Un-Storming-Believable. Full review to come...but Mr. Brandon Sanderson, you sir, definitely stuck the landing on tFull Book Review to come
Un-Storming-Believable. Full review to come...but Mr. Brandon Sanderson, you sir, definitely stuck the landing on this one.
"I do not pay attention to made-up stories." "Pity," Kaladin said. "They have proven to be some of the most real things in my life"
Agreed!!! The characters in these books are more real to me than many real people in the world.
Original Review or the first 15 hours of audio
Thank you to Netgalley for the extended audio excerpt that was 15 hours of the 62 hour long book
WOW!!! That is all I can say for the first 15 hours at least. There is always something more with Sanderson books and that is true for Wind and Truth so far. In this battle against Odium everything is on the line for Roshar. The tensions are real as all the players are moved into position on this cosmic chessboard.
[image] Grok's image generated of me with a shardblade
I'm hopeful and so scared for all the characters that have become real people in my heart. Dalinar and Navani are probably one of the best written couples in Epic fantasy as their love story isn't the center of the book by any means but just something that adds to the overall depth of the story. The world building is probably the best I've ever read in Epic Fantasy and the interconnections to Mistborn, Warbreaker and Elantris are more pronounced in Wind and Truth. While you don't need to have read those books to understand, there are Cosmere easter eggs for those in the know.
There have been some absolutely wonderful moments so far and with about 75% of the book left to complete I'm sure in true Sanderson fashion there will be even more, as we all know there is always another secret.
- Adolin with the music spren and Ryshadium Gallant was one of them. - Kaladin and Syl...omg I'm so hopeful that this turns into the thing I've been shipping forever! *crosses fingers* *prays to the Stormfather* *swears by Ash's Eyes* but also knows it is a long long shot. - Kaladin with Dalinar and that special request and writ...*tears up* - A spren following Dabid around! - And more SO MUCH MORE!!!
Friday Dec 6th (Because Sanderson said) is the release of the rest of the book and I'm so Storming Ready for this.
Narration:
Michael Kramer and Kate Reading are old hats at almost all things Sanderson. They again came to their role fully prepared and give a fantastic performance of a complicated cast level of performance needed for the narration. I have liked all of their prior performances and this one also is going well for the dual narration.
Performance: ★★★★� Character Separation: ★★★★� Diction: ★★★★� Pacing/Flow: ★★★★� Sound Effects: limited at the introduction...more
Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the conThis review was originally posted on
Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Seanan McGuire has built a fantastic world in the October Dayeseries. A world rich in characters, histories, prophecies and magic. Toby McGuire is a hero in this world and in Be the Serpent she is about to be tested in ways she maybe wasn’t prepared for. This book ended up darker than some of the others in the series with a twist that I never saw coming.
“We could be standing at the intersection of twenty different flavors of reality and only seeing the two where we have any business being�
Titania is back and she is just as brutal as she ever was. Toby is going to have to reconcile herself to the implications of this and find a way to save all the Brown children who have ended up in Titania’s sights. With the help of her crew being Tybalt, Toby’s new husband and Cait Sidhe king, her trusted squire Quinten, fetch May, newly acquired father Simon, The Luidaeg (famous Sea Witch of the sea, yes that Sea Witch) and more but those will be the main player along with a very reluctant Oberon who are tasked with containing the newly returned Titania.
This story was WOW, I don’t know why I thought it was possibly going to be a little fluffier with a newly married Toby trying to figure out how to balance marriage with all of her hero duties but this was full of tense moments, emotional hits to the gut and a deeper understanding of The Three (Titania, Oberon and possibly Maeve). They are the makers of Faery and they have a lot of explaining to do in Toby’s eyes.
Toby is very hard to kill but she has a big part to play in this fight and she is going to be stretched farther than she ever has before. Not to mention the little secret she has yet to tell her new husband that is weighing on her mind.
This story was an unusual one for the October Daye Universe because there is definitely one completed story in this book but normally books in the October Daye series wrap up and end at a solid ending. We have a bit of a cliffhanger in Be the Serpent and I am on pins and needles seeing how it works out in the next book. Really a phenomenal story. I love Toby’s irreverence in the face of danger and those with more power than her. There is enough quick wit and funny things said to help with the dark tones of the book and give it a good balance. One of the best in the October Daye world.
If you have read Riyria Revelations, which I hope you have if you are reading this book, then we know where Esrahaddon was found and the legend behindIf you have read Riyria Revelations, which I hope you have if you are reading this book, then we know where Esrahaddon was found and the legend behind him. But like most things after a thousand years the real story has been so lost and changed it was fascinating to read the real history of one of the most powerful human Artists in history.
This is a fascinating tale and an epic journey. The book was too long and too short all at the same time. As a child Esra was the sole survivor of a lion attach and then again when jackals came at his village. He was thrown out into the wilderness to die. But Turin had other plans for him and instead he was found by Goblins (Ba Rhen) and raised to serve one huge purpose.
”What is this crime I’m expected to commit? The one you must kill me to prevent. Maybe I can just promise not to. What is it I’m supposedly going to do?� “Destroy the world.� “And you’re okay with me destroying the world.� “I exaggerated. He didn’t actually say that.� “What did he say?� “He said you world destroy the empire.�
Mawyndule has been busy moving people into position for years and it is all about to come to a head. He has spent time sowing distrust between the Teshlor and the Artists, so much that each thinks the other holds the emperor’s favor and is a danger to the empire. The time is ripe to pull the strings taught and find the horn, blow it, to be able to be crowned Fane. It a goal he has worked at for 2000 years since he lost the last battle.
”A man cannot stand with two broken legs. I fought, but it’s like trying to reason with water and convince it not to run downhill; that’s the direction it has always wanted to go. Mawyndule has only provided the opportunity.
Esra in Turin’s cloak is the strongest human Artist since Suri. He has been selected to tutor the prince Nevrik along with Jerish. I totally loved this part of the story. Nevrik is a handful for such a young boy and enjoyed how maneuvered these two into his life. Going to the Avenpartha again was also interesting to see it before the Riyria tales. The reluctant friendship between Esra and Jerish reminded me a lot of another duo I loved.
“You have something on your face.� “Really?� The knight wiped a hand over his mouth. “Is it gone?� Esrahaddon shook his head. “Nope.� “What is it?� “I think it’s a smile.� Jerish frowned. “Ah, there it goes. You got it that time.�
I always feel a little bad for Turin in these stories as he is so alone in trying to set right previous wrongs. His journey is to counter some events and facilitate others and sometimes the events needed are horrible indeed. Complete series readers know what happened to the city of Percepliquis and now we know why. Parts of this story are absolutely heartbreaking. Elinya and Esra, in a different time could have had a different life together and I was so sad for their very short time together after realizing the feelings they had for each other. Esra is a hero and a villain, it just depends on which side of the battle you are standing on.
I was sad with where the story ended though. I had anticipated Yolrik and Turin’s conversation and I really would have liked to have that story told. Maybe in the time after Revelations we will see the fruition of that conversation. One can only hope.
I’ve loved all of these stories set in the between years from the Age of Legends to the time of Riyria. Each added a new layer of depth to the overall story. I think one of these days I will do a huge re-read of the entire series again and can’t wait to see all the new things I tease out on my 2nd and 3rd reads of some of the books.
Narration
Al always Time Gerard Reynolds is beyond fantastic in this tale and brings it all to life. I always enjoy his performances in all of Michael J. Sullivan's stories. He always brings the story to life in ways I might not be able to do in my own head and I love it....more
4.5 You Deserve a Bigger Dream than a Kitchen Stars
Beard with Me is the book of this series I was both really excited, yet dreading to read. I knew go4.5 You Deserve a Bigger Dream than a Kitchen Stars
Beard with Me is the book of this series I was both really excited, yet dreading to read. I knew going in that Scarlet and Billy have a past and in it they fell in love and were ripped apart. Even though I didn’t know all the details I was sure it was going to be brutal at the end and it was. But there was the beauty of two kids with horrible fathers finding that they had more in common than they once thought and finding a way to trust another person in the world.
Billy has never been my favorite of the Winston boys; he is so serious by comparison. His feud with Jethro in earlier books seemed unwarranted, it’s not. His hatred of his father more extreme than the rest of his family which is saying a lot seemed too much, it isn’t. And the way he can’t seem to talk to Scarlet in the present seems a bit extreme, but I guess that is to be seen in the next book. What I do know is they were on the verge of something wonderful when it was crushed.
This is a tragedy and you know that it is going to be a tragedy, but I’m glad we got to see all the Winston kids when they were younger with their mother and how close they were to each other. I love kid Cletus and the twins, how their mother stayed sane raising those troublesome boys is a mystery. I loved spending time with the Winston family and seeing their traditions and why they are still as close as they are to this day.
Darrel Winston, well he is the worst. Sure, we all know that, but really the fact that Billy took Roscoe’s place and gave Darrel bone marrow in the last book is a miracle and I could see why he could start to spin out of control. I hated how he treated his family and what he did to Billy and Cletus at the end of the book well, he deserves to burn in hell and die a death of a thousand papercuts while stepping on Legos.
Scarlet…OMG my heart goes out to Scarlet so much. What she went through in that compound with her family and her father especially, well it was horrible to say the least. The fact that she had any manners, kindness or compassion for others is a mystery. Her dream was just to have a kitchen, something so small that meant that she would have a normal life. The growing understanding between she and Billy that brought them closer together was so tentative and tender. I really enjoyed seeing how two broken people found a way to fill the spaces of the other if only for a short time.
I’m so happy that the next book is already out since this was such a sad place to leave their story. Billy sacrificed so much for her and while I now know why he was so adamant about all the boys using condoms and why the cabin he shares with Duane is on the spot it is, knowing the why behind it all just makes my heart hurt.
Penny Reid has brought all of these characters to life for me. Their backstories are rich and detailed and I feel like I know all of them so well. It will be hard to say goodbye in the next book but I’m looking forward to Billy and Scarlet finally getting a happily ever after years in the making....more
Illuminae reminds me of a mash up between the ideas in i-Robot, 2001 a space odyssey, Firefly and the Walking Dead. It’s a 4.5 AM I NOT MERCIFUL Stars
Illuminae reminds me of a mash up between the ideas in i-Robot, 2001 a space odyssey, Firefly and the Walking Dead. It’s a mash up that you’d think might not work but for me it totally did.
“No neuroprogrammer is stupid enough to make a computer capable of conceptualizing deceit.�
Hahaha! Or are they?
This book is one of those that have been on my TBR pile since it first came out and it has been there for years, so long that the series is now in fact complete. This is the book that friends swear I’m going to love and ask, ‘why haven’t you read it yet�. Well finally, finally I have found the time to read it and it was a really great ride.
[image]
The writing style in this isn’t going to be for everyone, it is filled with IM conversations, interviews, tech descriptions of video feeds. In the audio format I liked how this worked for the story, the hardback looks huge, but there is a ton of dead space due to the way the story is told. I read the Black Company Chronicles which is in the same epistolary format from journals and such so I can handle this format and understand what it does and doesn’t do for the story.
The story kicks off with an invasion of a mining colony. Kady, had just broken up with her boyfriend and now the world as she knows it is ending. Not because of the break up, but because a corporation has traveled through space to take over the illegal mining operation and pretty much kill all the people there to do it. She is running for her life, trying to escape the incursion. I like her right off and not just because she is also frequently underestimated, probably because she is short.
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Ezra, the afore mentioned boyfriend ends up on a different ship than Kady. He has lost everything, but can’t help thinking of the girl that broke his heart on the same day his world ended. Now they are both on different ships trying to outrun a battleship, whose mission is to kill every last witness to the atrocity committed on their home.
“It’s not the bullets that kill you. It’s moments like these. One piece at a time.�
You’d think being chased by a battleship through space would be enough for a good story, but Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman go ahead and turn the dial up to 11 by adding in some biological warfare gone wrong/right, depends on your PoV and a Murderous AI with the best of intentions.
“Um, because you're loopier than Flacky McPsycho, Mayor of Crazytown?" "My databases show no record of this Crazytown of which you speak. A brain the size of an entire city burns inside me. My intelligence quotient is beyond the human scale. I would prefer if you did not refer to me in such a fashion." "Oh, poor baby. Did I hurt the mass-murdering psychopathic artificial intelligence's feelings?�
This is a ride and a half. If you can enjoy the way the story is presented then I think it could really work for you. This much like the Princess Bride has a little bit of everything. Romance, fights, a deadly plague, murderous AI, humor, an evil corporation bent on killing all the characters we like, deception and sacrifice. A little bit of everything really all wrapped up in an intense story.
I hope you enjoy/enjoyed it as much as I did....more
Sale Alert: This is on sale as the Kindle Daily Deal 07Apr20
“Sometimes the only answer is blood and steel�
[image] I haven’t read thSale Alert: This is on sale as the Kindle Daily Deal 07Apr20
“Sometimes the only answer is blood and steel�
[image] I haven’t read the Faithful and the Fallen series, but after reading this book I’m very much a fan of John Gwynne’s writing and I’ll have to go back and read the original series set in this world 120 years before the events in this book. That said I don’t feel like I had to have read that series to enjoy this one since I completely enjoyed it.
A Time of Dread is just that. It is the beginning of the ramp up to something dangerous, evil and enough to fill you with Dread. The story starts a little slowly since we are following four different points of view. Since I’m used to reading a lot of fantasy that is a normal thing for me in the first book of a new series. Don’t worry though by the end you should be filled with plenty of dread and so many things will have happened that you will forget the first part was slow.
With the four varied PoVs we get to see a lot of this world from different perspectives.
Bleda is a prince of a human clan and taken as ward by the Ben-Elim (winged angel people) to ensure that his tribe is peaceful. He has a lot of insight into how the Ben-Elim politics work and how they use fear and their strength to almost hold every human tribe in servitude to them.
I liked how his arc showed what everyday life was like in Dressel and how the new threat on the horizon was affecting the Ben-Elim, it showed their long-term goals also in terms of the human tribes and how they are trying to control all of them.
Riv is also in Drassil, the Land of the Faithful, with Bleda. But she is from a family of warriors that train to fight alongside the Ben-Elim. Still we find that there is something different about Riv and following her PoV we not only learn about the inner turmoil between some of the Ben-Elim but also what they have been plotting for years. She is hot headed and quick to temper but fiercely loyal to friends and family as well.
Drem was actually my favorite PoV. He is the son of a trapper and lives in a sleepy small villiage when they aren’t on the road. But it seems like there are more and more people in the area that just seem a little off and not quite right. I loved his journey and the slow tease of the odd happenings out in the middle of nowhere. His journey from farmboy trapper to hero in the making was a really good one. Plus he was present for all the horrible things we learn about the Fallen and I for one was shocked by those revelations.
Sig the final PoV in this tale is a Giantess and while her faction also fights against the Fallen they do not like the Ben-Elim and stay separated from them. It is her tale that seems like would have tied into the prior series more. She is so likeable and ride a bear who seems like the best of both worlds being both a mouth and fighter.
The title describes this book great. There are some harsh deaths, horrible revelations and big twists that made my first read of a John Gwynne book truly memorable. Now it seems I must read the first series The Faithful and the Fallen because I now feel like I’ve missed out on a great author and an even more fantastic fantasy tale....more
The tears are still in my eyes when I think of this book. Dang you Michael J. Sullivan, dan
The tears are still in my eyes when I think of this book. Dang you Michael J. Sullivan, dang you. Age of War encompasses all the emotions one would feel during a war. Not everyone makes it through battles and some sacrifices are as beautiful as they are heartbreaking.
This is a wonderful continuation to the story. It shows how incredibly invested I am in the characters, that even though I finished this weeks ago, every time I think about it I’m taken back to the emotional moments, good and bad. and feel all the feels all over again.
First, I think the important thing to remember is it is not the end of the Legends of the First Empire series. There are some very big moments and it is an end to one of the major ARCs for the first battles of the war between the Fey and humans. But it is not the end of the line for many of the characters that made it to the end.
Suri is by far one of my favorite characters of the series and she has come a long way from the mystic child she was in Age of Myth. After the sacrifices made in Age of Swords, she is a little bit harder and she has lost some of the innocence she used to carry with her. But as a character in this series, she is still my favorite. Her journey is a harder one as she will be the one that needs to carry on after friends have been lost to her.
Suri was surrounded by people, yet not a part of them. She was the daisy among the daffodils, the fly in the goat’s milk, the butterfly in the army.
There are a few romantic couplings and none of them have a conventional or easy time of it. Roan and Gifford is my favorite pairing. They are both broken in some way. Roan is broken on the inside, after years of being a slave and Gifford is broken on the outside, but the most patient and kind man in the story. I love the friendship and more that is between them even if Roan isn’t sure how to express it at times. I really liked how Gifford played into the prophecy from when he was born. It was very well executed.
Persephone and Raithe. Well if like me, you have already read the Riyara series, you know who Persephone is supposed to end up with. I was really hoping for a twist to the story that showed how the legends got it wrong. These two put me through the ringer and while I won’t say how it worked out, I will say I’m still emotional weeks later while writing this.
Accept that you’re going to get hurt, that you’re going to die; embrace it, and you’ll find the freedom to live. This was one of the many ridiculous things his father had told him that sounded less stupid every day.
Tesh…I love that kid and it seems he has found another to love as well. Tesh was the biggest surprise for me in this book. Again I know his legend from the Riyara series but to see how the legends got started was amazing. I also enjoyed the little crush happening between him and a certain scribe.
“What’s it mean? What Sebek called Tesh?� “Techylor?� Malcolm said. “It means swift of hand, or just swifthand, I suppose.� “Great. The kid’s going to be impossible to live with now,� Raithe grumbled. Malcolm nodded. “Probably, but you ought to consider yourself fortunate. Next to Nyphron, you’ve got the best Shield in Alon Rhist.� Raithe frowned. “Apparently, I’m second best to Nyphron in a number of things.�
As for Malcolm, Nephron and the others, well their stories are all interesting and complex too. I will say I haven’t decided if any of them are good or bad but the twist surrounding Nyphron was huge to me and I’m still trying to get my mind around the implications of it. I also am still uncertain about that mischievous Malcom. It was interesting delve into his origins and get some of his story but even after that, I still have no idea if he is on team good or team bad or a team I don’t even know about.
There are at least three more books coming and I’m eager to learn what more the ravages of a war between the humans and the Fey will bring....more
This book is compared to Romeo and Juliet with monsters so I wasn’t really expecting a happily ever after, I mean we all remember what happened to theThis book is compared to Romeo and Juliet with monsters so I wasn’t really expecting a happily ever after, I mean we all remember what happened to them. That said though I remarkably liked where the ending took this book.
August and Kate are two beings that shouldn’t work together but they do. August’s entire life was about judging those with sins. But, what if you got to know one of the sinners, what is you started to love them? August isn’t sure what to do when one of the sinners is a girl who saved his life and one that fights monsters just like him.
“People were messy. They were defined not only by what they'd done, but by what they would have done, under different circumstances, molded as much by their regrets as their actions, choices they stood by and those they wished they could undo. Of course, there was no going back - time only moved forward - but people could change. For worse. And for better.
Kate overall has a good heart. She hides it well but even after leaving Verity she hunted Monsters. She tries to make up for the mistake of her past that tainted her soul and left a monster of her very own making. After months outside of Verity it is time to go back because she has seen the new monster, it is worse than anything before it.
I like Kate, how she fights for what she believes in, how she takes the hard road. She isn’t afraid to look at who she is and examine it. The story picked up a lot for me once she and August are back together trying to figure out how to save the city once again from the things that go bump in the night. August needs a little saving from himself too and Kate is just the girl to give it to him straight.
“I don’t know who I am, and who I’m not, I don’t know who I’m supposed to be, and I miss who I was; I miss it every day, Kate, but there’s no place for that August anymore. No place for the version of me who wanted to go to school, and have a life, and feel human, because this world doesn’t need that August. It needs someone else.�
There relationship is not just about lust or attraction but a deep understanding of the other. I love the way August looks out for Kate and vice versa.
Ilsa�.oh Ilsa. The sister with a scattered mind that sees the future and is helpless to stop it. I really love her character and how she is a monster but at the same time she is a fragile girl locked into visions of what could be coming. Her story breaks my heart more than a little.
Overall, I liked the first book just a little bit more. But this is still full of the fantastic musings and beautiful prose in such and ugly place. The ending still left me with hope in a strange way and I will always think of Kate and August together in the end.
“I know it hurts," she said. "So make it worth the pain.�
This was a beautifully told story about so many individuals that just didn’t fit into the time or place they were born into and how each touched the others life. I thoroughly enjoyed this story. The prose is beautiful and it helped me connect to each of the characters in a different way.
It makes me want to protect Elisa, our mute heroine that finds little ways to defy authority and be the woman she is. She is a good friend to those she cares for and so easy to love in her loneliness
There’s a mirror here in the bedroom, too, but she chooses not to look at it, just in case her hunch is true and she’s invisible.
Then there is Giles a man later in years who was born into a time where his sexual preference is deemed deviant and it has cost him so much be he remains true to the man he is. I loved him and I really wanted to find a nice man to set him up with. Of everyone in the story he deserved a happy ending too.
This is, in short, the magic of art. To concede the possibility of being captured in this way is to actively collaborate with the artist. By God, Giles thinks, it’s true: They are not so different from each other. Giles might still, under the right light, bathed in the right water, be beautiful, too.
Lainie made me so grateful that I was not a woman in that time. She did her duty and married someone to keep house for and bare children. Someone, who would make all the decisions as she cleaned and toiled. But what happens when he leaves for 18 months and she made all the decisions and felt the control and freedom of running her own life. How is she supposed to go back to being just a Mrs. Strickland and not Elaine anymore? How do you go back to only crawling after learning to walk?
Inside these boxes are seventeen months of a different life. One that had knocked her off the well-trod path she’d been on since she was a little girl: dating, marriage, children, homemaking. Pulling items from those boxes—it’s like ripping organs from that other version of herself, that woman of ambition and energy and promise. The whole thing is silly, she knows that. She’ll get to it. She will.
Even the scientist that would normally be the bad guy in a book like this is someone I wished had a different life with more chances. He was a man caught between impossible choices but I liked how he saw not only our fish man but people in general.
“The most intelligent of creatures,� he offers softly, “often make the fewest sounds.�
And Strickland. Watching him decay into the worst version of himself a small step at a time was just horrifying. Knowing his thought processes and why he made certain choices too was as awful as it was insightful. I HATED HIM as soon as he said Fanciful fables don’t deserve to live. but then he got so much worse and by the end he felt like true evil.
The Dovonian (fish guy) is fantastic. At first when I heard there was going to be some boom-chicka-bow-wow between him and Elisa I was a little leery of that. It’s all well and good in shapeshifter novels and PNR but I wasn’t convinced that it was going to work for me. Surprisingly I’m totally okay with fishman love. It was actually a bit beautiful how they communicated and after the ending it completely felt right for them to have that moment. I adored getting a few PoVs from the Devonian to really understand his thinking patterns and such. It humanized him as more than a creature and made the story that much more special.
This is a fantastic story of hope, doing the right thing and being okay with being different. It showed how each of us might feel alone, but we are connected in so many little ways to so many people that you are never truly alone.
Audio Note: This is one of my absolute favorite audio narrations of the year. Jenna Lamia was spectacular in her narrative performance. I loved her performance of this and will look for other books narrated by her....more
The Toll brings to an end the Arc of a Scythe trilogy and like most endings I have mixed feelings leaving the characters I’ve followed along on their The Toll brings to an end the Arc of a Scythe trilogy and like most endings I have mixed feelings leaving the characters I’ve followed along on their journey. So many things happened that it will be difficult to do any review of this book justice. I laughed, I cried, I worried and I was at all times 100% invested in this world and what was happening to the characters in it. What more can you ask for in a book?
Greyson as the single person on earth the Thunderhead is speaking to plays the biggest role. He has become a larger than life icon and has been deemed the Toll by the Tonists. Through him the Thunderhead is trying to shape the course of future humanity to be something positive. This is a tall order with Goddard shaping the Scythedom into something worse than it has ever been and the Thunderhead powerless to do anything when Scythes are involved.
But rarely was the right thing the easy thing. And it suspected that doing the right thing was going to become increasingly difficult in the days ahead. In the moment, people might not understand, but in the end they would. The Thunderhead had to believe that. Not just because it felt this in its virtual heart, but also because it had calculated the odds of it being so.
History will be revealed, conspiracies uncovered and this world will become bigger and more complex. What does an entire society do when the AI who they spoke to everyday, decides not to speak to them. How bad does one man’s thirst for power have to get before people will look at him and decide enough is enough and stand against him. How many horrors need to be committed before society acts.
“It’s not enough for you to know—you’ve got find it—so you can show others how to find it, too.� “Precisely,� said Tenkamenin. “A successful lie is not fueled by the liar; it is fueled by the willingness of the listener to believe. You can’t expose a lie without first shattering the will to believe it. That is why leading people to truth is so much more effective than merely telling them.�
The introduction of new characters and revisiting of old really made this story for me. I loved finding out what happened to most of the Nibus agents that used to work directly for the Thunderhead. How would they go on in a world that no longer needed them?
Neal Shusterman has wrapped up his tale in spectacular fashion. I was kept on the edge of my seat waiting for the conclusion. Wondering if some of the characters I loved were going to make it to the end. Hoping that Rowan and Citra would finally catch a break and get to spend their lives together at some point.
I always enjoy the beginnings of each chapter that either have a snippet of the Journals or open letters of the Scythes or something from the Thunderhead. The Toll also had a area of religious interpretation set sometime in the future that showed how much stories and lore get distorted after time, especially when the reader is privy to the true event.
There are interesting concepts. Like Jeri the sea captain from Madagascar
All children in Madagascar were raised genderless and forbidden to choose a gender until reaching adulthood. Even then, many didn’t choose a single state of being. Some, like Jerico, found fluidity to be their nature. “I feel like a woman beneath the sun and the stars. I feel like a man under the cover of clouds,� Jerico had explained to the crew when assuming command. “A simple glance at the skies will let you know how to address me at any given time.�
Goddard is a fantastic villain yet again and in The Toll we see how far back his treachery has gone and how many other massacres he has been a part of or responsible for. He is charismatic and it is easy to see how he could garner favor. Also, it is easy to see how he punishes those that stand against him to the point that they cave instead of suffering more losses. He is so easy to hate and at the same time I understand him as well.
“Why must I always be the victim? Why must people make it their mission to tear me down? Have I not honored the commandments and done all a scythe is sworn to do? Have I not been a unifier in troubled times?� “Yes, Robert,� she agreed. “But we’re the ones who made the times troubled.�
My biggest disappointment was that Rowan and Citra didn’t get more page time. They have played an important role in the series and played their part in this final chapter for sure. It just wasn’t as big a part as some of the other characters and I missed them.
“When can I see him?� she asked Possuelo “You can’t,� he told her flatly. “Not today, not ever. Whatever path his life will now take, it will be in the opposite direction from yours.� “That,� said Anastasia, “is nothing new.�
I love their utter devotion to one another and how hard they fight to be together in this world that wants them separated.
The ending is bittersweet, I’m okay with how things winded up for Rowan and Citra, even though it was a hard and hopeful end for them, fought tooth and nail. I’m sad for the Thunderhead as well, yet hopeful on that front too that he might forgive some in society and have a person to talk to again. I liked Greyson and Jeri’s new beginning and so many of the rest of the cast. I’m actually really happy about Goddard’s storyline resolution as well. There were a lot of threads to tie up and I think that they are as tied as they can be. I liked the solution at the end and there were the fitting moments that not everyone made it out alive.
Overall a really great wrap up story. My heart hurts for Rowan�117 years. Dang. But it still felt fitting to the lives they have led....more
Reread going into Wind and Truth the final book of the first set of 5 covering one huge story arc.
Wow, wow, wow. Oathbringer might be my favorite bookReread going into Wind and Truth the final book of the first set of 5 covering one huge story arc.
Wow, wow, wow. Oathbringer might be my favorite books of the series thus far. I still am floored by all the things I should have seen, that were right there in front of my the whole damn time. Brilliant...just brilliant.
I honestly am so happy for the reread because there were some pretty big key points I forgot at least one of my reads.
1. The Parshman (view spoiler)[are the singers, the writers of the Dawnchant and original inhabitants of Roshar. The squishy humans brought their destruction with them when they came with their god Odium. (hide spoiler)] OMG...how did I forget that.
2. Szeth becoming truthless (view spoiler)[ Seems to be because he was bonding with a spren in the early stages and then was not believed by his people (hide spoiler)]
3. Amaram...grrr (view spoiler)[ While I did remember him going all dark side. I didn't remember him swallowing the same jewel that the Elhokar's wife did. Meaning she is probably dead as that spren consumed her (hide spoiler)]
4. The Thrill, well who would have seen that coming in WoKs? (view spoiler)[It is one of the unmade, which I remember but I thought it only turned Amaran bad not the entire Altethi army (hide spoiler)]
5. NIGHTBLOOD!!! So I could have gotten this part wrong...but seems like (view spoiler)[Nightblood is a spren and at one point I think lift called it a her. Could be nothing, but I found it interesting (hide spoiler)]
There are so many great moments and quotes. I have over 500 things marked throughout the book and quite a few notes and questions. This series stands up to every re-read and re-listen, which is huge. Loving my Stormlight Journey.
"Sometimes a hypocrite is nothing more than a person who is in the process of changing" Stars
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Spoiler Free Section:
I always feel like I get more when I read a Sanderson book. Not only is the story fantastic but the book itself is always beautiful. The art inside the book, maps and the cover jacket are always exquisite and make owning the hardback a necessity. Then there is the audio which is always well performed and makes something this size even more enjoyable when you can switch back and forth. This will be another Sanderson book I end up having in 4 different formats.
Oathbringer was my most anticipated book of 2017 and it just about lived up to every expectation I had even if it wasn’t in the ways I thought it would.
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For one it is a bit darker than the prior installments. Dalinar, Shallan, Kaladin and Renarin all had moments that were quite depressing and character wrenching. This surprised me a little because I really thought I’d see Adolin struggling with the events at the end of Word of Radiance but I guess not.
I ADORE Dalinar, he is one of my favorite written characters of all time and it was hard to see him as The Blackthorn and reconcile them as the same man. Mostly because The Blackthorn is a pretty big jerkface. Good thing I got to know Dalinar first since that other guy could have ruined our love. His journey was more than I expected and his bargain different than I thought. I loved that it was a surprise.
“I will take responsibility for what I have done,� Dalinar whispered. “If I must fall, I will rise each time a better man.�
Some of the things I liked the most are that I’m always surprised in a Sanderson book. There are things you just know are going to be a big deal and then they are thrown out just randomly without fanfare. Then there are other moments that you had no idea would be HUGE and important and then they come along and hit you right up side the head with a huge thwack. Parts IV and V of the book I was on the edge of my seat, couldn’t possibly sleep, must know what will happen.
In this there was/were:
- Reunions that made me cry - Moments that made me cheer - A character, or two actually, I might hate more than Sadeas (view spoiler)[Taravangian I'm looking at you (hide spoiler)] - The resolution to a potential love triangle (whew) - Cross Over Characters I was so happy to see - My new favorite duo/threesome ever (view spoiler)[Lift/Szeth/Nightblood (hide spoiler)] - Jasnah as a badass. Seriously she rocked it so hard. - Kaladin and Syl Hugging I SHIP IT!!! really it has no hope but I ship it anyway. - Conversations with the Stormfather These were some of the most enlightening parts of the story - An almost that didn't happen (view spoiler)[Elhokar I weep for you (hide spoiler)] - Scary Unmade - Odium - Moral dilemmas - And Much Much More.
There is too much to tell. This remains my favorite EPIC Fantasy series of all time to date....more
So excited!!! It is reread time. Rhythm of War is so close and this was just as good the 2nd time on Graphic audio and the 4th time total.
ISo excited!!! It is reread time. Rhythm of War is so close and this was just as good the 2nd time on Graphic audio and the 4th time total.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. I have 0 regrets about getting the graphic audio. It has made this reread even better than I thought it was going to be.
This takes us through to a little past the assassination attempt which was so EPIC. I really can't wait to get to the duel I know is coming soon....more
Sale Alert 30Dec17 Kindle Daily Deal for $4.99. This was one of the best series I read in 2017 and it is on sale today
If you didn’t give thisSale Alert 30Dec17 Kindle Daily Deal for $4.99. This was one of the best series I read in 2017 and it is on sale today
If you didn’t give this series a go because it is listed as Sci-Fi, don’t let that deter you. This is probably one of the best completed Sci-Fi fantasy series I’ve read in a while.
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As the third book in a very strong and genuinely unique series I had a lot of expectations going into the final book. There were so many things I wanted to know and the story had been so strong that I was worried it couldn’t finish out just as strongly. I have no idea now why I was so worried because N.K. Jemisin delivered up to the very last page.
“I think,� Hoa says slowly, “that if you love someone, you don’t get to choose how they love you back.�
I’m going to give N.K. Jemisin some huge props for the way she tells this story. It is told from the perspective of three different people but it is told by a single individual. It sounds so much more complicated than it is and in the context of the story it makes perfect sense.
There were certain things that I really wanted from this story.
� - I wanted to know so much more about the Stone Eaters. Who they are? How they came/come into being? Why they are fighting a war? What does the second faction want? I got answers to all of these questions any more. It was amazing to learn the history of the Stone Eaters and Hoa specifically. His story had so many true surprises and the world building around his story was really phenomenal.
I’m tired, and overwhelmed, and perhaps a little angry. This day has upended my sense of self. I’ve spent my whole life knowing I was a tool, yes; not a person, but at least a symbol of power and brilliance and pride. Now I know I’m really just a symbol of paranoia and greed and hate. It’s a lot to deal with.
� - I wanted a satisfying ending. Let’s not confuse that with a perfect ending or a happily ever after ending. This is the end of the world we are talking about so I went in knowing that not everyone will make it to the other side of the book alive. I also know that there will be some painful moments that will possibly crush all of my feelings. I can handle all of those things if a story is told well and it isn’t just thrown in for shock value. I have read quite a few books lately that leave the end with an unfinished feeling to them and it really isn’t my favorite thing.
For me, the ending was very satisfying. When all of the stuff happens near the end I understood all of the sides and the emotions and why the characters made the choices they made even if it was painful to watch them make those horrible choices. I loved how Essun wanted so desperately to be able to be the mother Nassun needed. I loved that Nassun found someone to love like a father since her father couldn’t find a way to love all of her. I loved how Hoa was there for Essun through her entire journey with the patience and strength of a Mountain. Hoa’s understanding of humans and the choices they make is definitely born of someone who has lived millennia.
(She is such a good child, at her core. Don’t be angry with her. She can only make choices within the limited set of her experiences, and it isn’t her fault that so many of those experiences have been terrible. Marvel, instead, at how easily she loves, how thoroughly. Love enough to change the world! She learned how to love like this from somewhere.)
� - I wanted Essun and Nassun to meet. They did and they are different people than they were the 2 years before. It was very emotional. That is all I can really say about that without spoiling something big.
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� - I wanted to know what happened to Alabaster. I had a few ideas that were totally confirmed in this. I feel good knowing more about why Antimony ate him and why Hoa is going to eat Essun.
“This isn’t what you think of it,� Hoa says, and for an instant you worry that he can read your mind. More likely it’s just the fact that he’s as old as the literal hills, and he can read your face. “You see what was lost in us, but we gained, too. This is not the ugly thing it seems.� It seems like he’s going to eat your arm. You’re okay with it, but you want to understand. “What is it, then? Why …� You shake your head, unsure of even what question to ask. Maybe why doesn’t matter. Maybe you can’t understand. Maybe this isn’t meant for you.
� - I wanted to know more about Father Earth. We get this too and more than I really expected. The origin story of the seasons and how the moon was lost explained so much. Once upon a time the saying was evil death and not evil earth. Oh but the new saying is fitting for so many reasons and I understood completely why Alabaster would want to be given to Antimony and never buried in the earth.
So where they should have seen a living being, they saw only another thing to exploit. Where they should have asked, or left alone, they raped. For some crimes, there is no fitting justice—only reparation.
There are really so many great things about this story. It was innovative and had some extremely cool ideas and cultures in it. It is a bit unique. The heroine is a woman in her forties with children and I really appreciate that as someone not in their twenties anymore. Just because you get older doesn’t mean that all the interesting stuff happens to other people. I keep forgetting to mention that most of the characters are brown and black. I’m not one to pay super close attention to all of the character descriptions but it is really strange to read a book where there are not any blond/blue eyed characters and that most of the descriptions of hair are ash blown and bottlebrush. The narrator is a character in the book and speaks in the voice of two other characters in the book if you read The Book Thief then you will have an idea of how that works.
This was a truly wonderfully written series from beginning to end and I’m so glad that I didn’t know it was classified as Sci-Fi when I started or else it would have probably passed me by. I much prefer to think of this as dystopianesk fantasy since fantasy is my comfort zone.
Audio Note: Robin Miles has done a fantastic job performing the entire series. It is one of my favorite audio presentations this year so far....more
I'm going tFull review later when I'm less emotional.
How I feel about Akil
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How I feel about Stefan
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This was never going to go well for me.
I'm going to give Pippa huge props for doing things a little different, a little dark and twisting up my emotions into a raging mess. I want to say I loved the ending but I'm still pouting a little so at this moment in time I can't. But, I respect where she took the story and I will say that I cried for a Demon and maybe a little girl too.
I was so emotional at the end of this that I had to make up an idea for a new book series for Akil just so I could fall asleep. This doesn't happen to me very often (the last time was after I finished Crooked Kingdom) so huge props to Pippa for making me care so much.
DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE FINISHED THE BOOK (view spoiler)[no seriously do not open until you have finished(view spoiler)[last warning(view spoiler)[ Muse sucked all the power out of Asmodeus after the veil fell and since they were bloodkin it changed her. She isn't immortal but close enough that while Stefan aged and died and she remained. Everyone she knew is gone now mortals has such fleeting lives it seems.
She cuts herself with the blade sometimes to see Akil and has remembered him since the day the veil was closed off. He left memories of himself in that blade for her. So she might see him kill Sam but she also sees the other things he did for her since he'd cut himself to leave his story/their story for her to find later.
She is the mother of destruction and she will find the man who gave up his freedom for hers. She will help the chaos along on her side of the veil so that there will be a way to punch through even for a small moment to get to him.
Akil has changed. He still hungers, he yearns but not for the things he wanted before. Only for her. He is no longer just demon, just the Prince of Greed he is more. Demon/Angel it is just a label and he will find a way to leave this prison he chose long ago to save her.
He whispers in Dawn's ear, plants seeds in her mind to grow. Because Dawn can not have her revenge on the woman that lied, the woman that sent her to hell if the veil is closed. He claims he will be her avenging angel if she helps him return that he will deliver the revenge she wants so desperately. He would do anything to see her again even make a deal with the Queen of Hell.
Muse still holds a small piece of him in her soul and he know she is still there just beyond the veil. He will get to her. He will see her again. She. Is. Still. His. (hide spoiler)](hide spoiler)](hide spoiler)]
pre review
Shhh....I'm supposed to wait until tomorrow to read this with the BB&B UF group. But alas I can't....wait....one....second....longer.
I loved Age of Myth. It was on my top 5 fantasy reads of 2016 (I read over 150 fantasy books so that is an ac★✩A solid 4 ‘call me Fhreyhyndia� stars✩★
I loved Age of Myth. It was on my top 5 fantasy reads of 2016 (I read over 150 fantasy books so that is an accomplishment.). This is a really good story and I enjoyed most of it, even the parts that broke my heart a little or a lot, but I didn’t love it quite as much as the first book of the series. That isn’t to say it wasn’t still a fantastic follow up to Age of Myth. It would have been really difficult to top that book for me.
� Every life is a journey filled with crossroads. And then there are the bridges, those truly frightening choices that span what always was, from what will forever be. Finding the courage, or stupidity, to cross such bridges changes everything. �
Heroes can come from unexpected places and Age of Swords was full of them. The best part for me is that most end up being women. I love the MJS has a cast full of strong female characters that all heroic in their own ways:
� - Persephone always trying to everything possible to save her people no matter the cost to herself.
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� - Moya proving to everyone that she is braver in the face of danger than any man. I love her so much. She is fearless and pushes the boundaries of everything. She flirts with the Elves, fights with tradition and proves that just because you are beautiful and could have any man you don’t necessarily need one to save you.
� - Brin who loses so much in this book but in the face of it all looks for how she can best keep the history of a people alive for eternity. She will walk into any danger to be able to chronicle these moments for the future.
� -Roan who is brilliant but broken. I think I might love her the most just because she needs it more than any other character in the book. She survived beatings and slavery and thrived into becoming a mechanical genius. I ship her and Gifford so hard and they better get a little happiness eventually since each completely deserves it.
� - Then there is Suri…well she sacrificed more than I wanted her to and showed us what the cost was to change from a caterpillar into a butterfly.
There’s always a cost. And I can’t imagine those pretty wings come cheap. Nothing has so far.�
Age of Myth was an introduction into this world and Age of Swords shows how the Rhunic people are evolving, Once they were roaming families that later settled and became clans. Now they need to become even more if they are going to go to war with the Fhrey and that means that all of them must come together as a people if they are going to stand a chance.
I always love the story arcs with the women and even Raithe’s arc was really good. This time the Fane’s young son Mawyndulë had a PoV which was the readers inside as to what was happening within the Fhrey. That was the hardest PoV to read as he is really more like a petulant child. He is incredibly young for an Elf and has been sheltered most of his life so his sense of entitlement and superiority were a bit too much at times that I just ended up being angry at him. Still the machinations in the heart of the Fhrey lands are great and maybe even a little more twisted than I originally thought. These were really the only parts of the book that read slow for me.
I did like getting to visit the Dwarven lands and meeting a few decent dwarves. The Dherg were not quite what I was expecting but I think Nyphron was closer than I thought he’d be.
“The Dherg are notoriously untrustworthy. Deceit is their first language and selfishness their creed, so they expect the same from others. They launched a war with my people because they thought we concealed a fruit that granted eternal life. When we told them no such fruit existed, they thought we were lying because it’s what they would have done. They’ll do anything to get what they want. Personally, I’d never broker a deal with them, but this is a good gamble.
The world and the cultures become even richer with every chapter in this series. I like that things are laid out for us slowly so that even those who read MJS’s other series have new peoples and places introduced all the time.
For those of you who have read The RIyera books I think that there are lots of little Easter eggs (view spoiler)[like how a Gilarabrywn is made and we meet Tesh. But is he the first Teshlore knight???? (hide spoiler)] in here for you as well. For me I think learning that what they believe 3000 years from now has been much skewed from the events that actually took place. I really like how well MJS is playing with this idea. The only author who I think did it just as well or better is Brandon Sanderson when he took the Mistborn world of books 1-3 and then skipped ahead 300+ years with Mistborn 4-6 and you could see how history was remembered.
Nyphron, well I’m not quite sure what I think of that guy. I definitely get his motivations and since I’ve read the other series I know a little of the lore behind him. I honestly can’t wait to learn the truth behind the story that became Nyphron and Persephone. Especially since I’m shipping her with someone that isn’t Nyphron.
This is currently one of my favorite fantasy series and even though Age of Myth was a bit stronger for me I like the direction of the story and LOVED the twists at the end. I was actually pretty surprised in those last chapters and so into everything that was happening and then it was over�.and now we wait.
Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey publishing for the ARC
I finished this about a week ag0 and I still can’t seem to decide if I love it or hate it.
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I think itSale Alert: Amazon Daily Deal 18Jul18
I finished this about a week ag0 and I still can’t seem to decide if I love it or hate it.
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I think it is kind of a little of both. The writing is wonderful and the world is fantastic. That easily made me like so many things about this book. BUT this isn’t an “and they all lived Happily Ever After� kind of book and so at the end I was left with this sad empty feeling that I didn’t like.
� On the Plus Side �
The world is fascinating and super complex. There are so many different kinds of creatures, peoples and interesting characters. This is a world where there is alchemy, magic and various other mysteries. It is a world where things like this can happen from the magical waste in the rivers.
Young mudlarks searching the river quag for scrap had been known to step into some discoloured patch of mud and start speaking long-dead languages, or find locusts in their hair, or fade slowly to translucency and disappear.
The author took some very big risks with the love interest Lin and the relationship between her and the main character Isaac Grimnebulin.
He kissed her warm red skin. She turned in his arms. She angled up on one elbow and, as he watched, the dark ruby of her carapace opened slowly while her headlegs splayed. The two halves of her headshell quivered slightly, held as wide as they would go. From beneath their shade she spread her beautiful, useless little beetle wings.
I really couldn’t picture it in my head I mean she is a creature with a woman’s body and a beetle head. It was interesting and different and so odd. [image] There are eagle headed creatures, huge spider men things that live in multiple realms at the same time and weave things to their liking, moths that drink your dreams and much much more. It was amazing and very detailed I could definitely picture most of the stuff in this so well because of the beautiful writing. Things like:
New Crobuzon was a city unconvinced by gravity.
Wyrmen clawed their way above the city leaving trails of defecation and profanity.
Crematoria vented into the airborne ashes of wills burnt by jealous executors, which mixed with coaldust burnt to keep dying lovers warm. Thousands of sordid smoke-ghosts wrapped New Crobuzon in a stench that suffocated like guilt.
More than once I got lost within the words of the story. It was beautiful yet grotesque, captivating yet horrifying all at the same time. This story lived in a strange and wonderful dichotomy that was just strange.
The characters within the story are not nice and noble people. They are people driven to the brink and tested. They made choices that seemed necessary and at the same time were also horrible. Some of the consequences are horrible and I was really sad that a few of them had to be paid like that along the way.
� The Bad of It �
It isn’t even necessarily bad. This is not a happy story. There are no roses and sunshine at the end it is choices made and consequences paid. I was sad for many of the characters at the end of this. It is hard to get to know some of them in one context in the story to find out what their crime was before we met them and then figure out how you feel about them now. Can you forgive them their past transgressions or do you now hate them forever. I still don’t know or have an answer to that question.
There is part of this that it seems like the story loses a bit of its direction and flounders for a second. It is just crazy because it shifts right in the middle from being about whatever I assumed it was about at the beginning into what it ended up being about in the end. It is just a strange transition.
� Overall: �
If you are looking for a happy story where everything works out in the end, the bad guys totally get what is coming to them and the heroes make out better off then they started out, then this is not the story for you.
BUT, if you are looking for something interesting, different, gritty and strange well this should totally fit that bill well. The writing is superb in so many ways and this definitely is a unique world. I don’t read a lot of Sci Fi but I’m definitely going to finish out this series....more
Sale Alert: Kindle monthly deal for February for $2.99 at
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When I first read FSale Alert: Kindle monthly deal for February for $2.99 at
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When I first read Flamecaster, I told myself be careful what you wish for.
This Shattered Realms series is set 25 years after The Seven Realms series, which is one of my all time favorite YA fantasy series. Because that is the case, the character shift to Han and Raisa’s children being the main characters meant they are not safe. Some of the characters I love from the first series are going to die and that was also why thirty pages into Flamecaster I was in tears sobbing and didn’t think I’d continue the book. Stormcaster made me glad I continued because after I wiped away all my tears I had a theory, a dream, a hope for my beloved character who was gone and I WAS RIGHT!!! and it made everything so much better for me.
Stormcaster is much like Flamecaster and Shadowcaster, in that we spend the first 30% of the book with a new character getting their backstory and bringing us up to present time. Evan was the envoy that came to Ardenscourt for Jenna in Flamecaster. His origin story was so interesting I didn’t care that it took us a third of the book to get back to where we left off at the end of Shadowcaster. Evan and Destin’s history was fleshed out and I will say it was different than I expected but wonderful. I was happy to find out he wasn’t exactly what we thought he was.
You are in deep water, Pirate, and you’ve forgotten how to swim. Do not fall for this dangerous, moody, mercurial boy. It will lead to heartbreak or worse.
We have a few different story lines happening; Adrian is with Lila headed back to his homeland and to see his mother *insert tears here*. Alyssa is captured with Breon and headed to wherever the Empress lives. Hal is on his way to his father to try to gather an army to look for Alyssa. Destin is in Ardenscourt hoping to stop a civil war. Lila is actually in all of the places because that girl is badass and totally gets around. Jenna is with her Dragon Cas and they are having their own adventure, let’s just mention here how awesome Cas is.
The thing I love about this world is that the women in it are so strong. It is one of the few stories I’ve read that has a Queendom instead of a Kingdom. The head of the Army is a woman, one of the top spies is a girl and another girl is a tamer of dragons and has hatched a dangerous plan of her own. Never is it said the girls should be bundled up, stowed away safely, knitting. They are all out there making differences and being strong in so many ways.
Stormcaster is where I think a lot of the story is getting traction. There are some bigger movements on what the Magemarked are and why the Empress is after them. I especially enjoyed learning more about the bloodsworn and trying to develop a theory about what those crazy blood drinking priests might be. Adrian’s reunion with his mother opens back up the political intrigues which lead to Han’s assassination and the attempt on Alyssa. I loved getting page time with Raisa. I’ve missed her so much since she is not the star of the series. But again she is the wonderful character I loved so much in the Seven Realms series.
“You smell of the road� sweat and horses and leather, meadowsweet and pine.� She put up a hand when he tried to apologize. “No. I like it. My father was a clan trader, and he always came home smelling like faraway places. It reminds me of something your father said once.� She closed her eyes, remembering. “He said, ‘I want to breathe you in for the rest of my life.’�
It is fantastic to be back in this world and while you might have shied away from it if you read the Seven Realms series, I think fans will be especially excited about a few of the developments in this series in regards to characters from the original series.
Warning � This contains a developing relationship between a same sex couple. While there is no sex, there is a kiss. I don’t say this to discourage anyone from reading it but as a parent I liked knowing those things going in so I could answer questions my kids might have had. I hope this doesn’t dissuade anyone from reading.
Audio Note: As always, this is well performed and the narration of the all the characters is done well.
I don’t know if I’m becoming a more acquainted with Steven Erickson’s writing and thus I understood more of this book OR this book was just more readaI don’t know if I’m becoming a more acquainted with Steven Erickson’s writing and thus I understood more of this book OR this book was just more readable than the first 2.
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Finally stuff is making more and more sense to me. But there is so much that happens in this book that it is really hard to sum it up in a review.
However this is what I’ve now learned from Steven Erickson in this series:
� - My favorite Character will die. Seriously 3 books and in each one the character I liked the most ended up dead. Whether they die a true death OR simply ascend to something else is yet to be seen.
�- Someone will backstab someone else at a most inopportune time and get a lot of people killed. You would think that would go with #1 but it is its own thing.
� - Someone from the past will show up with a completely different name and you will have to try to figure out who they are. Sometimes it is easy and other times you really have to work for it.
� - A character that you used to like will probably do something that turns you against them or at least makes you question why you ever liked them.
� - Someone will make a sacrifice that is devastating.
� - The one relationship that you root for in the book will be torn apart or never really get any traction
There are many other things I’ve learned but those are the main bits.
Dujek, Whiskeyjack and the Bridgeburners were always one of my favorites from Gardens of the Moon and so I was happy to be with them again. I will say that there are some crazy things going on in this book like women from the Pannion Domin raping men who are dying on the battlefield because it is supposed to make a child born from that a seer.
Alomander Rake is back with Moonspawn and that cursed blade. I loved that we get some history on how that blade was forged and that Alomander Rake was not the first to wield it.
Paran actually has a really interesting arc going on and some unexpected changes in him. While I don’t get everything that his new ‘position� entails I think it means that he will be a big player at the end. I was really excited for him to be reunited with Tattersail in the form of SIlverfox but alas that actually ended up being one of my least favorite parts of the story�.again see #6.
Best new character award goes to Gruntle. I love that guy (that means he is doomed in the future > eyes #1 suspiciously ). I wasn’t really sure what to think of him at the beginning but his story actually ended up being my favorite for this book. I love that he doesn’t care for the houses or the gods in them one bit and yet now he is attached to one. He probably isn’t what that god wanted but he was in the right place at the wrong time and as the strips are with him forever now. Of course he was the person that I really was hoping would get a good relationship going with Stoney but alas again I was thwarted by #6. I love them together though.
The end to this was chalked full of action and it was so sad. I am really heartbroken that things played out as they did. I’m still not sure how I feel, accept I feel like I lost a good friend at the end of this. It is sometimes hard to believe that some of the characters in this book are not real people. There were deaths in the other books I was upset by but there is one in this that totally gutted me and we are only at book 3 so I’m not sure my tender notions are going to survive this series.
But on to House of Chains and the new heartache that is sure to come with it....more
14 pages that tore my heart out, threw it on the ground and then tap danced on it. I didn't know I could cry so much over 14 pages.
I will miss [image]
14 pages that tore my heart out, threw it on the ground and then tap danced on it. I didn't know I could cry so much over 14 pages.
I will miss you Fran. I thought I had one more to go before we got here but we didn't. My biggest fear is losing the love of my life and so it was so hard to be with Johnny and Alice when they lost theirs.
Yes I know this is the same review I posted for InCryptid #0.13 but the crying and devastation continues and I can't think of anything else to say right now....more
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