daniel_faniel's reviews
60 reviews

The Oval Portrait by Edgar Allan Poe

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Not what I expected, but what he wrote was way better than what I had in mind.

Metzengerstein by Edgar Allan Poe

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Whose horse is that???

The Hedge Knight by George R.R. Martin

adventurous dark lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond
Did not finish book. Stopped at 30%.

I got bored. It’s pretty interesting but its so damn long. And his points are all different but they overlap and call back to each other so much it becomes repetitive. 

Foundation by Isaac Asimov

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Its a short enough read for me to not care about the characters. The stories are about the concepts anyways. 

I don’t think I can recommend it though. It’s very much something you have to read for yourself.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Did not finish book. Stopped at 66%.

Really great prose can’t save this book from how insufferable Kvothe, or how lifeless/non-existent the plot is.

Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

It’s unbearably slow and the things the book focuses on have no pay-off in the end. It also focuses on the least interesting parts of the overall story.

People say the ending makes up for it but I disagree. It was an interesting concept for an ending that book 1 already handled better, and the ending also has no correlation with what the rest of the book focuses so much on. The ending of the book pertains to a sub-plot. The ending to the main plot (the conflict between Elend, Straff, and Cett) is handled almost entirely ‘off-screen’. 

The ending focuses more on the koloss which are literally just there because. He could’ve easily come up with a stronger reason to have them there besides “they’re being paid.” Idk, maybe have it have some connection to the Well or the Lord Ruler’s death or something. Nope.

Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0