Jin

It's a pretty short book, and I read it in one reading session.

I think it's got some pretty entertaining stories and the lesson of the story The Worm is pretty intriguing as well; all of us will encounter a foe we cannot best, and we can merely accept to live with it, instead of trying to defeat it.

4/5.

Inheritance is the final installation of the original Inheritance Cycle (ignoring the latest Murtagh book).

It's frankly a very surprising book, and it has exceeded all expectations I had: The dialogue had significantly improved, as they feel more human-like and are more grounded to reality. Furthermore, this book seems to have an ever moving plot, with lots of different stuff happening and lots of threads / issues to resolve, which Paolini does splendidly.

The ending is surprising, yet very poetic: The redemption of Murtagh and Thorn, followed by the weakening of Galbatorix, and ultimately the killing of the Evil King.
I think it's very creative and beautiful how Eragon and the Eldunari force Galbatorix to feel and experience the emotions of his subjects. He is forced to get back in touch with the more humane part of himself, as he had entombed himself in an armor that could not be reached by anything, even no emotions. However, forcing him to feel the anguish and misery that he bestowed upon others weakened his powers, distracted him and made him vulnerable enough to be killed, which is a very creative idea and well executed by Paolini.

Furthermore, despite being long and dragging out for like a hundred pages, the epilogue was neatly done. Paolini seems to think of everything during the epilogue, from the Bridgit taking her due from Roran, to the tree in Du Eldenwarden, Sloan in Ellesmera, and ultimately staying true to Angela's prophecy from the first installation, by having Eragon and Saphira leave Alagaesia, never to return.

I think that the lack of romance between Arya and Eragon is a huge relief, as the mental anguish that Eragon's feelings caused, was too much for me as a reader. Having feelings for a century year old elf is just wayyy too weird, especially if there's barely any chemistry between the two characters whatsoever. Furthermore, Saphira having the dragon equivalent of a one-night stand with some random dragon is kinda weird as well, and I'm glad not too much time has been dedicated to that.

I like how Roran has grown from some random cousin of Eragon to the leader of Carvahall, to a captain of a battallion of the Varden. He has shown so much character development in a pretty natural way, it's nicely done by Paolini.

Ultimately, the series has achieved an excellent conclusion, with pretty much all loose ends being resolved, yet sufficient stuff left to write spin-offs and/or sequels (which already exist at the time of typing this review).

Brisingr is the third installation of the Inheritance Cycle.
Following the events from Eldest, Eragon and Saphira continue their battle against the Empire.

The book is fine. I suppose that after reading the first two books, I've gotten used to Paolini's style of writing: Elaborate, detailed, elegant and convoluted, yet slow, long-winded and unnecessarily complicated, to the point where I'm starting to suspect Paolini is using very niche / rare words, just to show off his English vocabulary.

I really enjoyed reading Saphira's perspective, as I imagine this might be difficult, considering Saphira is a dragon and not a human.

Whether round-ear, pointed-ear, horned, or short, two-legs seemed addicted to dithering

She imagined how the light must make her scales sparkle and how those who saw her circling in the sky must marvel at the sight, and she hummed with pleasure, content in the knowledge that she was the most beautiful creature in Alagaësia, for who could hope to match the glory of her scales; and her long, tapering tail; and her wings, so fair and well formed; and her curved claws; and her long white fangs, with which she could sever the neck of a wild ox with a single bite? [...] No, she was the most stunning creature in Alagaësia, and that was as it should be

So. Much. Potential.

While the universe in Eragon is filled to the brim with clichés and it's a mix of Lord of The Rings, Star Wars and Harry Potter, it's still an incredible universe.

Paolini has obviously put a lot of thought into building his world, and has seemed to have developed two custom languages as well.

However, while this is great and all, the storytelling sucks. The story is great, but the way it is conveyed is awful and it makes it difficult to read. The concept of “Show don't tell” doesn't seem to have taken root in Paolini's mind, as he continuous to write unnecessarily long-winded sentences that wear me down. Furthermore, he seems to have this irrational focus on irrelevant topics, and deems it necessary to describe every single detail within a room / space. I've learned to simply skim over it, because it's tires me out.

Things like “they then proceeded to discuss strategy for a couple of minutes” are maddening to me. JUST SHOW ME THAT THEY DISCUSS IT INSTEAD OF SAYING THAT THEY DISCUSS IT.
Show don't tell >:(

Furthermore, the relationship with Arya is incredibly cringe, inappropriate and it makes me want to delete the ebook instantly whenever Eragon is lamenting his feelings again. Like, bro, she's a century old and there is no chemistry whatsoever. Eragon just thinks she's hot and sexy, but personality wise there is nothing appealing about her. Furthermore, their relationship is just awkward and the only reason Arya tolerates Eragon, is because she needs him. Ugh, I could write another couple paragraphs about this bs, but I won't waste my time on this.

Anyway, 2 stars for the world building, 1 star for the story, but the dialogue is just awful, the relationships are cringe and the execution of the story is quite disappointing.

Clichés, Clichés, Clichés... What to say about them?

Any fantasy cliché you can think of appears in this book. It makes the story predictable, ordinary and straight-up maddening sometimes.

However, despite this, I could still find some joy in reading this, as the story is cliché for a reason. It's a classical trope of a farm boy who discovers he's important and then goes out to save the world.

The beautiful thing about this, is that it shows the reader that anyone can find greatness in themselves, no matter how low their (social) status might be. Regardless of wealth, caste, race or history, anyone can become great in their own way, which is probably why lots of people like this book (and others like Harry Potter, Lord of The Rings and The Hunger Games, just to name a few which contain this trope).

Ultimately I rate it a 3/5, as the plot was still a nice escape from my own dreadfully boring life, and reading this gave me something to look forward to every day.

A mediocre novel, with an exciting ending. A Heart Full of Hatred is a continuation of a series which should've ended after the first phase, but nevertheless continued.

Sometimes it's incredibly cringe to read Landy trying to describe a woman in her 20s doing detective work, but the plotlines are quite exciting and the ending simply leaves me aching for more.

However, some things left a bad taste (e.g. returning a character from the dead??), and the dialogue was quite obnoxious. The first phase of this series actually had entertaining dialogue, but now it's quite sad and it lowkey makes me regret reading this book. However, the overall plotline still remains interesting and it's probably why I'll read the next part as well, despite the flaws from this series.

Ecotopia is a political fictional literary work, from the 1970s.

While the car became ever more popular, fossil fuels increasing their grip on society and anyone suspected of “communism” getting arrested by the CIA/FBI, there was also a minor and progressive counter-movement, whose main achievements are things like civil rights legislation and abortion legalization. From that same movement, this book seems to be born, as it describes an unthinkable and rather unimaginable society, which is a polar opposite from the U.S.

While profit margins, dividend and GDP are the main goals of the capitalism, Ecotopia describes a society where these concepts are frivolous. Instead, the wellbeing and happiness of the people are the first and foremost priority, as workers own companies, teachers not only teach, but own the schools and the big government is replaced by more autonomous city states.

Generally speaking, I liked this book. It carefully and intricately draws a painting of a green, progressive country, where everyone seems careless, everything is recycled, biodegradable and instead of people abusing nature for its own goals, the people work together with nature, as they acknowledge that they need a healthy ecosystem in to survive and progress.

However, my main issues with this book is the unrealistic setting, as I doubt this could ever actually happen. Furthermore, I dislike the promiscuity in this novel, because I consider it to be irrelevant. Sure, I guess people in Ecotopia are more sexually liberated, since they're progressive and have freed themselves from the shackles of conservative puritans who gasp and faint at the mere mention of the word ‘sex'. However, the protagonist's sexual relations with other characters is annoying, obnoxious, irrelevant, long-winding, sleep-inducing and ultimately just a gross miscalculation, as it does not contribute in any way, shape or form to the overall description of Ecotopia, and merely seems to serve the author's barely disguised fetishes (e.g. having sex with a nurse).

Some quotes that I liked and bookmarked:

Besides, that's half the fun of relating to each other- trying to work through different perspectives, seeing how other people feel about things.

Our point of view is that if something's worth doing, it ought to be done in a way that's enjoyable- otherwise, it can't really be worth doing.

Later I learned that Ecotopians think photography has a dark-magic side, as a way of trying to freeze time- to cheat biology and defy change and death, so it would be especially out of place at such a time.

People take pains to assuage the feelings of those members who have had to give ground in order to achieve the consensus

Aside from personal articles, no Ecotopian can now inherit any property at all!

Well, usually this indicates a social problem, not a medical one,” he said. “So we try to help the person change his life rather than his body chemistry, which is probably working fine.

But apparently most schools also have small factories. In the Crick workshop I found about 20 boys and girls busily making two kinds of small wooden articles—which turned out to be birdhouses and flats for seedlings

Is that what love is, just a crazy lure and prelude to pain?

Ecotopians spend a good deal of time and energy preparing themselves for death. It is even said that, like American Indians, they can select the day of their death, and almost will themselves to die

Ecotopia teaches us—it taught me, as 1 was writing it—that it is okay to dream, to relish turning accepted ideas on their heads, to imagine being happy, to enjoy mutually supportive relations with our fellow sentient beings—and even with our government.

Ik werd hier veel te emo van

This is the first time that the show adaptation (Silo) is better than the original work.

It's quite impressive that they've salvaged a great show from this shitshow of a book.

Whereas other literary works seem to encourage the reader to continue reading, to read one more page, this book seems to have the opposite purpose. It's been begging me to put it down and delete the epub file from my ereader.

Ever heard of “Show, don't tell”? It appears that the Mr. Howey hasn't. If a character is funny, show that by portraying him cracking jokes. Don't do it by writing “X is a funny person”.

Furthermore, the story seemed to drag on and on, with little to no substance. I feel like this 500 page novel could've just been a simple 100-200 page novella. Just a small little thing to read during my lunch break.

The length, the slow progression, the agonising descriptions of characters are just incredibly annoying to me.

The setting has great potential and AppleTV has shown that you can actually create a fantastic story with the setting. However, Mr. Howey seems to be better at world building than at telling stories.

2/5

The Odyssey is Fry's retelling of Homer's Odyssey. Duh.

Anyway, I think it's a pretty good book. I enjoyed reading it, and Fry once again managed to recount the stories of the Greek heroes' return in his own funny and exciting way.

He makes it educational yet humorous and amusing to read.

I honestly don't really see anything negative about this book, so I'll just give it a 5/5 lol.

Percy Jackson and the Chalice of the Gods was a great book to read.

It had the usual humor and Percy's inner dialogue never ceases to make me smile.

The plot has taught me some more about the more niché stories within Greek mythology and it was a logical advancement of the overall storyline of Percy Jackson.

Aleksandra is een bijzonder boek. Het verteld de geschiedenis van de recent geannexeerde regio's in Oekraïne (Donetsk & Loegansk) vanuit het perspectief van de familie van Lisa Weeda.

Ik vond het soms moeilijk te volgen. Niet vanwege de namen, maar vanwege de constante schakeling tussen Aleksandra, het paleis en de verhaallijn met Kolja.

Het is een interessant verhaal, maar ik vraag me ook af wat nou wel en niet fictie is. Dat is helaas onduidelijk voor mij.

Ik denk dat het boek beter zou zijn geweest als er een duidelijkere overgang van verhaallijn was, zodat ik als lezer ook makkelijker kon schakelen.

“Leve de Koning” is een hartverscheurend boek over een relatief onbekende militaire campagne.

Het breekt mijn hart, lijmt het aan elkaar en scheurt het vervolgens in duizend stukken.


Het verhaal van een onbekende boogschutter die op zijn tocht naar glorie alleen maar dood en verderf vindt. De trauma en de reactie op trauma is in uiterst detail beschreven, net zoals de bloedbaden en de emoties van een soldaat tijdens die bloedbaden.

Ik vind dit een erg heftig boek. Veel grafische details over moorden en veldslagen. Ik denk ook dat de traumaverwerking en de emoties die iemand ervaart tijdens een veldslag in 1415 hetzelfde zijn voor de NAVO soldaten die 2 decennia in Afghanistan hebben gevochten. De oorlog, het bloedvergieten en de emoties die daarbij gepaard gaan, zijn van alle tijden. Daarom is dit boek (ondanks dat het verhaal plaatsvind in 1415) ook van alle tijden. De relevantie van zo'n bloederig en triest verhaal is helaas nooit compleet verdwenen. Dat is te zien in Oekraïne, anno 2022.

Neggers schrijft op een erg realistische en aangrijpende manier. Voor mij, als lezer, was dit een achtbaan van emoties. Het begin was nog wel OK, maar daarna wordt het snel duidelijk dat de rest een grote teringzooi van dood is.

Aan de ene kant wil ik het boek opzij leggen, verbranden en nooit meer lezen. Aan de andere kant kan ik niet stoppen met lezen, omdat ik MOET weten hoe het afloopt. En dat stelde niet teleur...

De gruwelijkheden van oorlog worden hier beschreven, net zoals het in the Lady of the Lake van the Witcher beschreven wordt. Of A song of Ice and Fire.

5/5

Sanna Blauw beschrijft in dit boek de betekenis van cijfers en statistiek. Ze legt uit wat de cijfers betekenen, hoe ze regelmatig misbruikt worden in de media en wat de gevolgen hiervan zijn.

Vlot geschreven, maar alsnog de boodschap goed overgebracht, met verhelderende voorbeelden. Het is niet heel diepgaand, maar laat de lezer wel zien hoe statistiek gemanipuleerd wordt in het voordeel van belanghebbenden. Met een goed inzicht in statistiek en een niet-langdradig verhaal, geef ik dit een 4/5.

‘Het is oorlog maar niemand die het ziet' is een buik van Huib Modderkolk en bespreekt in uiterst detail de schaduw-oorlog die zich plaatsvindt in de digitale wereld van de 21e eeuw.

Veel intrigerende verhalen over Russische spionage, de Nederlanders die terugspioneren, de samenwerking tussen de Nederlanders en Amerikanen en de consequenties voor de samenleving. Het verhaal is redelijk kort geschreven, maar heeft de kern en Modderkolk kan dit op een meeslepende manier vertellen. Dit boek bewijst ook weer hoe belangrijk digitale veiligheid is en wat de gevolgen zijn als de beveiliging niet op orde is.

5/5

Brodeck's report is about Brodeck, who has been given the task to write a report about the death of a foreign visitor. During the writing of this report, he starts writing another report, a private report that he keeps to himself to write in, which is what the reader reads.
The book is a very cynical story, containing the life story of Brodeck who has a fascinating view on humanity, as he has been subjected to the worst horrors in human history.
I personally found it a very slow book, containing unnecessary and banal details, but yet the writing style was very interesting, as the non-linear story has been told in a very special way.
The story itself is interesting, as it gives insight on how humans cope with trauma, how humans do whatever it takes to survive, and the cliché yet interesting theme of the power of love.

Ultimately, I give it a 3/5, as it wasn't very amusing, but rather interesting, but still a slow story.

“Concept M” is een interessant boek, met ethische kwesties en debatten die nu nog steeds actueel zijn.
Ik vind de manier waarop Romeijn het verhaal heeft verteld (flashbacks en achterlaten van informatie) zeer entertaining en de gebeurtenissen in dit boek zijn ook te vergelijken met de gebeurtenissen in het echt, wat ik zelf ook interessant vond.
Ik vind het nog onduidelijk of Romeijn hier probeerde haar politieke mening te duwen richting de lezer, maar een ding is wel duidelijk en dat is dat zij geen vertrouwen heeft in onze overheid.
Uiteindelijk denk ik dat dit boek interessante ideeën en concepten bevat, die ondanks de fictieve basis, nog steeds relevant zijn voor onze huidige maatschappij.

4/5

The color of magic is the first installment of Pratchett's disc world series. It follows Rincewind, a wizard who only knows one spell, and Twoflower, a dangerously curious tourist from the other side of the disc.

I think Pratchett's way of telling the story isn't my style. Too much detail, too much unnecessary information, which would've been suitable for some sort of sequel, but not for the first book of a 40+ book series.

Nonetheless, I did enjoy this book. I think this fantasy series has a lot of potential, and Pratchett's creativity and fantasy is astoundingly surprising, which constantly makes me wonder how in the world he came up with this novel.

His creativity is very entertaining yo read, Nx I thoroughly enjoyed it.

4/5

Recensie dichtbundel ‘Ik wilde je iets moois vertellen'
‘Ik wilde je iets moois vertellen' is een dichtbundel van Ingmar Heytze, een Utrechtse dichter actief vanaf 1989. De gedichten in dit bundel bespreken thema's van een resignation syndrome tot een verhaal waar God een Duitser blijkt te zijn en de rol van de dood in ons leven.

Bij het gedicht “Uppgivenhetsyndrom” (blz. 25), wordt er beschreven hoe de ik-personage zich compleet terugtrekt uit hun omgeving. Vast in een figuurlijke glazen kist, waar mensen om hun heen zitten te fluisteren. Heytze legt uit in de verantwoording dat dit gedicht over het resignation syndrom gaat. In 1998, vluchtelingen kregen te horen dat ze niet mochten in Zweden blijven, waarna ze spontaan in een coma vielen. Sommigen werden na maanden pas wakker en er wordt vermoed dat ze in deze coma kwamen door de plotselinge schok en wanhoop die deze vluchtelingen overviel en dat dit zo heftig was, dat ze in een coma belanden. Ik vind dit gedicht van Heytze wel interessant, omdat ik nog nooit van dit fenomeen had gehoord en het idee dat iemand plotseling in een coma terecht kan komen door een uitbundig gevoel van wanhoop en schok, vind ik ook wel fascinerend en schokkend tegelijk. Iets wat ik me dan wel afvraag, is hoe is dit niet eerder ontdekt? Hoe komt het dat het pas in 1998 bekend werd dat dit mogelijk was, terwijl er daarvoor genoeg situaties zijn geweest waar mensen ook enorm schrokken en in paniek raakten door slecht nieuws en dan niet in een coma raakte?

In het gedicht ‘Dood', bespreekt Heytze onze constante strijd tegen de dood. Heytze gebruikt hier veel beeldspraak om te verwoorden dat mensen steeds later doodgaan. “We schaken ieder jaar iets langer door voordat je grijnst, je benige vinger strekt en onze koning omtikt.” Hier wordt geïmpliceerd dat mensen constante “schaken” met de dood en elk jaar weer verder schaakt, voordat hun koning wordt “omgetikt”. Bij het spel schaken heeft iemand verloren wanneer de koning omver wordt geworpen en dat is waar Heytze hier naar verwijst. In de volgende parafrase staat “Achter onze rug draaien we het kleine zakmes van de wetenschap rond in je oeroude sloten. We oli:en je grendels, Dood, het is een kwestie van tijd voordat ze mee gaan geven.” Heytze zegt hier dat “wij” (de mensheid) constant de “oeroude sloten” van de dood zit te oliën en proberen te openen. Heytze bedoeld hier dat mensen constant proberen om de dood te slim af te zijn en dat uiteindelijk mensen onsterfelijk zullen zijn, of zoals Heytze dat zegt, “een kwestie van tijd voordat ze [de sloten] mee gaan geven.” In de laatste parafrase, staat “Op een dag vegen we alle stukken van het bord, staan op, verlaten deze kamer. Je zeis wordt botter en botter.” Hier bedoelt Heytze dat we op een dag de kamer kunnen verlaten, waardoor we niet meer hoeven te schaken met de dood. Waardoor we dus eigenlijk onsterfelijk zullen zijn, omdat we de dood hebben verslagen. Heytze zegt ook dat de dood steeds slechter werkt, omdat “de zeis” refereert naar de zeis van Magere Hein, Thanatos of andere personificaties van de dood. De personificaties van de dood hebben vaak een zeis bij zich en dat is waar de zeis naar refereert. Wanneer er staat dat de zeis botter wordt, betekent dat eigenlijk dat het minder goed werkt en dat de dood dus minder goed werkt. Dit correspondeert ook met de werkelijkheid, aangezien veel virussen tegenwoordig worden geëlimineerd door middel van vaccinaties en de babysterfte ook globaal daalt. De medische en technologische vooruitgang van de afgelopen eeuw heeft ervoor gezorgd dat de zeis van de dood steeds botter wordt en dat we steeds langer kunnen blijven schaken. Of we het schaakpotje ooit gaan winnen? Dat weet ik niet. Ik vind dit gedicht mooi verwoord en ik vind de manier waarop Heytze de dood beschrijft en de constante uitstelling van de dood, ook zeer accuraat beschreven.

In conclusie vind ik dat een aantal gedichten enorm slaapverwekkend waren; ik kan deze gedichten niet opnoemen, want ik ben vergeten wat deze gedichten waren. Ondanks dit, waren er nog steeds mooie gedichten, waarvan ik er 2 heb besproken en geanalyseerd in deze recensie.

This book was the most absurd bullshit I've ever read.

And I love it.

Landy's usual way of starting random plotlines, a convoluted mess of bullshit, was once again very entertaining to read.
And contrary to the earlier books, the ending wasn't predictable; no, contrary to that, it caught me by surprise, as I had expected Landy to kill everyone off in some stupid nuclear event.

So let's start with the various plotlines eh?
- The obsidian plotline seemed very annoying at first, because the biggest concern was obviously the Faceless Ones, and the monsters they unleashed on the Earth. The way Obsidian completely ended the universe, wasn't really surprising, as Darquesse had done it before in phase 1, and it was just like what I had expected; an ending where all characters were killed off, in some worldwide apocalypse. - Now, the Martin Flannery plot was very entertaining to read. Landy's interpretations and opinions of the former president of the U.S. was clearly traced back in the character of President Flanary, and his best moment was gloating over beating Skulduggery Pleasant, the unbeatable skeleton detective. Also, when he was being put in his place by Perfirious (or something like that), was a very satisfying scene. - The way he built up the Corrival Academy's authoritarian environment was boring to read, as it was predictable that the students would revolt, and the principal toppled. Nothing interesting to be honest, though it did change Omen's character, as he developed leadership skills, and he realized that he can be much more, if only he has more confidence and a higher self-esteem. Never, Axelia, and Kase following his lead, and showing their confidence in Omen, really developed his character from the shy, failing student, to the leader Auger once was. - Speaking of Omen, another (shocking!) revelation was made, as it turned out Omen wasn't only Omen, but happened to be Sebastian Tao as well! I really liked this sudden turn of events, as it finally explains why Landy constantly moved back to the Sebastian plotline, which at first, didn't really seem to be important. The Darquesse Society mostly made the impression of being made up by sadists who like to see the world burn, puppets who want to follow a powerful being (in their case Darquesse), and lost people, who are searching for a meaning in life (looking at you Bennet). So the Darquesse society and Sebastian finally getting a purpose in the end, really satisfied me. It once again shows how Omen's character develops, as he reasserts himself, and becomes the leader of the group, helping Darquesse return from some other dimension, nursing her to health, and it also showed him developing paternal feelings, as he took the father role and cared for Darquesse. Ultimately, I think the Sebastian / Omen plotline is probably the best one in phase 2.- Another Omen plotline was his and Crepuscular Vies. Crepuscular turns out to be a grandson of Skulduggery, who happens to have f*cked China, and why is everyone suddenly so horny?? Anyway, putting this aside, I think Omen once again asserting himself, showing he doesn't need Valkyrie, Skulduggery or Crepuscular, is a very nice way of developing his character. - The Tyler plotline was interesting to see, as it shows the reader the world from the perspective of a mortal, non-magical teenager, and the reader may realize that the world is better off with magic and mortals separated. Tyler's father being a Flannery supporter is an entertaining portrayal of the average GOP-voter, and the stickers on his bumper really made the finishing touch.- I had hoped there would be more scenes with Skulduggery's siblings, as they seem like very intelligent fellows, with the same sarcastic and stupid humour as Skulduggery does. Peccant being Skulduggery's brother surprised me, but I guess Landy will just make up new stuff as he goes along. - The whole plot of the family trees was the most absurd stuff I've ever read. Gog Magog being Skulduggery's father, who happened to have 9 siblings, and Skulduggery making a child with China, resulting in the birth of Abyssinia, who then got 21 FUCKING CHILDREN with Caison, resulting in the birth of 'The Hosts' and Crepuscular Vies, was ridiculous. Who the hell births 21 kids??? The only reason I can think of, is child benefits, and I'm pretty sure that didn't exist when the children were birthed. Landy, please don't do this again.- The whole plot of Creed being the bad guy was completely made redundant when Valkyrie took the lead. For a little bit, when he had the Nexus helmet, he was once again a relevant character, which was then completely undone by the fact that both Valkyrie and Obsidian killed the Faceless Ones in an anticlimatic ending, as the Faceless Ones just merged into this little spark. And I was waiting for the spark to do something, only for them to be trapped by Darquesse, and not doing anything. So that was definitely anti-climatic. - The Nefarian Serpine investigation felt completely irrelevant. I'd hoped that the investigation would somehow merge into the main plotline, but it didn't. The only good thing that came out of this plotline, was the growing a whole body from a single hand, that made me laugh. But besides that, it felt completely irrelevant, and it just annoyed me.Ultimately, I think Landy has his eyes fixed on Omen, as he plans for Omen to become a new lead character. Being in his last year (or something like that), he will probably graduate from Corrival soon, and face the wide world. As he has developed new fighting, leading, and investigation skills, he could potentially become a new detective / arbiter, like Valkyrie. The anti-climatic ending of the Faceless ones, and the whole 'I-want-to-be-better-than-skulduggery' mindset of Crepuscular Vies, made it clear that it wasn't about Crepuscular, or about The Faceless Ones. Obviously Skulduggery and Valkyrie once again had the main roles, but the other plotlines really prepared Omen for the role of a detective, as he grew to become an independent person.
I'm sure I have missed / forgotten some plotlines, but that probably means they weren't relevant enough for me to remember them.
I think this messy and convoluted book, both amazes and annoys me, as Landy manages to play 4D chess, and at the same time, he introduces plotlines and characters who don't have any relevancy to the plot at all.
Despite this, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I give it a 4/5

So I started reading this book 1 year ago...
I remember very vaguely that it kind of bored me; the vocabulary was complicated, the author uses some technical words I don't understand, and it generally didn't entertain me...
However, the idea of an interplanetary society that's set up in this novel, is very fascinating, additionally with the perspectives of 2 different, opposite characters, is also a very interesting way of telling a story.

Ultimately, I would give it a 3/5

The Witcher, the Sword of destiny is the second collection of short stories by Sapkowski.
It discusses various ethical, moral, and unnatural subjects, such as what makes someone a monster, and a big recurrent motive is destiny. Does it exist? Are peoplebreally destined for each other?
I like the way Sapkowski implies that destiny can only exist when people believe, and strive for it; more is needed than just destiny for destiny to happen. And I think personal beliefs and faith is required for destiny to happen.

Either way, the book really goes more in depth of Geralt as a character, and it elucidates his reluctance to take certain jobs. For example, in “a shard of ice” he ultimately decides to reject a job, because he doesn't perceive certain species as “monsters”, due to them having a consciousness.

Ultimately, I'll give it a 4/5.

Things Fall Apart is a novel by Chinua Achebe, an Nigerian author whose fame is mostly from this book.
In Things Fall Apart, the Nigerian culture is described, and the reader will get to know the country, its origin, its history, and ultimately its culture. The impact of the British on Nigeria is also briefly described.

I think the book is rather interesting, as it really gives me a look into the Nigerian culture. Another remarkable thing are the idioms that Achebe has directly translated from Nigerian to English, and Achebe has changed some grammatical tenses and conjunctions to match the Nigerian language.

The Last Wish is a collection of short stories, revolving around Geralt of Rivia, and his adventures with the troubadour Dandelion and sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg.

I enjoyed reading this, as there were some witty jokes, and insults being traded. Additionally, this also includes some interesting themes, such as racism at the Edge of The World, and truth in A Grain of Truth. This book is funny, yet contains some important concepts.

Lady of the Lake is the conclusion to the 5-part The Witcher series.

Ciri has teleported, and discovers she has some magical power, allowing her to travel between space and time. She tries to return to her own world, and succeeds.
Meanwhile, Geralt and his companions are still scouring the continent for Ciri, and get caught up in an affair of Dandelion in Toussaint, after being pursued by mercenaries hired by Vilgefortz.

Something I find quite impressive, and admirable, is Sapkowski's accurate style of descriptions. I can imagine myself, standing on the remains of a battlefield, with the crows pecking the corpses, and the survivors moaning for help.
The battle of Brenna is brilliantly described. No romanticizing, no glorification of death or violence, just pure, raw, and frankly unnecessary bloodshed. The battle is told from the the perspectives of poor scribe Jarre, who has found himself in a pike regiment, facing the Nilfgaardian cavalry, to the overworked, and overwhelmed field medics, who're burdened by the countless wounded, and other various generals and ordinary footsoldiers.
Quotes like these, really hit me hard, and realized the horrors of an actual battle:

‘Noooo!' the wounded man said, thrashing his head, trying to escape Marti Södergren hands. ‘I don't want you to!'

‘I have to amputate or you will die.'

‘I'd rather die...' The wounded man's movements were getting slower under the influence of the healing magic. ‘I'd rather die than be maimed... Let me die... I beg you... Let me die!'

‘I cannot,' Rusty raised the scalpel and looked at the bright blade of immaculate steel. ‘I cannot let you die. I am a doctor.'

Iola, breathing heavily, swallowed saliva with effort. I'm going to faint, she thought. I can't stand it. I can't bear it any longer, the smell, the awful mixture of blood, puke, feces, urine, intestinal contents, sweat, fear and death. I cannot endure it any longer, the constant crying, the howling, the bloody, slimy hands reaching towards me, as if I was their salvation, their refuge, their lives... I cannot stand the nonsense, what we are doing here. Because it is nonsense. On big, huge, meaningless nonsense. I cannot stand any more strain and fatigue. They continue to deliver more and more... I cannot stand it. I cannot stand it. I'm going to throw up. To faint. I will be ridiculed...

Scoia'tael

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“They say that Beauclair is home to perpetual banquets, balls, feasts, revelry, and flirtation. They say those activities are just lazy, stupid, and a waste of time that could be spent thinking about business. They say you have to focus on what is really important. On the goal that beckons you, constantly. Incessantly. Without wasting any thoughts on frippery. Then and only then can you reach your goal.”