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isabellarobinson7's reviews
751 reviews
Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
Rating: 3 stars
Immortal Longings is The Terminator.
Okay, okay, I know that sounds crazy, but hear me out. Why does Arnold Schwarzenegger steal the clothes of the biker guy, not some random hobo? Why does he use the biggest guns he can get his hands on, not some wimpy pistols? Why does he insist on wearing sunglasses, even at night? Why does he only say 17 lines in the whole first film? Because it's badass, that's why. Because it's cool, makes him seem really intimidating, and fully commits to the techno/punk/grunge aesthetic the movie is dripping in. Immortal Longings operates with the same philosophy.
But just like The Terminator knows what it is (the first one at least. Can’t say the same for any beyond T2) Immortal Longings is fully aware it is not the next Lord of the Rings and it goes with that. It wasn't perfect, you can poke holes in it (specifically in character motivations) and it would fall apart, but who cares. It was very compulsively readable, and I liked it.
I also must admit I had no real preconceived opinions of its author, so that may have contributed to my raw enjoyment of Immortal Longings. I, like this book, am hip and cool and vehemently refuse to download TikTok or consume any short form content besides the occasional Instagram reel, so I was not aware Chloe Gong is considered a "BookTok author".
Enjoyment versus critical thinking can be tricky for me. For books I have enjoyed despite not technically being the greatest, I find the longer I sit on them, the more those technical flaws become noticeable to me. As time passes, the initial rush of finishing them wears off, that "popcorn read" feeling goes, and I start to view the books in a more critical light. (This principle operates in reverse, too, for more dense books.) In the last couple of weeks between me finishing the book and writing this, I am perhaps not as positive on Immortal Longings as I once was immediately upon reading the last page. This doesn't take away from the fact that I think Immortal Longings is well worth your time - that enjoyment I felt while reading it was very legitimate.
Immortal Longings is The Terminator.
Okay, okay, I know that sounds crazy, but hear me out. Why does Arnold Schwarzenegger steal the clothes of the biker guy, not some random hobo? Why does he use the biggest guns he can get his hands on, not some wimpy pistols? Why does he insist on wearing sunglasses, even at night? Why does he only say 17 lines in the whole first film? Because it's badass, that's why. Because it's cool, makes him seem really intimidating, and fully commits to the techno/punk/grunge aesthetic the movie is dripping in. Immortal Longings operates with the same philosophy.
But just like The Terminator knows what it is (the first one at least. Can’t say the same for any beyond T2) Immortal Longings is fully aware it is not the next Lord of the Rings and it goes with that. It wasn't perfect, you can poke holes in it (specifically in character motivations) and it would fall apart, but who cares. It was very compulsively readable, and I liked it.
I also must admit I had no real preconceived opinions of its author, so that may have contributed to my raw enjoyment of Immortal Longings. I, like this book, am hip and cool and vehemently refuse to download TikTok or consume any short form content besides the occasional Instagram reel, so I was not aware Chloe Gong is considered a "BookTok author".
Enjoyment versus critical thinking can be tricky for me. For books I have enjoyed despite not technically being the greatest, I find the longer I sit on them, the more those technical flaws become noticeable to me. As time passes, the initial rush of finishing them wears off, that "popcorn read" feeling goes, and I start to view the books in a more critical light. (This principle operates in reverse, too, for more dense books.) In the last couple of weeks between me finishing the book and writing this, I am perhaps not as positive on Immortal Longings as I once was immediately upon reading the last page. This doesn't take away from the fact that I think Immortal Longings is well worth your time - that enjoyment I felt while reading it was very legitimate.
The Ring Legends of Tolkien by David Day
Now that is one craftily worded insult. It gets my seal of approval.
I have decided not to rate this book out of respect for the artists who put all their hard work into creating some truly beautiful illustrations. They are not to be blamed for the unsavoury words their wonderful pictures are set opposite. I don't know if this will achieve anything, but I feel more comfortable doing so.
Rating: sacrilegious stars
Do not, and I repeat, DO NOT rely on Davis Day for information ANY even slightly regarding Tolkien. Just don't. I may have written a positive review of one of his books 3 years ago, but I plead ignorance. I was naive. Since then, I have gone down many a Google rabbit hole of why he is not the most accurate in terms of Tolkien lore, and how he likes to extrapolate and make things up to then present them as fact, when they have little to no basis in truth. One of my favourite quotes from my travels is from actual Tolkien scholar, Michael Martinez (who knew that would have to be clarified), who said:
Do not, and I repeat, DO NOT rely on Davis Day for information ANY even slightly regarding Tolkien. Just don't. I may have written a positive review of one of his books 3 years ago, but I plead ignorance. I was naive. Since then, I have gone down many a Google rabbit hole of why he is not the most accurate in terms of Tolkien lore, and how he likes to extrapolate and make things up to then present them as fact, when they have little to no basis in truth. One of my favourite quotes from my travels is from actual Tolkien scholar, Michael Martinez (who knew that would have to be clarified), who said:
"In Tolkien scholarship the worst insult one could deliver at any point for many years was equivalent to 'That sounds like something David Day wrote'."
Now that is one craftily worded insult. It gets my seal of approval.
I have decided not to rate this book out of respect for the artists who put all their hard work into creating some truly beautiful illustrations. They are not to be blamed for the unsavoury words their wonderful pictures are set opposite. I don't know if this will achieve anything, but I feel more comfortable doing so.
The Hobbits of Tolkien by David Day
The rest of the article includes many quotes from Tolkien academics (aka people who know what they talking about) and I wouldn't be doing my due diligence if I didn't include a link to it here: https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/David...
I will now go and read some actual Tolkien to cleanse my brain.
I have decided not to rate this book out of respect for the artists who put all their hard work into creating some truly beautiful illustrations. They are not to be blamed for the unsavoury words their wonderful pictures are set opposite. I don't know if this will achieve anything, but I feel more comfortable doing so.
Rating: blasphemous stars
I was going to rate this book somewhere around 3 stars, but that was when I still trusted the lore of Saruman David Day. You see, somewhere between me finishing this book and starting another of the same author, (yes, I own multiple. In my defence, they were more or less gifts) I stumbled upon some rather enlightening information surrounding the accuracy of Day's Tolkien-based works. Reddit, as always, was festering with reasons for Day's outright cancellation. While I have no doubt some of those claims are absolutely valid, the damning piece of evidence for me came in the form of legitimate Tolkien scholars calling Day out on mistakes he has either not noticed or refuses to acknowledge. Let's just say there is a reason why there are no official Tolkien insignias on any of Day's work.
I could put a million articles and blog posts here, but I'm sure you don't want to waste your entire morning in the same way I have done. So for the sake of brevity, I will quote this line from David Day's page on Tolkien Gateway, which in no way am I endorsing as the most reputable of sources, but it sums it all up pretty well:
I was going to rate this book somewhere around 3 stars, but that was when I still trusted the lore of Saruman David Day. You see, somewhere between me finishing this book and starting another of the same author, (yes, I own multiple. In my defence, they were more or less gifts) I stumbled upon some rather enlightening information surrounding the accuracy of Day's Tolkien-based works. Reddit, as always, was festering with reasons for Day's outright cancellation. While I have no doubt some of those claims are absolutely valid, the damning piece of evidence for me came in the form of legitimate Tolkien scholars calling Day out on mistakes he has either not noticed or refuses to acknowledge. Let's just say there is a reason why there are no official Tolkien insignias on any of Day's work.
I could put a million articles and blog posts here, but I'm sure you don't want to waste your entire morning in the same way I have done. So for the sake of brevity, I will quote this line from David Day's page on Tolkien Gateway, which in no way am I endorsing as the most reputable of sources, but it sums it all up pretty well:
"Day is notable for his tendency to fabricate false or inaccurate information in his writings, and his books have been repeatedly criticized by the Tolkien community.
The rest of the article includes many quotes from Tolkien academics (aka people who know what they talking about) and I wouldn't be doing my due diligence if I didn't include a link to it here: https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/David...
I will now go and read some actual Tolkien to cleanse my brain.
I have decided not to rate this book out of respect for the artists who put all their hard work into creating some truly beautiful illustrations. They are not to be blamed for the unsavoury words their wonderful pictures are set opposite. I don't know if this will achieve anything, but I feel more comfortable doing so.
The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
3.0
Rating: 3 stars
The first part of The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson (no relation) was so good, I thought I was looking at a new favourite here. The idea of the Black Death being a lot more deadly in an alternate timeline was really interesting, and imagining how history would play out largely without a European presence is a compelling thought in and of itself. (Getting annoyed because the SFF you read is too European centric? Well, Kim Stanley Robinson (no relation) has solved that problem for you by wiping Europe off the map altogether!) The hours of research Kim Stanley Robinson (no relation (I've started this joke now, I have to keep going)) had so clearly done shone through each and every element of the story, and it truly embodied what an alternate history should be. I could legitimately see the logic in the course this "history" was taking.
This grounded nature did shift, though. Usually with alternate history, you see the "modern day" effect all the changes the slight divergence has resulted in, so it is already really far fetched to our eyes (in The Man in the Hight Castle we see the divided Japanese/Nazi America, not really the events that lead there). But The Years of Rice and Salt starts so plausible, so when the plot events started becoming more and more removed from our actual history (i.e. what regular stories from the subgenre tend to be) I was almost surprised - even though that is what I went in expecting! I don't understand this phenomenon, because I got what I was expecting and yet somehow I am disappointed.
Aaaaaaaaaand... if I'm being completely honest, it got kind of... well, boring. During the first hundred-ish pages, the story clipped along so smartly that I was a bit baffled as to why this book was categorised as "slow paced". But after the first couple of sections had ended and I had finished being amazed at the concept, the novelty began to wear off. Then the aforementioned slow pacing kicked in. Though I would never say it was a slog to get through, the rest of the book definitely took me longer to read. It just kept going, history kept changing, and it no longer felt like I was reading a sci-fi alternate history novel. In the end, it felt like I had just finished reading a fantasy story, and that's not just because it was a bajillion pages.
I will definitely check out Kim Stanley Robinson (no relation) in the future, mostly because his Mars trilogy particularly interests me, but also because he is obviously very good at what he does, and I had no issue whatsoever with his prose or how he told this particular story. (Also, is it just me or does Kim Stanley Robinson (no relation) kind of look like Stephan King. Just me? Ok, please ignore my observations.)
The first part of The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson (no relation) was so good, I thought I was looking at a new favourite here. The idea of the Black Death being a lot more deadly in an alternate timeline was really interesting, and imagining how history would play out largely without a European presence is a compelling thought in and of itself. (Getting annoyed because the SFF you read is too European centric? Well, Kim Stanley Robinson (no relation) has solved that problem for you by wiping Europe off the map altogether!) The hours of research Kim Stanley Robinson (no relation (I've started this joke now, I have to keep going)) had so clearly done shone through each and every element of the story, and it truly embodied what an alternate history should be. I could legitimately see the logic in the course this "history" was taking.
This grounded nature did shift, though. Usually with alternate history, you see the "modern day" effect all the changes the slight divergence has resulted in, so it is already really far fetched to our eyes (in The Man in the Hight Castle we see the divided Japanese/Nazi America, not really the events that lead there). But The Years of Rice and Salt starts so plausible, so when the plot events started becoming more and more removed from our actual history (i.e. what regular stories from the subgenre tend to be) I was almost surprised - even though that is what I went in expecting! I don't understand this phenomenon, because I got what I was expecting and yet somehow I am disappointed.
Aaaaaaaaaand... if I'm being completely honest, it got kind of... well, boring. During the first hundred-ish pages, the story clipped along so smartly that I was a bit baffled as to why this book was categorised as "slow paced". But after the first couple of sections had ended and I had finished being amazed at the concept, the novelty began to wear off. Then the aforementioned slow pacing kicked in. Though I would never say it was a slog to get through, the rest of the book definitely took me longer to read. It just kept going, history kept changing, and it no longer felt like I was reading a sci-fi alternate history novel. In the end, it felt like I had just finished reading a fantasy story, and that's not just because it was a bajillion pages.
I will definitely check out Kim Stanley Robinson (no relation) in the future, mostly because his Mars trilogy particularly interests me, but also because he is obviously very good at what he does, and I had no issue whatsoever with his prose or how he told this particular story. (Also, is it just me or does Kim Stanley Robinson (no relation) kind of look like Stephan King. Just me? Ok, please ignore my observations.)
Doctor Who: Big Bang Generation: A Novel by Gary Russell
2.0
Rating: 2 stars
It is Bledisloe season, and a Kiwi decides to review a book set in Australia. So while they get used to their 22nd straight year without the trophy (and their fourth straight year without winning a game in the series at all) I shall give their book 2 stars. Maybe I should watch Crocodile Dundee while I'm at it and leave a 1 star Letterboxd review.
But anyway, this book. To be honest, I don't have that much to say about it, but I wanted to make that joke so here we are. I do actually have a couple of thoughts, the first being that for a book with the Sydney Harbour Bridge prominently displayed on the cover, it left a little to be desired with the amount of Aussie-ness actually present between the pages. The tone was good though, in that it had a bit of a Douglas Adams feel to it, and helped contrast the casual Australian snark with the Doctor's Scottish grump.
It is Bledisloe season, and a Kiwi decides to review a book set in Australia. So while they get used to their 22nd straight year without the trophy (and their fourth straight year without winning a game in the series at all) I shall give their book 2 stars. Maybe I should watch Crocodile Dundee while I'm at it and leave a 1 star Letterboxd review.
But anyway, this book. To be honest, I don't have that much to say about it, but I wanted to make that joke so here we are. I do actually have a couple of thoughts, the first being that for a book with the Sydney Harbour Bridge prominently displayed on the cover, it left a little to be desired with the amount of Aussie-ness actually present between the pages. The tone was good though, in that it had a bit of a Douglas Adams feel to it, and helped contrast the casual Australian snark with the Doctor's Scottish grump.
Echoes In Time by Andre Norton
That, my friends, is the kind of pettiness we can all appreciate.
Now I ended the last review with a series ranking, so I will do the same here: The Time Traders, book one, is still firmly in top position; then a small gap and book four, Key Out of Time; then a bigger gap and then in close succession Galactic Derelict (book 2), Echoes in Time (this one, book 6), and Firehand (book 5) in third, fourth and fifth respectively; and then an even larger gap and of course the Ooga-Booga Book aka book three The Defiant Agents in last.
3.0
Rating: 3 stars
Similarly to Firehand, the previous book, which also had a coauthor, Echoes in Time is not really a new "Andre Norton" book in the truest sense of the word. That is perhaps the reason why for me Echoes in Time was good, but it still didn't really reach the highs of the first and fourth books, i.e. the ones actually written by Norton. But I did find some interesting drama about the authorship of Echoes in Time, but I'll talk about that later.
It has been a few months, so bare with me while I try and get the plot straight for this book. Ross Murdock and Eveleen (who have recently gotten married... which is still kind of weird) are called in to do some time travel stuff by none other than the Russians, the very people who mucked everything up in book one. Yes, the Americans have to work with the Russians. It is very buddy buddy between the two Cold War enemies, with the first portion of the book dedicated to them ironing out their differences, so it is clear Echoes in Time was written in 1999.
But anyway, the reason the Russians need help is because they have lost a time travel crew on a far away planet and they can't help rescue them by themselves because of how badly they were beaten in the previous Baldy battle. Also, their scientists have discovered this really really old carving on the planet, but strangely enough it is depicting a time agent from present day who's name is Saba. The multinational rescue team lands on the planet, only to discover that various alien cultures have degraded into animals, and then everyone starts getting sick. As they continue trying to look for the missing Russians and attempt to ascertain what is going on with all the animals, this other alien species that live on the planet instantly recognise Saba and take her for special training. The disease grows worse for Ross, Eveleen and company until Saba figures out how to communicate with the planet and she does some confusing stuff and then everyone gets cured.
Then the Baldies launch an attack and there is some fighting. And during the fighting... I might be wrong... but there was maybe a suggestion that the Baldies were hyper evolved humans. I could have read it wrong - in fact, I want to be wrong - but that is what I thought I picked up. I hope the insinuation that the Baldies are future humans doesn’t go anywhere, because I typically don't like that trope and it would not fit with this series, and I don't think anyone should try and make it.
That's pretty much the gist of it. I also want to bring up that this book mentioned Travis at one point… I know I said I didn’t really enjoy his books... but he was kind of dropped after The Defiant Agents and never heard from again. His character was fine, I just don't like him leading the books as much as I do Murdock, which seems to be the common consensus given who has been the main character in the past three books. But now that Travis is gone, I kind of miss him...? I mean, I absolutely don't want to go back to The Defiant Agents and the ooga-booga device anytime soon, but maybe just a few mentions of him would be nice. I don't know, maybe he died in the third book and I never noticed. I was so distracted by all the pseudoscience and de-evolved nonsense that it is possible I missed it.
Now, to the juicy drama. On Andre Norton's official website, under the page dedicated to this book specifically, you find this interesting tidbit about the writing of Echoes in Time:
Similarly to Firehand, the previous book, which also had a coauthor, Echoes in Time is not really a new "Andre Norton" book in the truest sense of the word. That is perhaps the reason why for me Echoes in Time was good, but it still didn't really reach the highs of the first and fourth books, i.e. the ones actually written by Norton. But I did find some interesting drama about the authorship of Echoes in Time, but I'll talk about that later.
It has been a few months, so bare with me while I try and get the plot straight for this book. Ross Murdock and Eveleen (who have recently gotten married... which is still kind of weird) are called in to do some time travel stuff by none other than the Russians, the very people who mucked everything up in book one. Yes, the Americans have to work with the Russians. It is very buddy buddy between the two Cold War enemies, with the first portion of the book dedicated to them ironing out their differences, so it is clear Echoes in Time was written in 1999.
But anyway, the reason the Russians need help is because they have lost a time travel crew on a far away planet and they can't help rescue them by themselves because of how badly they were beaten in the previous Baldy battle. Also, their scientists have discovered this really really old carving on the planet, but strangely enough it is depicting a time agent from present day who's name is Saba. The multinational rescue team lands on the planet, only to discover that various alien cultures have degraded into animals, and then everyone starts getting sick. As they continue trying to look for the missing Russians and attempt to ascertain what is going on with all the animals, this other alien species that live on the planet instantly recognise Saba and take her for special training. The disease grows worse for Ross, Eveleen and company until Saba figures out how to communicate with the planet and she does some confusing stuff and then everyone gets cured.
Then the Baldies launch an attack and there is some fighting. And during the fighting... I might be wrong... but there was maybe a suggestion that the Baldies were hyper evolved humans. I could have read it wrong - in fact, I want to be wrong - but that is what I thought I picked up. I hope the insinuation that the Baldies are future humans doesn’t go anywhere, because I typically don't like that trope and it would not fit with this series, and I don't think anyone should try and make it.
That's pretty much the gist of it. I also want to bring up that this book mentioned Travis at one point… I know I said I didn’t really enjoy his books... but he was kind of dropped after The Defiant Agents and never heard from again. His character was fine, I just don't like him leading the books as much as I do Murdock, which seems to be the common consensus given who has been the main character in the past three books. But now that Travis is gone, I kind of miss him...? I mean, I absolutely don't want to go back to The Defiant Agents and the ooga-booga device anytime soon, but maybe just a few mentions of him would be nice. I don't know, maybe he died in the third book and I never noticed. I was so distracted by all the pseudoscience and de-evolved nonsense that it is possible I missed it.
Now, to the juicy drama. On Andre Norton's official website, under the page dedicated to this book specifically, you find this interesting tidbit about the writing of Echoes in Time:
"I have been told by reliable sources that this book was originally supposed to be written by Andre and Pauline Griffin, at the last moment the publisher pulled Pauline from the project and brought in Sherwood Smith. This aggravated Andre to no avail for Sherwood would not listen to her input about the story. When she received her copy of the book, she hid it out of site.[sic] When a friend of hers brought the title up in a conversation Andre directed them to remove this and the other three titles by Sherwood from her house. Upon her death she willed the copyrights to Sherwood because she hated all four books so much that she did not want her Estate associated with them. When you read them, it is evident that Andre had little to do with them for they do not fit her style. They are included because her name appears on the front cover. ~ JW"
That, my friends, is the kind of pettiness we can all appreciate.
Now I ended the last review with a series ranking, so I will do the same here: The Time Traders, book one, is still firmly in top position; then a small gap and book four, Key Out of Time; then a bigger gap and then in close succession Galactic Derelict (book 2), Echoes in Time (this one, book 6), and Firehand (book 5) in third, fourth and fifth respectively; and then an even larger gap and of course the Ooga-Booga Book aka book three The Defiant Agents in last.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
3.0
Rating: 3 stars
Stuff I knew beforehand:
- Mary Shelley, wife of poet Percy Shelley, wrote the book while stuck in the Villa Diodati mansion during a huge storm. The occupants got bored and tasked one another to write the scariest story they could, and Mary wrote Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus
- "Frankenstein" who the title is referring to, was the doctor who made the monster, not the monster himself (yes internet, I pay attention). The doctor got a whole bunch of pieces of people and stitched them together to make the monster
- The green colouring and metal bolts are a film creation and were not present in the book
- Who the real monster of the story is is up to interpretation
Frankenstein is one of the more personable classics I have read. Maybe I've just been reading the wrong ones, but I find that books from the 1800's tend to be rather dry and lacking in character depth, but Frankenstein was full of personality, from Victor Frankenstein to the monster himself (who I started calling "Frank" in my head). I think that last point of my "stuff I knew beforehand" list was the strongest part of the book, because Shelley was a master of the unreliable narrator. There are three different accounts of events in the book, each having its own biases and opinions that effect its validity, so which tale is the actual truth is more or less left up for you to decide (I'm just going to take the easy road out and say it was a combination of all three).
As for enjoyment, yes, I liked it, but it would be more accurate to say I appreciated it. It's solid, but not a new favourite. Maybe I say this only because I am looking at it through a modern lens, but I'm afraid I physically can't read it in any other way.
Stuff I knew beforehand:
- Mary Shelley, wife of poet Percy Shelley, wrote the book while stuck in the Villa Diodati mansion during a huge storm. The occupants got bored and tasked one another to write the scariest story they could, and Mary wrote Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus
- "Frankenstein" who the title is referring to, was the doctor who made the monster, not the monster himself (yes internet, I pay attention). The doctor got a whole bunch of pieces of people and stitched them together to make the monster
- The green colouring and metal bolts are a film creation and were not present in the book
- Who the real monster of the story is is up to interpretation
Frankenstein is one of the more personable classics I have read. Maybe I've just been reading the wrong ones, but I find that books from the 1800's tend to be rather dry and lacking in character depth, but Frankenstein was full of personality, from Victor Frankenstein to the monster himself (who I started calling "Frank" in my head). I think that last point of my "stuff I knew beforehand" list was the strongest part of the book, because Shelley was a master of the unreliable narrator. There are three different accounts of events in the book, each having its own biases and opinions that effect its validity, so which tale is the actual truth is more or less left up for you to decide (I'm just going to take the easy road out and say it was a combination of all three).
As for enjoyment, yes, I liked it, but it would be more accurate to say I appreciated it. It's solid, but not a new favourite. Maybe I say this only because I am looking at it through a modern lens, but I'm afraid I physically can't read it in any other way.
The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin
I have read those lines so many times, and yet they still take me aback. I can only aspire to write like this some day.
But Le Guin is also a master of comedy. I will now be referring to all vegans and vegetarians as soybeansuckers. Thank you, Le Guin, for some more deep introspection and social commentary we can all appreciate.
4.0
Rating: 4 stars
The Word for World is Forest is so expertly written, it should be the globally recognised template for novellas. You start of the story thinking one character is the good guy, but you end the story thinking the complete opposite. Le Guin, as always, is so brilliant at subverting expectations. This is one of the books I wish I had read while I was still at school, because I feel like dissecting every inch of it would only enhance the experience.
And yes, because it is an Ursula K. Le Guin book, we have to talk about her incredible quotes, of which this is the stand out:
The Word for World is Forest is so expertly written, it should be the globally recognised template for novellas. You start of the story thinking one character is the good guy, but you end the story thinking the complete opposite. Le Guin, as always, is so brilliant at subverting expectations. This is one of the books I wish I had read while I was still at school, because I feel like dissecting every inch of it would only enhance the experience.
And yes, because it is an Ursula K. Le Guin book, we have to talk about her incredible quotes, of which this is the stand out:
For if it's all the rest of us who were killed by the suicide, it's himself whom the murderer kills; only has to do it over, and over, and over.
I have read those lines so many times, and yet they still take me aback. I can only aspire to write like this some day.
But Le Guin is also a master of comedy. I will now be referring to all vegans and vegetarians as soybeansuckers. Thank you, Le Guin, for some more deep introspection and social commentary we can all appreciate.
The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang
4.5
Rating: 4.5 stars
I was in an Asian-inspired fantasy mood after reading the entire Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee, and it was either this book or rereading The Poppy War, (which I still intend to do one day) and I am glad I chose The Sword of Kaigen because it well and truly lived up to my expectations. There is a lot of hype surrounding this book online, and that put me off it for awhile, (I have been burned in the past with internet recommendations) but I finally go around to it and I now wonder why I waited so long.
I was in an Asian-inspired fantasy mood after reading the entire Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee, and it was either this book or rereading The Poppy War, (which I still intend to do one day) and I am glad I chose The Sword of Kaigen because it well and truly lived up to my expectations. There is a lot of hype surrounding this book online, and that put me off it for awhile, (I have been burned in the past with internet recommendations) but I finally go around to it and I now wonder why I waited so long.