Take a photo of a barcode or cover
stormlightreader's Reviews (934)
I'm thoroughly enjoying this series. I STILL need to finish the last couple of episodes of the TV series but I'm enjoying seeing how the story is playing out slightly differently on the page and onscreen. I'm just enjoying seeing two different iterations of The Last Kingdom: the TV version and the book version. Both are delivering great things in different ways.
Sword Song spends some time on Uhtred's loyalty to Alfred, which extends to Alfred's children, despite Alfred's continued poor treatment of Uhtred. Æthelred's treatment of Æthelflaed is disgusting. However, the battle scenes are really well written and fun to read. A lot of my favourite characters are in Sword Song: Finan (my favourite), Sihtric, Osferth, Æthelflaed and obviously Uhtred.
Cornwell makes this fictional version of England's history very entertaining.
Sword Song spends some time on Uhtred's loyalty to Alfred, which extends to Alfred's children, despite Alfred's continued poor treatment of Uhtred. Æthelred's treatment of Æthelflaed is disgusting. However, the battle scenes are really well written and fun to read. A lot of my favourite characters are in Sword Song: Finan (my favourite), Sihtric, Osferth, Æthelflaed and obviously Uhtred.
Cornwell makes this fictional version of England's history very entertaining.
I'm never going to post a review for WoT that covers everything but here are my thoughts on book 3:
Pacing: slightly slower than The Eye of the World and The Great Hunt but not detrimentally so. Going into a fantasy series of this length, I expected the pacing to be slower and with all of the threads we're working with in these books, I am currently happy with the pacing. I know later books slow down but currently, as a newbie to the world, I'm appreciating the time taken to world build and develop characters (and in places, remind the reader of details).
Plot: Basically, The Dragon Reborn is the story of everyone's journey to get to Rand. Rand's appearances are few and far between and unexpectedly, I felt his absence. Throughout The Great Hunt I got tired of his whining, but I do wish we'd had more Rand in this book. What's going on with him now he knows he's the Dragon? This is a huge revelation to the young kid from the Two Rivers, but he's off the page for the majority of the book. However, seeing him with Callandor was excellent! I've never understood the dislike of Mat. I've enjoyed him so much since the start and the return of Thom into Mat's POV was great, they have some small moments that were nice to read. Perrin's POV was kind of forgettable for me in this book. His relationship with Faile was semi-interesting to follow but their connection for each other happened a bit too sudden. The final fight felt too easy and somewhat easy to figure out (which for me, is really saying sonething). Rand didn't seem to struggle, so Moiraine's reveal wasn't too surprising. In amongst the small engaging things that happened, The Dragon Reborn was a slow burn.
Characters: I still find Nynaeve hard work, possibly because I like Egwene and I feel like Nynaeve's character is there just to do everything Egwene can but faster and better. I'm still not fully sure how I feel about Rand, but Perrin and Mat are still favourites, along with Moiraine and Lan, but I still want to see more from them all.
I also watched both available seasons of Wheel of Time and I have thoughts.
Pacing: slightly slower than The Eye of the World and The Great Hunt but not detrimentally so. Going into a fantasy series of this length, I expected the pacing to be slower and with all of the threads we're working with in these books, I am currently happy with the pacing. I know later books slow down but currently, as a newbie to the world, I'm appreciating the time taken to world build and develop characters (and in places, remind the reader of details).
Plot: Basically, The Dragon Reborn is the story of everyone's journey to get to Rand. Rand's appearances are few and far between and unexpectedly, I felt his absence. Throughout The Great Hunt I got tired of his whining, but I do wish we'd had more Rand in this book. What's going on with him now he knows he's the Dragon? This is a huge revelation to the young kid from the Two Rivers, but he's off the page for the majority of the book. However, seeing him with Callandor was excellent! I've never understood the dislike of Mat. I've enjoyed him so much since the start and the return of Thom into Mat's POV was great, they have some small moments that were nice to read. Perrin's POV was kind of forgettable for me in this book. His relationship with Faile was semi-interesting to follow but their connection for each other happened a bit too sudden. The final fight felt too easy and somewhat easy to figure out (which for me, is really saying sonething). Rand didn't seem to struggle, so Moiraine's reveal wasn't too surprising. In amongst the small engaging things that happened, The Dragon Reborn was a slow burn.
Characters: I still find Nynaeve hard work, possibly because I like Egwene and I feel like Nynaeve's character is there just to do everything Egwene can but faster and better. I'm still not fully sure how I feel about Rand, but Perrin and Mat are still favourites, along with Moiraine and Lan, but I still want to see more from them all.
I also watched both available seasons of Wheel of Time and I have thoughts.
The Stone Wētā is about a network of ecological and climate scientists who are smuggling and caching climate data to preserve it from forces that want to suppress it. The POVs follow code-named scientists (named after flora and fauna) and each chapter has factual sections about the flora or fauna that the women's code names are based on.
This was very much a book of two halves for me. On one hand, the book is really clever, with the code-named POVs and the way the characters are interconnected. On the other hand, the code-named POVs means that none of our central characters are referred to by name, which left me struggling to connect to many of the POVs. I love that both climate research and biological research get mentioned here, but I also felt that it wasn't as much of a focus as I would've liked it to be.
Ultimately, my biggest complaint is that each code-named POV has a dedicated chapter and as a result the story felt quite segmented (haha, funny because of insects). I know this is a quality often seen in some sci-fi books that I've previously read, but it felt very apparent in this book. I'm really unsure as to whether I liked it or not, so I'll be holding onto it for now.
This was very much a book of two halves for me. On one hand, the book is really clever, with the code-named POVs and the way the characters are interconnected. On the other hand, the code-named POVs means that none of our central characters are referred to by name, which left me struggling to connect to many of the POVs. I love that both climate research and biological research get mentioned here, but I also felt that it wasn't as much of a focus as I would've liked it to be.
Ultimately, my biggest complaint is that each code-named POV has a dedicated chapter and as a result the story felt quite segmented (haha, funny because of insects). I know this is a quality often seen in some sci-fi books that I've previously read, but it felt very apparent in this book. I'm really unsure as to whether I liked it or not, so I'll be holding onto it for now.
No characters I could connect with. An older detective who's introduced by waking up from a sex dream and the author makes a point of mentioning that it's a black woman in his dream. The crime at the focus of the book is the murder of an elderly couple. Just not for me thanks.
Having read Dune 3 times over the past 4 years, I had no real need to read this graphic novel. However, I’m still coming down from watching Dune Part 2 last week and fancied briefly revisiting the story.
The graphic novel covers most of what happens in the first Dune book. It also reminded me about/clarified a few minor details that I’d either missed or forgotten about.
Getting to follow one of the smallest Formula 1 teams for a season was really interesting. Steiner’s narration absolutely met my expectations and the book was hilarious. Great for Formula 1 fans (obviously) and even better because it was read by Guenther.
Some of my favourite parts (SPOILERS AHEAD):
Some of my favourite parts (SPOILERS AHEAD):
- celebs not wanting to interact with media while getting exposure on the grid (Brundle's grid walks) - I totally agree! Show up, speak for a few minutes. It's not hard!
- "Every race has it's own personality these days" - true!
- Monaco - "for the people watching at home...it doesn’t deliver much" - true! "You have to move with the times and many would argue that Monaco has failed to do that"
- On Formula 1 becoming more sustainable - "sea freight is more environmentally friendly", competition between teams will mean competition to be the most sustainable - I love that!
Some of my favourite quotes (SPOILERS AHEAD):
"sometimes you have to just surrender to the circumstances and improve things when you can"
"if I had a dollar from every person that asked for my opinion on what happened between Lewis and Max in Abu Dhabi, I'd be able to poach Adrian Newey"
On K-Mag returning to Haas:
"I can't wait to see his little Danish face again"
"This time I'm going to fok smash the front door down and shout 12 fucking points"
Sings Happy Birthday to himself:
"How old I feel depends on how my team are doing, so until Bahrain I had been dead for three fucking years"
On the company he co-owns (Fibreworks:
"Joe runs the company while I travel around the world swearing at people and having my photo taken" 😂
"Lights, camera, Guenther" 😂
"King Guenther of Monaco" 😂
New about Lewis having to remove piercings:
"this piece of important news had passed me by, I'm happy to say" 😂
On seeing a guy wearing a shirt with hundreds of Guenther faces:
"fucking horrifying" 😂
"The pressure to succeed when you're a Schumacher must be crippling sometimes. If Mick's surname wasn't Schumacher, nobody would care about this"
On Formula 1 becoming more sustainable and leading the way on sustainability, environment and equality etc:
"These are conversations that they should be having regularly. They've also helped the sport develop a conscience which I don't think it really had before. You no longer need to shine a light on what F1 is doing because it is doing that itself" 👏🏻 "Formula 1 do need to lead by example"
On Formula 1 becoming more sustainable and leading the way on sustainability, environment and equality etc:
"more women at races, which is positive"
"All that did was give me a fucking catchphrase 'he does not fok smash my door', I'll take that to my grave."
On K-Mag's Pole:
"I'm so happy for the little viking"
What worked for me?
- The POVs over time were really good at illustrating Alejandra's lineage and how they fit into Alejandra's story.
- The women in Mexican folklore were fascinating (La Catrina, Mictecacihuatl: The Lady of the Dead, La Llorona )
- The atmosphere was good and the plot (minus the intense focus on motherhood ) was good and left quite a bit to the imagination, so the horror was quite clever.
- Themental health aspect is very prominent.
What didn't work for me?
- I think what stopped me enjoying this book (and it IS a me thing) is that I don't connect to any plot around motherhood. I've read plenty of books that focus on motherhood (it's a hard plot to avoid) but I think this book is so heavily focused on motherhood that this story doesn’t really stand up without it, and if that part of the plot wasn't pulling me in, then I think the story didn’t have much of a chance. The plot is good but it is hard for me to give a higher rating if I didn't feel as connected as I should have.
- The POVs over time were really good at illustrating Alejandra's lineage and how they fit into Alejandra's story.
- The women in Mexican folklore were fascinating (
- The atmosphere was good and the plot (
- The
What didn't work for me?
- I think what stopped me enjoying this book (and it IS a me thing) is that I don't connect to any plot around motherhood. I've read plenty of books that focus on motherhood (it's a hard plot to avoid) but I think this book is so heavily focused on motherhood that this story doesn’t really stand up without it, and if that part of the plot wasn't pulling me in, then I think the story didn’t have much of a chance. The plot is good but it is hard for me to give a higher rating if I didn't feel as connected as I should have.
fast-paced
This is a perfect example of how a novella should be written. The Fall is set 400 years before the events that occur in Of Blood and Fire (The Bound and The Broken, book 1). It is short and intense, and we are thrown straight into chaos and brutality.
I enjoyed Cahill’s writing a lot. The way he describes scenes;the impending arrival of a dragon, the communication and connection between dragon and dragonbound or the use of a character's powers , all of these are so well described. The atmosphere was right there from the first sentence and despite the amount of information given to the reader in this novella, Cahill is able to do this without it feeling like an info dump.
Cahill combines so many fantasy elements that I've seen across many other fantasy books and it was thoroughly enjoyable to read!
I enjoyed Cahill’s writing a lot. The way he describes scenes;
Cahill combines so many fantasy elements that I've seen across many other fantasy books and it was thoroughly enjoyable to read!
When I picked this book back up at 135 pages, I just wasn't invested in what happens to the characters.
This book is written by an anti-prison activist and this is disclosed at the start of the book, which I appreciated. So, my expectations were appropriately set.
The book does raise some good questions...:
The book does raise some good questions...:
Why are we so comfortable with prisons? What good are prisoners to society if they remain illiterate?
...and has some very thought-provoking quotes:
"The prison is considered so "natural" that it is extremely hard to imagine life without it"
"It is virtually impossible to avoid consuming images of prison"
The suggested alternatives (listed below) are understandable but I find it hard to believe that they are likely to ever happen. This book approaches a very nuanced topic that would not have one single solution. However, as someone from the opposite viewpoint of the author, I feel that this book generalises a little too much
Suggested alternatives:
no single replacement - agreed no prison-like alternatives like house arrest decarceration - demilitarisation of schools (what?), revitalisation of education at all levels (agreed, but at what cost to teachers?), a health care system that provides free physical and mental health care (exists in the UK at the cost of the taxpayer, so not unrealistic) and a justice system that focuses on reparation and reconciliation (vague).