thelostvoid's reviews
860 reviews

Beacon by Emmie Mears

adventurous fast-paced

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

4.0

This trilogy continues to be engaging and lightning fast (pun intended) my goodness! So much happened in this and I am so fucking curious to see how it all ends. Luckily it probably won't take very long to do so because I am flying (pun also intended) through these.
 
I will be honest, there are a lot of characters in this and since I am burning through this at speed I don't fully have a grasp of all of them other than the sort of key half a dozen or so, but I am still enjoying seeing the little nuances of everyone and their relationships with each other. 

Riftsworn by Emmie Mears

adventurous 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? No

4.0

I have very recently started following this author on tik tok because of their very interesting (and heartbreaking) takes on and discussions of Solas in the Dragon Age games (my beautiful, awful bald elf husband who can do no wrong lmao) so imagine my surprise when she starts talking about a vaguely Solavellan-y fantasy trilogy they wrote. And then again when I realise it's all on Kindle Unlimited and that I can get KU for 3 months for only 99c. 
Needless to say, it really feels like the stars aligned for me to read this. I honestly didn't have very high expectations, but I wanted to read something that wasn't as dense or harrowing as a lot of the shit I've been reading recently (goddamn Sanderson) and my god this hits the spot. I feel so drawn into the world, and invested in finding out what is going on and what is going to happen to these goddamn characters and hot damn. That ending? That reveal? Wiiiild. 

I will say, the switch from being like Ferelthin to Ethan feels criminal ... such an aggressively normal name and I struggle to take it seriously but we shall see how it goes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia

Moderate: Violence and Fire/Fire injury

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

4.25

Egg on my face, Spotify does have the rest of this series so yay for that. I wanted to read something chill after the ... Experience that was reading Rhythm of War and this was a good choice I think. More emotional at times then I was anticipating, but overall with that hopeful and wholesome tone that Becky Chambers absolutely nails.

I liked this a lot, but I was getting a little lost with all the different characters in the middle a bit. 

Rhythm of War Part Two by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous emotional tense medium-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

5.0

Well, this was definitely emotional. Holy fucking shit. I was brought to complete sobbing multiple goddamn times, once literally within the same ~20 page span. Goddamn it Sanderson.
Also excuse me?? So much is happening I feel like I am going to go insane - that fucking epilogue?! The audacity of writers I swear to god. Also I knew vaguely that Wit told a story about a dog and a dragon but holy shit I was not expecting that chapter to go so hard. Actually, I think I broke down into near delirious crying over each of the main perspective characters at least once in this. What an achievement.

I do not necessarily feel smart enough to understand these books, that was one of the main reasons I avoided reading these until now. I didn't think I would be able to follow what was happening, and I am definitely not catching all of it but my god I am having a fucking wonderful time. It's horrifying to me that it's like, less than 2 weeks until book 5 comes out and also that I have finished the Stormlight Archive the same week I finished all the Dragon Age games but hey, what a ride.

The Blue Lotus by Hergé

It's fun as always to read Tintin comics, and this was surprisingly a lot less racist than I anticipated. It was satisfying to see the conclusions (?) of several of the plotlines and antagonists from the last couple of books as well.

Rhythm of War Part One by Brandon Sanderson

slow-paced

5.0

Reading these books is really such An Experience. Starting to read this the same day I start playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard after spending a month and a half playing all previous Dragon Age games feels insane. My brain is really Making Connections Between The Things Which Adds Something To The Experience.

Anyways, this was unhinged so much happened and I am feeling emotions - mainly fear and concern - about My Guys but my god I am so fucking invested in what happens. And I am so close to the end/being caught up/AAHHH

Cigars of the Pharoah by Hergé

I feel like this is where the series is really starting to be properly set up, we get Thompson and Thomson introduced and more of an actual plot rather than a series of situations that Tintin gets into, although there is plenty of shenanigans as usual.

Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott

4.5

Another round of applause for my TBR jar spitting out yet another banger of a book. Although, I am the one who bought all the books that are on my TBR so maybe it's a round of applause for me that is needed.

ANYWAYS, this was bloody fantastic! I love a story about stories, and didn't realise that was what this was about so was extremely pleasantly surprised. I really liked the characters, and their complexities and fears and interactions, and the folklore (and very real history) that was used in this was excellent. I feel like this will sit with me for a very long time, and am frankly shocked that not more people seem to have read it or be talking about it online! READ THIS! IT'S GREAT!

Tintin in America by Hergé

I cannot wait to get to the later volumes of this wherein it's less racist and we also get Captain Haddock lmao. A fun romp of a time, Tintin getting into shenanigans and making miraculous escapes as is tradition. But yeah, What A Depiction Of Indigenous Americans, especially after I so recently read The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones and actually read some proper representation for once haha.

The Adventures of TinTin in the Land of the Soviets by Hergé

I really love Tintin and have since I was a kid, I never managed to read them all and only ever owned one copy and borrowed the rest from libraries so I am thrilled to own a box set of them now!

Anyways, I had pretty low expectations for this first volume, it being the first and not as well drawn or produced or anything but I did enjoy it a bit. This was fun even if the politics is quite ... messy with anti-communist ideology and propaganda and the art wasn't great, or the pacing. Now that I am thinking about it, I wasn't enjoying myself because it was particularly good but instead because I am excited to be reading Tintin again. 
I am looking forward to see how the style and character continues to develop and be perfected over the years and get into the like, actual story and comic.