C. J. Daley

A copy of this was sent to me by the author through my bookstagram (@CJDsCurrentRead—shameless plug....) and it definitely took me a little bit to get to it, but I find that I was not disappointed whatsoever. 

This book introduced some cool ideas, both in terms of world building, and also in the sense of a magic system. The world is both futuristic and primitive, in an apocalyptic-then-refreshed world. And the magic is almost superhero-y powers, but they all pull from natural things. The world to me had an epic fantasy feel to it with its open spaces, and then a more steam punky-type feel for the city area (think Gideon the Ninth-esque...) that I really enjoyed. 

I feel like this book had a lot of heart and it has the guts to be even expounded upon into a full novel if he wanted to. All of the preliminary work is there to be bulked up, but it also functioned well as an action packed novella just the same. 

Personally a 4/5* for me, I'd definitely read more, or reread this one one day.

I pretty much read for the entirety of yesterday to make this be a January finished book, but it was mostly due to the fact that I couldn't put it down! When I first saw this absolutely stunning cover I wanted it. Then when I read that it was involving Arthurian literature, I NEEDED it. And it did not disappoint a single time. 

For me, this is one of the first times reading Urban Fantasy (which I typically don't read) that involved dealing with racism alongside all the other issues one faces while being in a world-bending YA fantasy. I just have to say, it really added to the storytelling and it really cut deep. It added a kind of heart I wasn't expecting. And needless to say, screw racism. 

Personally a 5/5*, a new all-time favorite. Everyone should buy this book right now. My favorite Book of the Month add-on ever...

For the short version, I'd say I'm pretty settled on a 4.5* for this book overall.

Mildly Spoiler-y

At the opening of the book, when everyone is in high school, some thoughts, days, or even scenes go on for the entirety of the chapter (or multiple). I think he perfectly matched the tone and feel of everyday life as a kid in high school–the way Luke feels whenever something happens, the way he thinks everyone stares at him, and even how hard he has to force himself to read his test questions when thinking of Jenni. The way the author has taken pieces of the town we grew up in and the school itself (even our Latin teacher's name...), made the opening of the book both more enjoyable and more real to me, as it already felt familiar. 

Once the book moves out of high school I felt the timing to be much harder to read. Sometimes days, months, or even years pass and it gets a little hard to distinguish. However, I will say that this kind of felt on purpose? Like how life just kind of happens to you as you get older and suddenly you're 30? Only the time was hard to read to me, it didn't make the story confusing...And the retail work? Damn. I am a retail worker and let me tell you, it felt like reading about my days of full time work and full time community college. So in that sense it really does literally feel like 413 pages of REAL life. At points I actually found myself cringing at some of the more “cringe worthy” dialogue–mostly between Luke and various girlfriends. Then I realized that it was all things I had heard said before (or said) in real life. As opposed to many authors, Lewis is writing what's real, what really is said and happens, rather than trying to sound like 99% of what dialogue is in books (you all know what I mean by that...). [In that sense it made me think more than once about the movie Paterson, starring Adam Driver. Certainly not my favorite movie ever or anything, but just a really good REAL depiction of life.]

I think the standout highlight of this novel for me is the dysfunctional family. Both in how it starts, levels out, and eventually ends. How Luke would rather stay in school than go home and hear his parents yell, or how he escapes into his fantasy books as refuge from the war going on at home. Then, when his parents are so finished with the fighting that they've given up and avoid each other, he'd rather walk into town alone than bear the weight of the silence. How it draws out so long and emotionally hard, that by the time their father finally leaves, Luke is excited for it. All of these steps felt real to me, each part had it's place and felt like an actual experience. 

I also would add how this book perfectly highlights infatuation, and just how unhealthy it can be. Luke is a prime example of how unhealthy self image can lead to years of infatuation and obsession. It could be argued that Luke and Jenni are meant to be and that it is love, but after finishing the novel we get the full picture of how every decision he ever made was more than loosely tied to his obsessive thoughts of her. That is not to say that infatuation cannot turn to love, or that being infatuated cannot mean you treat someone well if you ever actually get to be with them, it is just worth noting that Luke definitely ruined or allowed the other good things in his life to pass him by because he was so hung up. 

To put it plainly, the ending of this book is f**ed. I just knew I was going to cry, and I did. It's so very worth reading. I really enjoyed Luke's journey and I think overall I landed on 4.5 simply because the novel really would have benefited from an additional editing. I wouldn't say the typos/errors are incessant. Nor do they in any way prohibit the enjoyment of the story, but as someone who reads a lot I did notice them. 

This was short and to the point—which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I really liked the comic cover arts much more than the art used in the comic though. 

I also don't recall Riley feeling like an older girl that was taking Ellie under her wing or anything, which is how the comic reads. I found that odd, unless I am misremembering?

Finally finished this one. I originally started it when it came out, but I decided to stop for a while when I got to part 5 so that I could read some spooky seasonal stuff. Although, this is sci-fi fantasy that could honestly also be tagged as horror because some of the stuff, like the nightmares and Soft Blade consumption can get really dark and graphic. 

I love his writing style and I've been a fan for years but I found myself really unsure of how to rate this one. There are things that are explosively good about this novel, and there are things that aren't. I think one of the major issues is length. When it comes to a first novel (and seeing he's calling it the Fractalverse I'm assuming more is incoming?) it's sometimes hard for me to feel that connection immediately and want it to keep going on. Like in the Inheritance Cycle, by book 4, you genuinely care enough to know what happens to every single person and why. But those got longer and longer over time... and although I think he does a great job of highlighting the darker side of space travel that I feel like some others skip over (IE. All of the FTL stuff over and over—not that I necessarily liked them...) it doesn't always necessarily land well. However, the things I liked I really liked and even loved. Personally I decided to go with 4/5*. 

I'm very curious how Paolini and his sister are going to handle adapting it, because it'll be very hard to get a symbiotic relationship to read as something other than Venom. Especially with Sony's second film coming out next year... 

This was a truly beautiful tale

This book is very enjoyable. However, it does so much world building, explaining, and backstory, that it's at the detriment of plotting.

Cute middle grade 1-4 page short horror stories by Lemony Snicket, James Patterson, R. L. Stine, Joyce Carol Oates, Michael Connelly, Neil Gaiman, Margaret Atwood and many others.

I originally stumbled across this while buying up every Atwood novel I could find. This one didn't disappoint. It was a nice, easy seasonal read.

“Whenever I came out to people, there was a feeling that I was asking for their permission, or their forgiveness.”

So I think this top portion will be the basis for my review for all five of the Witcher series (excluding The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny–Kind of, you'll see...)

I feel like it took me a long time to read these, when in actuality, I started the first one in January so that isn't really all that long. Some of the way I'm feeling may be based off a lapse in memory though because I read around 95 books around the reading of these so I may be hazy.

For starters, I think Andrzej Sapkowski is a phenomenal writer. Secondly, I think David French did an absolutely wonderful job translating these to English. And thirdly, I think the Gollancz paperbacks were amazing–great cover art, nice quality–I actually managed to read them all without breaking the spines.

Sapkowski has such a way about his writing that the dialogue in the novels can be truly captivating. He wields it so well that he has honestly created such a wonderful lush lore within his world that really carried the hundreds of pages he wrote. I think that overall, this attention to detail within every word uttered may actually have been in some ways at a detriment to his overarching story.

So to speak, his great characters, the companions of the Witcher, and even the enemies, all have this way of leaving you wanting more. However, if you were to pull away all of that and the world's lore, the series itself is kind of about... nothing. I did find myself more than once getting to the end of one of the novels and being like wait... nothing happened? Destiny has brought the Witcher and Ciri together, and yet they are also destined to never be together... it's just the kind of realization that stings. If you read the first book you can skip to the final book for the ending because the others are just more of the same. Luckily for me, as I've already stated, I enjoyed the dialogue and the world building, I drank that sh*t up. It's just kind of weird/funny to realize negative things like that about something you've rated pretty well. Despite all of that, I really enjoyed them.

In terms of The Lady of the Lake especially, I find that in each novel he kind of played with different ways of storytelling and this one starting with the knight of Arthur finding her really threw me off. It also then didn't resolve itself for 500 pages. I think at one point I thought it was a ploy and that he was actually one of the elves in the other world? I don't know, but it was kind of weird. In general, that whole world hopping bit was a little dragged out for me.
Alternatively, in terms of this being the ultimate finale, I loved the level of gore and action. I thought the Battle of Brenna was outstanding writing. The jumping between the battle and the future with survivors of the battle writing about it really worked for me.
I will say though another negative for me was the deaths at Stygga Castle. I know the bad luck surrounding the Witcher and those that follow him, but this kind of heartless, unforgiving killing off of main characters didn't exactly work for me. It's not like reading A Song of Fire and Ice where it's expected, therefore the lack of emotion I felt around them dying was a little lackluster. Also, I mean come on, we get all the way to the end and everyone dies EXCEPT Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer? In that sense it seemed a little cheesy.
A giant positive for me was that I did not see the twist of Duny being the emperor at all. I don't know if I was supposed to (?) but WOW. Ciri's dad the whole time? WOW incest is so absolutely gross. Glad it didn't go there...

I did like the kind of hazy ending myself. Did Yenn and Geralt die? Did they live? No! They got married and several other people we know are dead were said to be in attendance!
I know what the game series wants us to believe.

Well, maybe this was because I didn't read any of the Doctor Aphra stuff, but this was... terrible.

truly

Below is some of my review posted on Inheritance, Brisingr, Eldest and Eragon with some rehashing/added stuff...

So this is my first time reading The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm: Tales from Alagaësia: Eragon, (Eragon, Eragon/Eldest, Eragon/Eldest/Brisingr, Eragon/Eldest/Brisingr/Inheritance...) this being my first time listening to the audiobook too. To put it simply, Gerard Doyle is fantastic. His character voices and narration fit perfectly, and I loved the job he did. My only complaint for this one is that he did a kind of less growly sounding voice for Saphira, and that the change after hearing the other voice for 4 much longer audiobooks was very off-putting.

I obviously fell off for some years seeing that Inheritance was released 9 years ago, but what can you do...

I'm sure there's a hundred reviews on here talking about how this all started when Paolini was fifteen, and how at the time of Brisingr, he had spent a decade with Eragon, so I'll just say–WOW.

He takes so many things from others (in terms of influence) and handles them all so delicately that he created this wonderful, lush, dense lore that continues to grow throughout the rest of the novels. He was like a mini-Tolkien with his languages and flushed out geographic ideas. He created the Urgals and Kull instead of just recycling the typical Orcs and Uruk-hai. I found multiple points of similarity between Martin's ‘Game of Thrones' dragons and Paolini's, and yet past those he once again branched off and created his own world and lore for them in a refreshing way. I think the training and wiseness from Brom most similarly matches the ideas of Obi-Wan and Luke Skywalker, including the necessary death of a mentor/father figure that thus propels the main character towards greatness. I suppose you could also easily argue that it is also like Gandalf/Frodo, however I think it's a harder argument to make that Frodo actually grew based off lessons from a knowledgable mentor (HE IS A HERO, JUST A DIFFERENT KIND!). Or, you could also point out Harry/Dumbledore–I'm sure we've all seen the memes about needing an old man mentor and a young hero to make a successful series–even though Dumbledore hid questionable important details from Harry, he still fulfilled that role.


The Fork I enjoyed very much. I always liked Murtagh as a character. I've waited countless years to see him come back around to being a good guy and we are finally getting there. His change of name didn't really serve fans well in this audiobook because Doyle was clearly doing Murtagh's voice, but I was excited all the same.

The Witch worked, but was far less exciting to me. As much as I enjoy Angela the Herbalist, and want to know more about her, her powers, and who she really is, this story doesn't really deliver on any of those things. Perhaps it is a start though? Maybe we'll get an entire anthology on who she really is...

The Worm was another that I didn't dislike, but I don't know if it really worked for me. I was interested to see more into Urgal life, and definitely excited to see an Urgal spell caster, but I didn't really like the concept of an evil dragon for this story. Even if the dragon was wild. It felt almost like backpedaling on the majesty that's been ground home for Paolini's dragons since day one.

However, I did enjoy them all. For the most part the thing that hurt these stories the most was the fact that they were simply too short, especially after the long series prior. I still look forward to more!

This is rather unfortunate, it just did nothing for me whatsoever.

Whereas I had praised Disney Press prior on their other short story collections having beautiful art and deeply saturated title cards (that didn't seep through to the other page!) this release fell short on both of those aspects. The art is just digital re-rendering of Clone Wars art that has some water color-esque swirls slapped behind it and the title cards are in blue (one of the others was straight black!) and it shows through on the pages... it was disappointing.

Now maybe this is on me for not researching enough prior to purchasing, but the fact that these were just rehashed Clone Wars episodes given in the POV of just one character (in an almost From a Certain Point of View styling) really didn't add anything to them for me at all. I get that this is graded as a young reader collection, but what could be a better introduction to The Clone Wars than just WATCHING it?

I loved the show and the stories that came out of it. This could have been so much better if it was just new stories.

I guess I would say take this for what it is... I am openly admitting that maybe I am forgetting a hell of a lot about Gideon the Ninth??

For starters, I have this weird engrained dislike for the use of the word “you” from teachers trying so hard to get us to keep the word out of essays that this really turned me off. Not to mention that in this 506 page book (my hardcover) she uses “you” probably one million times. I called immediately what it was being used for—in a weird, in the perspective of, but not of, Gideon speaking... I hated it.
Now I don't remember if it was mentioned in Gideon the decision to remove her memory of her, but by my reckoning, Gideon was not mentioned for 381 pages. I totally see what Muir was going for but I found that it really, really, REALLY did not work for me.
I distinctly remember realizing at page 60, 100, 150, that I genuinely had absolutely no idea what was going on. This could have been a mixture of me not remember what happened in Gideon, but I also have to imagine that this was also a decent amount of poor writing too, right? Not that plot was a strong point in Gideon the Ninth, but this almost 400 page lead-up to the “twist” just completely erased any comprehensiveness in the story for me. Also I really enjoyed the murder mystery-y feel to Gideon the Ninth and I feel like this was the author trying to continue on with the mystery feel. For me it was a flop.

I would say pages 1-400 were a 2* to maybe a 2.5. Then the climax was a bit more understandable and cool, maybe a 3-3.5 ending. Really not sure at this point if I'll read Alecto the Ninth...

Below is mostly my review posted on Brisingr, Eldest and Eragon with some rehashing/added stuff...

So this is my first time reading Inheritance, (Eragon, Eragon/Eldest, Eragon/Eldest/Brisingr...) this being my first time listening to the audiobook too. To put it simply, Gerard Doyle is fantastic. His character voices and narration fit perfectly, and I loved the job he did. I'm actually going to continue on with The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm: Tales from Alagaësia: Volume 1- Eragon, now because he does them all.

I obviously fell off for some years seeing that Inheritance was released 9 years ago, but what can you do...

I'm sure there's a hundred reviews on here talking about how this all started when Paolini was fifteen, and how at the time of Brisingr, he had spent a decade with Eragon, so I'll just say–WOW.

He takes so many things from others (in terms of influence) and handles them all so delicately that he created this wonderful, lush, dense lore that continues to grow throughout the rest of the novels. He was like a mini-Tolkien with his languages and flushed out geographic ideas. He created the Urgals and Kull instead of just recycling the typical Orcs and Uruk-hai. I found multiple points of similarity between Martin's ‘Game of Thrones' dragons and Paolini's, and yet past those he once again branched off and created his own world and lore for them in a refreshing way. I think the training and wiseness from Brom most similarly matches the ideas of Obi-Wan and Luke Skywalker, including the necessary death of a mentor/father figure that thus propels the main character towards greatness. I suppose you could also easily argue that it is also like Gandalf/Frodo, however I think it's a harder argument to make that Frodo actually grew based off lessons from a knowledgable mentor (HE IS A HERO, JUST A DIFFERENT KIND!). Or, you could also point out Harry/Dumbledore–I'm sure we've all seen the memes about needing an old man mentor and a young hero to make a successful series–even though Dumbledore hid questionable important details from Harry, he still fulfilled that role.

I actually read a bitter sounding review under Eldest on here where they claim the opposite of what I am saying–ie. that Paolini does not do any of these things delicately/well and all I can say is that I'm genuinely surprised by that reaction. The main complaint I saw was drawing a comparison to Star Wars and almost calling these similarities blatant stealing. IE. “I am your father [Morzan].” And also saying that the reemergence of the twins and Murtagh was stupid/not earned. All I can say is that 1. I am a HUGE SW fan, as you can obviously see in my read books section, and I think that if your basis for disliking this book/series/author is that you think SW is the end-all for original ideas, you're just misguided. I mean right off the bat, just read Dune and see how many things are super close to some of the original SW ideas in A New Hope... 2. I have now read this book three times and each time I have loved the “surprise” of Murtagh coming back. Every single time. Sure, I also thought he was alive, but riding atop a new RED DRAGON? No, that hadn't crossed my younger mind at all. 3. If you dislike reading things that have any kind of similarities at all, I'm sorry to inform you but fantasy is not the genre for you at all. Find me something that doesn't pull strings from Tolkien, Lewis, Herbert, Martin and many others. I don't believe it can be done. Those similarities are the reasons WHY I love these kinds of books and genre. Originality would come at a cost. Probably the cost of that comfortability many look for in fantasy and that wouldn't work for me and many others.

I'm sure there are also countless ideas and influences that he drew from the million and one dragon rider series that exist in this world. However, I first started reading these books in the sixth grade, so as an eleven year old I hadn't much experience elsewhere, and afterwards this was more my basis for that kind of story than any other.

I know we've all seen/heard Paolini say things like “trying to write like Tolkien at his best” and various other stupid and pompous sounding things, but he was young and humility doesn't come easy for everyone. He had great success with these books at an early age, that could certainly do that to your head. And to be honest, it'd have been better for someone else to have said that for him, but I don't really disagree with it. I even call him a mini-Tolkien at the beginning of this review... (but lets be real...Tolkien was always at his “best”)

I will say that I think Paolini is lucky that he had spent so much time working his characters in book two, because honestly without it I would not have given a single f*k about Roran getting married or trying to become a leader. Nor about them having a baby or Eragon healing a hairlip either... It's because of his earlier work and attention to detail that leads fans to desire more information about other characters and the day to day activities. The trouble with the dwarves even borders on getting too dry and he still (in my opinion) reels it in enough, and splits it with action, to save its enjoyability. I feel like he manages the same with the ending of Inheritance. The political magical stuff and the rebuilding isn't my favorite, but he cuts it up with a NEW DRAGON and NEW QUEEN OF THE ELVES? A great win in my opinion. Even though it's a bit of a stretch for this dragon to get a cover when he exists for so little.The world of Alagaesia needs more dragon power. I will say though one thing that rubbed me the wrong way was how Lord Barst was portrayed. Not only was he there simply to be killed my Roran (in my opinion) but he also was described for so much longer, and seemingly stronger, than Galbatorix himself was? I feel like with perhaps even a single Eldunarí he appeared more powerful than I even imagined Eragon to be... the main character, who not only had quite of few of the Eldunarí, but it was purposefully still said DID NOT have enough to outright defeat the Mad King. Barst has so much page-time that we see him kill perhaps hundreds of men, elves, dwarves, Kull, and werecats. Not to mention Islanzadí, a feat that I'm still not sure I believe Eragon should have been capable of? I understand that this was supposed to add the big-bad warrior feel to the climax because Galbatorix had to be defeated by either cunning or magic but still. That was my only major gripe. I understand that his writing style, and seemingly his incessant need to write bible length books, is not for everyone, but this has been a 5/100% novel since the first time I read it. Now after finishing it for my second time I still don't have any real complaints. I love it and not just for the nostalgic feel, it's amazing.

So I actually did not read this release by George Mann until after I just read this years release, SW Dark Legends.
Each story has a unique and beautiful watercolor painting at the beginning (much the same as, Tales From the Galaxy Far Far Away: Vol. 1: Aliens) and this hardcover does a great job with these giant, wonderful title cards and gold plates for the first letter or every story that don't look cheesy or see-through. Another win for Disney Lucasfilm Press honestly.


The Knight & The Dragon: 4A dragon vs. a jedi?! Come on! And it's so obviously meant to be Kenobi. I dig it. This was cool as hell. In a universe that has so many different races and beasts, why couldn't there be dragons as well? The Droid with a Heart: 2
Grievous now too?! Honestly though I thought this story would have been much cooler than I thought it was. I know there's more than one canon story involving characters from the free-droid movement or whatever they call it but this fell very flat for me and was kind of about nothing at all.

Vengeful Waves: 3I think this is my first experience with Glee Anselm other than it being mentioned in Solo (I think?).This was a cute fable, nothing amazing though. The Wanderer: 4
I really liked this one and honestly this is probably my favorite piece of art too. A jedi with a shield to look stylized like an actual knight? I dig it very much.
These tales feel almost exactly like what I wish jedi stories often were—people need help, boom, there's a jedi. Help is given, they walk away. No conversation or glory needed.

The Black Spire: 3I believe I said this in one of my last SW reviews but we now have more Batuu/Black Spire content than we can fathom and no one asked for it. I get there's a park but it didn't even make an appearance in the final film and it was supposed to be a resistance base... Regardless I enjoyed this story. The young child with a knife disguising her voice to save the day gave me Peter Pan vibes. Gaze of Stone: 4
I liked this story and that it had characters that are also in his Dark Legends book. I do wish though that we'd get more jedi/Sith stories without them having to be myths or fables. It's like Disney way to call something canon-non-canon

The Witch & the Wookiee: 3Just another cute fable, not greatThe Dark Wraith: 2
So another story on Cerosha, this time about an even wraith, and this story doesn't include the jedi Knight from the other one?
A semi-crappy fable about being a good kid?

Chasing Ghosts: 3*
Batuu... again. Disney really doesn't get that the place is absolutely pointless.
Also if every single story is about a gangster, smuggler, or bounty hunter, are there any actual normal people in the entire galaxy??


Some of these stories are just hurt by being short, or being meant for young readers/YA. But some are also just very bleh

Below is mostly my review posted on Eldest and Eragon with some rehashing/added stuff...

So this is my second time reading Brisingr, (Eragon, Eragon/Eldest, Eragon/Eldest/Brisingr...) this being my first time listening to the audiobook. To put it simply, Gerard Doyle is fantastic. His character voices and narration fit perfectly, and I loved the job he did. I'm actually going to continue on with Inheritance now because he does them all.

I obviously fell off for some years seeing that Inheritance was released 9 years ago, but what can you do...

I'm sure there's a hundred reviews on here talking about how this all started when Paolini was fifteen, and how at the time of Brisingr, he had spent a decade with Eragon, so I'll just say–WOW.

He takes so many things from others (in terms of influence) and handles them all so delicately that he created this wonderful, lush, dense lore that continues to grow throughout the rest of the novels. He was like a mini-Tolkien with his languages and flushed out geographic ideas. He created the Urgals and Kull instead of just recycling the typical Orcs and Uruk-hai. I found multiple points of similarity between Martin's ‘Game of Thrones' dragons and Paolini's, and yet past those he once again branched off and created his own world and lore for them in a refreshing way. I think the training and wiseness from Brom most similarly matches the ideas of Obi-Wan and Luke Skywalker, including the necessary death of a mentor/father figure that thus propels the main character towards greatness. I suppose you could also easily argue that it is also like Gandalf/Frodo, however I think it's a harder argument to make that Frodo actually grew based off lessons from a knowledgable mentor (HE IS A HERO, JUST A DIFFERENT KIND!). Or, you could also point out Harry/Dumbledore–I'm sure we've all seen the memes about needing an old man mentor and a young hero to make a successful series–even though Dumbledore hid questionable important details from Harry, he still fulfilled that role.

I actually read a bitter sounding review under Eldest on here where they claim the opposite of what I am saying–ie. that Paolini does not do any of these things delicately/well and all I can say is that I'm genuinely surprised by that reaction. The main complaint I saw was drawing a comparison to Star Wars and almost calling these similarities blatant stealing. IE. “I am your father [Morzan].” And also saying that the reemergence of the twins and Murtagh was stupid/not earned. All I can say is that 1. I am a HUGE SW fan, as you can obviously see in my read books section, and I think that if your basis for disliking this book/series/author is that you think SW is the end-all for original ideas, you're just misguided. I mean right off the bat, just read Dune and see how many things are super close to some of the original SW ideas in A New Hope... 2. I have now read this book three times and each time I have loved the “surprise” of Murtagh coming back. Every single time. Sure, I also thought he was alive, but riding atop a new RED DRAGON? No, that hadn't crossed my younger mind at all. 3. If you dislike reading things that have any kind of similarities at all, I'm sorry to inform you but fantasy is not the genre for you at all. Find me something that doesn't pull strings from Tolkien, Lewis, Herbert, Martin and many others. I don't believe it can be done. Those similarities are the reasons WHY I love these kinds of books and genre. Originality would come at a cost. Probably the cost of that comfortability many look for in fantasy and that wouldn't work for me and many others.

I'm sure there are also countless ideas and influences that he drew from the million and one dragon rider series that exist in this world. However, I first started reading these books in the sixth grade, so as an eleven year old I hadn't much experience elsewhere, and afterwards this was more my basis for that kind of story than any other.

I know we've all seen/heard Paolini say things like “trying to write like Tolkien at his best” and various other stupid and pompous sounding things, but he was young and humility doesn't come easy for everyone. He had great success with these books at an early age, that could certainly do that to your head. And to be honest, it'd have been better for someone else to have said that for him, but I don't really disagree with it. I even call him a mini-Tolkien at the beginning of this review... (but lets be real...Tolkien was always at his “best”)

I will say that I think Paolini is lucky that he had spent so much time working his characters in book two, because honestly without it I would not have given a single f*k about Roran getting married or trying to become a leader. It's because of his earlier work and attention to detail that leads fans to desire more information about other characters and the day to day activities. The trouble with the dwarves even borders on getting too dry and he still (in my opinion) reels it in enough, and splits it with action, to save its enjoyability. The world of Alagaesia needs more dragon power. As fans can tell by the cover, Glaedr is the focal point of this one. Even though Oromis and Glaedr have disabilities of their own they still make the decision to enter the fight. I thought this was immediate, and obvious, foreshadowing to their doom. Even though Glaedr should have far exceeded the size and strength of Thorn, there is still a struggle between them. When the tide of battle seems to point in their favor, Galbatorix possesses Murtagh. I understand this was meant to show the power and prowess that they're up against, which is Galbatorix himself, but I still think they should have been able to achieve more in the fight. That was my only major gripe. I understand that his writing style, and seemingly his incessant need to write bible length books, is not for everyone, but this has been a 5/100% novel since the first time I read it. Now after finishing it for my second time I still don't have any real complaints. I love it and not just for the nostalgic feel, it's amazing.

Below is mostly my review posted on Eragon with some rehashing/added stuff...

So this is my third time reading Eldest, (Eragon, Eragon/Eldest, Eragon/Eldest/Brisingr...) this being my first time listening to the audiobook. To put it simply, Gerard Doyle is fantastic. His character voices and narration fit perfectly, and I loved the job he did. I'm actually going to continue on with Brisingr now because he does them all.

I obviously fell off for some years seeing that Inheritance was released 9 years ago, but what can you do...

I'm sure there's a hundred reviews on here talking about how this all started when Paolini was fifteen so I'll just say–WOW.

He takes so many things from others (in terms of influence) and handles them all so delicately that he created this wonderful, lush, dense lore that continues to grow throughout the rest of the novels. He was like a mini-Tolkien with his languages and flushed out geographic ideas. He created the Urgals and Kull instead of just recycling the typical Orcs and Uruk-hai. I found multiple points of similarity between Martin's ‘Game of Thrones' dragons and Paolini's, and yet past those he once again branched off and created his own world and lore for them in a refreshing way. I think the training and wiseness from Brom most similarly matches the ideas of Obi-Wan and Luke Skywalker, including the necessary death of a mentor/father figure that thus propels the main character towards greatness. I suppose you could also easily argue that it is also like Gandalf/Frodo, however I think it's a harder argument to make that Frodo actually grew based off lessons from a knowledgable mentor (HE IS A HERO, JUST A DIFFERENT KIND!). Or, you could also point out Harry/Dumbledore–I'm sure we've all seen the memes about needing an old man mentor and a young hero to make a successful series–even though Dumbledore hid questionable important details from Harry, he still fulfilled that role.

I actually read a bitter sounding review under Eldest on here where they claim the opposite of what I am saying–ie. that Paolini does not do any of these things delicately/well and all I can say is that I'm genuinely surprised by that reaction. The main complaint I saw was drawing a comparison to Star Wars and almost calling these similarities blatant stealing. IE. “I am your father [Morzan].” And also saying that the reemergence of the twins and Murtagh was stupid/not earned. All I can say is that 1. I am a HUGE SW fan, as you can obviously see in my read books section, and I think that if your basis for disliking this book/series/author is that you think SW is the end all for original ideas, you're just misguided. I mean right off the bat, just read Dune and see how many things are super close to some of the original SW ideas in A New Hope... 2. I have now read this book three times and each time I have loved the “surprise” of Murtagh coming back. Every single time. Sure, I also thought he was alive, but riding atop a new RED DRAGON? No, that hadn't crossed my younger mind at all. 3. If you dislike reading things that have any kind of similarities at all, I'm sorry to inform you but fantasy is not the genre for you at all. Find me something that doesn't pull strings from Tolkien, Lewis, Herbert, Martin and many others. I don't believe it can be done. Those similarities are the reasons WHY I love these kinds of books and genre. Originality would come at a cost. Probably the cost of that comfortability many look for in fantasy and that wouldn't work for me and many others.

I'm sure there are also countless ideas and influences that he drew from the million and one dragon rider series that exist in this world. However, I first started reading these books in the sixth grade, so as an eleven year old I hadn't much experience elsewhere, and afterwards this was more my basis for that kind of story than any other.

I know we've all seen/heard Paolini say things like “trying to write like Tolkien at his best” and various other stupid and pompous sounding things, but he was young and humility doesn't come easy for everyone. He had great success with these books at an early age, that could certainly do that to your head. And to be honest, it'd have been better for someone else to have said that for him, but I don't really disagree with it. I even call him a mini-Tolkien at the beginning of this review... (but lets be real...Tolkien was always at his “best”)

I understand that his writing style, and seemingly his incessant need to write bible length books, is not for everyone, but this has been a 5*/100% novel since the first time I read it. Now after finishing it for my third time I really still don't have any complaints. I love it and not just for the nostalgic feel, it's amazing.

So I am currently attempting to read the Poirot series in order. Ambitious I know... even though they don't actually connect and in some they reference work done by Poirot that has not actually been mentioned prior, but anyway that's how I'm doing it.

So for me I really enjoyed this story not being in the perspective of someone working with Poirot—as much as I enjoy Hastings and disliked the doctor from Roger Ackroyd. This was a refreshing take from so many of the others feeling the same. The story changes perspectives from random characters/suspects and Poirot is almost in the background. This way, when it gets to the explanation at the end, you don't really understand or know what he's thinking because you haven't been attached to him the entire time. It gets to a point where it's almost frustrating how Hastings is used as a tool to blind you, so this approach was nice for me.

A very enjoyable one, I would certainly read it again.

So I think this top portion will be the basis for my review for all five of the Witcher series (excluding The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny–Kind of, you'll see...)

I feel like it took me a long time to read these, when in actuality, I started the first one in January so that isn't really all that long. Some of the way I'm feeling may be based off a lapse in memory though because I read around 95 books around the reading of these so I may be hazy.

For starters, I think Andrzej Sapkowski is a phenomenal writer. Secondly, I think David French did an absolutely wonderful job translating these to English. And thirdly, I think the Gollancz paperbacks were amazing–great cover art, nice quality–I actually managed to read them all without breaking the spines.

Sapkowski has such a way about his writing that the dialogue in the novels can be truly captivating. He wields it so well that he has honestly created such a wonderful lush lore within his world that really carried the hundreds of pages he wrote. I think that overall, this attention to detail within every word uttered may actually have been in some ways at a detriment to his overarching story.

So to speak, his great characters, the companions of the Witcher, and even the enemies, all have this way of leaving you wanting more. However, if you were to pull away all of that and the world's lore, the series itself is kind of about... nothing. I did find myself more than once getting to the end of one of the novels and being like wait... nothing happened? Destiny has brought the Witcher and Ciri together, and yet they are also destined to never be together... it's just the kind of realization that stings. If you read the first book you can skip to the final book for the ending because the others are just more of the same. Luckily for me, as I've already stated, I enjoyed the dialogue and the world building, I drank that sh*t up. It's just kind of weird/funny to realize negative things like that about something you've rated pretty well. Despite all of that, I really enjoyed them.

In terms of The Tower of the Swallow specifically, I enjoyed that this storyline followed Ciri maturing and dealing with things on her own. There's a lot of growing and exploring for her.

However, Geralt and team are still looking for Ciri, but no Ciri is found.

So I think this top portion will be the basis for my review for all five of the Witcher series (excluding The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny–Kind of, you'll see...)

I feel like it took me a long time to read these, when in actuality, I started the first one in January so that isn't really all that long. Some of the way I'm feeling may be based off a lapse in memory though because I read around 95 books around the reading of these so I may be hazy.

For starters, I think Andrzej Sapkowski is a phenomenal writer. Secondly, I think David French did an absolutely wonderful job translating these to English. And thirdly, I think the Gollancz paperbacks were amazing–great cover art, nice quality–I actually managed to read them all without breaking the spines.

Sapkowski has such a way about his writing that the dialogue in the novels can be truly captivating. He wields it so well that he has honestly created such a wonderful lush lore within his world that really carried the hundreds of pages he wrote. I think that overall, this attention to detail within every word uttered may actually have been in some ways at a detriment to his overarching story.

So to speak, his great characters, the companions of the Witcher, and even the enemies, all have this way of leaving you wanting more. However, if you were to pull away all of that and the world's lore, the series itself is kind of about... nothing. I did find myself more than once getting to the end of one of the novels and being like wait... nothing happened? Destiny has brought the Witcher and Ciri together, and yet they are also destined to never be together... it's just the kind of realization that stings. If you read the first book you can skip to the final book for the ending because the others are just more of the same. Luckily for me, as I've already stated, I enjoyed the dialogue and the world building, I drank that sh*t up. It's just kind of weird/funny to realize negative things like that about something you've rated pretty well. Despite all of that, I really enjoyed them.

In terms of Baptism of Fire specifically, I loved the introduction of Milva. I think she was a great dynamic character and since my younger days of falling in love with the Lord of the Rings, I love me an archer.
Also I love the pure absurdity of Geralt of Rivia–not really being from Rivia–then getting knighted by Queen Meve of Rivia... aka Geralt of Rivia is now legitimate and Geralt in the book itself reflects on that absurdity. That's just Sapkowski having fun and I enjoyed it.

So I made the mistake of reading three books at once while also moving and reading far less than usual. But the last time a book took me a month to read I think I was still in the Kumon reading program in second grade. For me this book was really enjoyable and gripping, but it was just an incredibly slow burn.

To speak to the edition I bought, I got the original novel with pictures from the new movie inside. The book itself is a hardcover that is modeled to look like the one Jo receives in the movie. I think it's a really nice edition overall, and although it isn't leather-bound like the one Jo gets, I found in while walking around Walmart after seeing the movie for $11. For a hardcover that's awesome.It was a slow burn particularly because this edition used like 10 or 11 point font and each page felt super long and I felt like I was carving out my reading time in two to three chapters instead of getting far more done like I always do.

I was drawn to reading this classic by seeing the movie. I went in without any knowledge or expectations (I haven't seen any of the million other movies) simply because I liked the cast. Greta Gerwig did a fantastic job adapting this hefty family drama into a feature film. I think she did a good job of infusing more feminism into the feature and cutting out most of the religion, which was one of my only gripes with the novel. However, Alcott's inclusion of religion is very understandable for the time and subject matter involved, and I do not think it was overdone at all. I think the writing was elegant and beautiful, while still remaining easily legible and understandable.

I think this is another one added to the list that continues my theory that Victorian era female writers were better than the incredibly famous men of the era.

I'll start by saying that Assassin's Creed is one of my all-time favorite game series, so please align all your ideas about my opinion and review off that. I've also read and enjoyed the Assassin's Creed Heresy novel and the novelization of the Assassin's Creed movie (both by Christie Golden)–and hey, that movie was better than it was rated, it deserved more from fans (I say 7/10 I just rewatched last week).

I think Anthony Del Col managed something pretty damn cool, especially with it only being a script meant to go straight to audio for audible. I find that most things that are written as scripts that aren't actual plays tend to fall into the realm of coming off/sounded silly in the way they're performed most of the time. But for once credit, I don't really have any complaints.

I think they did a pretty great cast as well, mixing both A/C regulars, lesser known voice performers, and some celebrity voices. I believe all the appearances are:
Tamara Lawrence as Aliyah Khan
John Chancer as Gavin Banks
Laila Paine as My'shell Lemair
Danny Wallace as Shaun Hastings aka “Shaun AI”
Riz Ahmed as Omar Khaled
Anthony Head as Isaac Newton
Gemma Lawrence as Rose Galloway
Nicholas le Prevost as William Lowndes
Nigel Pilkington as Nicolas Fatio de Duillier
David Rintoul as Finnegan
Daniel Waymen as William Chaloner
Hayward B. Morse as Nigel Galloway
Ray Fearon as Fahad Khan
Rachel Atkins as Agneta Reider
Paul Panting as Father Jones Jones
Laura Aikman as Meredith Crystal
Brian Bowles as The Banker
Andrew Branch as Benedict Crystal
Lily Donovan as Daisy Walter
Rupert Fairely as Tower Warden
Owen Findlay as Royal Guardsman
Jason Forbes as Oliver Augustus
Nicholas Goh as Casino Dealer
David John as Sir Artemis Murray
Jim Johnson as James Blanchard
Will Kelly as Jack Oliver
John Last as Prison Gatekeeper
Simon Lipson as Templar Commander
Joseph Radcliffe as Tower Captain
Anne Rosenfeld as Hailey Felton
Eliza Ross as Conference Speaker
Jennifer Saayeng as Bianca
Gyrui Sarossy as Templar Officer
(Full cast information was just pasted from the Assassin's Creed Wiki, https://assassinscreed.fandom.com/wiki/Assassin%27s_Creed:_Gold So thanks to them)

This definitely proved to me that they were aiming to put forth the best story/performance they could give us and I think it's a pretty close success. I know Ubisoft has been striving for ways to give fans more in alternate platforms and has seriously struggled. I'm not imagining this will be a huge hit or widespread listen, but it was a nice 4.5 hour listen that added some new assassin insight I enjoyed.

I'm not so sure I agree with another review I read that stated they'd have loved for this to be a game though. The action was cool but spread out, and I can't really imagine it feeling as immersive as all the other A/C games. It would have felt a little dry as a game. I feel like this style could have really taken off as an episodic hourly program, but I don't think Ubisoft is ready to sink that kind of money into viewable media again anytime soon. (just please don't launch your own separate streaming service, Ubisoft. We have enough already).

One negative I really struggled with was the music at the end and beginning of each chapter. It seriously felt drawn out like the end credits to a GoT episode or something. It was just too much, should have just been at the beginning of the performance and end.

The one thing I liked the most is how it felt almost mystery-ish with it having less action. It made me really want more where it's almost like an Assassin's Creed detective novel (OR SHOW, I can dream), something like Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes (Sir Isaac Newton really read like him in spirit) where they use their modern day detective acumen in ancient times...
Ubisoft call me!

So this was my first experience reading Eoin Colfer. I'm not sure this was his typical writing style or if it was just something tried out for this book, but it does not work for me.

I ended up enjoying points of the story, however I feel like the things I didn't like the most were the components that made up the vast majority of the books' character.

Vern's personality of this super sarcastic, angry, bitter being that loves to curse, wear Flashdance T-shirts, and get drunk felt more like a teenager character than anything else. Not to mention the cursing was over the top for me regardless. To me it had the same grating effect that Rowling's The Casual Vacancy had, which just screamed, “NOT MIDDLE-GRADE PLEASE NOTICE. ADULT!” which is one of the major reasons neither of these books hit for me. Like, we get it. Adult novels can just be about the way it's written and the context, not only “adult” words. It could just be me, but cursing heavily always aligns more with YA in my mind because I feel like those are the aged people that think cursing makes them heard.

Also, through no real fault of Colfer's, he chose to make this story in the southern bayou. Which really just had me picturing the stupidness of Jason Stackhouse from Trueblood the entire time. It made everything harder to take seriously. And I know that Squib was only fifteen, so he wasn't the brightest, but he even portrayed him as the school-hating, slightly crooked, bayou boy. I can't really relate, I've only seen those things related as plain stupid, and therefore it hurt my imagining and experience with it. I was forced to imagine a little Creole teen with a dirt stache like Renee from season one of TB. It just didn't click for me.

Lastly, in all my lengthy complaints, is that Colfer really wanted to make a dragon story, but only if he could achieve something new. Well he did, and it absolutely does not work for me. Anyone reading this may absolutely disagree, but did anyone ever stop to wonder if there's so many of the same story styles because people like their fantasy to remain fantasy? I've given multiple modern fantasy stories a go, including Netflix's “Bright,” and in my opinion they honestly all fall short simply because they lack in the fantasy department. A dragon wearing t-shirts and cargo pants? Drinking beers and rocking hoodies? Why? Your flock is are safe, he's got Dominos!

**(actually lastly) I genuinely despised Hooke. I know he was a crooked constable and soldier and man and son and civilian and human. I don't mean the guy portrayed. The invented character, I could not stand it. I'm still not sure why.

As I tend to write harsh reviews for things I didn't love, here is my disclaimer that this is only my opinion. You may feel differently, you may be excited about the things I complain about above, you may love it. Enjoy. Good luck.

Poirot Investigates Shorts:



The Adventure of “The Western Star”: 4I feel like this story felt the most whole out of all the short stories I've read so far. It felt like it was building the entire time and not just a random short story that was more just an idea, but was later published. I could have done with less stereotyping of “Chinamen,” but it was published in 1923...I love how this story sets up Captain Hastings being in the right for once, just to later disprove him, making him the stupid one once more. What a brilliant literary tool he is. The Tragedy At Marsdon Manor: 4

I liked that this story decided to go down the road of spookiness for a second there. Calling Mrs. Maltravers mediumistic and asking about séances and hauntings. For a second I really thought there was something supernatural going on, but I guess I should have known better. A little twist, but I enjoyed it.

“You did not observe them, Hastings? No? As I always tell you, you see nothing!” And this right here sums up Hastings in a nutshell...



The Adventure of the Cheap Flat: 3I liked how this story started with just Hastings and the people make him feel good about himself. He even gets in a good Sherlock and Watson reference, not know that he himself is worse than even Watson. Otherwise I think this story was incredibly short and didn't really make a lot of sense. Without the lengthy explanation from Poirot we're just left to believe his little blurb about it without more The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge: 4

“Rather the case of the cart without the horse, you being here without him, isn't it?” Japp dishes out the perfect summary for us. Captain Hastings finally gets an outing all on his own while Poirot is in bed with influenza. Once I saw that Poirot required him to contact him with details daily I realized he was done for. I was a little more surprised that Japp was also entirely wrong, but here we are again with Hercule Poirot being the smartest while half-dead with sick.



The Million Dollar Band Robbery: 3Honestly I was originally really excited to read this one because I read a review on goodreads that said that Poirot solved the case without even leaving his armchair. Unfortunately that just is not the case, he certainly does leave it, and he does a deal of traveling and lunching while solving this case as well. The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge is a story where Poirot is sick and solves a case from home while Hastings is on scene, so maybe they confused them? Regardless, this is a short, fun, run-of-the-mill Poirot short. The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb: 3

“You misunderstood me, Hastings. What I meant was that I believe in the terrific force of superstition.” Christie once again tears my heart out by toying with supernatural stories and then taking them away right at the end through Poirot's reason. I find these stories to have the power to be the spookiest and I hope throughout them every time even though I should know what's coming.



The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan: 3Not a bad short story, the crime and solving were interesting enough, however it was hurt by being what it is—short. I liked the idea that Poirot is so well established now that even when Hastings takes him on a weekend get away he's immediately recognized and needed to solve a crime. Also, I'm pretty sure Christie remarks that Hastings “knows nothing” in every single short story she writes. Captain Hastings is the precursor to Jon Snow The Kidnapped Prime Minister: 3

Strange that this one is later in the book because when he is approached by the UK government he asks why they are looking for his help because he is “unknown in London.” Unless he simply means in the sense that government agents would have taken notice?

At least in this short story Poirot is assigned two additional helpers, so Hastings lack of understanding is actually due to his (mostly) being uninformed and uninvolved. However, this story really did grab me as being just a giant red herring with the trip to France and the lack on involvement of Hastings. Without constant interjections from Poirot, the reader only has the information provided by Hastings, which is NEVER good. It was harder to believe this way and luckily it was short.



The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim: 3I believe this is the story someone confused with ‘The Million Dollar Bank Robbery' because I saw a review saying he solves a crime without leaving his armchair and obviously that is this story instead. Poirot makes a bet with Japp that he can solve the case without leaving... although this includes updates from Japp and he is allowed to ask for things (pretty much the same as being there...???). I liked how both Poirot and Japp thought it was like stealing from a child from their POV with the bet. Otherwise it was as silly and ridiculous as most of the other short stories, but enjoyable nonetheless. The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman: 4

“Endeavour to have the common sense.” “Never, never will you use the brains the good God has given you.” Hastings is a punching bag I don't know why he sticks around.

I liked how this one started with Captain Hastings recounting how their neighbor, a doctor, liked to stop by for intelligent conversation with Poirot. Even he himself doesn't realize he's an idiot by design. This is one story that is short but sweet. I enjoyed the simple twist as opposed to the many seen in some of the other ones.



The Case of the Missing Will: 4*

I really liked how this one involved a will and for once there was no crime, murder, or police involvement. I feel like overall this was a fitting story/showing for his skill-set, but it still included randomness in the end that we all accept as Poirot's genius...

I think this one was a good ending to her short story book in general because it ended happily, without a murder case, and with Poirot wholeheartedly believing Miss March has earned the money honestly by hiring him.