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zeph1337's reviews
253 reviews
Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This was an excellent book. I think I liked it overall more than Gardens of the Moon. I really enjoyed the much darker tone which honestly made this whole thing just pretty damn tense and gripping. Overall this a very gory and violent book and I can see how that can put off many people but it felt very appropriate for the story it was telling.
The reason I am not giving it the full 5 stars is because I struggled a lot with one major POV and that's Duiker. The main issue here for me was the whole Military Fantasy part. I don't know I am really not a big "war and battle strategy guy" and combining that with Erikson's writing which is far from the easiest to process: I really had troubles visualizing a lot of what was happened during the many battle sequences within this book and that made these chapters into more of a chore than anything. And without reading aids and watching visual presentations of the battles I would have been completely lost. The climax for this particular arc was probably the biggest highlight of the book though. So there is big redemption for all the early struggles imo.
All the other arcs had me pretty excited the whole way through. Only a fraction of the characters in this book also have been part of the first book but we meet many many new cool characters with my favorites probably being Mappo and Icarium.
The worldbuilding of this series continues to be some of the best I have ever read and I am so curious about what else it has to offer and to discover the many Mysteries lying within it alongside the equally confused and clueless POV characters.
Next month onto Memories of Ice!
The reason I am not giving it the full 5 stars is because I struggled a lot with one major POV and that's Duiker. The main issue here for me was the whole Military Fantasy part. I don't know I am really not a big "war and battle strategy guy" and combining that with Erikson's writing which is far from the easiest to process: I really had troubles visualizing a lot of what was happened during the many battle sequences within this book and that made these chapters into more of a chore than anything. And without reading aids and watching visual presentations of the battles I would have been completely lost. The climax for this particular arc was probably the biggest highlight of the book though. So there is big redemption for all the early struggles imo.
All the other arcs had me pretty excited the whole way through. Only a fraction of the characters in this book also have been part of the first book but we meet many many new cool characters with my favorites probably being Mappo and Icarium.
The worldbuilding of this series continues to be some of the best I have ever read and I am so curious about what else it has to offer and to discover the many Mysteries lying within it alongside the equally confused and clueless POV characters.
Next month onto Memories of Ice!
Unsouled by Will Wight
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I disliked quite a few things about this book. First of all it just gave me major Anime vibes from pretty the whole setting and I very much dislike Anime. I also thought that this story took itself a little too seriously. Like I was promised some humor but there wasn't really much there (aside from the "bloopers" at the end of the book which were quite funny tbf). Also the (small) part of the world where this book takes place felt pretty generic and boring to me.
It certainly helps though that it is a quick and very fast paced read and I think I like where it is going. The larger scale worldbuilding I found to be quite intriguing and I absolutely want to more about it. I also think that Lindon makes for an interesting, compelling protagonist and I'm curious where he and Yerin are going from this point forward.
I also want to know more about how the progression part of this series is gonna unfold. This book mainly felt like a lot of setup for all that and the whole system is usually something that people rave about when talking about this series.
I will read at least one more book in the series and hope that it will click a little more.
It certainly helps though that it is a quick and very fast paced read and I think I like where it is going. The larger scale worldbuilding I found to be quite intriguing and I absolutely want to more about it. I also think that Lindon makes for an interesting, compelling protagonist and I'm curious where he and Yerin are going from this point forward.
I also want to know more about how the progression part of this series is gonna unfold. This book mainly felt like a lot of setup for all that and the whole system is usually something that people rave about when talking about this series.
I will read at least one more book in the series and hope that it will click a little more.
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
I do remember liking the movie that came out of this book and I think I got this book on some super cheap e-book deal. So I was at least a little bit excited getting into it.
Needless to say this excitement died down very fast. I pretty much hated everything about this book. It has lower than 300 pages but it is still super slow paced. The recruitment and training parts take super long, there's boring army politics and frankly I feel like nothing really happens.
I have zero emotional investment into anything, I got the impression that its supposed to be a satire on the military (especially from the perspective of the movie) but aside from a few slight chuckles it is just not funny and almost all the book is telling instead of showing which just leads to super unappealing writing.
I think the second half of the book were we actually got some action was slightly better but overall this just felt like a huge disappointment. Possibly one of the worst books I've ever read.
On a positive note though. This book proved to be an excellent sleeping aid. Most likely better than most sleeping pills, might even contest some strong narcotics. ;)
Needless to say this excitement died down very fast. I pretty much hated everything about this book. It has lower than 300 pages but it is still super slow paced. The recruitment and training parts take super long, there's boring army politics and frankly I feel like nothing really happens.
I have zero emotional investment into anything, I got the impression that its supposed to be a satire on the military (especially from the perspective of the movie) but aside from a few slight chuckles it is just not funny and almost all the book is telling instead of showing which just leads to super unappealing writing.
I think the second half of the book were we actually got some action was slightly better but overall this just felt like a huge disappointment. Possibly one of the worst books I've ever read.
On a positive note though. This book proved to be an excellent sleeping aid. Most likely better than most sleeping pills, might even contest some strong narcotics. ;)
Gravesong by Pirateaba
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
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
Let's just kick this review off by saying that this was one of the most incredible audiobook experiences of my life. Andrea Parsneau is absolutely killing it here. I think the only other narrator, I know of, that even compares to her performance would be Steven Pacey and I would say just in terms of emotional delivery / conveying emotions Andrea has him beat. She is also amazing at doing distinct voices and also really knows how to build tension.
But let's kick it back a notch and start by saying what this book is about. Gravesong is a side story of The Wandering Inn. It is going to be a Trilogy and covers the backstory of an important Earther that if I remember correctly first shows up in volume 7 of the main series.
Cara O'Sullivan is from Ireland (the accent is beautifully done by Andrea), she is a young, aspiring actress and is very much used to working hard / grinding for every opportunity. She is transported into the medieval Fantasy RPG world of The Wandering Inn and more importantly onto a continent that is very much defined by its hierarchical, monarchical structure. This conflict of her own beliefs vs. the world she landed in is one of the main conflicts of this book.
Cara is also a Singer which becomes her defining feature in this world with her just bringing glimpses of light and happiness to a pretty dark region of this world where people are mostly reclusive and scared. Some of the most emotional delivieres come in the form of song performance by Cara which again are beautifully orchestratred by Andrea.
There is also a fair amount of horror in this book with undead forces being a constant threat to the people in this region of Innworld.
I cannot think of an audiobook that had more of an emotional impact than this. I laughed, I cried, I got scared / I got goosebumps. With its "only" 20 hours of runtime, this book kind of has everything. I would even go as far in saying that this is the best starting point of getting into The Wandering Inn.
Yeah, you won't see the characters from this novel again for a long time but I think it is way more representative of what the series is about and especially of what it feels like than the first volume of the main series.
But let's kick it back a notch and start by saying what this book is about. Gravesong is a side story of The Wandering Inn. It is going to be a Trilogy and covers the backstory of an important Earther that if I remember correctly first shows up in volume 7 of the main series.
Cara O'Sullivan is from Ireland (the accent is beautifully done by Andrea), she is a young, aspiring actress and is very much used to working hard / grinding for every opportunity. She is transported into the medieval Fantasy RPG world of The Wandering Inn and more importantly onto a continent that is very much defined by its hierarchical, monarchical structure. This conflict of her own beliefs vs. the world she landed in is one of the main conflicts of this book.
Cara is also a Singer which becomes her defining feature in this world with her just bringing glimpses of light and happiness to a pretty dark region of this world where people are mostly reclusive and scared. Some of the most emotional delivieres come in the form of song performance by Cara which again are beautifully orchestratred by Andrea.
There is also a fair amount of horror in this book with undead forces being a constant threat to the people in this region of Innworld.
I cannot think of an audiobook that had more of an emotional impact than this. I laughed, I cried, I got scared / I got goosebumps. With its "only" 20 hours of runtime, this book kind of has everything. I would even go as far in saying that this is the best starting point of getting into The Wandering Inn.
Yeah, you won't see the characters from this novel again for a long time but I think it is way more representative of what the series is about and especially of what it feels like than the first volume of the main series.
Bonds of Chaos by Zack Argyle
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I was actually fairly excited getting into this one after the improvements in the second book and it being the final book of the Trilogy.
However I felt like the first half was really rough. To me the series kind of lost all its momentum right there. To a point where I was seriously considering DNF'ing or atleast reading something else in between. Apparantly slowing down is not very good for this series. I can't really pinpoint it exactly but somehow having all the characters together in one place really wasn't good for the story.
I decided to push though and thankfully during the second half and with things leading up to the climax were much improved and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The ending was also fine. Nothing to groundbreaking but everything neatly tied up.
With this being a final book of a series, I can help but feel disappointed overall. So I'm giving it the lowest rating of all the books in this Trilogy.
However I felt like the first half was really rough. To me the series kind of lost all its momentum right there. To a point where I was seriously considering DNF'ing or atleast reading something else in between. Apparantly slowing down is not very good for this series. I can't really pinpoint it exactly but somehow having all the characters together in one place really wasn't good for the story.
I decided to push though and thankfully during the second half and with things leading up to the climax were much improved and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The ending was also fine. Nothing to groundbreaking but everything neatly tied up.
With this being a final book of a series, I can help but feel disappointed overall. So I'm giving it the lowest rating of all the books in this Trilogy.
The Dregs of Empire by Christopher Ruocchio
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
4.5
Another great Sun Eater novella! Possibly the best one yet but I also really enjoyed Queen Amid Ashes. So not sure which one gets that title.
This one features the beloved character of Lorian and yeah if there is one (side) character in the Sun Eater series that deserves its own novella it is certainly Lorian. Seeing him fight for survival on a very harsh prison planet was just a thoroughly engaging experience!
This one features the beloved character of Lorian and yeah if there is one (side) character in the Sun Eater series that deserves its own novella it is certainly Lorian. Seeing him fight for survival on a very harsh prison planet was just a thoroughly engaging experience!
Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I am continuing to like these books. There was nothing like super amazing yet but they are just thoroughly enjoyable.
I had a little bit of a harder time getting into this one probably because there wasn't a terribly exciting hook in the beginning and I also thought the humor did not quite land as much as in the last book.
Turns out though that this was probably more of a setup book because we got lots of development towards the overaching plot which was very compelling and also again some nice bits of worldbuilding tied in to European history.
I especially thought that the ending was very exciting and we got a plot twist that I did not see coming.
I had a little bit of a harder time getting into this one probably because there wasn't a terribly exciting hook in the beginning and I also thought the humor did not quite land as much as in the last book.
Turns out though that this was probably more of a setup book because we got lots of development towards the overaching plot which was very compelling and also again some nice bits of worldbuilding tied in to European history.
I especially thought that the ending was very exciting and we got a plot twist that I did not see coming.
Dreams of the Dying by Nicolas Lietzau
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I knew almost nothing about this book when going into. I pretty much read one glowing review, saw that it was by a German indie author and that it was included in Kindle Unlimited. So I decided to read it.
The core theme about this book is the MC Jespars struggle with mental illness and past trauma. All this constant struggling with himself, being plagued by nightmares and not being able to open up about it with others and carrying along his depression is displayed in an excellent way and really makes you feel with the MC. We see him forming and destroying bonds and relationships and there is a bit of a weird love triangle there which does make sense with the context of his state of mind but just wasn't something I was interested in.
There is another POV called "The Man" which is mainly used to carry along this books main Mystery which I thought was compelling overall but I thought its resolution was rather bland and disappointing which kind of made the overarching plot not being the greatest either.
On the side of worldbuiling I thought this is pretty creative and the author even went through the struggle to create his own language.
The soft magic system was fine and I especially loved how it was used with the context of dreaming. There is some Inception type thing where you can enter someone elses dream and I thought all the dream sequences were very well written and just fascinating combined with a fair amount of dread and horror that hit really hard.
So overall I really liked this debut novel with its strongest parts being display of mental illness and dreamy/horror ambience.
The core theme about this book is the MC Jespars struggle with mental illness and past trauma. All this constant struggling with himself, being plagued by nightmares and not being able to open up about it with others and carrying along his depression is displayed in an excellent way and really makes you feel with the MC. We see him forming and destroying bonds and relationships and there is a bit of a weird love triangle there which does make sense with the context of his state of mind but just wasn't something I was interested in.
There is another POV called "The Man" which is mainly used to carry along this books main Mystery which I thought was compelling overall but I thought its resolution was rather bland and disappointing which kind of made the overarching plot not being the greatest either.
On the side of worldbuiling I thought this is pretty creative and the author even went through the struggle to create his own language.
The soft magic system was fine and I especially loved how it was used with the context of dreaming. There is some Inception type thing where you can enter someone elses dream and I thought all the dream sequences were very well written and just fascinating combined with a fair amount of dread and horror that hit really hard.
So overall I really liked this debut novel with its strongest parts being display of mental illness and dreamy/horror ambience.
The Jade Setter of Janloon by Fonda Lee
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This was a decent supplement story to a series I already love.
The overall plot was not the greatest and I felt there was a bunch of convenient story telling / withholding information from the MC to create the necessary tension and drama. But as I really like the world already this novella was otherwise pretty enjoyable.
I especially loved the part where we met some of the beloved characters from the Green Bone Saga: Hilo and the Maik brothers.
Although it is a prequel I think it is best read after already having finished the Green Bone Saga.
The overall plot was not the greatest and I felt there was a bunch of convenient story telling / withholding information from the MC to create the necessary tension and drama. But as I really like the world already this novella was otherwise pretty enjoyable.
I especially loved the part where we met some of the beloved characters from the Green Bone Saga: Hilo and the Maik brothers.
Although it is a prequel I think it is best read after already having finished the Green Bone Saga.
The Halfling's Gem by R.A. Salvatore
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I liked this one. This might have been my favorite Drizzt novel yet (besides Sojourn). This was the sort of fun DnD type Adventure I feel like I was promised with this Trilogy but kind of didn't get with the first two entries.
This one had different plot threads that came together in a satisfying ending, the action is neat with some really cool ideas (anyone called for a flaming chariot?) and also some other nice creative bits like the nine prison cells for example.
We also got some nice character development for Drizzt kind of mirroring the portrayal of the main villain Artemis Entreri (who is by fast the best villain this Trilogy has produced) and leading to Drizzt finding more acceptance in the world.
I thought every character of our adventuring troupe got a chance to shine in this one (love me some great Guenhwyvar Moments) but I feel like the Halfling Regis is a little bit frustrating and is mainly just used as a plot device / adventure hook for the other characters.
It was very weird that we got kind of a love triangle introduced here. Just felt really out of place. I hope that doesn't continue with future books.
But overall certainly one of the strongest entries from The Forgotten Reals / The Legend of Drizzt so far.
This one had different plot threads that came together in a satisfying ending, the action is neat with some really cool ideas (anyone called for a flaming chariot?) and also some other nice creative bits like the nine prison cells for example.
We also got some nice character development for Drizzt kind of mirroring the portrayal of the main villain Artemis Entreri (who is by fast the best villain this Trilogy has produced) and leading to Drizzt finding more acceptance in the world.
I thought every character of our adventuring troupe got a chance to shine in this one (love me some great Guenhwyvar Moments) but I feel like the Halfling Regis is a little bit frustrating and is mainly just used as a plot device / adventure hook for the other characters.
It was very weird that we got kind of a love triangle introduced here. Just felt really out of place. I hope that doesn't continue with future books.
But overall certainly one of the strongest entries from The Forgotten Reals / The Legend of Drizzt so far.