An intriguing start to a new series. Lucas is a good writer, and his world and characters are quite well realized on the page. It's not the best fantasy debut I've read, and there wasn't a huge amount that set it apart from others in the genre. However, FIRST WATCH is a good and engaging start, and I think many people will enjoy this new series.

I'm not really into cop drama, but this author mixed it with fantasy in such a way that really worked for me. It reminded me (in feeling) of the movie Bright. I will definitely be checking out the next book in this series. This is very much a niche genre but I think the book more than does it justice.

A great idea, however the story just didn't work for me. It's a fast read, but it wasn't a fun one for me. I won't be continuing with this series.

This book was not how I imagined it to be with the publisher's description that I read.

This book was a slow read for me but that was because of the very good details in it I thought this book was fantastic and can't wait for the next book this author writes.

I'm not able to review this book as it was archived by the time I was approved.

The theme of the more seasoned cop being teamed with a rookie he can’t initially stand is one of the main staples of detective literature, movies and tv series, but no one had so far tried to translate it into a fantasy background, and First Watch is probably the first example of this mashup, one that works well exactly thanks to its unusual setting.

Rem is a young man of noble origins who was feeling constrained by his pampered life, and therefore decided to seek adventure out in the big, unknown world: he ends up in Yenara, a colorful city rich with possibilities – and dangers. Finding himself almost destitute, and incapable of landing any kind of work, Rem wakes up in the city’s jail after a drunken brawl: a series of bizarre circumstances leads him to his enrollment in the Wardwatch – the local version of a police force – and teamed up with veteran Torval, a grizzled dwarf Warden whose partner was recently murdered in mysterious circumstances.

Yenara is a bustling city filled with many kinds of creatures, as humans of various races, orcs, dwarves and elves coexist more or less peacefully in its streets where crime and honest business rub elbows, and despite his privileged education Rem is poorly equipped to hold his own, as testified by his imprisonment. Even though he’s still guilty of a measure of naiveté, he’s also quick on his feet and this helps him gain some points with Torval, whose irritable demeanor hides a good, honest soul, and a person ready to grant his new partner some slack.

The two start their association by investigating the murder of Torval’s former mate, and in so doing they gather some unexpected clues concerning a series of disappearances and killings that might be related: it’s quite amusing to observe how bureaucracy and territorial politics are a constant, no matter the time period or the place. As we are used to seeing in modern police procedurals, there are rules and limitations that hinder an investigation and sometimes force an officer of the law to go against them, ruffling a few feathers, in order to see justice done, and in this First Watch is no exception.

As the two unlikely partners move across the city in search of answers we learn much about Yenara, which appears like a crucible of races and customs that come together in a sort of free zone where everything is possible, everything is allowed (if you hold the right license…), making the inevitable parallel with modern New York – the city that more than any other one is the perfect place for a police story – quite clear. The pace is fast and the story moves along between brawls and fights to the death, with a few sidelines of attempted murder on the two partners, rolling nicely toward the final showdown, one that however promises more adventures for the two unlikely – but by now well adjusted – partners.

If I enjoyed this story, and found myself often smiling at Rem’s and Torval’s antics, still I could not avoid finding a few details that spoiled the overall flavor of the novel. My main point of contention is with the descriptions: the author is quite fond of adjectives, indeed, never employing just one where two – and sometimes three – can be crammed in to sketch any given person or object. So you are not simply told that someone looks despondent, but rather that he sports a sad, mournful, desolate face; or a shady character might look hostile, aggressive and pugnacious, instead of simply truculent (the examples are mine, not directly drawn from the text, but can give a good idea of what I found). Such… richness of detail is not necessarily a bad thing, but when it’s constantly repeated with every instance in which a description is required, it becomes distracting and ultimately slows the narrative flow down.

Something similar happens every time Rem sees someone, or witnesses an event, because in his mind he sort of makes up a back story for the action being shown, with no clues whatsoever about where it all came from: if he sees someone hurrying along with a worried face (again, the example is mine), he thinks it might be a clerk who has forgotten to run an important errand for his master, and is afraid of the consequences. Since none of these flights of fancy are useful to the economy of the story, are not substantiated by the narrative, nor are they of any interest to the readers since they concern the story's… extras, they are more distractions than background features, and the sheer repetition proves more bothersome than helpful.

And last, the final revelation - while interesting and bolstered by a quite epic battle between the Wardens and their quarry - is offered through lengthy explanations by the bad guy in chief, a method I always found mildly annoying, not unlike the main staple of many B-movies where the Evil Mastermind illustrates his Dastardly Plans to the captive hero before killing him - which never happens because the hero always manages to even the odds. Finding this narrative device here damped a little my enjoyment of the story and somehow ended it on a less than enthusiastic note.

Nevertheless, these are all personal considerations and should be taken as such: on the whole, First Watch is an entertaining read whose best feature is the relationship between two polar opposites, whose differences give origin to an engaging story that will put a smile on your face. And sometimes this is more than enough…

When I get an ARC, I really want to finish the novel. This is one of those times when I could not finish the novel because it really didn't work for me. From the description, I thought there was going to be a ton of magic what with all the different magical creatures. However, there was more info dumping than anything else - and it wasn't even very useful information! I found it a bit boring and the writing style just didn't work for me so I stopped at about 30%. However, many people liked this book so I hope that my own opinion won't hinder others from reading this book!

I love humor mixed in with my fantasy and the fifth watch was filled with enough snark amd witt to keep me laughing and chuckling. The fact that there is a murder mystery at the core of the plot keeps the pages turing into the night long past bed time

I was so excited when I was approved on Netgalley to read the Fifth Ward. It promised to be a fun, high fantasy and so I was eager to start asap. And even though I finished a day ago, I haven’t really made up my mind how to rate this book. As I said, in the beginning I was super excited but soon, I realized that I even though I could relate to the main character, ideologically and morally I didn’t approve of the way the book/ characters handled certain situations.

For those hwo haven’t read the book but intend to read it, I won’t spoil anything! I just want to explain in detail what bugged me and therefore I only need a short sketch of a one of the characters: The dwarf Torval.

At first, I really liked his character and I loved how his edges were softened by encounters with other people. He is a tough guy, even though it was quite unnerving that every time the two watchwardens got into a fight, the author would say something lioke ‘even though he was small, the force of his punch forced Torval’s opponent on his knees’. I paraphrased here, but you get the idea.

What bugged me the most was not only the constant brawling of the two watchwardens, which is more or less the city’s police. It was that Torval was extremely racist towards a particular group of the cities population. In Yenara, there are living Elves, Men, Orcs along with other creatures and magic is part of daily business. We get to know why he hates one group so hotly and this animosity seems to be no secret. At one or two incidents, it even seems that he deliberately searches for a reason to arrest or start physically hurting them as way of punishment for such-and-such thing.

AT first, it seemed funny but the more I read, the more I disapproved of the systemic sorting out of a particular group of people. The main character does seem to have some empathy towards a few of Torwals ‘victims’ but obviously he’s not concerned at all by the display of racism and violence. Granted, most of the people they encounter did some thing or other, but in no way do they deserve what happens to them. It certainly is no justice.

This book so reminded me of the issue of police brutality and the targeting and profiling of black and Hispanic citizens. It really made me sick how this book basically mirrored problems our own society has without actually taking a step towards criticism and solving of the issue. I was disturbed by the casual violence and the fact that nobody stopped Torval from being in the watch even if it was clear that he indeed did have a strong dislike towards a certain group of the city’s population.

May do this book an injustice by saying this, but I cannot give this book more than 2 ribbons. I feel like the author failed to show people, through what could have been a powerful and funny story, that police brutality is not normal and should be taken seriously be every ethnicity. Instead of normalizing without self-reflection, this book could have been an inspiration. It is not alright to kill or injure innocent and unarmed citizens, it is not alright to profile a particular ethnicity.

I really wanted to love this book but I was kind of disapointed. The summary sounded great with all the different creatures. I thought I was getting a gritty dark fantasy but that just wasnt the case. I enjoyed some parts of it so it wasnt a bad book. I think I just wasnt in the right mood. Ive read enough adult fantasy this past month and was craving something different. It wasnt as dense or as slow as some adult fantasy Ive read but the world building felt a bit info dumpy with too many unnessecary details.

Maybe if the descriptions were written differently it wouldnt have bothered me so much. I wanted to know more about the good stuff not a bunch of random buildings and streets that werent described as anything special. It was tedious and just slowed down the pace. Not to mention, the long chapters made the pace even slower. I eventually started skimming the details that didnt seem important, like two of the fight scenes that seemes to just drag on and on. Despite the main character perspective being filled with world building I just didnt care about, I actually liked Rem.

I thought Rem was smart and curious. I also liked his Dwarf partner Torval. He was quite the character. I thought the scene with his family and his crush for the barmaid were really cute. I dont know why they didnt get a Mage from the Watch to check over more of the Dwarfs old partners belongings right away. Something he had on him or his clothes but maybe it doesnt work with clothes and everything he had on him was stolen. I dont know because the magic wasnt explained fully. I also didnt understand why they didnt question the barkeep where Rems crush disapeared from.

It took a while to find out what the point of the plot was. They mostly just walked around the city trying to keep the peace. Thankfully, about a third of the way through a mystery starts to develop. I love mystery in my fantasy and scifi books. Sadly, I was able to guess some of the plot twists. The story did get a bit more interesting and faster in the second half. I read mostly YA so Im not the best judge to decide how this compares to other adult fantasy but I think other people might enjoy it more than I did.

Note: Book will also be featured in Monthly Wrap Up.

First Watch was a pleasure to read! The story was well written and the pacing kept my attention through the end. The story follows Rem, a noble in disguise, as he tries to make it on his own in the world. His travels lead him to seek a job in the city of Yenara. By chance, Rem joins the city guard as penance for starting a brawl at a local bar. He is paired with the surly dwarf, Torval, who wants nothing to do with the gentle lad (Rem is not that great of an actor). The book launches right into the action as Rem and Torval partner to find a murderer and avenge Torval's partner. In the midst of this murder, the watch is tasked to investigate the disappearance of noble girls - Rem's love amongst them.

Lucas keeps you on your toes with mystery, action, humor and the camaraderie that forms between Torval and Rem. The setting is thought out and even though the novel features common fantasy tropes - orc, elves, dwarves, and noble youth turned romanticized hero - the storyline had enough twists to be enjoyable. I also appreciated that even though the plot focused on the bravado the the guard men, there were strong women peppered throughout such as Aarna and Queydon.

Over 4 stars for a great start to a new series.

First Watch is one of those Sci Fi / Fantasy novels that really knows how to hit all the sweet spots in creating an adventure that will keep you entertained. Lucas has managed to figure out how to write a decent novel that keeps you curious as to what is going to happen next without getting bogged down in the details.

The political turmoil of survival, who has power over who, and the balance of keeping it all together provided the perfect recipe for conflict that pushes the story forward at a decent pace.

The characters are actually interesting even the fantasy elements of orcs and dwarves. Though the author developed this story quite well within these pages there is definitely room to add more books by exploring other characters and areas of this fantastical realm.

The book was well-written, capturing my attention with the first sentence, and managing to hold it until the end.

I kept mentally comparing it to Tamora Pierce's Mastiff series - because of the similar plot - young person joining a police force in medieval fantasy setting, and uncovering a major criminal gang. But Pierce's books are amazingly female character driven, while the female characters in this book were lucky if they weren't sexualized or turned into damsels in distress. It wasn't the worst I've seen, and supposedly there were some women on the police force too, so I didn't majorly downgrade my review. Mostly, this was a male writer giving word to his inner fantasies when went into stuff like the elven woman's seductiveness in great detail (eyeroll). But after too many YA books written by women who fantasize their men as perfect and beautiful (hurl), I have to give some leeway to the other gender as well. Like I said, it wasn't terrible, and since romance isn't a major plot, I let it pass.

Beyond that, this is a book about guys fighting for good reasons. Magic and various other non-human races add spice to the story, but aren't developed beyond the general stereotypes. I would also compare this to the Ranger's Apprentice series - if you like a plot with lots of fighting, brawls, etc., this is definitely for you.

It's not just about fighting, though. The characters were nicely developed. They each have their own interesting backgrounds, found common ground, and I'm looking forward to seeing how, and if, they'll continue to develop.

It was a fun and enjoyable read. Despite its flaws, I really enjoyed it, and am looking forward to the next. I rate it at about 4.6 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a good time. First Watch is a well-written adventure that moves along easily without getting overly intense. The characters are likable, and it's clearly a fantasy novel (the orcs and dwarfs give it away), the fantasy elements are the background. Basically, you're not going to get bogged down in trying to figure out whether the world makes any kind of sense.

Rem wakes up in a jail cell, barely able to recall the drunken antics of the previous night. Given that he's down to his last few coins, he impulsively volunteers to join the city watch and finds himself on his first patrol a few short hours after waking up. Rem is clever and good with a sword, and he has no trouble learning on the job. Good thing, too, because he's thrown into a fairly big case that first day: his new partner's old partner is discovered dead.

Rem being new to the job, and new to the city of Yenara, provides the perfect frame for Lucas to broadly sketch out the world of The Fifth Ward. Rem's dwarf partner Torval introduces him, and us, to the various species co-existing in the city, as well as the "rules" of the world. The city has five wards, each policed by its own watch. While the city has its own laws, non-human species are subject to discipline from a leader in their own group: orcs are disciplined by the orc leader, elves by the elf leader, etc. Everyone is territorial: ward captains jealously guard their territories, ethnic leaders insist on their rights as arbiters for their people. It's a delicate balance, and rife with opportunities for conflict.

Lucas does a lovely job of setting up the world for an ongoing series. Not only is the political situation of the city complex enough to accommodate a number of stories, Rem and Torval themselves have layers which will be interesting to explore. Torval's hatred of orcs gets him in trouble a couple of times, and will continue to do so. The life Rem left behind will continue to influence his way forward. I look forward to seeing where Lucas takes the series.

I requested this book on NetGalley because the words "orc", "dwarf", and "watch" conjured images of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. I get that that's irrational and perhaps a bit unfair to Lucas's work here. However, I can easily say that I enjoyed the book quite a bit and it didn't suffer for the comparison in any way.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

After a wait of over 3 weeks from request, arc no longer needed/under consideration for review purposes.