Josh
“Never think I have abandoned you. When the sun shines on you, it is my smile. When you hear the breeze stir through the apple blossoms, it is my whisper that I love you. My love is yours forever.”
This series is so underrated it's criminal!
The character arc from book one to the end of book four is insane but it works so well! I won't go into the story to avoid any of the dreaded spoilers but I will say the action really came through for me in the Shadow Rising especially through Perrin. Diving into the history of the Aiel was fascinating and honestly made me love them even more.
Perrin became one of my favourite all-time fantasy characters and Rand grew in ways I never would have expected, Matt as always was brilliant and I can't wait to hear more of his building story.
Also, I love Faile.
“If you ask the lion to protect you from wolves, you have only chosen to end in one belly instead of another.”
“By the power of Phil Collins, I rebuke you!” she said. “By the power of Phil Collins, who knows that you coming back to me is against all odds, in his name I command you to leave this servant of Genesis alone.”
Great quote.
For a long time I thought this would be a three star read for me, it didn't have as much of the 80s cheesy horror (slight let down) I was hoping for but maybe that was me expecting something I shouldn't have.
However, the really well written story of friendship and amazing main character Abby means this has to be a four star read for me. It's more of a friendship story than a campy horror story but you know what, it was worth every page.
“When you know about something it stops being a nightmare. When you know how to fight something, it stops being so threatening.”
Another solid entry! Looking forward to the next one (after the next Wheel of Time) interesting to see more of Ciri's backstory and her training.
“You love her that much,' she stated, not asking.
‘That much,' he admitted in a whisper after a long moment of silence.”
“It is easy to kill with a bow, girl. How easy it is to release the bowstring and think, it is not I, it is the arrow. The blood of that boy is not on my hands. The arrow killed him, not I. But the arrow does not dream anything in the night.”
Fantastic, I really loved the Sword of Destiny for so many reasons! The beginning of Geralt & Ciri's bond in this novel is done so SO well, the way they're pulled apart and pushed back together really does have the feeling of destiny and the love you quickly feel between them is so strong.
Geralt, what can I say about Geralt. He is one of the most complex and diverse fantasy characters ever in my opinion. Mutated and edited so he can't feel anything when hunting yet he loves and fights hard for anyone who needs protection. He's paternal, loving and goes completely against the way everyone see's him. The word Sapkowski built for him is detailed and rich and it rivals all others. He's a monster hunter who follows a code that makes you question how we define monsters. Fantasy fans need to read this series, I can't wait to read more!
Sapkowski has a talent when it comes to character building, playing the games I adored Triss and found Yennefer difficult to like with how she treats Geralt, yet in the novels with Yen's backstory explained in more detail I can't help but understand and feel for her, Geralt loves her even though he shouldn't be able to love and that's very infectious!
Also, I love the unusual take on Monsters. The Polish folklore influence is so interesting and its a great twist on the standard Fantasy monsters.
Cant wait to read more, NEED to play the Wild Hunt again, each 10/10 - 5/5 read!
“The sword of destiny has two edges. You are one of them.”
“Dear Diary,
Oh, it's all too much to explain and you wouldn't believe it anyway. I'm going to bed.
Bonnie”
It took me two days to read this book (that's a good sign)...
Another strong read and it was great to spend more time with my second favorite character (Bonnie, obviously!) Whilst Scottish Druid Bonnie is very different to the Salem witch of the TV show she's equally as endearing and loveable.
Onto my favorite character Damon Salvatore, you see hints of Damon's true loving nature in each book but in Dark Reunion, you really start to see the true character coming through not the hard dark shell he hides behind.
Would I recommend this series? 100%, after watching the show twice all the way through I consider it well worth the read, just remember the show is based on the books but they do differ massively!
How does the series continue from here VD fans?
“Remember that any meal can be your last. You chose to travel with us, so tonight you will eat fish. Tomorrow, you may die.”
How many ways can I say I love the Wheel of time? Three books in (four with the prequel) and each one builds more and more on the last, the characters are brilliant (each with there own flaws) the plot is one well traveled but has never been done to this level before (in my opinion).
Read the Wheel of time, read it now!
I've been trying to read more “indie” or lesser known authors in 2019 and this was another solid win.
Zombies - Tick
Set in the UK - Tick
Talks about a lack of Tea - Tick
Jokes aside this was a really interesting read and I'll definitely look at other books in the series now, the diary format kept it short and snappy and the I am Legend solo perspective really helped build the feeling of isolation.
We should all give lesser known authors a try, like me you might find some you love!
“If such a thing had happened once, it must surely have happened many times in this galaxy of a hundred billion suns.”
Very enjoyable Novel and a unique take on ‘First Contact' with aliens. I enjoyed Arthur C. Clarke's writing style and will definitely read more by him in the future, the attention to scientific detail really helped set the scene and level of unknown.
The split POV was done well although I would have liked some of the smaller characters to have been more fleshed out, doesn't affect the story just personal preference.
If you've read Rendezvous with Rama and you enjoyed it I would highly recommend the Anomaly by Michael Rutger, I'll leave a link to my review below (I have it 5 stars).
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2507734857
“Life is lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain.”
The easiest five stars I've given in a long, long time!
I REALLY enjoyed the Eye of the World (WoT #1) and had high hopes for how the series would build, The Great Hunt improved on everything in #1 and I no longer like the series. I love it.
The character development (especially with Rand) is unlike anything I've read before, its natural and its the story perfectly, its forced when it needs to be and everything that happens is believable. I wont say more without going into spoilers but Rand is fast becoming a favourite character for me.
The world that Robert Jordan built is incredible, I've never read a world so detailed and well built. This is a series that fantasy fans need to read and fantasy writers need to take notes as its incredible. I've been toying with writing a Fantasy series for a while and this has changed everything for me, before writing the first line i'll take Robert Jordan lead and create the world.
Fantasy fans. READ THE WHEEL OF TIME!
5/5 stars
10/10
However you rate your books, this gets full marks!
Wow... I both loved and hated this book!
SPOILERS BELOW - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
So, positives first. I loved the historical and scientific side to this book, its well written and interesting plus its an original take on ‘Creatures' and there origins. The origins side of the story really pulled me in, we all like to know where we come from and I would have loved to see more of that side.
Negatives, the co-dependent style romance ruined the story for me. Here we have Diana... a witch from a long line of witches who shuns all things witchy for no good reason (granted its explored and explained as the story goes on), when her powers start to develop and its made obvious she could be VERY powerful her every waking minute is spent thinking about Mathew to the point where she literately starts a flood by CRYING when he has to leave her. I'm all for a romance story line, but what could have been a great book (and series) was (in my opinion) ruined by the heavy romance. The vampire watches her sleep through the window and somehow that doesn't tell you he is a weird one!?
I dont get it. Whilst I would like to see how this story closes I dont think I have it in me to read any more about how Mathew smells of cinnamon. Not for me.
Three stars and those three are all for the scientific/historical elements.
The fact that it took me a month to read this book really says it all.
3.5 out of 5 stars for Live and Let Die (James Bond #2)
Mixed feelings for Live and Let Die, on the one hand I enjoyed the book as (in all honesty), I have with each Bond book I've read so far. But, and there is a but. The casual racism was difficult to read.
However, It's worth noting this book was written in the 50's where racial prejudice was more accepted than it is today, and worth noting that Bond himself is not portrayed as racist (in my opinion) the causal N word drop did make me cringe a few times.
The bad guy Mr Big doesn't get as much page time as I would have liked and the same for Solitaire, the Bond girl. The Voodo inspired story was interesting but for me this wasn't as interesting as Casino Royale or the newer Forever and a Day.
Worth a read if you're a Bond fan, if your new to the series I recommend starting with either Casino Royale or the newer Forever and a Day.
Also – side note – Bond as a character is much more loving that he is portrayed in the films (and media), he basically has mummy issues (as an orphan) and doesn't know how to handle his feelings. Macho man!
Such a beautiful short story and another great Indie record from Preston at Bull City reader.
Following a father who see's his daughter being born before leaving to traverse space the beautify of parental love really shines through in this story, one day there born, the next there two, then there eighteen and off on there own.
I don't have kids, but when I do i'm sure this amazing story will be even more powerful. The only reason I didn't give this story five stars is because I really, really wanted more! (hardly a negative I know.)
If you want to check out this book and support an amazing indie author here's the amazon link! - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Age-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B00HZEBLKW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1549733132&sr=8-4&keywords=jason+gurley
“Nobody gets through life without being an asshole...Once in a while you're going to dig in over something and get it wrong and make a scratch on the world you'll never polish off. Those scratches will define you more than anything else.”
Wow. JUST BRILLIANT!
It took me a while to pick up the Anomaly after having it sit on my shelves for months, my god have I been missing out!
This book is fast paced, has great characters with complex fleshed out relationships, a unique story line... Most importantly it's genuinely creepy!
If your a horror fan READ THIS BOOK! Even if you're, not a horror fan read it anyway, it's just that good!
Wow.... Just wow.
Now that i'm up to date with GoT (hurry up GRRM) I've been looking for a new Fantasy series to fill a GoT shaped whole, I've found my new favourite.
Let me say first of all, you cant compare Wheel of Time to GoT, there VERY different and if anything I would say Wheel of Time is closer to LoTR than GoT, that works for me.
The main point I think I need to stress is I have never read a world this well fleshed out before, Robert Jordan goes into SO MUCH DETAIL! To some people that will put them off, it can be slow in places and the pacing does suffer occasionally because of the world building but for me, it only added to the truly amazing story.
I really enjoyed the characters and there development, other than Lan and Moraine they all start as quite timid one dimensional characters, 800 pages later each character has developed massively to the point where you barely recognise them from the start. I found the plot enjoyable with just enough twists to keep it from the standard Fantasy trope of the one guy who can save the world even though he's just a normal guy.
Fantasy fans need to read the Wheel of Time, if your not a Fantasy fan you would probably find the book slow in places but if your anything like me, you'll love it!
Two books in the series down, thirteen to go.
5/5
10/10
Amazing.
The best compliment I can give this short story is that I genuinely felt disappointed when it ended!
I really enjoyed the mix of races (clones/robots) and how the world was portrayed in such a short novel (61 pages). The story flew by and I for one will be ordering the full novel when its completed.
This is a great example of why we should all try novels/short stories by lesser known authors. I picked up this book after a great recommendations video by Preston (Bull City reader) and i'll leave the link below if you want to check it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saxymiLeFVs
4.5 ⭐ to Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton.
Firstly let me say this was a really great buddy read with Meg from Tome Infinity (check her channel out).
Onto the book, I love it! Very much like the film but with just enough to make it different and unpredictable, the characters are ones we know well and so is the plot so I won't go over tgam but I will say I loved the relationship between Dr Grant, Tim and Lex.
Chrichton has a very detailed and analytical writing style that not everyone will enjoy, because of this in parts this book was slow, luckily I like getting plenty of detail so I enjoyed those parts to!
If your a fan of them film you need to read this book, even if your not this is a great science fiction read!
Well Trisha is a boss that's for sure!
Another great King read and a really enjoyable quick story line, you'd think a 200+ page book with only one character lost in the woods (she's 9 years old) would be boring but as always King builds complex interesting characters.
Providing yet again King can write any genre he puts his mind to The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is a SOLID ⭐⭐⭐⭐
3.5 Stars for 1984 by George Orwell.
Well, how to do I feel about 1984?
Mixed I think is the way to describe it, this is a classic in Sci-fi and I really can see why, its powerful, well written and it has a strong (and believable plot).
I think the plot is equal parts the best and worst part of this book, amazing, scary and detailed but also slow and tedious in places.
I wont go over the plot, if you dont know the “Big Brother” style government plot from 1984 you are missing out, whilst its slow in places its scary how believable this felt for me. The government taking over every aspect of your life, controlling what you can and cant do even to the extent of “Thought Police” who arrest you for bad thoughts against “Big Brother”.
I'm very glad I finally read 1984 but the slower parts of the story mean I cant give it 4 stars, must read for classic sci-fi fans!
