George D
It's Sanderson, you know why you're here and you get what you wanted - an excellently plotted thrill ride in a completely original world with it's own freshly unique magic system.
Having said that and I don't know if it's because I'd already read his later stuff, but this felt like an author still honing the skillset that's on full display in later series.
The writing is clear and concise but the surprisingly childish view of history is genuinely insulting.
This is the first thing I've read of theirs so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt in their wider work. I assume they have produced some great bits of writing on specific areas of history where they're safe from making the mistake of naively broad generalisations justified via highly selective cherry picking.
But this book? It's a disgrace to the study of history.
An example of how Saga can also do a looser collection of stories perfectly, compared with the single long arc of the previous volume.
Significantly more upbeat than the last one, with still some beautifully bittersweet moments mixed in.
Merged review:
An example of how Saga can also do a looser collection of stories perfectly, compared with the single long arc of the previous volume.
Significantly more upbeat than the last one, with still some beautifully bittersweet moments mixed in.
Short and sweet. You ain't gonna learn how to meditate, or anything concrete at all, but you get to see David Lynch's brain in action as it meanders around thinking about stuff in a very distinct tone.
Plus you might appreciate some previously unexamined details of life, like the perfect soundtrack for a scene or the granularity of rotten flesh.
A great read that tears apart simplistic definitions of “hunter-gatherers” vs “agriculturalist”.
There's some contention about accuracy - it does feel a little like Bruce might be overstretching himself trying to build a farming narrative - but separate to that it at leasts helps readers appreciate how Aboriginals treated the whole of Australia as their farm, cultivating it in simple-yet-complex ways on a scale larger and looser than we might imagine.
A fascinating reevaluation of our history, and one that provides a basis for further developing our own uniquely Australian identity.
Brilliant! It's style of slowly teaching you about genetics as it guides you through the history of the discoveries of genetics helps understand the gene better.
There are so many characters along the way, each one toiling for years on some tiny area of expertise they couldn't even be sure was a good idea or worth collecting data on. Like Thomas Morgan, meticulously cross breeding fruit flies and recording results for five years just to see if he can learn anything. If that doesn't inspire you, I don't know what will.
And also, find someone who talks about you the way Siddhartha Mukherjee writes about the DNA double helix.
This is the kind of high concept sci-fi/fantasy I have so much time for.
It's the classic ‘star crossed lovers trying to start a life away from the man' story, but when the man is a human shaped robot with a TV for a head and the lovers are a remixed angel and demon it all becomes so much more engaging.
3.5
Nothing is more annoying than 3 chapters in a row of various characters doing their best Jon Snow “I do not want it” impressions. So over it, just accept your destiny that you're clearly skilled at and made for and eventually going to do anyway you idiots! Luckily that part short lived and things keep moving along nicely.
Perrin was the star of the show, finally getting back to being fun. Matrim continues his brutal suffering at the hands of Sanderson with a couple of multiple book plotlines tied off in a weirdly short time.
As far as I can see without having done book 14, this book also has one of the most unnecessary “you thought they died but they're actually alive” plot threads I've ever seen in my life.
It took me so long to read but I regret nothing. The original self help/build better habits book. Aristotle bringing the reality to the idealised concepts of Plato.
Aristotle really understands the need to cultivate the habits of a good person before you can even become a good person, which is the kind of deep understanding of human nature I thoroughly appreciate. People aren't innately good or bad but they do have a gut that has the capacity to become good, you want to spend your life cultivating your gut feeling to be the right feeling.
He also has a nice ongoing thread on the need for unity within oneself, how each part of you is reflected in even the smallest actions you take, so you need to strive to achieve consistency across all your own selves. If you want to be whole you need to make sure every part of you lines up and if it doesn't then build the habits to hopefully learn to get there.
In summary:
Aristotle = a united gut
