Evru

Overall a very good book. I loved the updating of the "knights who return when the realm is in peril" concept. It was interesting to see different characters ideas of what "the realm" was.

The humor is definitely there, however the context around it is so bleak I rarely found it laugh-out-loud funny. In one particularly Pratchett-esque moment I found myself thinking "yeah, okay, this would be hilarious if everything else wasn't so depressing."

The book's message seemed a little at odds with itself. There is some very inspiring messaging about personal responsibility and not relying on someone else to magically fix things for you. And then there's a superhero montage with an all powerful magic staff to fix all the main conflicts of the story for everyone.

Not a perfect book, but well worth a read and I will be on the lookout for Lee's next novel.

I honestly did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did. I suppose I'd grown a bit cynical about Rothfuss' writing and now I'm feeling a bit silly for having done so. This story reminded me why I fell in love with The Name of the Wind in the first place. Yes, the way he crafts words is excellent, but more than that its just a truly heartfelt story. I can't think of a single thing I would change about it.

Great for fans who want to learn more about Bast, but also is a great standalone short story that doesn't rely on any foreknowledge of the world.

Enjoyable and a generally cozy mystery. If you enjoyed the preceding Alex Benedict novels you'll provably enjoy this one, too.

That being said it's also bizarrely unimaginative. My feeling at the end was "Oh, okay. Huh. That's... fine, I guess." A few key plot points felt forced for the convenience of the author rather than making sense for the characters. Overall not one of McDevitt's best works.

Very well written. I quite enjoyed the ending, even though I almost gave up on the book once or twice.

Honestly, its mostly a book about miserable people being miserable to each other. Area X spends most of the book as a backdrop to the petty scheming in the dysfunctional government agency of the Southern Reach.

The short stories for The Raven Tower universe are superb. It is a setting that seems to lend itself particularly well to the format. Each one is engaging and works through a different puzzle that the rules of the gods' power creates.

The other stories in the book are also good. There wasn't one I didn't enjoy, though some I wished longer or shorter.