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stormlightreader's Reviews (936)
Bigfoot is an illustrated edition of the 3 previously published Bigfoot short stories, but the graphic novel adds extra some extra plot, bringing Irwin back as an adult with his girlfriend. Based on the original 3 stories, this would be around ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 but that extra bit knocks it up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This story takes place right after Fool Moon and the addition of goblins and ghouls to the Dresden universe was really good. I liked the inclusion of Dresden's backstory. Since, I've read all of the Dresden books to date, I had to reacquaint myself with who Harry was at that time. I like the illustrations. I like seeing how Dresden looks and how the magic looks.
A good read for Dresden fans.
A good read for Dresden fans.
The book could have been a bit more detailed in places but the chapters on the trial were interesting.
I wasn't the slightest bit interested in the side plot but Mel's plot was excellent, I was completely invested. Finding out that Forbes was the character from Borderlands and The Rock, was great. The reader is in on the secret from the start, so the intrigue isn't as high but Mel's story couldn’t have had me more gripped. Finding out more about her and what happened to her sister, years before, it made for compelling reading.
I sound like a broken record but Ryan and Frank always put a smile on my face. I love Frank! Alexander Gregory makes another appearance. I cannot wait to start that series when I finish the DCI Ryan books.
I sound like a broken record but Ryan and Frank always put a smile on my face. I love Frank! Alexander Gregory makes another appearance. I cannot wait to start that series when I finish the DCI Ryan books.
It's been an entertaining ride, but I could not suspend disbelief enough with this book. The plot actually had so much potential but just felt a bit ridiculous at times and I'm glad to be done.
Scales As Pale As Moonlight: a interesting short story that centres around the Mexican myth of the alicante (snake), which catches the scent of a woman's breast milk, and immediately seeks out the source. The snake then uses its powers on her (and if she has a nursing baby, sticks its tail in the baby's mouth, as a sort of pacifier) in order to feed on the sleeping woman ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Maquech: centres around a living brooch, a maquech. The brooch is made from a living beetle. The brooches are decorated with paste gemstones, bric-à-brac, and imitation gold, and are tethered to a woman's blouse by a small chain. Gerardo acquires and sells exotic pets and the maquech is one of those hut upon selling it he feels the loss of the animal when he returns to his apartment. I vaguely remember hearing about live jewellery but this was a very interesting short story, though the exotic pet trade is very sad ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Stories With Happy Endings: a journalist chatting to a vampire in a restaurant 👌🏻 my favourite exchange: ⬇️
Journalist: "No castle?"
Vampire: "In this fucking economy"
Excellent! 😂
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Bed of Scorpions: an ok stoey that was atmospheric but may have been better if it was a little longer ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Jaguar Woman: I couldn't get into this ⭐️
Nahuales: I liked this. Very atmospheric and a quick, well written short story giving insight into the nahual myth. A nahual looks pretty cool ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Doppelgängers: this one was a bit eerie ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Driving With Aliens in Tijuana: a sci fi short with Aliens (kotch'o). Not my favourite (because aliens) but some good atmosphere and descriptions of Mexico ("there's an illusory calmness about the city when you watch it from afar...you can't spot the sixteen corpses with plastic bags around their heads on the side of the road") ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Flash frame: I read this earlier in the year, right after I fijished Silver Nitrate. I liked what I read and would potentially have enjoyed this as a novella or full length novel ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Cemetery Man: I liked this. It reminded me of the Orphan Black storyline where they put a parasite into Sarah's face. Yeah, I liked this. I'd read it as a full length novel ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Death Collector: the plot, while based on a true story, wasn't the best part. It was the gritty descriptions of Mexico City that I loved:
• "Forty-seven years in the other direction the streets of Mexico City smell of charred human meat and the screams of the wounded"
• "Might as well stay home, stare out the window and watch the narcos drill bullet holes into a car"
• "Fifty thousand federal agents can't stem the deaths in the narco north"
• "Senseless decapitations in Morelos. Heads roll all through the country"
⭐️⭐️⭐️
This Strange Way of Dying: this one didn't hit, unfortunately ⭐️
Bloodlines: Mexican witches. I absolutel loved this one and need a full length novel immediately ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Shade of the Ceiba Tree: I couldn't get into this one ⭐️
Snow: odd and atmospheric, I knew there'd be giant penguins 😂 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Maquech: centres around a living brooch, a maquech. The brooch is made from a living beetle. The brooches are decorated with paste gemstones, bric-à-brac, and imitation gold, and are tethered to a woman's blouse by a small chain. Gerardo acquires and sells exotic pets and the maquech is one of those hut upon selling it he feels the loss of the animal when he returns to his apartment. I vaguely remember hearing about live jewellery but this was a very interesting short story, though the exotic pet trade is very sad ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Stories With Happy Endings: a journalist chatting to a vampire in a restaurant 👌🏻 my favourite exchange: ⬇️
Journalist: "No castle?"
Vampire: "In this fucking economy"
Excellent! 😂
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Bed of Scorpions: an ok stoey that was atmospheric but may have been better if it was a little longer ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Jaguar Woman: I couldn't get into this ⭐️
Nahuales: I liked this. Very atmospheric and a quick, well written short story giving insight into the nahual myth. A nahual looks pretty cool ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Doppelgängers: this one was a bit eerie ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Driving With Aliens in Tijuana: a sci fi short with Aliens (kotch'o). Not my favourite (because aliens) but some good atmosphere and descriptions of Mexico ("there's an illusory calmness about the city when you watch it from afar...you can't spot the sixteen corpses with plastic bags around their heads on the side of the road") ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Flash frame: I read this earlier in the year, right after I fijished Silver Nitrate. I liked what I read and would potentially have enjoyed this as a novella or full length novel ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Cemetery Man: I liked this. It reminded me of the Orphan Black storyline where they put a parasite into Sarah's face. Yeah, I liked this. I'd read it as a full length novel ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Death Collector: the plot, while based on a true story, wasn't the best part. It was the gritty descriptions of Mexico City that I loved:
• "Forty-seven years in the other direction the streets of Mexico City smell of charred human meat and the screams of the wounded"
• "Might as well stay home, stare out the window and watch the narcos drill bullet holes into a car"
• "Fifty thousand federal agents can't stem the deaths in the narco north"
• "Senseless decapitations in Morelos. Heads roll all through the country"
⭐️⭐️⭐️
This Strange Way of Dying: this one didn't hit, unfortunately ⭐️
Bloodlines: Mexican witches. I absolutel loved this one and need a full length novel immediately ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Shade of the Ceiba Tree: I couldn't get into this one ⭐️
Snow: odd and atmospheric, I knew there'd be giant penguins 😂 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book is darker than previous instalments (as dark as Hobb books can be) and brings out a vengeful side of Fitz which I enjoyed. We also see Fitz reflecting on his behaviour when he was younger, which was a nice touch.
This book definitely has issues with pacing. There's obviously a lot of ground to cover but this trilogy seems to be doing what the Farseer trilogy did, which is filling out book two with meandering explanations and overly lengthy descriptions, meaning that book 3 will need to be (overly) long to clear everything up. However, I'll withhold judgement until I read the final book. The trip to Kelsingra being squeezed in at the very end of book 2 is an interesting choice, but I'll withhold judgement too.
When I finished the Liveship Traders trilogy, I knew that was my favourite trilogy in the Realm of the Elderlings series, but the excitement I feel when characters from Liveships appear in the other books confirms that it's my favourite! This is also when the pacing picks up for me.
I'm beyond invested and I'm looking forward to seeing how this huge series wraps up.
This book definitely has issues with pacing. There's obviously a lot of ground to cover but this trilogy seems to be doing what the Farseer trilogy did, which is filling out book two with meandering explanations and overly lengthy descriptions, meaning that book 3 will need to be (overly) long to clear everything up. However, I'll withhold judgement until I read the final book. The trip to Kelsingra being squeezed in at the very end of book 2 is an interesting choice, but I'll withhold judgement too.
When I finished the Liveship Traders trilogy, I knew that was my favourite trilogy in the Realm of the Elderlings series, but the excitement I feel when characters from Liveships appear in the other books confirms that it's my favourite! This is also when the pacing picks up for me.
I'm beyond invested and I'm looking forward to seeing how this huge series wraps up.
The pacing of this book was better than the previous 2 books and I enjoyed this book more. The storyline itself was really good, centring around a case of human trafficking. I think Ross did this story well. The ending of The Rock was a gut punch for one of the characters and hints at a re-opening of an investigation, which is close to a member of the team. This looks like set up for book 19, so I'm looking forward to that.
Cuthbert's Way takes place a few months after the events of The Shrine (so reading The Shrine is essential before reading this book). Ryan and his team are still (covertly) investigating the case from the previous book, since his wife was hurt and Ryan almost lost Anna and their baby, Emma. Like The Shrine, pacing in Cuthbert's Way was a little slow for me, but it managed to keep me interested. As usual, the character development and relationships are great. With how far this book is in the series, I'm not surprised about the pacing. This does happen with long series, but even with the slowest DCI Ryan books, there's usually a storyline centring around one of the team that I enjoy reading. The relationship between Ryan and Frank is one of the best parts of the series. The banter and respect is lovely. This is such a cosy series with some loveable characters.
A good instalment but not as gripping as previous books. One thing I loved was the descriptions of the local area (where I live). Naturally, Anna finds herself in the centre of the action again, although this isn't as annoying as it used to be, it still prepared me for the tone of the book. This irritation aside, Ross does what she does best and places a lot of focus on developing the characters, while keeping us entertained with a mystery. Since, Anna is at the centre of this crime, it goes without saying that Ryan is more invested than usual. That said, this does give us some really good Ryan/Anna development.
Frank's humour and general personality are still endearing. Frank and Ryan are two characters that I like for different reasons. In addition, MacKenzie is a great character and I love her more with each book. The plot doesn't wrap up in this book and presumably continues in Cuthbert's Way.
Frank's humour and general personality are still endearing. Frank and Ryan are two characters that I like for different reasons. In addition, MacKenzie is a great character and I love her more with each book. The plot doesn't wrap up in this book and presumably continues in Cuthbert's Way.