zeph1337's reviews
285 reviews

Disquiet Gods by Christopher Ruocchio

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

This is one of the easiest if not the easiest 5 star rating I have given to any book ever. Whereas I do love the Sun Eater series there was almost always some small thing that bothered me in almost any of the books. Be it the (perceived) pacing issues of Ashes of Man, the insane bleakness of Kingdoms of Death, the rough beginning of The Howling Dark or the distinct lack of plot in Empire of Silence. There was always a little something that made me not wanna give the books a perfect score of 5 stars. Aside from Demon in White which was my favorite so far but I feel like Disquiet Gods trumps it pretty handily.

Disquiet Gods had me hooked and invested pretty much from page 1 onward and it didn’t let off. The pacing is just simply superb. 

This book gives us the biggest time jump out of any in between the novels and a lot has changed for our protagonist Hadrian. He’s pretty much an old man at this point but gets called back to duty one more time. And yeah callbacks are a big part of this book as a lot of what has transpired in the earlier novels gets brought up again, gets tied together beautifully and we get a ton of cool reveals. 

Also the way the narrative plot shifts a lot is quite baffling and leaves you absolutely stunned at certain points. I guess the theme of this book is just “expect the unexpected” because that’s what’s probably going to happen! 

I think I have found my new favorite book of the year and I can’t wait to see what Cristopher Ruocchio will do with the concluding book of this epic series.

Mark of the Fool 2: A Progression Fantasy Epic by J.M. Clarke

adventurous funny lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

These audiobooks continue to be very enjoyable. As our protagonist Alex has settled into his new surroundings at “Wizard University” they continue to portray a lot of the slice of life centered around him. 

We have assembled a very fun and sympathetic core cast of characters and the themes of friendship here are really strong. Sprinkle all of that with a little bit of Action and Mystery and we have a recipe for success. 

The writing is nothing special and it tends to be pretty repetitive especially during dialog but I think Travis Baldree’s excellent narration makes up for a lot of that.

The pacing continues to be on the slow side with lots of slice of life but I have a feeling that will change because the ending of this volume had very plot relevant implications. 

So yeah: Thumbs up for this wizard school Progression Fantasy story!

Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson

challenging dark funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

So this is probably gonna be an unpopular opinion but this felt like it was my least favorite Malazan book so far. Still liked it a lot overall but there were some fairly great issues for me.

But let’s start with things I liked. The overall just epic scope and super expansive world feels really great and just the amount of, for the lack of a better term, crazy shit that keeps happening in this story is somewhat mind blowing. It’s dark, it’s imaginative, it’s unexpected, just plain and simple: epic.

I also really enjoyed some of the new characters within this book. I really vibed with Lady Envy and Mok / the Seguleh and just thought they were really interesting and fascinating. Also meeting new Bridgeburners is kind of always a recipe for success. 

The humor has been the best out of any of the books so far and that is just another part of Erikson's amazing writing/prose that now really stands out.

Onto the negatives. I might start to discover some sort of personal core issue with the series and this a distinct lack of emotional investment into the characters. We get so many characters and POVs and oftentimes we spend a very long time getting back to a certain character and then I feel like the build up for certain big emotional moments isn’t really there. Emotional investment is a huge part of my enjoyment within any story and it is a little sad that I just have a hard time getting deeply invested into the characters of Malazan.

Another contributing factor to this could be the constant POV swaps. It is a little insane how many scenes and POVs some of these chapters are split into already and the way I understand it is, that this a trend that will also continue and accelerate further into the series. On top of that I also feel like this makes the book even harder to follow. I felt like I got way more used to Erikson's writing style in Deadhouse Gates but now Memories of Ice felt like a step backwards again. 

So overall that later part has me more than a little worried diving deeper into this series. Also the pacing felt somewhat off and I struggled the most with it out of any Malazan book so far. It started out great for the first 20-30% and then the middle 50% were so incredibly dense which slowed it down so much. The climax afterwards though was very epic and certainly the best out of any of the books so far.

So yeah I have very mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand it absolutely is this grand scale, world shattering Fantasy Epic that it is advertised to be but that kind of leaves a feeling of intimacy and investment into the characters behind. Not that it doesn’t take its time for small, impactful character moments, it does that and does it well, but the sheer amount of characters and just the vastness of this whole tale kind of leaves little room for that. I hope this somehow makes sense. 

Let’s see how House of Chains next month will go!

Mark of the Fool by J.M. Clarke

adventurous funny lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It makes me happy to say that I am glad to have found another litRPG / progression Fantasy that I enjoy from the get-go!

The protagonist of this story is the 18 year old Alex Roth who gets chosen by destiny to become a hero in an adventuring party playing the role of none other than the fool! But Alex instead says no to destiny and goes off to study wizardry in a world-renowned academy. Accompanying him on his journey are his friend Theresa the ranger with her animal companion the Cerberus Brutus and his little sister Selena. There is one big caveat though and that is the Mark of the Fool constantly interfering with Alex’s plans but he finds clever ways to exploit it.

Sounds pretty fun you think? Yes, it is! It’s definitely nothing overly complex, or original with detailed worldbuilding but it gives what it promises and that is just a lighthearted and fun coming of age story. We also spend a lot of time at the wizard’s school so if you’re into that I would totally recommend this series. I guess the closest comparison would be Harry Potter but with a true progression system and a slightly older protagonist.

The pacing of this book is pretty slow and there is a lot of slice of life without too much of an overarching plot. I didn’t particularly mind this too much but I could see this being a big issue for more plot focussed readers. 

I listened to this book on audio. I think they are well done and the narrator is non author then the author of Legends and Lattes Travis Baldree and he does a terrific job voicing this series.  

Blackflame by Will Wight

adventurous funny fast-paced

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

3.5

These books absolutely go in the right direction with me liking every new book more than its predecessor. I especially liked Lindon discovering his new path and I was really intrigued by his new “mentor”. Also I enjoyed the three trials that he and Yerin had to overcome together.

Pacing wise I also felt a major improvement over the last two books with the book not really dragging along and getting a nice mix of action and slower paced scenes. And once again the ending of the book intrigues you to get going. Probably a major part why lots of people call this series addicting (apart from the progression aspect) but I don’t feel the spark jumping over fully yet. Like these books are fine, quick reads but I don’t love them (yet?)

Wizard's Tower by Gregory Allanther

slow-paced

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

1.5

I guess this is another example of the LitRPG genre being very hit and miss. I actually dnfed this at about 85% but I'm sure as hell giving myself credit for it because ... uff, this was a rough one to get through.

The main thing that triggered me was how unsympathetic the MC, a retiring half elf wizard, is (and really not in a good way). I think it's between this one and the MC of Gideon the Ninth (which was a book I hated, although for different reasons) for being the most annoying MC I have ever read. I realize that this is most likely done on purpose but this guy is so arrogant and condescending and it was frankly just insufferable to listen to at times.

The story and worldbuilding parts are not fairing much better. The whole progression/rpg system seems to be very uninspired and generic. It has one very distinct feature though that separates it from other sorts of those stories and that is the whole system of actually building the wizard's tower and the magic within it. I guess the game equivalent would be like a housing/basebuilding system in an rpg or similar type of game. If you're into that I think there could something for you within these books. I am not a particular fan of these systems in games and in this book it just left me being bored most of the time.

I am giving this book a + half a point though and that this because some of the audio book narration. The reason I picked this up was because Andrea Parsneau and Jeff Hays are credited as narrators for it. Unfortunately they only speak side characters and some of them actually were fun and made me chuckle a little. And of course their wide array of different voices is always fun to experience. 

I got three of those books for one Audible credit but I am so gonna dnf this whole series. 

Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

I was a bit frustrated at the beginning of this book. We got a pretty huge thing for the overarching story happening at the end of last book and here went back to business as usual with a completely unrelated case.

But that feeling passed quickly as I thought this particular case was very compelling and we also always got little bits and pieces to the overarching story that got the Mystery going in a very intruiging way.

Our nerdy police officer Peter was likeable and relatable as always and the humor got a lot of good chuckles. Especially his working together and interacting with Beverly and Dominic was really fun.

So yeah, I guess this my favorite Rivers of London novel so far. This was just thoroughly enjoyable from front to back. 

Tales of the Sun Eater, Vol. 3 by Christopher Ruocchio

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I have not read many short story collections but among that limited number (<10) this one certainly was the best. 

Of the seven short stories within this volume two of the story have actually been amazing (After the Feast, Mother of Monsters), three have been very good and the other two were ok-good as well. So that definitely sums up to a winner in my book! 

It is kind of weird with great short stories. If you enjoy a certain one so much and then you blink and it's just over and leaves you wanting more. I don't think that can ever go away. :/

Hadrian is a tremendous MC for the main series but it is great touch that we get only different POVs in this collection.

Be aware that these stories contain huge spoilers for the main series and should not by read after at least Ashes of Man (book 5 of the main series)

The Legacy by R.A. Salvatore

adventurous fast-paced

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

3.0

It's gonna be hard to review this without any spoilers. So if you don't want them please stop reading right now.

I was majorly annoyed by a character I liked very much in the Icewind Dale Trilogy and that is Wulfgar.

His whole arc here with his impending marriage to Cattie-Brie and he just overall being an intolerant abusive shit all of a sudden rubbed me just in all the wrong ways. It was terrible. Yes there was a well explained reason for some of his behaviour within the story but I just could not stand it. And as a result of that what was probably meant to be the biggest moment of this story just didn't give me much of an emotional impact at all.

I also thought that this book had pacing issues. The action sequences are vivid and well written and you always enjoy them at first when they occur. But if that is all you're getting for about half the book that really starts to wear you down and gets tiring. This book was a major offender for that.

There are good parts though! The characters (except for Wulfgar) do remain fun. I especially love the dwarfes. Yes they might be very cliche, but that still doesn't change that I am having a great time with them. I especially loved the new character Thibbledorf Pwent (what a great name by the way!), the Battlerager. He was just a blast!
I would be somewhat ready for like a slice of life Dwarfes book in this universe but I doubt that I'm gonna get one.

So overall that kind of averages out to a 'meh' for me. I hope the books in this series get better again. 

Light Bringer by Pierce Brown

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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

5.0

This was great! Best book of the month for sure and I also think that this is certainly the best Red Rising book so far.

This book kind of had it all. I mean the action is always a highlight in these books and this was also true in this case. Very page turnery. It got some dark parts but was nowhere near als bleak as Dark Age (which was necessary for that book tbf) and the humor also was really good with lots of laugh out loud moments.

The general pacing was superb as well. It just goes from one banger moment to the next. I don't know how there can ever occur any sort of boredom.

Where this book got me the most though was just in terms of emotional impact. There were great character moments and the inner monologues are really fantastic in this one. We also got very impactful and tearjerking speeches, the camaraderie of our main characters each one of those flawed and damaged in some major way by previous events in this series was just heartwarming and also heartbreaking at the same time. 

This just checked all the boxes of what I think a great book should be. It kind of makes my wanna reread the whole series before the final book Red God comes out.