Excellent prequel novella to one of my favorite series of all time. Truly a good stand alone story that peppered in well known characters without indulging in fan service.

Chicago: The Second City by A.J. Liebling, Saul Steinberg

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funny informative lighthearted fast-paced

4.5

Hilarious, if a bit outdated. As a former resident of New York City and someone who is pretty familiar with Chicago, Liebling's take on the Second City (and the reactions he got from readers) is spot on. Not only spot on, but his writing style betrays certain stereotypes about acerbic New York writers, so it's sort of a hilarious two way street.

Dialectical and Historical Materialism by Joseph Stalin

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hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

I rarely read theory anymore, but when I do, I find it refreshing. I think it's because I was such a bad student and never really took the time to get to know what I was reading when I was reading it, I always felt lost and resentful towards the subject. Anyway, Stalin was right about a lot of things, and this work illustrates how insightful and clear he could be. Contrary to the boorish caricature we're fed of him in Western teachings of history, Stalin was an intellectual, and one who could break down the complexities of Marx and draw a clear line from that analysis to current real life and into the future. I ended up taking a full three pages of notes while reading this today, and it was stunning how prescient it is.

Night of Knives by Ian C. Esslemont

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

I'm having serious book hangover after finishing the Book of the Fallen and this book scratched that itch quite well. It zoomed in on an event that's pretty central to MBotF but (like many things in that series) was never explicitly shown. I was a bit worried after reading other reviews that ICE's books aren't as good as SE's - I understand that the writing itself isn't as narratively rich as Erikson's, but after 10 hefty books in the Malazan universe, a (relatively) short, straightforward novel exploring the same fictional place and history was very welcome.

Black Wings Has My Angel by Elliott Chaze

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Dark and impactful. Noir/crime novels can be literary and the character studies here - including all the mental illness, violence, and codependency - are superb.

Rivers of Power: How a Natural Force Raised Kingdoms, Destroyed Civilizations, and Shapes Our World by Laurence C. Smith

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informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

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mgerboc's reviews 278 reviews

mgerboc's reviews
278 reviews