hand, both hates and loves her captor, both emotions living side by side inside her weary heart. And slowly, she emerges into madness.
Siggy on the other hand, has had his face ruined when escaping from the Pig, a halfman about to eat him when Siggy bit him in the nose and didn't let go until he was free, only one of the many savage displays of violence and horror in the book. He feels no desire to join in the battle against Conor, even though with him as a leader the resistance would certainly be more succesful. He is depressed and only keeps on living because of a depth to a halfwoman who helped him survive, a pig woman he has grown to love.

And so the story of the book evolves, and as it grows darker and darker you can slowly feel your heart begin to bleed. For the characters, for the plotline, for every aspect of the story. Melvin Burgess' proze and storytelling is sensational and inspiring, and so grippingly written you won't be able to put down the book even if you wished it so. The ending is so incredible it consumed your whole. Your heart will feel as though it has bled and darkened and burnt for it.

I have never had this reaction to any book before. I didn't know what to do with myself: I wanted to cry, if just to pour this multitude of emotion, of sheer darkness in my soul out of me. This book eats its way into your soul and burns a hole into your heart, but enthrallingly so. Powerful in its every word and imaginary, I cannot recommend this book enough. 'Bloodtide' holds a confident spot in my heart for most impressive, compelling, gripping tales I have ever had the pleasure to read. Not for the weak of heart, for anyone else a true masterpiece. Bravo.