Elizabeth
Well I can see why some of the reviews on this book were not as effusive as for [b:Mistborn: The Final Empire 12968705 Mistborn The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1) Brandon Sanderson https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1400264919s/12968705.jpg 66322]. Despite some siege warfare and a little bit of politicking, nothing really happened. A desperate attempt at a YA love-triangle was quickly dealt with, thank goodness.But the parts that happened in between that, the history and lore and religion and scholars doing their scholarly thing and the what-happens-after-the-happily-ever-after was, for me, fantastic. My kind of story.And the end, spoiler-free, frankly scared the crap out me as a historian relying entirely on written material. LOVE.
I grabbed this based on many positive reviews from the people that I follow on Goodreads and previous experience of Sanderson's writing with the Stormlight Archive. And I was not disappointed.
Ok, I was, a little. Kelsier feels a little like the first release candidate of Kaladin. There is only really one chick, who admittedly kicks all the arse and takes all the names, but still. The part where I was most disappointed was the lore. Maybe I expect too much, having read the Stormlight Archive books first, but the only real sense I got of the history of the world was with Sazid's religions. Which I loved. It's been mentioned to me that more lore happens in the next two books, so I'm looking forward to that.
Other parts that I liked: the gathering of 'philospoher' nobles were just all talk and not impotently planning a revolution. I kept waiting for Vin's brother to show up and wreck all the plans, and was pleasantly surprised how that turned out. I was pleased it didn't end up being a heist movie plot in the end, because it was looking that way for a good chunk of the book (I didn't actually expect it to continue being a heist movie, I was just curious to see how Sanderson would steer away from it once he'd set it up). The identity of the Lord Ruler. And of course the way in which Kelsier finally gets the skaa rebellion happening.
And, of course, there are more questions raised than answered by the end - the best part of that being that the next two books are already written and I don't have to wait around for years to find out the answers.
This was not the book I was expected, and I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway. Marketed as epic fantasy that perhaps fans of GRR Martin may like, instead I got YA fantasy with an author unafraid to kill his sympathetic characters (that's where the Martin comparison comes in). I'm ok with that.
The YA feel comes from the two teenage brothers doing the classic YA fantasy trope: one goes off in his teens to become as ass-kicking ‘knight' and learns about himself through discipline and killing, and the other is sent off in his teens to become a ‘mage' and learns about himself through discipline and ‘magic', although in this case it's eastern meditation philosophy. A third POV of their sister, the woman doing a man's job in a man's world, sometimes cuts in, but it's mainly about these boys.
The first three quarters of the book follows the standard pattern of the scrapes YA protags get into in their schooling, but then at pretty much 75% the shit hits the fan and doesn't stop until beyond the end - written as a trilogy the story doesn't end on a cliffhanger so much as a ‘the next chapter won't be out until 2015'. I'm looking forward to it.
I only read the fantasy half of this, the sci-fi not interesting me enough to give up precious reading time I need for uni right now. Although the stories were disappointing at first, they quickly picked up, and a few (Partly Petrified by Auston Habershaw and The Lesser Evil by Day Al-Mohamed) were brilliant. Hopefully sci-fi fans think the same, or better, of the Laser half of the anthology.
Collated specifically for new students of Medieval Christianity, this book puts together chapters from already published works that cover some of the wavy edges around the definition of Christianity in Medieval society and how it affected not only men and women, but people of other religions (Jews and pagans) as well. None of the works contain referencing, except to the original article/book, for the purpose of making students search out the authors if they want to learn more, which makes it interesting light bed-time reading rather than serious and weighty research reading.
That moment when you type out a review and then the browser crashes. Nevermind.
I can't decide if I enjoyed this book or not: it's something I picked up because it's the Sword and Laser read for this month, and the Kindle sample chapter didn't suck. I'm not particularly interested in having guns in fantasy, and I'm not interested in steampunk worlds, but that's not the fault of the book. The fact that I kept reading says it didn't completely suck, but at the same time none of the characters, the politics, or the more interesting layers of mages and ‘gods' are enough to make me want to go on to the next in the series, despite ending on a cliffhanger (although at some point I will ask Wikipedia what happened to Ka-Poel).
As previously noted, the naming stuff really bugged me. Although taking ‘real' names and giving them a slight twist is a deliberate action on the part of McClellan, next time maybe choose a less universally recognised name than Karolus Magnus. I did have fun, however, imagining Ricard to be a shorter, fatter, equally bald version of Jean-Luc Picard.
The addict storyline also bugged me, for reasons I can't put my finger on. It makes complete sense in the world: of course the powder and the accompanying trance would become a habit and then a necessity, and I think it's important to explore that facet of the mechanics of gunpowder mages. But it still bugged me.
Overall, I would actually give this book three stars, but I stick closely to the Goodreads ratings and for me, this one was ok, but I wouldn't say I liked it. Hence two.
ETA: I have to mention I really did like that the impressions of the powder mages and Adamat about third parties were different, rooted in their backgrounds and social positions, and that different characteristics about each of the third-party people were noted by Adamat when he met them for the first time, as opposed to Tamas who has obviously known them for decades at this point in time.
Yes? I think so, yes. The writing was beautiful, as always - this is a lovely series, but most of it comes from the delicious writing, rather than the story or characters themselves. This book is full of squishy feelings and YA-romance moments and I'm totally ok with that, but I'm also totally ok with leaving Karou, Akiva, Zuzana and Mik and not coming back. This isn't a series that will be on my re-read list anytime soon.
It was nice to not get a traditional happily ever after. But as the universe(s) expanded I really wanted to learn more about what happens after the End. Not to Karou, but maybe Scarab and Eliza and the nihilim. I really wanted to see Brimstone and his reaction to Karou post-wishbone, and see the 'family' reunited. But as it stands I am mostly satisfied.
I bought this book not because I had any interest in reading it, but to support [a:Francis Pryor 57943 Francis Pryor https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1381263587p2/57943.jpg]'s crowdfunded publishing (and get my name printed in the book, of course). The book I got in return is an archaeologist who runs across some crime and decides to solve it himself. As the protags of crime fiction do.Alan Cadbury (our archaeologist) feels wooden - Bad Stuff happens to him (as does Good Stuff), and yet he doesn't seem to bat an eyelid. He doesn't break down or become overly excited or really show any emotion at all. The archaeology and related science-y bits are great if you're interested in that sort of thing, but dense if you are not. At times the writing feels pretty rigid as well - this is Prior's first foray into fiction (if you don't count History in that category, but that's an argument for a different day), but parts of Lifers' Club feel like a non-fiction work (a little like [b:The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 2429135 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1) Stieg Larsson https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327868566s/2429135.jpg 1708725] feels like it's written by a journalist).That said, it wasn't a bad read. The twist on the whodunit ending was a nice surprise - there is more to it than Cadbury solving the case and finding out who the ‘real killer' is, and the human repercussions of that, rather than the generic grateful wrongfully-arrested prisoner, is really nice to read. There is more of Alan Cadbury's story in the works and I'll probably read that too.
I was worried about re-reading these books, simply because I love them. I was worried they would not hold up to a more critical re-read as an adult, and because of my disappointment with Pierce's latest book [b:Battle Magic 8306725 Battle Magic (Circle Reforged, #3) Tamora Pierce https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1352504621s/8306725.jpg 13155766]. But, having bought Kindle versions (my dead-tree ones are falling apart), I had to justify the money by at least reading them once.The first of the Alanna quartet is pitched at a younger age than the rest, and it's noticeable, especially in light of the other books later written in this world. But, sins are forgiven because I love it, and it's still a quick read, like a comfy blanket of old friends.
Spoilery? Yeah.For a series that started out with Maerad and her being The One, the sections of this book that focused on her brother were much more interesting, with much more warmth and movement: I don't mind a bit of road trip in my stories.Croggon still manages to hit all the fantasy tropes without being self-conscious about it: without too much effort Hem saves someone he loves from an incurable disease, Maerad suddenly works out how to defeat the Elemental that held her captive for a good chunk of [b:The Riddle 393145 The Riddle (The Books of Pellinor, #2) Alison Croggon https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1360170670s/393145.jpg 858967], and then they meet up and save the world. Pretty much as I expected it to go, but I still found myself skimming Maerad's parts in order to get back to Hem and Saliman.Although it's written as a ‘look what historians dug up, we don't know the full story', I want to know what happened to the bad guys who were human? Did they puff off into smoke and ash like The Nameless One? Are the Elementals still there? How did the events of the book affect the other people Maerad met in the second book? Too many un-wrapped up threads.The worst part, and this is petty, is that there was no payoff on the Maerad/Cadvan story. All the cliches were in place, down to the third party telling Maerad that Cadvan is in love with her (DUH), while she (obviously) freaks out and decides that he's not so bad. And then the end, when she's done saving the world and nearly dies but of course doesn't, THERE IS NO KISS. Well, there's a kiss, told in flashback. There's no acknowledgement of a relationship - there is no conversation between them at all. It's hardly fair to come through four books of fantasy cliche and then the one that I don't really mind doesn't get played out at all.
If this was the first in the series, I probably wouldn't have continued. The story switches between Akiva and Karou, but also gives POVs from new people (to show what Akiva and Karou are doing). It doesn't flow as nicely, and certainly isn't linear as the author switches up the order of events to heighten the drama. It didn't suck, but it wasn't my favourite.
But. I love the world, I love the concept, I love Karou and Akiva (and the cast of old friends and enemies), and so I was happy just to be pulled along for the ride.
Jane Austen with magic. Except a little heavy on the Austen: all characters seem to be lifted straight from Austen's works, except in only two dimensions. The mother with the poor nerves, the sister who doesn't care about her impropriety, the heartless cad who leads the sister into impropriety. The depth Austen gives these stereotypes is missing here.
Having said that, it was an enjoyable light read. I've read a bit of Austen lately so this fit right in, and I love the idea of glamour being a ‘feminine art' alongside drawing and music as a way for a young lady to display her accomplishments in order to secure a husband. And Austen never had such a good chase scene.
I read this simply because I'd just finished [b:Persuasion 2156 Persuasion Jane Austen https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1385172413s/2156.jpg 2534720] and this had been sitting on my Kindle for several years without being touched. I've not read or seen an adaption of it before, and I can see I didn't miss out on much. It is obviously Austen's first published work. The minutiae of the social life of teenage girls in the late 18th and early 19th Century is fascinating, but is pretty much the only redeeming feature of this book which lacks depth, going on for far too long and saying not much. While Marianne, the youngest of the two Dashwood sisters, gains sense to moderate her sensibility (after heartbreak), the main character Elinor doesn't appear to gain any sensibility to temper her sense.It wasn't enough to hold my attention for long, until I reached the point where I decided I may as well just get it over with, but it also didn't suck enough to abandon it completely. Disappointing overall but leaves me with only one Austen unread, so I can tick that off the list of things to do before I die.
As with the others in this series I enjoyed it, and I will read the finish off the story in [b:The Singing 2550219 The Singing (The Books of Pellinor, #4) Alison Croggon https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1331239719s/2550219.jpg 2557914]. As with the previous books, the first and final third were strong while the middle third lagged, and I had some complaints with the way Hem felt towards other people, remembering that he is a 12 year old boy (and really this could just be me, because I have never been or been close to a boy of 12), but this wasn't enough to turn me off entirely.
I'm not an Emelan fan, I like Tortall a lot better. In saying that, my favourite characters in Emelan are Rosethorn and Briar both of whom are main characters here, along with Evvy (who Briar picked up in Street Magic). This is essentially the backstory to Briar's behaviour in The Will of the Empress, and we learn how Evvy met Luvo (who was a major character in Melting Stones, although Battle Magic is a far more interesting read than either of those two stories.
The POV switches a lot, which I guess is fashionable in fantasy these days and is necessary for some parts of the storytelling, but it is jarring when it happens multiple times in a chapter. It also loses some dramatic tension when one of the characters is thought to be dead, but the reader knows they are not because of the POV switching. The reunion of the characters with the person they thought had died loses much of the feels it could have had.
I wanted to give this an ‘It was ok' star rating, but I think it deserves more than two. Overall, it is still Tamora Pierce and her fantastic style. I don't want to make it sound awful but I'm not a fan of the setting and I didn't really care about the war these people were fighting in. Like the rest of Emelan it won't be in my re-read pile, but if you're an Emelan fan you'll probably enjoy this one a lot more than the last one.
Read this for Sword and Laser. I liked Briar, she kicks ass and takes names because she has to, because she's been dealing with shit for a long time.
But steampunk leaves me underwhelmed, and I'm not a fan of zombies. So there's that. The story was good, the characters were excellent, the genre isn't one I'd pick up outside of a book club. But if steampunk and zombies are your thing, you'd probably like this one.
This book was disappointing to begin with. The world outside the fence (and the events that led to the dystopia) didn't hold my interest, and the problems I expected to see develop between Tris and Four didn't really happen. Four was too much the ‘perfect boyfriend' and not enough a multi-dimensional character. I wanted to see some more feels from him, not just towards/against Tris but the other characters in the book that have a major impact on his life.And then I kept reading and discovered why Roth didn't do the typical and expected relationship drama, and then it was pretty much just all the fucking feels. The end totally redeemed the whole thing, and as much as it ripped my heart out it was exactly the right call to make. Not my favourite of the trilogy but incredibly more satisfying than [b:Mockingjay 7260188 Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3) Suzanne Collins https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1358275419s/7260188.jpg 8812783] for the last installment of a YA dystopia.
