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342 reviews
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
adventurous
dark
hopeful
4.0
This is one of those rare books where rereading it allows me to gain a whole new perspective and appreciation for the series.
While I don't have a review from my first time reading, I remember my constant frustration with being drip fed the surrounding world lore and mystery. I kept finding myself STILL unsure on the events in some of the first chapters by the end of the book as the author often felt like he had much more 'style over substance' way of writing a story. While I don't disagree with my old self, the reveals are a bit slow and then ALL at once in the final 100 pages, I do recognise that Sanderson was able to drop A LOT more hints than I initially picked up on. I am still confused on a lot of things, I definitely found this reread significantly more satisfying than my initial one. I found myself just enjoying the ride and in turn noticed a lot more hints and drops by both character and author.
I'm still not sure I LOVE the way this book is structured. I'm still not sold on the random character interludes but nor am I as frustrated or bored of them. I really like the mix of PoVs ranging from Dalinar to Shallan and overall didn't find myself upset or bored by having to switch storylines.
The flashback sequences for Kaladin's backstory is still clunky and done in such a strange way (it skips forwards over major events and then later shows them in greater detail) but it felt less criminal now I knew it was coming.
All in all, I really enjoyed this reread. I still found certain twists and turns surprising (with my 1 brain cell having forgotten them) as well as enjoying twists and turns I DID remember yet still felt excited to read through. I definitely want to continue with me reread especially as I remember the series declining from here on. I only hope I can enjoy them more on a second go as I did this one :)
While I don't have a review from my first time reading, I remember my constant frustration with being drip fed the surrounding world lore and mystery. I kept finding myself STILL unsure on the events in some of the first chapters by the end of the book as the author often felt like he had much more 'style over substance' way of writing a story. While I don't disagree with my old self, the reveals are a bit slow and then ALL at once in the final 100 pages, I do recognise that Sanderson was able to drop A LOT more hints than I initially picked up on. I am still confused on a lot of things, I definitely found this reread significantly more satisfying than my initial one. I found myself just enjoying the ride and in turn noticed a lot more hints and drops by both character and author.
I'm still not sure I LOVE the way this book is structured. I'm still not sold on the random character interludes but nor am I as frustrated or bored of them. I really like the mix of PoVs ranging from Dalinar to Shallan and overall didn't find myself upset or bored by having to switch storylines.
The flashback sequences for Kaladin's backstory is still clunky and done in such a strange way (it skips forwards over major events and then later shows them in greater detail) but it felt less criminal now I knew it was coming.
All in all, I really enjoyed this reread. I still found certain twists and turns surprising (with my 1 brain cell having forgotten them) as well as enjoying twists and turns I DID remember yet still felt excited to read through. I definitely want to continue with me reread especially as I remember the series declining from here on. I only hope I can enjoy them more on a second go as I did this one :)
The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
4.5
I always find myself struggling to write down my thoughts and feelings on the Earthsea series. It's such a profound and impactful series that is (rightfully) well regarded as peek fantasy.
Le Guin is one of the most thoughtful and reflective authors when it comes to making fantastically balanced characters. She's able to breathe life into what seems like a simple fantasy world on the surface but is slowly revealed to be just as complex as the characters she weaves into it. Every little detail Le Guin adds to the story feels like a part of a bigger whole, one we get glimpses throughout the series. It makes me, as a reader, feel so small yet so significant all the same.
The difficulty I have with her writing is just how meloncholly it all feels. The world, the characters, and the story fell so impactful, and yet by the end of each story, I could not say I end the book feeling satisfied. These characters and the world the inhabit I've come to truly love and understand, especially as I age and keep returning to the series. This book truly made me FEEL, and in every way that matters, it's a massive compliment to the authors skill in being able to do so in what are not very long books. Especially as an avid fantasy reader where the average book length can be into the 600s of pages.
I will continue to love and cry over this series, no matter how conflicted it makes me feel. I hope I can continue with this reread and get to the later books.
Le Guin is one of the most thoughtful and reflective authors when it comes to making fantastically balanced characters. She's able to breathe life into what seems like a simple fantasy world on the surface but is slowly revealed to be just as complex as the characters she weaves into it. Every little detail Le Guin adds to the story feels like a part of a bigger whole, one we get glimpses throughout the series. It makes me, as a reader, feel so small yet so significant all the same.
The difficulty I have with her writing is just how meloncholly it all feels. The world, the characters, and the story fell so impactful, and yet by the end of each story, I could not say I end the book feeling satisfied. These characters and the world the inhabit I've come to truly love and understand, especially as I age and keep returning to the series. This book truly made me FEEL, and in every way that matters, it's a massive compliment to the authors skill in being able to do so in what are not very long books. Especially as an avid fantasy reader where the average book length can be into the 600s of pages.
I will continue to love and cry over this series, no matter how conflicted it makes me feel. I hope I can continue with this reread and get to the later books.
The Battle Drum by Saara El-Arifi
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
4.5
This is book 2 in the Ending Fire Trilogy.
Book 1, The Final Strife, was easily a 5 star read for me so my hopes were very high coming into this book and boy where they fulfilled!
This book starts off exactly where the last one ended, building upon the fantastic and mysterious foundations book 1 had set up. Because I already felt highly attached to the characters thanks to the authors nuanced and enjoyable character work, this made book 2 all the more tense as now these characters have separated once again to follow different storylines, we wonder with the characters if they'll ever see one another again.
While the story premise itself seems cliché when boiled down to it's core elements, El-Arifi has managed to craft such a unique and compelling political drama within a complex and mysterious world. If you know anything about me, it's that I LOVE me a lost history / mysterious lost magic system.
Without getting into spoilers (as I write this review to convince you to at least try book 1!) El-Arifi took some characters in such unique directions. I should have seen it coming thanks to book 1 out-of-the-box narrative, yet it still felt so natural and left me unsure on what was going to happen next. I love being challenged in our love for characters we KNOW are the good guys but maybe don't end up doing good things.
The reason this isn't 5 stars is book 1 had a slight edge on this one. I can't quite put my finger on it but I think it wasn't as balanced as it could have been, especially switching between such major PoVs WITH time skips in-between. It's a massively ambitious series and I'm excited to see where book 3 goes.
Book 1, The Final Strife, was easily a 5 star read for me so my hopes were very high coming into this book and boy where they fulfilled!
This book starts off exactly where the last one ended, building upon the fantastic and mysterious foundations book 1 had set up. Because I already felt highly attached to the characters thanks to the authors nuanced and enjoyable character work, this made book 2 all the more tense as now these characters have separated once again to follow different storylines, we wonder with the characters if they'll ever see one another again.
While the story premise itself seems cliché when boiled down to it's core elements, El-Arifi has managed to craft such a unique and compelling political drama within a complex and mysterious world. If you know anything about me, it's that I LOVE me a lost history / mysterious lost magic system.
Without getting into spoilers (as I write this review to convince you to at least try book 1!) El-Arifi took some characters in such unique directions. I should have seen it coming thanks to book 1 out-of-the-box narrative, yet it still felt so natural and left me unsure on what was going to happen next. I love being challenged in our love for characters we KNOW are the good guys but maybe don't end up doing good things.
The reason this isn't 5 stars is book 1 had a slight edge on this one. I can't quite put my finger on it but I think it wasn't as balanced as it could have been, especially switching between such major PoVs WITH time skips in-between. It's a massively ambitious series and I'm excited to see where book 3 goes.
Beyond the Rift by Peter Watts
Overall, if you're looking for well written & thought provoking speculative sci-fi stories, I highly recommend this collection. I hope to read more of this authors work in the future.
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
5.0
This was a fantastic read! This is an anthology series featuring 13 short stories ranging from 20-50 pages (roughly).
I'd never heard of this author until recently and, due to it being spooky season, I decided now was a great time to give this book a go. I was sold on this book when I found out the first short story features a retelling of The Thing from the perspective of the alien itself. The author does such a impressive job of introducing us to a wide array of perspectives with every new character and their story. We come to each story curious and cautiously excited to see just where he'll take us next.
Each short story felt well paced and filled with a wide variety of concepts ranging from first contact, to murder mystery, to existential dread on what it means to be human. I loved that no story ever overstayed it's welcome, nor left too much to be unenjoyable to the imagination. It gave just enough to truly make us understand the scope of the characters situation before starting anew.
While these stories do lean towards the more dark and distressing in nature but the author says it best in the final chapter of this book:
I'd never heard of this author until recently and, due to it being spooky season, I decided now was a great time to give this book a go. I was sold on this book when I found out the first short story features a retelling of The Thing from the perspective of the alien itself. The author does such a impressive job of introducing us to a wide array of perspectives with every new character and their story. We come to each story curious and cautiously excited to see just where he'll take us next.
Each short story felt well paced and filled with a wide variety of concepts ranging from first contact, to murder mystery, to existential dread on what it means to be human. I loved that no story ever overstayed it's welcome, nor left too much to be unenjoyable to the imagination. It gave just enough to truly make us understand the scope of the characters situation before starting anew.
While these stories do lean towards the more dark and distressing in nature but the author says it best in the final chapter of this book:
"if my writing tends toward the dystopic it’s not because I’m in love with dystopias; it’s because reality has forced dystopia upon me. A ravaged environment is no longer optional when writing about the near future. All I can do now is imagine how my characters might react to the hand they’ve been dealt."
Overall, if you're looking for well written & thought provoking speculative sci-fi stories, I highly recommend this collection. I hope to read more of this authors work in the future.
Storm: To Green Angel Tower, Part 2 by Tad Williams
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
5.0
Screw it! This book deserves the 5 stars for making me cry as much as I did.
This is book 3 (PART 2) to the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy by Tad Williams. I read this series together with a friend and we had a wild ride for the last few weeks/months. Tad William's world and scope is reminiscent of some of my favourite authors such as Robin Hobb & G.R.R. Martin. The world this story inhabits is filled to the brim with mystery and a history that we get glimpses of throughout that adds a whole new layer to an already epic fantasy tale.
Don't get me wrong, this series isn't perfect. There were a lot of times I found myself questioning certain story choices, or inclusions of certain characters. The pacing of the series is well known for being slow but even though I'm well used to slow fantasy, I did often find myself waiting for the story to continue.
Saying that, I have not found myself as invested in a story and it's characters in a long time. Every time I found myself questioning just how much I love this series, William's would find a way to make me eat my words. The character of Simon, Miriamele, and Binabik especially were some of the best I've seen in fantasy. Williams is able to make me not only care about these characters, but also emotionally attach myself to those they surround themselves with. As I said in my other review, the relationships in this series is some of the best in fantasy that I've read.
Despite not loving everything about this book, I still can't justify rating it less than a 5 after the whirlwind of emotions both me and my buddy reading friend went through in those last few chapters. I have not emotionally recovered!!!!!
This is book 3 (PART 2) to the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy by Tad Williams. I read this series together with a friend and we had a wild ride for the last few weeks/months. Tad William's world and scope is reminiscent of some of my favourite authors such as Robin Hobb & G.R.R. Martin. The world this story inhabits is filled to the brim with mystery and a history that we get glimpses of throughout that adds a whole new layer to an already epic fantasy tale.
Don't get me wrong, this series isn't perfect. There were a lot of times I found myself questioning certain story choices, or inclusions of certain characters. The pacing of the series is well known for being slow but even though I'm well used to slow fantasy, I did often find myself waiting for the story to continue.
Saying that, I have not found myself as invested in a story and it's characters in a long time. Every time I found myself questioning just how much I love this series, William's would find a way to make me eat my words. The character of Simon, Miriamele, and Binabik especially were some of the best I've seen in fantasy. Williams is able to make me not only care about these characters, but also emotionally attach myself to those they surround themselves with. As I said in my other review, the relationships in this series is some of the best in fantasy that I've read.
Despite not loving everything about this book, I still can't justify rating it less than a 5 after the whirlwind of emotions both me and my buddy reading friend went through in those last few chapters. I have not emotionally recovered!!!!!
Siege: To Green Angel Tower, Part 1 by Tad Williams
4.0
Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn book 3 (PART 1) review!
I read this series with a friend, though we quickly discovered my book 3 is split into 2 books. I'll be reviewing them separately though I did read them right after the other as though they're a single novel.
Boy was this a wild ride! Where book 2 felt like an intermediary between books 1 & 3, book 3 hits the ground running. Major plot elements come to fruition within this book and even knowing they were going to happen, Tad Williams does a fantastic job of making them nerve wracking.
I know me and Sam have probably harped on this a lot, but the way William's writes characters is one of the highlight of the series for me. Every character feels so distinct both in their actions and the way they see/react to the world. Reading the interplay between all of these characters makes for some highly emotional scenes, which in turn make major events all the scarier as the author does not shy away from having character die.
While this book IS a big step up from book 2, I still found the pacing a bit lacking in places and certain storylines didn't come together as smoothly as I would have hoped. But, overall, I really loved this continuation of the series.
I read this series with a friend, though we quickly discovered my book 3 is split into 2 books. I'll be reviewing them separately though I did read them right after the other as though they're a single novel.
Boy was this a wild ride! Where book 2 felt like an intermediary between books 1 & 3, book 3 hits the ground running. Major plot elements come to fruition within this book and even knowing they were going to happen, Tad Williams does a fantastic job of making them nerve wracking.
I know me and Sam have probably harped on this a lot, but the way William's writes characters is one of the highlight of the series for me. Every character feels so distinct both in their actions and the way they see/react to the world. Reading the interplay between all of these characters makes for some highly emotional scenes, which in turn make major events all the scarier as the author does not shy away from having character die.
While this book IS a big step up from book 2, I still found the pacing a bit lacking in places and certain storylines didn't come together as smoothly as I would have hoped. But, overall, I really loved this continuation of the series.
Tail of the Blue Bird by Nii Ayikwei Parkes
5.0
Another book for my Storygraph Reads the World challenge I decided to join this year.
I've not only been trying to pick from authors who grew up in their respective countries, but also explore genres I'm familiar with (fantasy/sci-fi) from these countries. This is one of those books!
Tail of the Blue Bird is a novella following a young forensic pathologist who is called a rural village following the mysterious disappearance of an local old recluse. This story fantastically captures the clash between long held cultural traditions and modern pathology. The books main character, Kayo, is the perfect vessel for this exploration having grown up with close ties to his mothers community, while also having gained perspective while travelling abroad to learn. He is the only character in the unique position of being able to utilise both of these knowledge bases in a story that weaves mystery & belief seamlessly.
I've not only been trying to pick from authors who grew up in their respective countries, but also explore genres I'm familiar with (fantasy/sci-fi) from these countries. This is one of those books!
Tail of the Blue Bird is a novella following a young forensic pathologist who is called a rural village following the mysterious disappearance of an local old recluse. This story fantastically captures the clash between long held cultural traditions and modern pathology. The books main character, Kayo, is the perfect vessel for this exploration having grown up with close ties to his mothers community, while also having gained perspective while travelling abroad to learn. He is the only character in the unique position of being able to utilise both of these knowledge bases in a story that weaves mystery & belief seamlessly.
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
adventurous
hopeful
3.0
Another book, another fun read!
This book is the 3rd in Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses series which, if you aren't aware, I've been lent by a friend. I continue to be pleasantly surprised at my enjoyment throughout this series.
This book kicks off almost exactly where the last left off and hits the ground running. There were many satisfying story moments that had been built up from the previous 2 books, as well as introducing enough new content to keep me entertained throughout. The character development, while a bit clunky in places, was believable enough to not be too distracting (even though Nesta & Elaine are still on my last nerve!!!!)
Overall, this was a fun continuation from the previous books and added nice development to the overarching plot of the series.
This book is the 3rd in Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses series which, if you aren't aware, I've been lent by a friend. I continue to be pleasantly surprised at my enjoyment throughout this series.
This book kicks off almost exactly where the last left off and hits the ground running. There were many satisfying story moments that had been built up from the previous 2 books, as well as introducing enough new content to keep me entertained throughout. The character development, while a bit clunky in places, was believable enough to not be too distracting (even though Nesta & Elaine are still on my last nerve!!!!)
Overall, this was a fun continuation from the previous books and added nice development to the overarching plot of the series.
Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
challenging
mysterious
5.0
This was a series I very almost did not continue with. Thankfully, I have bookstagram to credit for convincing me as I picked this up in my birthday book haul in July.
I honestly have been struggling to put into words how I feel about this book. I recently reread Gideon the Ninth in preparation to continue the series and found myself LOVING it way more than I did the previous time.
Harrow feels like a fantastic continuation of the series. Where Gideon was witty, heartfelt, and action-packed, Harrow is confusing, mysterious... and action-packed! I was pretty aware going in that I'd most likely be confused for the majority of this book, and yet I still found myself not only enjoying it a lot more than I'd hoped, I also picked up on a surprising amount of details being put down. By the time the reveals started revealing, I felt like one pretty smart cookie! Even though I missed way more than I caught, Muir does a fantastic job of making the reveals entertaining regardless of how much you may have worked out.
Harrow was such a vastly different character to follow, and I loved Muir's choice in changing our MC in this book. We got snippets of Harrow from Gideon book, but she truly shines as her own complex and easy to root for character here. I loved the secondary characters, and God was great.
If you liked the first, I can not see you disliking the second! Unless you really don't do hidden information stories. It is worth the read, I swear!
I honestly have been struggling to put into words how I feel about this book. I recently reread Gideon the Ninth in preparation to continue the series and found myself LOVING it way more than I did the previous time.
Harrow feels like a fantastic continuation of the series. Where Gideon was witty, heartfelt, and action-packed, Harrow is confusing, mysterious... and action-packed! I was pretty aware going in that I'd most likely be confused for the majority of this book, and yet I still found myself not only enjoying it a lot more than I'd hoped, I also picked up on a surprising amount of details being put down. By the time the reveals started revealing, I felt like one pretty smart cookie! Even though I missed way more than I caught, Muir does a fantastic job of making the reveals entertaining regardless of how much you may have worked out.
Harrow was such a vastly different character to follow, and I loved Muir's choice in changing our MC in this book. We got snippets of Harrow from Gideon book, but she truly shines as her own complex and easy to root for character here. I loved the secondary characters, and God was great.
If you liked the first, I can not see you disliking the second! Unless you really don't do hidden information stories. It is worth the read, I swear!
The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
hopeful
informative
3.0
This is a book I've seen floating around quite a bit both online & IRL so when I saw it during my birthday book haul I just had to get it!
I recently finished this book and I'm very conflicted on how I feel about it. On the one hand, it didn't quite live up to the exploration of octopus society and the potential confrontation of two intelligent species. But on the other, I loved the existentialism and the questioning the limits of human perception, and memory and what defines consciousness. I loved the way it was written, where I kept feeling on the verge of not understanding what was going on but still managed to cling to the characters as an anchor point.
This book follows 3 main story lines:
Ha, a marine biologist bought on to investigate a new society of octopus
Rustem, a hacker
and Eiko, a recent graduate looking for a job
I really enjoyed the former two. I spent a lot of the book trying to work out how both stories intertwined and once it finally clicked, I had a lot of fun rereading certain chapters with this new knowledge. My complaint comes with Eiko's storyline. We spend the majority of the book not quite understanding why or how Eiko fits into our plot, and unlike Rustem, there's no solid reasoning in the finale that has the previous chapters feeling worth the space. I liked what the author was trying to do with Eiko's storyline, but I did not like the story or it's eventual conclusion.
Overall, while the ending itself was a bit rushed I did like the outcome of it. I also wish we saw more octopus shenanigans as that's half the reason I was here but once the book was recontextualised as a thought experiment on humanities definition of sentience, it was less of an issue.
I recently finished this book and I'm very conflicted on how I feel about it. On the one hand, it didn't quite live up to the exploration of octopus society and the potential confrontation of two intelligent species. But on the other, I loved the existentialism and the questioning the limits of human perception, and memory and what defines consciousness. I loved the way it was written, where I kept feeling on the verge of not understanding what was going on but still managed to cling to the characters as an anchor point.
This book follows 3 main story lines:
Ha, a marine biologist bought on to investigate a new society of octopus
Rustem, a hacker
and Eiko, a recent graduate looking for a job
I really enjoyed the former two. I spent a lot of the book trying to work out how both stories intertwined and once it finally clicked, I had a lot of fun rereading certain chapters with this new knowledge. My complaint comes with Eiko's storyline. We spend the majority of the book not quite understanding why or how Eiko fits into our plot, and unlike Rustem, there's no solid reasoning in the finale that has the previous chapters feeling worth the space. I liked what the author was trying to do with Eiko's storyline, but I did not like the story or it's eventual conclusion.
Overall, while the ending itself was a bit rushed I did like the outcome of it. I also wish we saw more octopus shenanigans as that's half the reason I was here but once the book was recontextualised as a thought experiment on humanities definition of sentience, it was less of an issue.