Sam Messer

A brilliant mix of political maneuvering and engrossing action.

This has been the best book in the Witcher saga so far. We get a healthy dose of Dandelion which is always appreciated, and there wasn't any superfluous erotica. Has me really excited for the next book.

A perfect balance of action and development.

I really like the political intrigue of this series, especially how this book maneuvers the attempted coup in the Wizard's Guild. The Dandelion chapter was really special. I wish Sapkowski would talk less about peoples nipples and crotches when those aspects aren't relevant to the story. A great book.

Decent short story that only sort of fills in a missing plot point from Elantris.

An enjoyable 10-minute read. Nothing really noteworthy, other than Sanderson's motivations for writing the story (very sweet).

An incredible story with some character issues.

I loved the world-building and magic system in Elantris. Sanderson does a fantastic job of making a very believable set of cultures, and I was amazed by how real some of the struggles felt.

My biggest complaint is that the characters seemed very black and white. Raoden and Sarene are a little too perfect, in my opinion. Hrathen was easily the most interesting POV character, and his internal struggles were done a lot better than anything similar in Raoden or Sarene.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and am really looking forward to when Elantris gets its next entry in the Cosmere.

An interesting primer on some microeconomic concepts.

This book was fine, not great. I really liked some of the explanations for behaviors of pirates that we may attribute to other causes, and I think it was nice to look at microeconomics through the lens of a pirate. The last chapter is rather grating as Leeson pontificates on his libertarian beliefs (as one might expect from a George Mason economist) and gives little credence to other views.

Good story with fascinating characters.

It seems every Stephen King novel suffers a bit from a strange obsession with genitals and what's happening to them. I enjoyed this book, but did not enjoy reading about Ben's testicles and Ruthie's breasts.

Entertaining but annoying.

I understand that Matthias and Percy and Alia were raised by a religious man and he taught his beliefs to them but it's ridiculous how much Matthias invokes God. Solid story, but infuriating religious references.

Not 100% satisfying end to an interesting series.

Bummed by how easily the Population Police fell.

Absolutely riveting.

I have never felt hatred for a character as strongly as I hated Renna, and her fate in this story was incredibly satisfying.

A decent entry in the Shadow Children Sequence.

I really enjoyed Trey's transformation from cowardly child to courageous rebel, but some of the elements of this story were a little too contrived for me. Boy was Mark lucky that Nedley happened to be the guard he ran into.

I was able to connect with Luke and Smits in this book, more than I'd connected with Luke in the previous Shadow Children books. All of the mixed allegiances toward the end were confusing but I think they resolved nicely enough.

Spensa is incredibly written. Sanderson captures her emotions so well, and I almost felt what she did the whole way through. The plot was exciting, and I cannot wait to read the sequel.

Decent.

Focuses on Nina instead of Luke. I find the whole “It was just a test” plot to be rather convoluted. Regardless, this was an entertaining read.

A good story.

I appreciate how Luke is developed in this book, and his relatability is a huge boon for the novel. The fact that one of the biggest events in the book is a failure is a choice that I liked, especially because children's books tend to have everything go well for the characters.

A decent entry in The Reckoners.

Not good, not bad, but passable. Missing a lot of detail that I've come to expect in Sanderson's work.

A good sequel.

Plot is entertaining and allows readers to really feel the struggles Luke is going through.

Entertaining, but bad.

Dan Brown is not a good writer, but his books are entertaining. The plot is exciting if you can get past how frequently Brown uses Deus ex machina to get Langdon out of a tight spot. Vittoria is horribly written, as are all the women in Dan Brown's books, existing primarily as an object for Langdon to ogle.

Despite all the negatives, the book is an entertaining read, and I intend to read more of Robert Langdon's adventures in the future.

Another great story from Earthsea.

This story follows Tenar, later Arha, then later again Tenar in a fascinating entry in The Earthsea Cycle. The story is gripping, the world is beautifully developed, and the writing is once again fantastic.

Didn't live up to the high expectations set by The Martian.

Artemis was enjoyable to read - the clean and simple scientific explanations are the strongest aspect of Weir's writing. Unfortunately, the plot was sub par. Jazz gets lucky at basically every turn, and even when something goes wrong, she's quickly able to weasel herself out of the situation. The most egregious example is when she returns to the Apollo landing site after disabling some of the harvesters and she's met at the door by Dale, charged to bring her to justice. Instead, Dale offers Jazz her freedom if she'll agree to try to be his friend again.

Entertaining, but not fulfilling.

A beautiful coming of age story.

Ged is a fascinating character and I think his story is developed very well. From curious child to gifted student to arrogant teen to humble adult, Ged feels relatable in a way that few characters I've read ever achieve.

Le Guin's writing is incredible, and I'm excited to read future entries in this series.

A disappointing end to an otherwise fantastic story.

I never get the sense that David is in danger, and the way he deals with Calamity feels contrived. I feel almost cheated because Sanderson spent a large portion of the last book and the entirety of this one building up Calamity to be a huge enemy and the biggest battle the Reckoners will ever fight, and then David is able to send him off in a matter of minutes without a fight.

The most frustrating part of Calamity, however, is the epilogue. Somehow, after all of the events we've witnessed, everything turns out okay in a “happily ever after” sort of way.

I was very excited for this book, and the first 80% was fantastic. Unfortunately, Sanderson ended the series leaving a bad taste in my mouth.