Michael's bookshelf: all en-US Tue, 11 Mar 2025 15:53:21 -0700 60 Michael's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Stand 60311454 Stephen King's apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and tangled in an elemental struggle between good and evil remains as riveting and eerily plausible as when it was first published.

Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read

A patient escapes from a biological testing facility, unknowingly carrying a deadly weapon: a mutated strain of super-flu that will wipe out 99 percent of the world's population within a few weeks. Those who remain are scared, bewildered, and in need of a leader. Two emerge--Mother Abagail, the benevolent 108-year-old woman who urges them to build a peaceful community in Boulder, Colorado; and Randall Flagg, the nefarious "Dark Man," who delights in chaos and violence. As the dark man and the peaceful woman gather power, the survivors will have to choose between them--and ultimately decide the fate of all humanity.

(This edition includes all of the new and restored material first published in The Stand The Complete And Uncut Edition.)]]> 1439 Stephen King 0307743683 Michael 0 to-read 4.25 1978 The Stand
author: Stephen King
name: Michael
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1978
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Coraline 56197496 157 Neil Gaiman 0063088231 Michael 3 standalones
Welp, I'm back to Neil Gaiman land and unfortunately, this is my least favorite of his work so far. Ironic because the movie adaptation is one of the best animated films ever made and it became so apparent reading this how much the adaptation to screen improved so many key features of the book while also enhancing the book by expanding characters and adding stuff that made lots of sense. This seems to be a trend with Gaiman adaptations I'm noticing.

I mean, WOW. The prose is a huge step down compared to the books I've read by him. The parents just seem oblivious to Coraline and don't seem to care, shrugging at every single sentence she spurts out. It doesn't help that there's no descriptive emotions. It's mostly just 'Coraline said' or 'The Cat said' or 'The Other Mother said', it's so bland and doesn't give a good idea of how the characters are feeling. The characters just say stuff. They don't do stuff. When they do stuff, it's when there's no pretty much no dialogue 90% of the time. I do like the illustrations and it definitely helped me deviate from the book from the film so I had different images to focus on, but I got to say this felt VERY lacking compared to Gaiman's other body of work. There's just not enough steam here.

It's not all terrible but I've so far given every Gaiman book I've read a Full 5 Star Rating, this is a noticeable step down. Whether it's to change style for a Young Adult audience I don't know, but it's certainly the worst Gaiman book I've read. Although, there are some moments that do shine throughout the book, mainly the interactions with the cat and the hunt for the marbles. Yeah, I don't have much else to say. I'd certainly recommend reading Neverwhere over this or any of the stories I've read by him again.]]> 4.18 2002 Coraline
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Michael
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/19
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: standalones
review:
Wow! Michael actually reviewed A BOOK? That's rare to see nowadays!

Welp, I'm back to Neil Gaiman land and unfortunately, this is my least favorite of his work so far. Ironic because the movie adaptation is one of the best animated films ever made and it became so apparent reading this how much the adaptation to screen improved so many key features of the book while also enhancing the book by expanding characters and adding stuff that made lots of sense. This seems to be a trend with Gaiman adaptations I'm noticing.

I mean, WOW. The prose is a huge step down compared to the books I've read by him. The parents just seem oblivious to Coraline and don't seem to care, shrugging at every single sentence she spurts out. It doesn't help that there's no descriptive emotions. It's mostly just 'Coraline said' or 'The Cat said' or 'The Other Mother said', it's so bland and doesn't give a good idea of how the characters are feeling. The characters just say stuff. They don't do stuff. When they do stuff, it's when there's no pretty much no dialogue 90% of the time. I do like the illustrations and it definitely helped me deviate from the book from the film so I had different images to focus on, but I got to say this felt VERY lacking compared to Gaiman's other body of work. There's just not enough steam here.

It's not all terrible but I've so far given every Gaiman book I've read a Full 5 Star Rating, this is a noticeable step down. Whether it's to change style for a Young Adult audience I don't know, but it's certainly the worst Gaiman book I've read. Although, there are some moments that do shine throughout the book, mainly the interactions with the cat and the hunt for the marbles. Yeah, I don't have much else to say. I'd certainly recommend reading Neverwhere over this or any of the stories I've read by him again.
]]> The War of the Worlds 48495492 The War of the Worlds reveals the true terror of life under an implacable and enigmatic foe.
Armed with terrifying killing machines and Heat-Rays, the Martians arrive in London and quickly subdue the British forces. Faced with extraordinary odds and a world changed beyond all recognition, nothing less than the survival of the human race is at stake.]]> 190 H.G. Wells 1789500869 Michael 3
For those who are unaware, I had massive reading burnout in 2020 no thanks to reading The Lord of the Rings (not to say it was bad though!) and for the last five years I've only read a total of 8 Books (including this) from the last two years. I am attempting to read more though and I think I finally found a way of just putting myself down to read by just listening to Vinyl. Anyways, that's the reason I haven't read in a long time. But I hope with this new trick I will be posting more on books!

-REVIEW-

This is possibly the most horrifying thing I have ever read. To be honest it shouldn't have surprised me since I find the majority of disaster films depressing, so I should have expected this to be really brutal. The first thing I need to point out is TO NOT go in thinking this is science fiction. This should more be credited as horror, not Sci-Fi! Possibly one of the most emotionally upsetting parts of this book is in the second half in is Book II Chapter IV. I won't spoil, but this was such a petrifying chapter to begin with. What I think really makes the book standout today is how when fear overcomes us we lose grip and all sense of rational thought and do monstrous, regrettable, horrific things to one another in the sense of peril. It became very clear with the Cousin's chapters that this was not some schlocky book like I was expecting it to be, this is a realistic tale of warfare of Humanity Vs. Fear.

I have to dock points off because the writing is oftentimes dry. Even Jules Verne had more appetite in Around the World to showcase. I don't know, I just feel while this story is absolutely horrific in the sense that this really captured my insecurities while being outside, the writing isn't as amazing as it should have been. But wow, seeing London in the 19th Century was very much something I wanted to look upon for a while now. I will rarely touch this book again just because of how vivid it's description of human insanity is. But I am honestly impressed that a book can instill this much horror into someone even today.

Thankfully it was short. Would I call it enjoyable? I don't think so. But I would call it realistic. From the back of my mind I remember the 2005 Film capturing the absolutely panic and dread and insanity that this book vividly showcases us but I'm disappointed no one has decided to do a full on adaptation of the novel the way it is. In the right hands of someone like Robert Eggers this could be a truly devastating and panic inducing classic for the cinema, but it seems people are more interested in showcasing the main theme of the book on film, not showcasing the story as intended, which is why I think a big reason of this book works so much is because it was written at the end of the 19th Century which today feels to me unreal in itself.

I don't have any other words. Just Horrifying.]]> 3.55 1898 The War of the Worlds
author: H.G. Wells
name: Michael
average rating: 3.55
book published: 1898
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/17
date added: 2024/11/17
shelves: classics, books-read-from-2024-2026
review:
Once in a blue moon it seems I'll type up a review for a book. And yep! It's that rare occasion where I get to talk about something!

For those who are unaware, I had massive reading burnout in 2020 no thanks to reading The Lord of the Rings (not to say it was bad though!) and for the last five years I've only read a total of 8 Books (including this) from the last two years. I am attempting to read more though and I think I finally found a way of just putting myself down to read by just listening to Vinyl. Anyways, that's the reason I haven't read in a long time. But I hope with this new trick I will be posting more on books!

-REVIEW-

This is possibly the most horrifying thing I have ever read. To be honest it shouldn't have surprised me since I find the majority of disaster films depressing, so I should have expected this to be really brutal. The first thing I need to point out is TO NOT go in thinking this is science fiction. This should more be credited as horror, not Sci-Fi! Possibly one of the most emotionally upsetting parts of this book is in the second half in is Book II Chapter IV. I won't spoil, but this was such a petrifying chapter to begin with. What I think really makes the book standout today is how when fear overcomes us we lose grip and all sense of rational thought and do monstrous, regrettable, horrific things to one another in the sense of peril. It became very clear with the Cousin's chapters that this was not some schlocky book like I was expecting it to be, this is a realistic tale of warfare of Humanity Vs. Fear.

I have to dock points off because the writing is oftentimes dry. Even Jules Verne had more appetite in Around the World to showcase. I don't know, I just feel while this story is absolutely horrific in the sense that this really captured my insecurities while being outside, the writing isn't as amazing as it should have been. But wow, seeing London in the 19th Century was very much something I wanted to look upon for a while now. I will rarely touch this book again just because of how vivid it's description of human insanity is. But I am honestly impressed that a book can instill this much horror into someone even today.

Thankfully it was short. Would I call it enjoyable? I don't think so. But I would call it realistic. From the back of my mind I remember the 2005 Film capturing the absolutely panic and dread and insanity that this book vividly showcases us but I'm disappointed no one has decided to do a full on adaptation of the novel the way it is. In the right hands of someone like Robert Eggers this could be a truly devastating and panic inducing classic for the cinema, but it seems people are more interested in showcasing the main theme of the book on film, not showcasing the story as intended, which is why I think a big reason of this book works so much is because it was written at the end of the 19th Century which today feels to me unreal in itself.

I don't have any other words. Just Horrifying.
]]> <![CDATA[Around the World in Eighty Days]]> 54479 252 Jules Verne 014044906X Michael 5
Having watched a couple of adaptations of this novel, I finally decided to give this one a try since it's been so highly regarded over the years. I gotta say I'm not disappointed. This was just a really fun read and was something I needed during this time. I don't usually tend to read other genres besides Epic Fantasy and Science Fiction, but this was splendid the whole way through. I feel I'd respect the 1956 Film a lot more now after reading this. It's such a wonderful, engaging, enthralling read that I couldn't have been more happier with the choice to read it.

I think one of the strongest aspects of the book itself is that the prose even for something written in the 1870's, the prose is very easy to get into. A lot of the time Jules Verne does a great job at writing very descriptively. But alongside that, the setbacks that occur to Phileas Fogg in this novel are great. Fogg, unlike some characters, doesn't get worked up about losing time, idiocy or stupid things. He keeps a cool demeanor throughout the entire book only really showcasing any emotion during the "Final" day. He's honestly a great character and Passepartout is a great opposite to him, passionate and dedicated to working for his master.

I think the thing that really gets me though is that this is secretly a romance novel. When Fogg saves the Indian Princess Aouda, it really without the reader knowing becomes a romance between them despite the two not saying much to each other, with Aouda wanting Fogg's protection and Fogg in the end listening to his heart about her. It's pretty great! There's tons of great parts of the book, from Inspector Fix drugging Passepartout, to the rescue of Aouda, to the Indian Attack on the train in America, there's constant moments that keep the reader going. It helps the chapters are short as well as this is mostly a nearly 300 page book from the version I have.

This book is really what I needed right now. I'm glad I finally got a chance to read this. It's a fantastic easy breezy read that is just super engaging and well written and filled with moments of suspense and conflict of how Fogg will overcome the obstacles he faces. I loved it. I'll be reading more Jules Verne in the future, but this was great!]]> 3.95 1872 Around the World in Eighty Days
author: Jules Verne
name: Michael
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1872
rating: 5
read at: 2022/12/01
date added: 2024/08/29
shelves: jules-verne, 2022-reads, 5-stars
review:
I wish I was as patient as Phileas Fogg.

Having watched a couple of adaptations of this novel, I finally decided to give this one a try since it's been so highly regarded over the years. I gotta say I'm not disappointed. This was just a really fun read and was something I needed during this time. I don't usually tend to read other genres besides Epic Fantasy and Science Fiction, but this was splendid the whole way through. I feel I'd respect the 1956 Film a lot more now after reading this. It's such a wonderful, engaging, enthralling read that I couldn't have been more happier with the choice to read it.

I think one of the strongest aspects of the book itself is that the prose even for something written in the 1870's, the prose is very easy to get into. A lot of the time Jules Verne does a great job at writing very descriptively. But alongside that, the setbacks that occur to Phileas Fogg in this novel are great. Fogg, unlike some characters, doesn't get worked up about losing time, idiocy or stupid things. He keeps a cool demeanor throughout the entire book only really showcasing any emotion during the "Final" day. He's honestly a great character and Passepartout is a great opposite to him, passionate and dedicated to working for his master.

I think the thing that really gets me though is that this is secretly a romance novel. When Fogg saves the Indian Princess Aouda, it really without the reader knowing becomes a romance between them despite the two not saying much to each other, with Aouda wanting Fogg's protection and Fogg in the end listening to his heart about her. It's pretty great! There's tons of great parts of the book, from Inspector Fix drugging Passepartout, to the rescue of Aouda, to the Indian Attack on the train in America, there's constant moments that keep the reader going. It helps the chapters are short as well as this is mostly a nearly 300 page book from the version I have.

This book is really what I needed right now. I'm glad I finally got a chance to read this. It's a fantastic easy breezy read that is just super engaging and well written and filled with moments of suspense and conflict of how Fogg will overcome the obstacles he faces. I loved it. I'll be reading more Jules Verne in the future, but this was great!
]]> The Sky on Fire 195790718
There’s only one in the cloud cities, dragons rule, and the hoard in question belongs to the current regent, Neveranimas―and she wants Anahrod dead.

Enjoy this page-turning adventure with conniving dragons, high-stakes intrigue, a daring heist, and a little bit of heat.]]> 435 Jenn Lyons Michael 0 to-read 3.63 2024 The Sky on Fire
author: Jenn Lyons
name: Michael
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[To Green Angel Tower, Part 1 (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, #3; Part 1)]]> 795034 To Green Angel Tower is the momentous tour-de-force finale of a ground-breaking series. Replete with war, deception, adventure, sorcery, and romance, To Green Angel Tower brings to a stunning and surprising conclusion Tad Williams' monumental tale of a magical conflict which fractures the very fabric of time and space, turning both humans and Sithi against those of their own blood.

As the evil minions of the undead Sithi Storm King prepare for the kingdom-shattering culmination of their dark sorceries and King Elias is drawn ever deeper into their nightmarish, spell-spun world, the loyal allies of Prince Josua desperately struggle to rally their forces at The Stone of Farewell. And with time running out, the remaining members of the now-devastated League of the Scroll have also gathered there to unravel mysteries from the forgotten past. For if the League can reclaim these age-old secrets of magic long-buried beneath the dusts of time, they may be able to reveal to Josua and his army the only means of striking down the unslayable foe.

But whether or not the League is successful in its quest, the call of battle will lead the valiant followers of Josua Lackhand across storm tossed seas brimming with bloodthirsty kilpa...through forests swarming with those both mind- and soul-lost... through ancient caverns built by legendary Dwarrows...to the haunted halls of Asu'a itself—the Sithi's greatest stronghold!]]> 815 Tad Williams 0886775981 Michael 0 to-read, 2019-tbr-stuff 4.21 1993 To Green Angel Tower, Part 1 (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, #3; Part 1)
author: Tad Williams
name: Michael
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: to-read, 2019-tbr-stuff
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Thousand Names (The Shadow Campaigns, #1)]]> 19486440
Captain Marcus d’Ivoire, commander of one of the Vordanai empire’s colonial garrisons, was serving out his days in a sleepy, remote outpost—until a rebellion left him in charge of a demoralized force clinging to a small fortress at the edge of the desert.

To flee from her past, Winter Ihernglass masqueraded as a man and enlisted as a ranker in the Vordanai Colonials, hoping only to avoid notice. But when chance sees her promoted to command, she must lead her men into battle against impossible odds.

Their fate depends on Colonel Janus bet Vhalnich. Under his command, Marcus and Winter feel the tide turning and their allegiance being tested. For Janus’s ambitions extend beyond the battlefield and into the realm of the supernatural—a realm with the power to reshape the known world and change the lives of everyone in its path.]]> 609 Django Wexler 0451418050 Michael 0 to-read 4.10 2013 The Thousand Names (The Shadow Campaigns, #1)
author: Django Wexler
name: Michael
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, #2)]]> 36223859
Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A� stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue.

What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks…]]> 149 Martha Wells Michael 4 murderbot-diaries
I do think that feels more of a B-Plot though. The A-Plot involves them helping some people trying to get their work back from a sleazy company and the overall climax is quite exciting. I felt this was by far the most interesting part of the book. And it's clear to me that the most interesting thing about Murderbot is that they truly do care about the people they work for, even if they're very anti-social and incredibly awkward and somewhat irritated. There's clearly lots of work that has gone into the protagonist and fleshing out their feelings which makes you really care about them.

Look, ever since 2020 I've not had the proper energy or patience to write proper full length reviews of books. As said, it's much harder to read now than it was back in 2019. However, I do think this series may get me slowly back into the groove of reading. I'll hopefully be reading the next book soon and I do have it on hand. This was a much bigger improvement and I feel the series will go in a different direction than I was expecting at first. But I'll have to see.]]> 4.40 2018 Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, #2)
author: Martha Wells
name: Michael
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/06
date added: 2024/05/06
shelves: murderbot-diaries
review:
I was mostly lukewarm on the first Murderbot book. Obviously the characterization had lots going for it but the book felt very simplistic. This second novella however is a pretty big step up I felt. The prose did improve somewhat from the last book and in general the entire idea of the book was more compelling. From where we left off, we find out what happens with our protagonist way back when and it turns out... it's quite not what I expected. No spoilers of course, but it felt a bit refreshing to see that their past wasn't what they thought it was.

I do think that feels more of a B-Plot though. The A-Plot involves them helping some people trying to get their work back from a sleazy company and the overall climax is quite exciting. I felt this was by far the most interesting part of the book. And it's clear to me that the most interesting thing about Murderbot is that they truly do care about the people they work for, even if they're very anti-social and incredibly awkward and somewhat irritated. There's clearly lots of work that has gone into the protagonist and fleshing out their feelings which makes you really care about them.

Look, ever since 2020 I've not had the proper energy or patience to write proper full length reviews of books. As said, it's much harder to read now than it was back in 2019. However, I do think this series may get me slowly back into the groove of reading. I'll hopefully be reading the next book soon and I do have it on hand. This was a much bigger improvement and I feel the series will go in a different direction than I was expecting at first. But I'll have to see.
]]> <![CDATA[The Ocean at the End of the Lane]]> 27161228
“Fantasy of the very best.� Wall Street Journal

A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn’t thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she’d claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse where she once lived, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.

A groundbreaking work as delicate as a butterfly’s wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out.

“[Gaiman’s] mind is a dark fathomless ocean, and every time I sink into it, this world fades, replaced by one far more terrible and beautiful in which I will happily drown.� New York Times Book Review]]> 241 Neil Gaiman 0062459368 Michael 0 standalones, to-read 4.14 2013 The Ocean at the End of the Lane
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Michael
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/06
shelves: standalones, to-read
review:

]]> Your Movie Sucks 96765
From Roger's review of Deuce European Gigolo (0 stars): "The movie created a spot of controversy in February 2005. According to a story by Larry Carroll of MTV News, Rob Schneider took offense when Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times listed this year's Best Picture nominees and wrote that they were 'ignored, unloved, and turned down flat by most of the same studios that . . . bankroll hundreds of sequels, including a follow-up to Deuce Male Gigolo , a film that was sadly overlooked at Oscar time because apparently nobody had the foresight to invent a category for Best Running Penis Joke Delivered by a Third-Rate Comic.'

Schneider retaliated by attacking Goldstein in full-page ads in Daily Variety and the Hollywood Reporter . In an open letter to Goldstein, Schneider 'Well, Mr. Goldstein, I decided to do some research to find out what awards you have won. I went online and found that you have won nothing. Absolutely nothing. No journalistic awards of any kind. . . . Maybe you didn't win a Pulitzer Prize because they haven't invented a category for Best Third-Rate, Unfunny Pompous Reporter Who's Never Been Acknowledged by His Peers. . . .'

Schneider was nominated for a 2000 Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor, but lost to Jar-Jar Binks. But Schneider is correct, and Patrick Goldstein has not yet won a Pulitzer Prize. Therefore, Goldstein is not qualified to complain that Columbia financed Deuce European Gigolo while passing on the opportunity to participate in Million Dollar Baby, Ray, The Aviator, Sideways , and Finding Neverland . As chance would have it, I have won the Pulitzer Prize, and so I am qualified. Speaking in my official capacity as a Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks."]]> 368 Roger Ebert 0740763660 Michael 0 to-read 3.86 2007 Your Movie Sucks
author: Roger Ebert
name: Michael
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination]]> 443808
Walt Disney was a true visionary whose desire for escape, iron determination and obsessive perfectionism transformed animation from a novelty to an art form, first with Mickey Mouse and then with his feature films–most notably Snow White, Fantasia, and Bambi . In his superb biography, Neal Gabler shows us how, over the course of two decades, Disney revolutionized the entertainment industry. In a way that was unprecedented and later widely imitated, he built a synergistic empire that combined film, television, theme parks, music, book publishing, and merchandise. Walt Disney is a revelation of both the work and the man–of both the remarkable accomplishment and the hidden life.

Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography and USA Today Biography of the Year]]> 912 Neal Gabler 0679757473 Michael 0 to-read 4.18 2006 Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination
author: Neal Gabler
name: Michael
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Horrible Experience of Unbearable Length: More Movies That Suck]]> 12805100 I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie and Your Movie Sucks, which gathered some of his most scathing reviews, were best-sellers. This new collection continues the tradition, reviewing not only movies that were at the bottom of the barrel, but also movies that he found underneath the barrel.

A Horrible Experience of Unbearable Length collects more than 200 of his reviews since 2006 in which he gave movies two stars or fewer. Known for his fair-minded and well-written film reviews, Roger is at his razor-sharp humorous best when skewering bad movies. Consider this opener for the one-star Your Highness:

"Your Highness is a juvenile excrescence that feels like the work of 11-year-old boys in love with dungeons, dragons, warrior women, pot, boobs, and four-letter words. That this is the work of David Gordon Green beggars the imagination. One of its heroes wears the penis of a minotaur on a string around his neck. I hate it when that happens."

And finally, the inspiration for the title of this book, the one-star Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen:

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a horrible experience of unbearable length, briefly punctuated by three or four amusing moments. One of these involves a doglike robot humping the leg of the heroine. If you want to save yourself the ticket price go, go into the kitchen, cue up a male choir singing the music of hell, and get a kid to start banging pots and pans together. Then close your eyes and use your imagination."

Movie buffs and humor lovers alike will relish this treasury of movies so bad that you may just want to see them for a good laugh!

]]> 373 Roger Ebert 1449410251 Michael 0 to-read 3.69 2012 A Horrible Experience of Unbearable Length: More Movies That Suck
author: Roger Ebert
name: Michael
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1)]]> 9647295
In the end, not war but victory proved the greater test. Did our foes see that the harder they fought, the fiercer our resistance? Fire and hammer forge a sword; time and neglect rust it away. So we won the world, yet lost it.

Now there are four whom we watch: the surgeon, forced to forsake healing and fight in the most brutal war of our time; the assassin, who weeps as he kills; the liar, who wears her scholar's mantle over a thief's heart; and the prince, whose eyes open to the ancient past as his thirst for battle wanes.

One of them may redeem us. One of them will destroy us.

From Brandon Sanderson—the author completing Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series—comes The Stormlight Archive, a richly imagined epic set in a world relentlessly blasted by awesome tempests, where emotions take on physical form, and terrible secrets hide deep within the rocky landscape.]]> 1258 Brandon Sanderson 0765365278 Michael 0 to-read 4.67 2010 The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Michael
average rating: 4.67
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Golem and the Jinni (The Golem and the Jinni, #1)]]> 18148202
Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a disgraced rabbi who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic and dies at sea on the voyage from Poland. Chava is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York harbor in 1899.

Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire born in the ancient Syrian desert, trapped in an old copper flask, and released in New York City, though still not entirely free.

Ahmad and Chava become unlikely friends and soul mates with a mystical connection. Marvelous and compulsively readable, Helene Wecker's debut novel The Golem and the Jinni weaves strands of Yiddish and Middle Eastern literature, historical fiction and magical fable, into a wondrously inventive and unforgettable tale.]]> 484 Helene Wecker 0062110845 Michael 0 to-read 4.20 2013 The Golem and the Jinni (The Golem and the Jinni, #1)
author: Helene Wecker
name: Michael
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Elric of Melniboné (The Elric Saga, #1)]]> 30036
The youthful Elric is a cynical and melancholy king, heir to a nation whose 100,000-year rule of the world ended less than 500 years hence. More interested in brooding contemplation than holding the throne, Elric is a reluctant ruler, but he also realizes that no other worthy successor exists and the survival of his once-powerful, decadent nation depends on him alone. Elric's nefarious, brutish cousin Yrkoon has no patience for his physically weak kinsman, and he plots constantly to seize Elric's throne, usually over his dead body. Elric of Melniboné follows Yrkoon's scheming, reaching its climax in a battle between Elric and Yrkoon with the demonic runeblades Stormbringer and Mournblade. In this battle, Elric gains control of the soul-stealing Stormbringer, an event that proves pivotal to the Elric saga. --Paul Hughes]]> 181 Michael Moorcock 0441203981 Michael 4 the-elric-saga
It's a simple tale, but in general I found myself engrossed at points by the world in general that Elric lives in. I think the conflict between him and Yyrkoon was great, the latter is a fun villain in general. There's a couple of moments that stick out in my mind, specifically Yyrkoon's absolute shock when Elric just shows back up thinking he killed him and in general, the fight with the Fifteen Headed Snake (WHAT?!), there's moments I really enjoyed here and it feels like it's a book made of great moments that stick in your head for quite some time.

I don't have much else to say here mainly because I forgot so many little details about the story (I know, reading is hard for me nowadays) but I thought this was pretty fun. Elric is a good protagonist and I definitely cared about what was happening to him throughout the story. There's lots of moments I enjoyed here, so I'll be sure to hopefully commit to reading the next book in Saga Press's Vol. 1 soon. Fun!]]> 3.90 1972 Elric of Melniboné (The Elric Saga, #1)
author: Michael Moorcock
name: Michael
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1972
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/17
date added: 2023/11/17
shelves: the-elric-saga
review:
This review will be short since I myself am not the reader I was once. It takes me a LONG time just to read books because I get sidetracked by other things like my writings and what not, not to mention I forget things after a while if I haven't read in a bit. But I thought I'd talk about this a bit mainly because I bought Saga Press's new Elric Saga Vol. 1 hardcover and wanted to read some classic fantasy. And I wasn't disappointed!

It's a simple tale, but in general I found myself engrossed at points by the world in general that Elric lives in. I think the conflict between him and Yyrkoon was great, the latter is a fun villain in general. There's a couple of moments that stick out in my mind, specifically Yyrkoon's absolute shock when Elric just shows back up thinking he killed him and in general, the fight with the Fifteen Headed Snake (WHAT?!), there's moments I really enjoyed here and it feels like it's a book made of great moments that stick in your head for quite some time.

I don't have much else to say here mainly because I forgot so many little details about the story (I know, reading is hard for me nowadays) but I thought this was pretty fun. Elric is a good protagonist and I definitely cared about what was happening to him throughout the story. There's lots of moments I enjoyed here, so I'll be sure to hopefully commit to reading the next book in Saga Press's Vol. 1 soon. Fun!
]]> <![CDATA[Elric of Melniboné (The Elric Saga, #1)]]> 56897579
In one of the most well-known and well-loved fantasy epics of the 20th century, Elric is the brooding, albino emperor of the dying Kingdom of Melnibone. With Melnibone’s years of grandeur and decadence long since passed, Elric’s amoral cousin Yrkoon sets his eyes on the throne. Elric, realizing he is his country’s best hope, must face his nefarious cousin in an epic battle for the right to rule.

Elric of Melnibone is the first in Michael Moorcock’s incredible series, which created fantasy archetypes that have echoed through the genre for generations. The beautiful, vivid illustrations bring new life to the story and are sure to captivate fans, new and old.

Contents:
'One Life, Furnished in Early Moorcock', by Neil Gaiman.
Elric of Melniboné.
The Fortress of the Pearl.
The Sailor on the Seas of Fate.
The Weird of the White Wolf.]]> 752 Michael Moorcock 1534445684 Michael 0 the-elric-saga, to-read 4.04 2021 Elric of Melniboné (The Elric Saga, #1)
author: Michael Moorcock
name: Michael
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/17
shelves: the-elric-saga, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, #1)]]> 16034235
The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass—and it's there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena's fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.]]> 406 Sarah J. Maas 1619630346 Michael 0 to-read, 2019-tbr-stuff 4.15 2012 Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, #1)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Michael
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/10/12
shelves: to-read, 2019-tbr-stuff
review:

]]> <![CDATA[All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)]]> 32758901 "As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."

In a corporate-dominated space-faring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. For their own safety, exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists is conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid--a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.� Scornful of humans, Murderbot wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is, but when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and Murderbot to get to the truth.]]> 144 Martha Wells Michael 3
Well, it was fine? The characterization is obviously the best part of the whole story and the characters are pretty good. It's surprisingly more lighthearted than I thought it was going to be. Murderbot is obviously a well done protagonist and I enjoyed reading about them.

However, everything else is rather simplistic and overall generic. I hope this series doesn't just become "The Company is bad and we must stop it!" because the premise is already extremely cliched and the world building does nothing for me. However, the book didn't fall too much into cliche so maybe this series will stick the landing?

It's a fine novella and a okay start to a series but I hope the prose improves and it moves away from it's generic premise into something truly interesting. I'll pretty much pick up the second book.]]> 4.11 2017 All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)
author: Martha Wells
name: Michael
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2023/07/31
date added: 2023/07/31
shelves:
review:
My computer is in shop so I'll do quick thoughts on my phone.

Well, it was fine? The characterization is obviously the best part of the whole story and the characters are pretty good. It's surprisingly more lighthearted than I thought it was going to be. Murderbot is obviously a well done protagonist and I enjoyed reading about them.

However, everything else is rather simplistic and overall generic. I hope this series doesn't just become "The Company is bad and we must stop it!" because the premise is already extremely cliched and the world building does nothing for me. However, the book didn't fall too much into cliche so maybe this series will stick the landing?

It's a fine novella and a okay start to a series but I hope the prose improves and it moves away from it's generic premise into something truly interesting. I'll pretty much pick up the second book.
]]> <![CDATA[The Witchwood Crown (The Last King of Osten Ard, #1)]]> 31185918 New York Times-bestselling Tad Williams� ground-breaking epic fantasy saga of Osten Ard begins an exciting new cycle! � Volume One of The Last King of Osten Ard

The Dragonbone Chair, the first volume of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, was published in hardcover in October, 1988, launching the series that was to become one of the seminal works of modern epic fantasy. Many of today’s top-selling fantasy authors, from Patrick Rothfuss to George R. R. Martin to Christopher Paolini credit Tad with being the inspiration for their own series.

Now, twenty-four years after the conclusion of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, Tad returns to his beloved universe and characters with The Witchwood Crown, the first novel in the long-awaited sequel trilogy, The Last King of Osten Ard.

Thirty years have passed since the events of the earlier novels, and the world has reached a critical turning point once again. The realm is threatened by divisive forces, even as old allies are lost, and others are lured down darker paths. Perhaps most terrifying of all, the Norns—the long-vanquished elvish foe—are stirring once again, preparing to reclaim the mortal-ruled lands that once were theirs....]]> 733 Tad Williams 069819148X Michael 0 to-read 4.17 2017 The Witchwood Crown (The Last King of Osten Ard, #1)
author: Tad Williams
name: Michael
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Sourcery (Discworld, #5) 60446242 336 Terry Pratchett 1804990213 Michael 0 discworld, to-read 3.72 1988 Sourcery (Discworld, #5)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Michael
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1988
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/25
shelves: discworld, to-read
review:

]]> Mistborn (Mistborn, #1) 243272 The Mists rule the night.
The Lord Ruler owns the world.

Once, a hero arose to save the world. A young man with a mysterious heritage courageously challenged the darkness that strangled the land.

He failed.

For a thousand years since, the world has been a wasteland of ash and mist ruled by the immortal emperor known as the Lord Ruler. Every revolt has failed miserably.

Yet somehow, hope survives. Hope that dares to dream of ending the empire and even the Lord Ruler himself. A new kind of uprising is being planned, one built around the ultimate caper, one that depends on the cunning of a brilliant criminal mastermind and the determination of an unlikely heroine, a street urchin who must learn to master Allomancy, the power of a Mistborn.]]> 657 Brandon Sanderson 0765350386 Michael 0 4.44 2006 Mistborn (Mistborn, #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Michael
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/05/16
shelves: 2022-possible-reads-re-reads, to-read
review:

]]> Orientalism 355190
In this wide-ranging, intellectually vigorous study, Said traces the origins of "orientalism" to the centuries-long period during which Europe dominated the Middle and Near East and, from its position of power, defined "the orient" simply as "other than" the occident. This entrenched view continues to dominate western ideas and, because it does not allow the East to represent itself, prevents true understanding. Essential, and still eye-opening, Orientalism remains one of the most important books written about our divided world.]]> 424 Edward W. Said Michael 0 non-fiction, to-read 4.13 1978 Orientalism
author: Edward W. Said
name: Michael
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1978
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/04/10
shelves: non-fiction, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Here Be Dragons (Welsh Princes, #1)]]> 77449
A sweeping novel of power and passion, loyalty and lives, this is the book that began the trilogy that includes FALLS THE SHADOW and THE RECKONING.]]> 704 Sharon Kay Penman 0345382846 Michael 0 to-read 4.29 1985 Here Be Dragons (Welsh Princes, #1)
author: Sharon Kay Penman
name: Michael
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1985
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Ivanhoe 6440 Ivanhoe with his concerns about contemporary events.
Scott drew together the apparently opposing themes of historical reality and chivalric romance, social realism and high adventure, past and present.]]> 496 Walter Scott Michael 0 to-read 3.76 1819 Ivanhoe
author: Walter Scott
name: Michael
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1819
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Shōgun (Asian Saga, #1) 52382796
Powerful and engrossing, capturing both the rich pageantry and stark realities of life in feudal Japan, Shōgun is a critically acclaimed powerhouse of a book. Heart-stopping, edge-of-your-seat action melds seamlessly with intricate historical detail and raw human emotion. Endlessly compelling, this sweeping saga captivated the world to become not only one of the best-selling novels of all time but also one of the highest-rated television miniseries, as well as inspiring a nationwide surge of interest in the culture of Japan. Shakespearean in both scope and depth, Shōgun is, as the New York Times put it, "...not only something you read--you live it." Provocative, absorbing, and endlessly fascinating, there is only one: Shōgun.]]> 1152 James Clavell 1982603844 Michael 0 to-read 4.42 1975 Shōgun (Asian Saga, #1)
author: James Clavell
name: Michael
average rating: 4.42
book published: 1975
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> King Rat (Asian Saga, #4) 9827 368 James Clavell 0385333765 Michael 0 to-read 4.15 1962 King Rat (Asian Saga, #4)
author: James Clavell
name: Michael
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1962
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Hercule Poirot, #1)]]> 11293305 Hercule Poirot solves his first case in the Agatha Christie novel that started it all, now in a fully restored edition that features a “missing chapter� along with commentary from Christie expert John Curran.

Who poisoned the wealthy Emily Inglethorp and how did the murderer penetrate and escape from her locked bedroom? Suspects abound in the quaint village of Styles St. Mary—from the heiress's fawning new husband to her two stepsons, her volatile housekeeper, and a pretty nurse who works in a hospital dispensary.

With impeccable timing, and making his unforgettable debut, the brilliant Belgian detective Hercule Poirot is on the case.

ձ> 288 Agatha Christie 0062073915 Michael 0 to-read 3.83 1920 The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Hercule Poirot, #1)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Michael
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1920
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Time Machine 2494 'I had made myself the most complicated and the most hopeless trap that ever a man devised'

When a Victorian scientist propels himself in the year 802,701 AD, he is initially delighted to find that suffering has been replaced by beauty, contentment and peace. Entranced at first by the Eloi, an elfin species descended from man, he soon realises that this beautiful people are simply remnants of a once-great culture - now weak and childishly afraid of the dark. They have every reason to be afraid: in deep tunnels beneath their paradise lurks another race descended from humanity - the sinister Morlocks. And when the scientist's time machine vanishes, it becomes clear he must search these tunnels if he is ever to return to his own era.

The Time Machine is the first and greatest modern portrayal of time travel. Part of a brand-new Penguin series of H.G. Wells' works, this edition includes a newly established text, a full biographical essay on Wells, a further reading list and detailed notes. Marina Warner's introduction considers Wells' development of the 'scientific romance' and places the novel in the context of its times.]]> 104 H.G. Wells 0141439971 Michael 0 to-read 3.63 1895 The Time Machine
author: H.G. Wells
name: Michael
average rating: 3.63
book published: 1895
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Three Musketeers 10559
Barbara T. Cooper is Professor of French at the University of New Hampshire. She is a member of the editorial boards of Nineteenth-Century French Studies and the Cahiers Alexandre Dumas and specializes in nineteenth-century French drama and works by Dumas.

The Three Musketeers, by LB RAlexandre Dumas, is part of the Barnes Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes Noble Classics:
New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars
Biographies of the authors
Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events
Footnotes and endnotes
Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work
Comments by other famous authors
Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations
Bibliographies for further reading
Indices Glossaries, when appropriate
All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.]]> 761 Alexandre Dumas 1593081480 Michael 0 to-read 3.97 1844 The Three Musketeers
author: Alexandre Dumas
name: Michael
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1844
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Treasure Island 297
Climb aboard for the swashbuckling adventure of a lifetime. Treasure Island has enthralled (and caused slight seasickness) for decades. The names Long John Silver and Jim Hawkins are destined to remain pieces of folklore for as long as children want to read Robert Louis Stevenson’s most famous book. With its dastardly plot and motley crew of rogues and villains, it seems unlikely that children will ever say no to this timeless classic.

Enriched Classics enhance your engagement by introducing and explaining the historical and cultural significance of the work, the author’s personal history, and what impact this book had on subsequent scholarship. Each book includes discussion questions that help clarify and reinforce major themes and reading recommendations for further research.

Read with confidence.]]> 245 Robert Louis Stevenson 1416500294 Michael 0 to-read 3.80 1882 Treasure Island
author: Robert Louis Stevenson
name: Michael
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1882
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Odyssey 1381 Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns
driven time and again off course, once he had plundered
the hallowed heights of Troy.

So begins Robert Fagles' magnificent translation of the Odyssey.

If the Iliad is the world's greatest war epic, then the Odyssey is literature's grandest evocation of everyman's journey though life. Odysseus' reliance on his wit and wiliness for survival in his encounters with divine and natural forces, during his ten-year voyage home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, is at once a timeless human story and an individual test of moral endurance.

In the myths and legends that are retold here, Fagles has captured the energy and poetry of Homer's original in a bold, contemporary idiom, and given us an Odyssey to read aloud, to savor, and to treasure for its sheer lyrical mastery.

Renowned classicist Bernard Knox's superb Introduction and textual commentary provide new insights and background information for the general reader and scholar alike, intensifying the strength of Fagles' translation.

This is an Odyssey to delight both the classicist and the public at large, and to captivate a new generation of Homer's students.

--

Robert Fagles, winner of the PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation and a 1996 Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, presents us with Homer's best-loved and most accessible poem in a stunning new modern-verse translation.]]> 541 Homer 0143039954 Michael 0 to-read 3.79 -700 The Odyssey
author: Homer
name: Michael
average rating: 3.79
book published: -700
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Old Man and the Sea 2165 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

This short novel, already a modern classic, is the superbly told, tragic story of a Cuban fisherman in the Gulf Stream and the giant Marlin he kills and loses—specifically referred to in the citation accompanying the author's Nobel Prize for literature in 1954.]]> 96 Ernest Hemingway 0684830493 Michael 0 to-read 3.81 1952 The Old Man and the Sea
author: Ernest Hemingway
name: Michael
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1952
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon - The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World]]> 68571 Inside the Games You Grew Up with but Never Forgot
With all the whiz, bang, pop, and shimmer of a glowing arcade. The Ultimate History of Video Games reveals everything you ever wanted to know and more about the unforgettable games that changed the world, the visionaries who made them, and the fanatics who played them. From the arcade to television and from the PC to the handheld device, video games have entraced kids at heart for nearly 30 years. And author and gaming historian Steven L. Kent has been there to record the craze from the very beginning.
This engrossing book tells the incredible tale of how this backroom novelty transformed into a cultural phenomenon. Through meticulous research and personal interviews with hundreds of industry luminaries, you'll read firsthand accounts of how yesterday's games like Space Invaders, Centipede, and Pac-Man helped create an arcade culture that defined a generation, and how today's empires like Sony, Nintendo, and Electronic Arts have galvanized a multibillion-dollar industry and a new generation of games. Inside, you'll discover:
·The video game that saved Nintendo from bankruptcy
·The serendipitous story of Pac-Man's design
·The misstep that helped topple Atari's $2 billion-a-year empire
·The coin shortage caused by Space Invaders
·The fascinating reasons behind the rise, fall, and rebirth of Sega
·And much more!
Entertaining, addictive, and as mesmerizing as the games it chronicles, this book is a must-have for anyone who's ever touched a joystick.]]> 608 Steven L. Kent 0761536434 Michael 0 4.13 2001 The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon - The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World
author: Steven L. Kent
name: Michael
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/01/07
shelves: non-fiction, video-games, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Disrupting the Game: From the Bronx to the Top of Nintendo]]> 58429316 224 Reggie Fils-Aimé 1400226678 Michael 0 to-read 3.77 Disrupting the Game: From the Bronx to the Top of Nintendo
author: Reggie Fils-Aimé
name: Michael
average rating: 3.77
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Age of Ash (Kithamar #1) 58313346 Kithamar is a center of trade and wealth, an ancient city with a long, bloody history where countless thousands live and their stories unfold. This is Alys’s.

When her brother is murdered, a petty thief from the slums of Longhill sets out to discover who killed him and why. But the more she discovers about him, the more she learns about herself, and the truths she finds are more dangerous than knives.

Swept up in an intrigue as deep as the roots of Kithamar, where the secrets of the lowest born can sometimes topple thrones, the story Alys chooses will have the power to change everything.

From critically acclaimed, New York Times–bestselling author Daniel Abraham, co-author of The Expanse, comes a monumental epic fantasy trilogy that unfolds within the walls of a single great city, over the course of one tumultuous year, where every story matters, and the fate of the city is woven from them all.]]> 432 Daniel Abraham 0356515419 Michael 0 to-read 3.75 2022 Age of Ash (Kithamar #1)
author: Daniel Abraham
name: Michael
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/11/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Ultimate History of Video Games, Volume 2: Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, and the Billion-Dollar Battle to Shape Modern Gaming]]> 56283747 The definitive behind-the-scenes history of video games� explosion into the twenty-first century and the war for industry power

“A zippy read through a truly deep research job. You won’t want to put this one down.”—Eddie Adlum, publisher, RePlay Magazine

As video games evolve, only the fittest companies survive. Making a blockbuster once cost millions of dollars; now it can cost hundreds of millions, but with a $160 billion market worldwide, the biggest players are willing to bet the bank.

Steven L. Kent has been playing video games since Pong and writing about the industry since the Nintendo Entertainment System. In volume 1 of The Ultimate History of Video Games, he chronicled the industry’s first thirty years. In volume 2, he narrates gaming’s entrance into the twenty-first century, as Nintendo, Sega, Sony, and Microsoft battle to capture the global market.

The home console boom of the �90s turned hobby companies like Nintendo and Sega into Hollywood-studio-sized business titans. But by the end of the decade, they would face new, more powerful competitors. In boardrooms on both sides of the Pacific, engineers and executives began, with enormous budgets and total secrecy, to plan the next evolution of home consoles. The PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and Sega Dreamcast all made radically different bets on what gamers would want. And then, to the shock of the world, Bill Gates announced the development of the one console to beat them all—even if Microsoft had to burn a few billion dollars to do it. In this book, you will learn about

� the cutthroat environment at Microsoft as rival teams created console systems
� the day the head of Sega of America told the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog to “f**k off�
� how “lateral thinking with withered technology� put Nintendo back on top
� and much more!

Gripping and comprehensive, The Ultimate History of Video Games: Volume 2 explores the origins of modern consoles and of the franchises—from Grand Theft Auto and Halo to Call of Duty and Guitar Hero—that would define gaming in the new millennium.]]> 592 Steven L. Kent 1984825437 Michael 0 to-read 4.05 2021 The Ultimate History of Video Games, Volume 2: Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, and the Billion-Dollar Battle to Shape Modern Gaming
author: Steven L. Kent
name: Michael
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/11/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[King of Ashes (The Firemane Saga #1)]]> 40042363
For centuries, the five greatest kingdoms of North and South Tembria, twin continents on the world of Garn, have coexisted in peace. But the balance of power is destroyed when four of the kingdoms violate an ancient covenant and betray the fifth: Ithrace, the Kingdom of Flames, ruled by Steveren Langene, known as "the Firemane" for his brilliant red hair. As war engulfs the world, Ithrace is destroyed and the Greater Realms of Tembria are thrust into a dangerous struggle for supremacy.
As a Free Lord, Baron Daylon Dumarch owes allegiance to no king. When an abandoned infant is found hidden in Daylon’s pavilion, he realizes that the child must be the missing heir of the slain Steveren. The boy is valuable—and vulnerable. A cunning and patient man, Daylon decides to keep the baby’s existence secret, and sends him to be raised on the Island of Coaltachin, home of the so-called Kingdom of Night, where the powerful and lethal Nocusara, the "Hidden Warriors," legendary assassins and spies, are trained.

Years later, another orphan of mysterious provenance, a young man named Declan, earns his Masters rank as a weapons smith. Blessed with intelligence and skill, he unlocks the secret to forging King’s Steel, the apex of a weapon maker’s trade known by very few. Yet this precious knowledge is also deadly, and Declan is forced to leave his home to safeguard his life. Landing in Lord Daylon’s provinces, he hopes to start anew.

Soon, the two young men—an unknowing rightful heir to a throne and a brilliantly talented young swordsmith—will discover that their fates, and that of Garn, are entwined. The legendary, long-ago War of Betrayal has never truly ended . . . and they must discover the secret of who truly threatens their world.]]> 494 Raymond E. Feist 0061468460 Michael 0 to-read 4.01 2018 King of Ashes (The Firemane Saga #1)
author: Raymond E. Feist
name: Michael
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/09/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Magician: Master (The Riftwar Saga, #2)]]> 13810
Once he was an orphan called Pug, apprenticed to a sorcerer of the enchanted land of Midkemia.. Then he was captured and enslaved by the Tsurani, a strange, warlike race of invaders from another world.

There, in the exotic Empire of Kelewan, he earned a new name--Milamber. He learned to tame the unnimagined powers that lay withing him. And he took his place in an ancient struggle against an evil Enemy older than time itself.]]> 499 Raymond E. Feist 0553564935 Michael 5
Magician: Apprentice: 4.5/5
/review/show...

That's it. I'M IN LOVE!

As much as I enjoyed the first part of Magician titled Apprentice, there was some stuff that bothered me about it that didn't feel as good as Pawn of Prophecy, a book that came out months earlier than Magician. First off, Feist's world building was almost pre built and it didn't feel very interesting with the exception of a few parts. The next thing is that I thought Feist was trying to pull a David Eddings because he read Pawn of Prophecy and basically wrote this in a quick go making him an imitation of another classic author.

However, all my complaints about Magician: Apprentice are fixed in Magician: Master. This book is... awesome. I LOVED IT. Everything about Master, from the magic, the more violent action, the characters old and new, the intrigue, the romance, the arcs of Pug and Tomas are all excellent.

I regret calling it Fantasy Junk Food now.

So what did Feist fix? Well, the world building is MUCH better. Kelewan is introduced as the Empire of the Tsuranni and Feist takes a East Asian approach to the whole building of the empire and how it's culture works, how it's rifts work, how it's magicians work, everything! This is one of the most impressive things about Master and I've already just started talking about it!

Another thing I loved is Feist finally found his own style. Apprentice felt like a Eddings Copy that needed refining. Here, Feist's prose feels like his own and not a copy of someone else's. Feist gives emotion to a lot of situations that include stuff like Tomas' arc. Tomas' arc is perfect because unlike Eddings (at least, at the moment) where Pawn of Prophecy action/violence (If there was anything I can remember) wasn't bloody. It didn't need to be for that one though. For this story, being a war against two worlds, Feist has Tomas cut off heads of slaves and soldiers and make them suffer because of the influence of the Valheru. This leads to the overcoming of his influence and it makes for such a satisfying emotional moment. It is fantastic and probably my favorite part of the novel.

The characters are also great here. Of course we have Pug, Tomas, Dolgan, Arutha, Lyam, Martin, Amos Trask and Kulgan. But we have new ones as well! Laurie and Kasumi were great together and I loved the relationship they had. I especially became fond of Jimmy The Hand, Krondor's boy thief that helps Arutha escape Krondor at one point. The only downer is that Roland and Carline's relationship is shot down in flames. By that I mean [spoilers removed] which had me going UGH. One because of what happens to Roland and the other being how Carline actually describes what happened to him. Other than that, I had no problems with the characters.

Especially King Rodric, who was a smaller part of the Magician story and still is here, but it's a wonderful redemption to his mental health issues he was having back in Apprentice. I really enjoyed having Rodric realize his wrong doings. That was just a wonderful moment in the entire book.

Oh and the Reunions! I LOVE Reunions in books. Pug and Tomas' reunion was so glorious! I am so happy that happened in the book! I also had a fun time with Pug and Carline reuniting although it wasn't the manly awesome stuff we saw with Tomas and Pug. Like I said, I love reunions because if a character thinks another is dead when he isn't, I LOVE IT when they realize he/she is not dead and they get back together in a intimate and awesome moment.

Even at the end where everything seems all happy it's not. Because there is still political intrigue going on even before the story is nearly finished in the final chapter! Feist pulls off a quick little arc of Martin's heritage with Lyam and Arutha and It ended lovely with all the reunions and revelations and stuff.

I am absolutely blown away by what Feist has done here. He managed to have the second half of Magician become his own and finishes it with a bang. The book(s) can be read as a standalone experience and you probably won't have to read Silverthorn and A Darkness At Sethanon if you wanted to.

This is a glorious book and one of my new favorites. From the reunions, the arcs of Pug and Tomas, to the introduction of new characters to the return of the old ones to redemption, romance and tragedy, it is definitely one of my favorite reads of the year. Magician: Master is a must read classic fantasy and a lovely tale about a boy who becomes something great. I cannot wait to start Silverthorn which is what I'm going to do right now!

READ IT! You're missing out on some awesome fantasy. I hope you love it as much as I did!

5/5]]> 4.25 1982 Magician: Master (The Riftwar Saga, #2)
author: Raymond E. Feist
name: Michael
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1982
rating: 5
read at: 2019/11/03
date added: 2022/09/04
shelves: the-riftwar-saga, 2019-reads, favorites, 2022-possible-reads-re-reads
review:
Before reading this review, check out my previous reviews for this series:

Magician: Apprentice: 4.5/5
/review/show...

That's it. I'M IN LOVE!

As much as I enjoyed the first part of Magician titled Apprentice, there was some stuff that bothered me about it that didn't feel as good as Pawn of Prophecy, a book that came out months earlier than Magician. First off, Feist's world building was almost pre built and it didn't feel very interesting with the exception of a few parts. The next thing is that I thought Feist was trying to pull a David Eddings because he read Pawn of Prophecy and basically wrote this in a quick go making him an imitation of another classic author.

However, all my complaints about Magician: Apprentice are fixed in Magician: Master. This book is... awesome. I LOVED IT. Everything about Master, from the magic, the more violent action, the characters old and new, the intrigue, the romance, the arcs of Pug and Tomas are all excellent.

I regret calling it Fantasy Junk Food now.

So what did Feist fix? Well, the world building is MUCH better. Kelewan is introduced as the Empire of the Tsuranni and Feist takes a East Asian approach to the whole building of the empire and how it's culture works, how it's rifts work, how it's magicians work, everything! This is one of the most impressive things about Master and I've already just started talking about it!

Another thing I loved is Feist finally found his own style. Apprentice felt like a Eddings Copy that needed refining. Here, Feist's prose feels like his own and not a copy of someone else's. Feist gives emotion to a lot of situations that include stuff like Tomas' arc. Tomas' arc is perfect because unlike Eddings (at least, at the moment) where Pawn of Prophecy action/violence (If there was anything I can remember) wasn't bloody. It didn't need to be for that one though. For this story, being a war against two worlds, Feist has Tomas cut off heads of slaves and soldiers and make them suffer because of the influence of the Valheru. This leads to the overcoming of his influence and it makes for such a satisfying emotional moment. It is fantastic and probably my favorite part of the novel.

The characters are also great here. Of course we have Pug, Tomas, Dolgan, Arutha, Lyam, Martin, Amos Trask and Kulgan. But we have new ones as well! Laurie and Kasumi were great together and I loved the relationship they had. I especially became fond of Jimmy The Hand, Krondor's boy thief that helps Arutha escape Krondor at one point. The only downer is that Roland and Carline's relationship is shot down in flames. By that I mean [spoilers removed] which had me going UGH. One because of what happens to Roland and the other being how Carline actually describes what happened to him. Other than that, I had no problems with the characters.

Especially King Rodric, who was a smaller part of the Magician story and still is here, but it's a wonderful redemption to his mental health issues he was having back in Apprentice. I really enjoyed having Rodric realize his wrong doings. That was just a wonderful moment in the entire book.

Oh and the Reunions! I LOVE Reunions in books. Pug and Tomas' reunion was so glorious! I am so happy that happened in the book! I also had a fun time with Pug and Carline reuniting although it wasn't the manly awesome stuff we saw with Tomas and Pug. Like I said, I love reunions because if a character thinks another is dead when he isn't, I LOVE IT when they realize he/she is not dead and they get back together in a intimate and awesome moment.

Even at the end where everything seems all happy it's not. Because there is still political intrigue going on even before the story is nearly finished in the final chapter! Feist pulls off a quick little arc of Martin's heritage with Lyam and Arutha and It ended lovely with all the reunions and revelations and stuff.

I am absolutely blown away by what Feist has done here. He managed to have the second half of Magician become his own and finishes it with a bang. The book(s) can be read as a standalone experience and you probably won't have to read Silverthorn and A Darkness At Sethanon if you wanted to.

This is a glorious book and one of my new favorites. From the reunions, the arcs of Pug and Tomas, to the introduction of new characters to the return of the old ones to redemption, romance and tragedy, it is definitely one of my favorite reads of the year. Magician: Master is a must read classic fantasy and a lovely tale about a boy who becomes something great. I cannot wait to start Silverthorn which is what I'm going to do right now!

READ IT! You're missing out on some awesome fantasy. I hope you love it as much as I did!

5/5
]]> <![CDATA[Magician: Apprentice (The Riftwar Saga, #1)]]> 7935521 9780553564945.

To the forest on the shore of the Kingdom of the Isles, the orphan Pug came to study with the master magician Kulgan. But though his courage won him a place at court and the heart of a lovely Princess, he was ill at ease with the normal ways of wizardry.

Yet Pug's strange sort of magic would one day change forever the fates of two worlds. For dark beings from another world had opened a rift in the fabric of spacetime to being again the age-old battle between the forces of Order and Chaos.]]> 485 Raymond E. Feist Michael 5
On my first read through Magician: Apprentice and the Riftwar Saga, I was completely immersed in a world of awesome characters, powerful magic, unique settings, elves, dwarfs, warfare and of course, dragons. However, after I finished reading A Darkness at Sethanon, I didn't think about these books for quite some time.

But that was until 2021 and 2022. Being a writer myself, I began attempting to write a series based on my love for fantasy. Not just any regular fantasy, the "Classic" fantasy. Tolkien, David Eddings and the like. And I thought about The Riftwar Saga again. And I continued thinking about it again and again and again. I remembered many key moments from the series, from amazing twists to hugely emotional scenes that got to me. I came to the realization after so long, from writing lots and reading lots.

Raymond E. Feist and his Riftwar Saga is quite possibly the work that has influenced me the most.

I was desperate to re-read these books again since American Gods was going slow. And boy oh boy, lots has changed since my first readthrough in 2019. This might only be the first part of what is a two part story, alongside two more sequels, but I absolutely love this book so much. Without a doubt, this is a 5 Star Read for this first part. There are many reasons why I love this book and it's continuation and a lot of it has to do with many certain areas in the novel.

Feist takes a cast of inexperienced characters who you grow to immediately care for and develops them to become awesome, powerful people. So much is developed over this book. Pug goes from being a keep boy to Kulgan's Apprentice, learning incredible magic, earning the respect of people around him and eventually going on a dangerous quest where his fate will be revealed in the next book after a huge cliffhanger. That's only one of the many incredible characters in this story. We have Pug's friend Tomas, whose fate is also being determined, we have Arutha, the brooding eldest son of Borric who ends up growing to become a powerful leader, we have people like Martin Longbow, who is a mysterious huntsman who has connections with the elves (and by the way, the foreshadowing for him in other books is just AWESOME!!!)

The characters are all great and throughout the story they get to kick major ass. Arutha's big action scene [spoilers removed] but what really makes me love Magician and this first part so much are the moments in between fights, where it's the calm before the storm again. There are many moments I love. The depiction of King Rodric's mental health is tastefully done as a man struggling with his decisions. But there are more moments than just that.

These next few parts will contain spoilery material, so if you want to read this (which I suggest you do, look away from these parts!)

One moment has Pug and a couple of other characters meet a mysterious man on an island belonging to a seemingly devious sorcerer. However, to their surprise, [spoilers removed] This scene is serves as great subversion, which just so happens to happen a lot in the book. This scene of just calm and peace with the characters talking with this character is honestly memorable. And there are also of course the scenes of Pug and Roland ending up respecting one another that strengthen the characters friendship and chemistry with one another.

But there is one moment that sticks with me. This might be the greatest moment I have ever read in any book.

Now if you know me, I love dragons. Dragons are my life and blood. The main character I'm writing in my novel is a dragonborn like character. And this moment, even though it took me a long while to figure this out, made me understand why I love dragons so much in the first place.

(MASSIVE SPOILERS)

[spoilers removed]

Okay, Spoilers are over!

There is so much I love about this book. The characters are memorable and awesome, the worldbuilding is fantastic, the entire Tsurani look and culture heavily inspired by East Asia is marvelous, the action is exciting and brutal at points, not to mention the heart wrenching scenes I mentioned alongside the excellent development of characters becoming greater people who are witnessing their destiny come to life. The end of the book, introducing another important character in the rest of this series, makes me yearn for more. I'm so glad I re-read this and I'll be continuing to re-read the entire Riftwar Saga before I make my way onto Feist's newest trilogy, The Firemane Saga. I loved it from beginning to end.

The Classic Era of Fantasy is some of my favorite ever. I love reading the works of Tad Williams, David Eddings, Tolkien and most importantly Raymond E. Feist. I know some might find this hard to read due to it being slumped into the Classic Fantasy Era (1950-Early 1990's) and writing styles have definitely changed since the late 90's, but trust me, you have to read this. It's the first part of an amazing story of incredible characters witnessing their destiny be made in front of them alongside fantastic action scenes, amazing worldbuilding, hugely emotional moments and a great, comforting adventure in a time of war. This is a masterpiece and I hope more people will experience it in years to come.]]> 3.95 1982 Magician: Apprentice (The Riftwar Saga, #1)
author: Raymond E. Feist
name: Michael
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1982
rating: 5
read at: 2022/08/30
date added: 2022/08/30
shelves: the-riftwar-saga, 2019-reads, 2022-reads, favorites, masterpieces
review:
I did a review for this book long ago, back in 2019 as with the rest of this wonderful series. Back then, my love for fantasy was strong. I loved Dungeons and Dragons, I loved Fantasy games, I loved novels such as Wizard's First Rule and Elantris and I was hungry for more. Looking through the many books, I found one that caught my eye. A book titled Magician: Apprentice, with it's stunning black, gold and red cover dramatically giving me a hint of what this would be. I had heard of this series a long time ago and was at first intimidated by the entire Riftwar Cycle in general. 30 Books over the course of multiple subseries, it seemed like a lot. But I wanted to give it a try.

On my first read through Magician: Apprentice and the Riftwar Saga, I was completely immersed in a world of awesome characters, powerful magic, unique settings, elves, dwarfs, warfare and of course, dragons. However, after I finished reading A Darkness at Sethanon, I didn't think about these books for quite some time.

But that was until 2021 and 2022. Being a writer myself, I began attempting to write a series based on my love for fantasy. Not just any regular fantasy, the "Classic" fantasy. Tolkien, David Eddings and the like. And I thought about The Riftwar Saga again. And I continued thinking about it again and again and again. I remembered many key moments from the series, from amazing twists to hugely emotional scenes that got to me. I came to the realization after so long, from writing lots and reading lots.

Raymond E. Feist and his Riftwar Saga is quite possibly the work that has influenced me the most.

I was desperate to re-read these books again since American Gods was going slow. And boy oh boy, lots has changed since my first readthrough in 2019. This might only be the first part of what is a two part story, alongside two more sequels, but I absolutely love this book so much. Without a doubt, this is a 5 Star Read for this first part. There are many reasons why I love this book and it's continuation and a lot of it has to do with many certain areas in the novel.

Feist takes a cast of inexperienced characters who you grow to immediately care for and develops them to become awesome, powerful people. So much is developed over this book. Pug goes from being a keep boy to Kulgan's Apprentice, learning incredible magic, earning the respect of people around him and eventually going on a dangerous quest where his fate will be revealed in the next book after a huge cliffhanger. That's only one of the many incredible characters in this story. We have Pug's friend Tomas, whose fate is also being determined, we have Arutha, the brooding eldest son of Borric who ends up growing to become a powerful leader, we have people like Martin Longbow, who is a mysterious huntsman who has connections with the elves (and by the way, the foreshadowing for him in other books is just AWESOME!!!)

The characters are all great and throughout the story they get to kick major ass. Arutha's big action scene [spoilers removed] but what really makes me love Magician and this first part so much are the moments in between fights, where it's the calm before the storm again. There are many moments I love. The depiction of King Rodric's mental health is tastefully done as a man struggling with his decisions. But there are more moments than just that.

These next few parts will contain spoilery material, so if you want to read this (which I suggest you do, look away from these parts!)

One moment has Pug and a couple of other characters meet a mysterious man on an island belonging to a seemingly devious sorcerer. However, to their surprise, [spoilers removed] This scene is serves as great subversion, which just so happens to happen a lot in the book. This scene of just calm and peace with the characters talking with this character is honestly memorable. And there are also of course the scenes of Pug and Roland ending up respecting one another that strengthen the characters friendship and chemistry with one another.

But there is one moment that sticks with me. This might be the greatest moment I have ever read in any book.

Now if you know me, I love dragons. Dragons are my life and blood. The main character I'm writing in my novel is a dragonborn like character. And this moment, even though it took me a long while to figure this out, made me understand why I love dragons so much in the first place.

(MASSIVE SPOILERS)

[spoilers removed]

Okay, Spoilers are over!

There is so much I love about this book. The characters are memorable and awesome, the worldbuilding is fantastic, the entire Tsurani look and culture heavily inspired by East Asia is marvelous, the action is exciting and brutal at points, not to mention the heart wrenching scenes I mentioned alongside the excellent development of characters becoming greater people who are witnessing their destiny come to life. The end of the book, introducing another important character in the rest of this series, makes me yearn for more. I'm so glad I re-read this and I'll be continuing to re-read the entire Riftwar Saga before I make my way onto Feist's newest trilogy, The Firemane Saga. I loved it from beginning to end.

The Classic Era of Fantasy is some of my favorite ever. I love reading the works of Tad Williams, David Eddings, Tolkien and most importantly Raymond E. Feist. I know some might find this hard to read due to it being slumped into the Classic Fantasy Era (1950-Early 1990's) and writing styles have definitely changed since the late 90's, but trust me, you have to read this. It's the first part of an amazing story of incredible characters witnessing their destiny be made in front of them alongside fantastic action scenes, amazing worldbuilding, hugely emotional moments and a great, comforting adventure in a time of war. This is a masterpiece and I hope more people will experience it in years to come.
]]> <![CDATA[In the Shadow of Lightning (Glass Immortals, #1)]]> 58724872
"Excellent worldbuilding and a truly epic narrative combine into Brian's finest work to date. Heartily recommended to anyone who wants a new favorite fantasy series to read."―Brandon Sanderson

Demir Grappo is an outcast―he fled a life of wealth and power, abandoning his responsibilities as a general, a governor, and a son. Now he will live out his days as a grifter, rootless, and alone. But when his mother is brutally murdered, Demir must return from exile to claim his seat at the head of the family and uncover the truth that got her the very power that keeps civilization turning, godglass, is running out.

Now, Demir must find allies, old friends and rivals alike, confront the powerful guild-families who are only interested in making the most of the scraps left at the table and uncover the invisible hand that threatens the Empire. A war is coming, a war unlike any other. And Demir and his ragtag group of outcasts are the only thing that stands in the way of the end of life as the world knows it.

"Powerful rival families, murderous conspiracies, epic battles, larger-than-life characters, and magic."―Fonda Lee, author of The Green Bone Saga

"Engaging, fast-paced and epic."―James Islington, author of In The Shadow of What Was Lost

"Clever, fun, and by turns beautifully bloody, In the Shadow of Lightning hits like a bolt through a stained glass window."―Megan E. O'Keefe, author of Chaos Vector]]> 576 Brian McClellan 1250755697 Michael 0 to-read 4.35 2022 In the Shadow of Lightning (Glass Immortals, #1)
author: Brian McClellan
name: Michael
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/08/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The First Binding (Tales of Tremaine, #1)]]> 57693381
I buried the village of Ampur under a mountain of ice and snow. Then I killed their god. I've stolen old magics and been cursed for it. I started a war with those that walked before mankind and lost the princess I loved, and wanted to save. I've called lightning and bound fire. I am legend. And I am a monster.

My name is Ari.

And this is the story of how I let loose the first evil.]]> 832 R.R. Virdi 1250796172 Michael 0 to-read 3.51 2022 The First Binding (Tales of Tremaine, #1)
author: R.R. Virdi
name: Michael
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/08/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Ninth Rain (The Winnowing Flame Trilogy, #1)]]> 33301496
When eccentric explorer, Lady Vincenza 'Vintage' de Grazon, offers him employment, he sees an easy way out. Even when they are joined by a fugitive witch with a tendency to set things on fire, the prospect of facing down monsters and retrieving ancient artefacts is preferable to the abomination he left behind.

But not everyone is willing to let the Eboran empire collapse, and the adventurers are quickly drawn into a tangled conspiracy of magic and war. For the Jure'lia are coming, and the Ninth Rain must fall...]]> 532 Jen Williams 1472235185 Michael 0 to-read 4.19 2017 The Ninth Rain (The Winnowing Flame Trilogy, #1)
author: Jen Williams
name: Michael
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/08/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Blacktongue Thief (Blacktongue, #1)]]> 55077697
But today, Kinch Na Shannack has picked the wrong mark.

Galva is a knight, a survivor of the brutal goblin wars, and handmaiden of the goddess of death. She is searching for her queen, missing since a distant northern city fell to giants.

Unsuccessful in his robbery and lucky to escape with his life, Kinch now finds his fate entangled with Galva's. Common enemies and uncommon dangers force thief and knight on an epic journey where goblins hunger for human flesh, krakens hunt in dark waters, and honor is a luxury few can afford.]]> 416 Christopher Buehlman 1250621194 Michael 0 to-read 4.18 2021 The Blacktongue Thief (Blacktongue, #1)
author: Christopher Buehlman
name: Michael
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/07/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Master of Furies (The Firemane Saga, #3)]]> 59314654 From King of Ashes to Queen of Storms, it's all built up to this--the thrilling conclusion to legendary New York Times bestselling author Raymond E. Feist's epic Firemane saga.

War has swept across Marquensas. Ruthless raiders have massacred the inhabitants of Beran's Hill, including Gwen, the beloved wife of Declan Smith. Hollow of heart, his hopes burned to ashes, Declan swears to track down and destroy the raiders, an ambition shared by Baron Daylon Dumarch, whose family was massacred as they fled the capital.

Meanwhile Hava, whose gift for piracy has seen her acquire the treasure ship Borzon's Black Wake and the swift Azhante sailing vessel, Queen of Storms, and won her the name of "the Sea Demon," is closing in on the whereabouts of those who unleashed the murderous hordes.

Her husband, Hatushaly, the last remaining member of the ruling family of Ithrace, the legendary Firemanes, seeks to control the magical powers he has inherited. He is able now to visualize and even travel among the filaments of energies that power all existence: the furies. But will he be able to channel his magic in time to combat the deepest, darkest threat the world of Garn has ever faced?]]> 496 Raymond E. Feist 006231582X Michael 0 to-read 3.85 2022 Master of Furies (The Firemane Saga, #3)
author: Raymond E. Feist
name: Michael
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/07/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Queen of Storms (The Firemane Saga #2)]]> 54700265 Dark and powerful forces threaten the world of Garn once more in this second novel in legendary New York Times bestselling author Raymond E. Feist’s epic fantasy series, the Firemane Saga.


Hatushaly and his young wife Hava have arrived in the prosperous trading town of Beran’s Hill to restore and reopen the fire-damaged Inn of the Three Stars. They are also preparing for the popular midsummer festival, where their friends Declan and Gwen will be wed.

But Hatu and Hava are not the ordinary loving couple they appear to be. They are assassins from the mysterious island of Coaltachin, home to the powerful and lethal Nocusara, the fearsome “Hidden Warriors.� Posing as innkeepers, they are awaiting instructions from their masters in the Kingdom of Night.

Hatu conceals an even more dangerous secret. He is the last remaining member of the legendary Firemanes, the ruling family of Ithrace. Known as the Kingdom of Flames, Ithrace was one of the five greatest realms of Tembria, ruled by Hatu’s father, Stervern Langene, until he and his people were betrayed. His heir, Hatu—then a baby—was hidden among the Nocusara, who raised him to become a deadly spy.

Hatu works hard to hide his true identity from all who would seek to use or to destroy him, as fate has other plans for the noble warrior. Unexpected calamity forces him to make choices he could not have dreamed awaited him.

A series of horrific events shatters the peace of Beran’s Hill, bringing death and devastation and unleashing monstrous forces. Once more, the Greater Realms of Tembria are threatened—and nothing will ever be the same again.]]> 448 Raymond E. Feist 0062315935 Michael 0 to-read 4.26 2020 Queen of Storms (The Firemane Saga #2)
author: Raymond E. Feist
name: Michael
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/07/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[American Gods (American Gods, #1)]]> 28116133 Newly updated and expanded with the author’s preferred text. A modern masterpiece from the multiple-award-winning master of innovative fiction, Neil Gaiman.

First published in 2001, American Gods became an instant classic, lauded for its brilliant synthesis of “mystery, satire, sex, horror, and poetic prose� (Washington Post) and as a modern phantasmagoria that “distills the essence of America� (Seattle Post-Intelligencer). It is the story of Shadow—released from prison just days after his wife and best friend are killed in an accident—who gets recruited to be bodyguard, driver, and errand boy for the enigmatic trickster, Mr. Wednesday. So begins Shadow’s dark and strange road trip, one that introduces him to a host of eccentric characters whose fates are mysteriously intertwined with his own. For, beneath the placid surface of everyday life, a storm is brewing—an epic war for the very soul of America—and Shadow is standing squarely in its path.

Cover illustration by Robert McGinnis]]> 750 Neil Gaiman Michael 0 to-read 4.15 2001 American Gods (American Gods, #1)
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Michael
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/07/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire, #1)]]> 58537384
When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes its precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweeps Capt. Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future-and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as France's own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte's boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire.]]> 299 Naomi Novik 0593359542 Michael 0 to-read 4.11 2006 His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire, #1)
author: Naomi Novik
name: Michael
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/05/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Legend of Drizzt, Book II 17910594
A demonic artifact, hurled by an angel through the spaces between planes of existence to keep it out of the hands of a demon prince, has found its way to Faerûn. There it corrupts a young wizard, turning him into a power-mad invader. Only a small band of heroes, including the exiled dark elf Drizzt Do’Urden can stand in his way—and stir up a long list of enemies in the process.

The Legend of Drizzt® 25th Anniversary Edition, Book II collects the fourth, fifth, and sixth novels in this best-selling series: The Crystal Shard, Streams of Silver, and The Halfling’s Gem in a trade paperback edition that is a great value for anyone who’s ready to continue the experience of the Legend of Drizzt.]]> 1024 R.A. Salvatore 078696538X Michael 0 4.37 1990 The Legend of Drizzt, Book II
author: R.A. Salvatore
name: Michael
average rating: 4.37
book published: 1990
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/05/04
shelves: to-read, 2020-planned-tbr, 2022-possible-reads-re-reads
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Time of Contempt (The Witcher, #2)]]> 14781491 The New York Times bestselling series that inspired the international hit video game: The Witcher
Geralt is a witcher: guardian of the innocent; protector of those in need; a defender, in dark times, against some of the most frightening creatures of myth and legend. His task, now, is to protect Ciri. A child of prophecy, she will have the power to change the world for good or for ill -- but only if she lives to use it.

A coup threatens the Wizard's Guild.
War breaks out across the lands.
A serious injury leaves Geralt fighting for his life...
... and Ciri, in whose hands the world's fate rests, has vanished...

The Witcher returns in this sequel to Blood of Elves.


The Witcher series
The Last Wish
The Sword of Destiny
Blood of Elves
The Time of Contempt
Baptism of Fire

The Malady and Other Stories: An Andrzej Sapkowski Sampler (e-only)]]> 331 Andrzej Sapkowski 0316219134 Michael 4
The Last Wish: 4/5
/review/show...

Sword of Destiny: 4.5/5
/review/show...

Blood Of Elves: 4/5
/review/show...

It's been a few months since I read Blood of Elves. You know what that means? WITCHER TIME!

With The Witcher Netflix Series coming out soon I decided to pick up this fourth installment of what is becoming one of my favorite character driven fantasies out there. The tales of Geralt of Rivia are always so much fun to read and this was no exception.

So what has happened since Blood of Elves? Well, Geralt has recovered from his loss with Rience, that evil wizard guy (Who we only see once briefly in this book) and is looking for Ciri. Meanwhile, Yennefer is with Ciri and is taking her to a (magic?) school for girls. This leads Ciri to run away and bring Geralt and Yen closer than ever. Oh, and Dandelion, my favorite bard boy is there as well!

This brings them to a Sorcerers Gathering where they spend the night and meet old and new faces (Triss Returns! YAY!) but suddenly, The Nilfgaardians attack and the Wizard's Guild is broken! Geralt is fighting for his life! Yen is missing! Ciri is somewhere else! Dandelion tags along with Geralt!

So yeah, the big bad Nilfgaardians are causing trouble again and starting a war. And it gets darker from there.

If you thought to yourself "The Witcher is not Grimdark enough" then this book will change your mind. The Time of Contempt is the darkest of the books yet! The ending is especially foul at a lot of points. It was super nice to see the series turn more grim as this was what I felt was lacking from some of the other books. The first two books felt like Sword and Sorcery stories, the third book felt like it was bridging Sword and Sorcery with Dark Fantasy. But this? This goes full out Grimdark! That is, until the last half. The first half didn't really feel like a dark fantasy, but that changes after the attack on the Sorcerers.

We also get introduced to many other characters. The Rats of The Marches (Which has Ciri Involved), Vilgefortz, a super powerful sorcerer who absolutely wrecks Geralt in a fight, some of the people from Brokilon (The setting for one of the stories in Sword of Destiny) are back and a bunch of other characters that either go missing or get their heads chopped off. Some of the Kings even die due to the Nilfgaardians OP as hell forces!

The Witcher books always have the best characters. Geralt is an instantly recognizable fantasy character, Yennefer is quite strict but has so much character, and Dandelion...

Please don't get me started on him. Why I love him so much is that most books would make him some kind of wannabe adventurer or poser bard type that wants to be rich. But Dandelion isn't that. He is already a famous bard throughout the lands and he has a great relationship with his audience and his friends. He is actually an original secondary character who might just become one of the people we see the most in this series. He also has some humor to him and he is very fun to be around.

Also the action. My god. The action is SOOOO good in this book. The fight at the Sorcerer's Guild was absolutely remarkable. The ending scenes where there are smaller fights as well are superb! This is how you do action!

Also, Ciri actually grew on me a lot more than she did previously. I thought I wasn't going to like her in this book as she does a lot of stupid shit at the beginning. But she became less of a "Dumbass Who Doesn't Learn" and actually a pretty solid character surviving out in the harsher world. I was also happy she found a temporary solution to her problem at the end.

I can't think of anything else. This was super refreshing for this series. It was more darker, it had the characters I know and love together again and a bunch of action, intrigue and devilish things happening throughout.

I really thought this was a great entry. My favorite since Sword of Destiny. I just cannot wait to continue this amazing book series! I love these characters and hopefully I don't have to wait long to buy Book 5 and start reading it! If you haven't read The Witcher series, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? It's bloody fantastic! Definitely near a Five Star read.

4.5/5]]> 4.10 1995 The Time of Contempt (The Witcher, #2)
author: Andrzej Sapkowski
name: Michael
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at: 2019/07/01
date added: 2022/05/04
shelves: 2019-reads, the-witcher, 2022-possible-reads-re-reads
review:
Before you read this review of this book, read the rest of my reviews for this series down below:

The Last Wish: 4/5
/review/show...

Sword of Destiny: 4.5/5
/review/show...

Blood Of Elves: 4/5
/review/show...

It's been a few months since I read Blood of Elves. You know what that means? WITCHER TIME!

With The Witcher Netflix Series coming out soon I decided to pick up this fourth installment of what is becoming one of my favorite character driven fantasies out there. The tales of Geralt of Rivia are always so much fun to read and this was no exception.

So what has happened since Blood of Elves? Well, Geralt has recovered from his loss with Rience, that evil wizard guy (Who we only see once briefly in this book) and is looking for Ciri. Meanwhile, Yennefer is with Ciri and is taking her to a (magic?) school for girls. This leads Ciri to run away and bring Geralt and Yen closer than ever. Oh, and Dandelion, my favorite bard boy is there as well!

This brings them to a Sorcerers Gathering where they spend the night and meet old and new faces (Triss Returns! YAY!) but suddenly, The Nilfgaardians attack and the Wizard's Guild is broken! Geralt is fighting for his life! Yen is missing! Ciri is somewhere else! Dandelion tags along with Geralt!

So yeah, the big bad Nilfgaardians are causing trouble again and starting a war. And it gets darker from there.

If you thought to yourself "The Witcher is not Grimdark enough" then this book will change your mind. The Time of Contempt is the darkest of the books yet! The ending is especially foul at a lot of points. It was super nice to see the series turn more grim as this was what I felt was lacking from some of the other books. The first two books felt like Sword and Sorcery stories, the third book felt like it was bridging Sword and Sorcery with Dark Fantasy. But this? This goes full out Grimdark! That is, until the last half. The first half didn't really feel like a dark fantasy, but that changes after the attack on the Sorcerers.

We also get introduced to many other characters. The Rats of The Marches (Which has Ciri Involved), Vilgefortz, a super powerful sorcerer who absolutely wrecks Geralt in a fight, some of the people from Brokilon (The setting for one of the stories in Sword of Destiny) are back and a bunch of other characters that either go missing or get their heads chopped off. Some of the Kings even die due to the Nilfgaardians OP as hell forces!

The Witcher books always have the best characters. Geralt is an instantly recognizable fantasy character, Yennefer is quite strict but has so much character, and Dandelion...

Please don't get me started on him. Why I love him so much is that most books would make him some kind of wannabe adventurer or poser bard type that wants to be rich. But Dandelion isn't that. He is already a famous bard throughout the lands and he has a great relationship with his audience and his friends. He is actually an original secondary character who might just become one of the people we see the most in this series. He also has some humor to him and he is very fun to be around.

Also the action. My god. The action is SOOOO good in this book. The fight at the Sorcerer's Guild was absolutely remarkable. The ending scenes where there are smaller fights as well are superb! This is how you do action!

Also, Ciri actually grew on me a lot more than she did previously. I thought I wasn't going to like her in this book as she does a lot of stupid shit at the beginning. But she became less of a "Dumbass Who Doesn't Learn" and actually a pretty solid character surviving out in the harsher world. I was also happy she found a temporary solution to her problem at the end.

I can't think of anything else. This was super refreshing for this series. It was more darker, it had the characters I know and love together again and a bunch of action, intrigue and devilish things happening throughout.

I really thought this was a great entry. My favorite since Sword of Destiny. I just cannot wait to continue this amazing book series! I love these characters and hopefully I don't have to wait long to buy Book 5 and start reading it! If you haven't read The Witcher series, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? It's bloody fantastic! Definitely near a Five Star read.

4.5/5
]]> <![CDATA[Blood of Elves (The Witcher, #1)]]> 6043781 The New York Times bestselling series that inspired the international hit video game: The Witcher.
For over a century, humans, dwarves, gnomes, and elves have lived together in relative peace. But times have changed, the uneasy peace is over, and now the races are fighting once again. The only good elf, it seems, is a dead elf.

Geralt of Rivia, the cunning assassin known as The Witcher, has been waiting for the birth of a prophesied child. This child has the power to change the world - for good, or for evil.

As the threat of war hangs over the land and the child is hunted for her extraordinary powers, it will become Geralt's responsibility to protect them all - and the Witcher never accepts defeat.

The Witcher returns in this sequel to The Last Wish, as the inhabitants of his world become embroiled in a state of total war.]]> 398 Andrzej Sapkowski Michael 4
The Last Wish: 4/5
Review for The Last Wish:
/review/show...

Sword of Destiny: 4.5/5
Review for Sword of Destiny:
/review/show...

Now, onto the Review!

Because I was so enthralled by Sword of Destiny, I immediately jumped into the third Witcher Book and the first novel in the series. I loved how Sapkowski set up everything in SOD and couldn't wait to see what would happen to Geralt, Ciri, Dandelion and Yennefer.

The results? It mostly works.

Of course, being this is the first actual full length story in the series, Sapkowski didn't find his stride yet with novels after making two amazing short story collections. But what he does is acceptable for the time. The story focuses on multiple viewpoints from Geralt, Dandelion, Yennefer, Ciri and a new character named Triss Merigold. Triss is a character I did like because of her connection to Geralt, but I didn't like how little of the book she was in. She disappears halfway through the story as the plot jumps many timelines. Ciri does become a teenager in the last chapter but I will get to that shortly.

I think Sapkowski's greatest strength is creating amazing characters that are absolutely striking. Geralt is great, Yennefer is kick ass, Dandelion? I always get a good laugh out of him, even if he is the useless type. If I had a complaint about the characters, it's that I would like to see more Triss in Book 4.

The action is well written, the end fight before the last chapter was pretty great. I also liked some of the other scenes like with the Caravans and the Guards on the boat that get killed by this weird sea creature. Geralt also outdoing a researcher of fish type beings is also pretty good.

---SPOILERS BEGIN HERE---

Of course, the book does have a glaring flaw. Geralt gets badly wounded at the end and basically faints of blood loss. Of course, knowing that there is 7 books of this (8 if you include the Stand alone Seasons of Storms) I knew he would make a return. That should be where the book ends right?

Wrong. Instead, we get a somewhat interesting but inappropriate ending where Ciri, now a teenager is reflecting on her relationship with Yennefer as war is starting to break out. This mostly consists of Ciri not liking Yen at first, but then realizes she is actually kind of awesome. I liked this inclusion, but really? This is your ending to the book? Shouldn't this be in the middle of your book? Geralt fainting of blood loss seemed like a more nail biting cliffhanger than this. I totally forgot about Geralt in this part actually! This was such a inappropriate way to end the story, but it does give a name drop for the next book "The Time of Contempt"

---SPOILERS END HERE---

So to make my point, my favorite scenes where:

-Dandelion and Yennefer having a conversation. Finding out she doesn't hate his guts.
-The last fight scene with Geralt
-The Caravan Storyline
-Geralt being conflicted with being neutral
-The Introduction of Triss
-Dandelion is Awesome.

And then the things that didn't work were:

-The extremely inappropriate ending
-The oddly forced relationship with Jarre and Ciri (If they continue this, I would like more development than we got)
-The Dreams Ciri had didn't end up doing anything for me.
-The forced exposition of people arguing and yelling about Dandelion's story of Geralt and The War at the beginning.
-Rience wasn't that much of a compelling villain.

So there were things I really enjoyed and things I didn't think worked. But this is the first full length novel in the series, so I'm hoping with The Time Of Contempt, Sapkowski will find his groove and make an awesome continuation of this story. Blood Of Elves struggles in places, but for a first full length novel in The Witcher Series, it does what it does well. Can't wait to continue this series!

4/5]]> 4.05 1994 Blood of Elves (The Witcher, #1)
author: Andrzej Sapkowski
name: Michael
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1994
rating: 4
read at: 2019/01/09
date added: 2022/05/04
shelves: 2019-reads, the-witcher, 2022-possible-reads-re-reads
review:
Before you read the review, maybe you would like to check out my other reviews for this series?

The Last Wish: 4/5
Review for The Last Wish:
/review/show...

Sword of Destiny: 4.5/5
Review for Sword of Destiny:
/review/show...

Now, onto the Review!

Because I was so enthralled by Sword of Destiny, I immediately jumped into the third Witcher Book and the first novel in the series. I loved how Sapkowski set up everything in SOD and couldn't wait to see what would happen to Geralt, Ciri, Dandelion and Yennefer.

The results? It mostly works.

Of course, being this is the first actual full length story in the series, Sapkowski didn't find his stride yet with novels after making two amazing short story collections. But what he does is acceptable for the time. The story focuses on multiple viewpoints from Geralt, Dandelion, Yennefer, Ciri and a new character named Triss Merigold. Triss is a character I did like because of her connection to Geralt, but I didn't like how little of the book she was in. She disappears halfway through the story as the plot jumps many timelines. Ciri does become a teenager in the last chapter but I will get to that shortly.

I think Sapkowski's greatest strength is creating amazing characters that are absolutely striking. Geralt is great, Yennefer is kick ass, Dandelion? I always get a good laugh out of him, even if he is the useless type. If I had a complaint about the characters, it's that I would like to see more Triss in Book 4.

The action is well written, the end fight before the last chapter was pretty great. I also liked some of the other scenes like with the Caravans and the Guards on the boat that get killed by this weird sea creature. Geralt also outdoing a researcher of fish type beings is also pretty good.

---SPOILERS BEGIN HERE---

Of course, the book does have a glaring flaw. Geralt gets badly wounded at the end and basically faints of blood loss. Of course, knowing that there is 7 books of this (8 if you include the Stand alone Seasons of Storms) I knew he would make a return. That should be where the book ends right?

Wrong. Instead, we get a somewhat interesting but inappropriate ending where Ciri, now a teenager is reflecting on her relationship with Yennefer as war is starting to break out. This mostly consists of Ciri not liking Yen at first, but then realizes she is actually kind of awesome. I liked this inclusion, but really? This is your ending to the book? Shouldn't this be in the middle of your book? Geralt fainting of blood loss seemed like a more nail biting cliffhanger than this. I totally forgot about Geralt in this part actually! This was such a inappropriate way to end the story, but it does give a name drop for the next book "The Time of Contempt"

---SPOILERS END HERE---

So to make my point, my favorite scenes where:

-Dandelion and Yennefer having a conversation. Finding out she doesn't hate his guts.
-The last fight scene with Geralt
-The Caravan Storyline
-Geralt being conflicted with being neutral
-The Introduction of Triss
-Dandelion is Awesome.

And then the things that didn't work were:

-The extremely inappropriate ending
-The oddly forced relationship with Jarre and Ciri (If they continue this, I would like more development than we got)
-The Dreams Ciri had didn't end up doing anything for me.
-The forced exposition of people arguing and yelling about Dandelion's story of Geralt and The War at the beginning.
-Rience wasn't that much of a compelling villain.

So there were things I really enjoyed and things I didn't think worked. But this is the first full length novel in the series, so I'm hoping with The Time Of Contempt, Sapkowski will find his groove and make an awesome continuation of this story. Blood Of Elves struggles in places, but for a first full length novel in The Witcher Series, it does what it does well. Can't wait to continue this series!

4/5
]]> <![CDATA[The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos, #1)]]> 40381319 A world divided.
A queendom without an heir.
An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction—but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.]]> 827 Samantha Shannon Michael 0 4.13 2019 The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos, #1)
author: Samantha Shannon
name: Michael
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/05/04
shelves: to-read, 2022-possible-reads-re-reads
review:

]]> Fairy Tale 60177373 Legendary storyteller Stephen King goes deep into the well of his imagination in this spellbinding novel about a seventeen-year-old boy who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higher—for their world or ours.

Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a hit-and-run accident when he was ten, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself—and his dad. Then, when Charlie is seventeen, he meets Howard Bowditch, a recluse with a big dog in a big house at the top of a big hill. In the backyard is a locked shed from which strange sounds emerge, as if some creature is trying to escape. When Mr. Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie the house, a massive amount of gold, a cassette tape telling a story that is impossible to believe, and a responsibility far too massive for a boy to shoulder.

Because within the shed is a portal to another world—one whose denizens are in peril and whose monstrous leaders may destroy their own world, and ours. In this parallel universe, where two moons race across the sky, and the grand towers of a sprawling palace pierce the clouds, there are exiled princesses and princes who suffer horrific punishments; there are dungeons; there are games in which men and women must fight each other to the death for the amusement of the “Fair One.� And there is a magic sundial that can turn back time.

A story as old as myth, and as startling and iconic as the rest of King’s work, Fairy Tale is about an ordinary guy forced into the hero’s role by circumstance, and it is both spectacularly suspenseful and satisfying.]]> 607 Stephen King 1668002175 Michael 0 to-read 4.05 2022 Fairy Tale
author: Stephen King
name: Michael
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/05/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Darkness at Sethanon (The Riftwar Saga, #4)]]> 258178 Alternate cover edition can be found here

An evil wind blows through Midkemia. Dark legions have risen up to crush the Kingdom of the Isles and enslave it to dire magics. The final battle between Order and Chaos is about to begin in the ruins of the city called Sethanon.

Now Pug, the master magician sometimes known as Milamber, must undertake an awesome and perilous quest to the dawn of time to grapple with an ancient and terrible Enemy for the fate of a thousand worlds.]]> 430 Raymond E. Feist 0553263285 Michael 4
Magician: Apprentice: 4.5/5
/review/show...

Magician: Master: 5/5
/review/show...

Silverthorn: 4.5/5
/review/show...

- - -

Finally, it's over.

I started The Riftwar Saga back in September and was cautiously optimistic I would enjoy this series. After having fun with Magician: Apprentice, I started Magician: Master and absolutely loved it. Silverthorn was next and I had a very good time with the book as well. Now, we are at the conclusion four months later with A Darkness At Sethanon. I jumped on it as soon as I could and I finally finished it tonight.

So what happens? Arutha fakes his death from Assassins of Murmandamus to confront him once and for all. So Martin, Baru, Laurie, Roald, along with Jimmy and his new friend Locklear go on a adventure to find him. This leads them to Armengar, where not only Amos Trask is, but the traitor branded Guy Du Bas-Tyra. Amos tells Arutha that Guy is a changed man and they fight off against Murmandamus' army.

Pug meanwhile, gets the help of Tomas to find Macros the Black, believed to be dead, to help destroy the Enemy once and for all in a time warping journey. This leads all the characters to the city of Sethanon for a glorious final battle between good and evil.

And my god what a glorious final battle it is. The Battle of Sethanon is one of my favorite moments in the entire Riftwar Saga, with some of the best action in the entire series. The stakes are higher than ever and everyone gets to play a part in the role. Even the lesser characters like Kulgan, Kasumi and the others are a part of this.

But man, if one character had a shining moment, it was Locklear. Locklear loses someone important to him during the second half and becomes basically Arutha in his younger years brooding and dark.

Not to mention Guy, WHAT A CHARACTER! He is probably the best part of the entire novel besides Sethanon! Guy is a wonderful general and a amazing character who knows more than Arutha. The reason he and Borric were enemies were great as well and actually made me feel sorry for the poor sod! Just one of the best things about the book.

Martin also got a chance to fall in love in this book with Brianna. A very classic written romance that really made me feel good. It reminded me of Carline and Roland in Magician: Apprentice. Just great things.

So it seems like the most common things I like about The Riftwar Saga in general are the characters themselves. This becomes a problem here. Most of the story is focused on Arutha and Guy. While Tomas and Pug do eventually get to shine in some parts (Mostly at the end) most of the time is on Arutha and his fight with Murmandamus. I really wanted to see more Martin and Dolgan honestly, as Dolgan should be playing a bigger part in the fight as well. But what happens? Martin and Dolgan arrive late as shit when the battle is over! So does Lyam! WHAT? Three of the most important characters in the battle weren't in the battle! Why!?

Also, the resolution to Locklear's brooding is Jimmy going "Stop it! It's not your fault!" and then Locklear just stops brooding and falls in love with another girl. Wow. That was incredibly weak writing even on Feist's part. Like, there has got to be a better resolution than just THAT right?

Also, going back to characters. Kulgan, Gamina, Katala, Hochopepa, Kasumi, Lyam, Dolgan, Aglaranna, barely in this book. Aglaranna appears once then screws off to do elf business. Hochopepa barely does anything, Kulgan sits around mostly smoking his pipe and the rest seem useless except for Gamina who actually tells them to meet Pug at Sethanon. These characters who I fell in love with DON'T DO ANYTHING! Why?! They only do shit at the end!

Those were basically my biggest complaints about this novel but everything else is fine! As I said, the battles are great, Guy is fantastic, the romance of Martin and Brianna is good, Locklear's big moment was good as well, mostly I was satisfied how it was concluded and the ending is just awesome especially for our characters including Guy.

I'm pretty happy with most of what I read. This was a worthwhile series and is definitely what I would call Classic Fantasy. The Riftwar Saga is a great series of books and I strongly recommend reading them. They have adventure, romance, battles, dilemmas, conflicts, humor, elves, dragons, East Asian like societies and a very satisfying cast of characters. This book falls a bit short of the others but A Darkness At Sethanon will surely please readers who have enjoyed the books up to this point.

I recommend it. It's not my favorite fantasy series (Classic or Modern) but it's still a damn good one that should be read. I'm looking forward to reading more Feist in the future.

4/5
]]> 4.01 1986 A Darkness at Sethanon (The Riftwar Saga, #4)
author: Raymond E. Feist
name: Michael
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1986
rating: 4
read at: 2019/12/13
date added: 2022/05/04
shelves: 2019-reads, the-riftwar-saga, 2022-possible-reads-re-reads
review:
Check out my previous reviews of books in this series!

Magician: Apprentice: 4.5/5
/review/show...

Magician: Master: 5/5
/review/show...

Silverthorn: 4.5/5
/review/show...

- - -

Finally, it's over.

I started The Riftwar Saga back in September and was cautiously optimistic I would enjoy this series. After having fun with Magician: Apprentice, I started Magician: Master and absolutely loved it. Silverthorn was next and I had a very good time with the book as well. Now, we are at the conclusion four months later with A Darkness At Sethanon. I jumped on it as soon as I could and I finally finished it tonight.

So what happens? Arutha fakes his death from Assassins of Murmandamus to confront him once and for all. So Martin, Baru, Laurie, Roald, along with Jimmy and his new friend Locklear go on a adventure to find him. This leads them to Armengar, where not only Amos Trask is, but the traitor branded Guy Du Bas-Tyra. Amos tells Arutha that Guy is a changed man and they fight off against Murmandamus' army.

Pug meanwhile, gets the help of Tomas to find Macros the Black, believed to be dead, to help destroy the Enemy once and for all in a time warping journey. This leads all the characters to the city of Sethanon for a glorious final battle between good and evil.

And my god what a glorious final battle it is. The Battle of Sethanon is one of my favorite moments in the entire Riftwar Saga, with some of the best action in the entire series. The stakes are higher than ever and everyone gets to play a part in the role. Even the lesser characters like Kulgan, Kasumi and the others are a part of this.

But man, if one character had a shining moment, it was Locklear. Locklear loses someone important to him during the second half and becomes basically Arutha in his younger years brooding and dark.

Not to mention Guy, WHAT A CHARACTER! He is probably the best part of the entire novel besides Sethanon! Guy is a wonderful general and a amazing character who knows more than Arutha. The reason he and Borric were enemies were great as well and actually made me feel sorry for the poor sod! Just one of the best things about the book.

Martin also got a chance to fall in love in this book with Brianna. A very classic written romance that really made me feel good. It reminded me of Carline and Roland in Magician: Apprentice. Just great things.

So it seems like the most common things I like about The Riftwar Saga in general are the characters themselves. This becomes a problem here. Most of the story is focused on Arutha and Guy. While Tomas and Pug do eventually get to shine in some parts (Mostly at the end) most of the time is on Arutha and his fight with Murmandamus. I really wanted to see more Martin and Dolgan honestly, as Dolgan should be playing a bigger part in the fight as well. But what happens? Martin and Dolgan arrive late as shit when the battle is over! So does Lyam! WHAT? Three of the most important characters in the battle weren't in the battle! Why!?

Also, the resolution to Locklear's brooding is Jimmy going "Stop it! It's not your fault!" and then Locklear just stops brooding and falls in love with another girl. Wow. That was incredibly weak writing even on Feist's part. Like, there has got to be a better resolution than just THAT right?

Also, going back to characters. Kulgan, Gamina, Katala, Hochopepa, Kasumi, Lyam, Dolgan, Aglaranna, barely in this book. Aglaranna appears once then screws off to do elf business. Hochopepa barely does anything, Kulgan sits around mostly smoking his pipe and the rest seem useless except for Gamina who actually tells them to meet Pug at Sethanon. These characters who I fell in love with DON'T DO ANYTHING! Why?! They only do shit at the end!

Those were basically my biggest complaints about this novel but everything else is fine! As I said, the battles are great, Guy is fantastic, the romance of Martin and Brianna is good, Locklear's big moment was good as well, mostly I was satisfied how it was concluded and the ending is just awesome especially for our characters including Guy.

I'm pretty happy with most of what I read. This was a worthwhile series and is definitely what I would call Classic Fantasy. The Riftwar Saga is a great series of books and I strongly recommend reading them. They have adventure, romance, battles, dilemmas, conflicts, humor, elves, dragons, East Asian like societies and a very satisfying cast of characters. This book falls a bit short of the others but A Darkness At Sethanon will surely please readers who have enjoyed the books up to this point.

I recommend it. It's not my favorite fantasy series (Classic or Modern) but it's still a damn good one that should be read. I'm looking forward to reading more Feist in the future.

4/5

]]> <![CDATA[Silverthorn (The Riftwar Saga, #3)]]> 589977 Alternate Cover Edition can be found here.

A poisoned bolt has struck down the Princess Anita on the day of her wedding to Prince Arutha of Krondor.

To save his beloved, Arutha sets out in search of the mystic herb called Silverthorn that only grows in the dark and forbidding land of the Spellweavers.

Accompanied by a mercenary, a minstrel, and a clever young thief, he will confront an ancient evil and do battle with the dark powers that threaten the enchanted realm of Midkemia.]]> 343 Raymond E. Feist 0553270540 Michael 4
Magician: Apprentice: 4.5/5
/review/show...

Magician: Master: 5/5
/review/show...

What can I say? Raymond E. Feist is becoming a better and better writer each book. Silverthorn is the next step into the world of Midkemia and Kelewan and I am so glad I got to take another journey into these worlds again. Feist is becoming a great storyteller and boy do I have LOTS to say about this great adventure we go on!

Basically, the main focus is on Prince Arutha, one of the more prominent characters from Magician. One year after the events of the Riftwar, Arutha is about to marry the lovely Princess Anita but there are problems. The main one being that his life is in danger and someone is trying to assassinate him and is noted by an old acquaintance, the thief boy Jimmy The Hand, who later becomes his Squire. During the wedding where everyone and I mean EVERYONE is invited, including Pug and his family, Kulgan, Kasumi and the Lamut Garrison, King Lyam, Carline, Laurie, Martin, basically everyone important from the first two books, someone tries to take Arutha's life and Jimmy successfully stops it. Kind of.

Mainly, Anita has been shot with a poison bolt and the only way to cure her is by finding Silverthorn, a extremely rare plant that grows in the Northlands. So now it's up to Arutha, Jimmy, Gardan, Martin, Laurie and a few others along the way to find Silverthorn and avoid getting killed at all costs.

Of course, we still have a plot with Pug where he finds out about the Enemy coming back to destroy Midkemia and Kelewan which leads to a rift spanning journey back to the place where he was once Milamber. But first things first, thoughts.

Feist has created another great adventure in the world of Midkemia. The characters are great especially Pug who I absolutely love to death. Tomas is also back in a few scenes and gets to kick some Moredhel (Dark Elf) ass! But the character I fell in love with the most was Martin. This guy is such a god damn BADASS! This guy shoots arrows with such accuracy and awesomeness like there is no tomorrow! The final battle in the book had me cheering for him more than Arutha or Jimmy! I absolutely love him in this book and he became more awesome every chapter.

Of course, Arutha is developed even more and is wonderful to see him grow as a character. When Anita is on her deathbed, he is bawling! Like, this was one of my favorite scenes in the entire book because it showed Arutha sharing his emotions with people. Jimmy or Squire James was fine but to be honest I'm not that interested in him except in a few cases. I am impressed however by his change throughout the book from thief to squire.

The only thing I can really nag at is that Carline is basically back to her old self like she was in Apprentice. Always nagging on Laurie to marry her. It's one of the weaker things because she grew through most of the changes even in Master, but now it feels like she is back to her old self which can be a bit frustrating. Don't get me wrong, it's not Robert Jordan "PFFT! MEN!" bad, but Feist can do a bit more to improve the female characters. I had no problems with Katala or Aglaranna at all but maybe it's because they're not doing anything special throughout the book. Maybe Katala supporting her husband which was nice.

Violence and Action are much more gorier and bloodier this time around. The action scenes really impressed me. There are two good examples of this. One is when Arutha and Jimmy go destroy the Nighthawk building and cut off the limbs of all the evil guys there who keep regenerating. It's a bloodbath! Another impressive use of violence and action is on Kelewan where Pug and his friends are getting tortured but the enemies are having problems getting them to hurt bad, leading to some serious cuts on the shoulder and stuff like that. I won't spoil all of it, but Pug does some more awesome shit and is getting crazy powerful every time I read about him.

And that's the thing, the characters are growing with each book. Pug is getting stronger, Jimmy is getting more tougher, Arutha is showing more emotions instead of dark brooding like he usually does, all the characters in the book grow in some way or another. It's great to see all the characters again. Tomas, Kulgan, Kasumi, Lyam, Hochopepa, they are just great classic fantasy characters.

I guess you can say I'm being a fanboy by praising how good The Riftwar Saga is but seriously, it is just a great series of Classic Fantasies that have heart and soul. They are definitely feel good novels with some great action, characters, lands and moments. Elvander is probably my favorite place on Midkemia right now and I'm loving every moment I'm there. When Feist writes about Krondor or Elvander or Rillanon, I feel like I'm there, which is a huge plus for immersion.

If I hadn't made it clear enough, you should read Silverthorn. It has fantastic characters, great action, huge developments and big political schemes of assassination and power that will keep you reading until the last page. I'm so happy that this series is still going strong at Book 3 and I cannot wait for the conclusion of A Darkness at Sethanon to tie everything up.

The books are must reads. That's all I'm saying. Enough chit chat! Enjoy this wonderful ride!

4.5/5]]> 3.93 1985 Silverthorn (The Riftwar Saga, #3)
author: Raymond E. Feist
name: Michael
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1985
rating: 4
read at: 2019/11/19
date added: 2022/05/04
shelves: the-riftwar-saga, 2019-reads, 2022-possible-reads-re-reads
review:
Before reading this review, check out my other reviews for previous books in The Riftwar Saga!

Magician: Apprentice: 4.5/5
/review/show...

Magician: Master: 5/5
/review/show...

What can I say? Raymond E. Feist is becoming a better and better writer each book. Silverthorn is the next step into the world of Midkemia and Kelewan and I am so glad I got to take another journey into these worlds again. Feist is becoming a great storyteller and boy do I have LOTS to say about this great adventure we go on!

Basically, the main focus is on Prince Arutha, one of the more prominent characters from Magician. One year after the events of the Riftwar, Arutha is about to marry the lovely Princess Anita but there are problems. The main one being that his life is in danger and someone is trying to assassinate him and is noted by an old acquaintance, the thief boy Jimmy The Hand, who later becomes his Squire. During the wedding where everyone and I mean EVERYONE is invited, including Pug and his family, Kulgan, Kasumi and the Lamut Garrison, King Lyam, Carline, Laurie, Martin, basically everyone important from the first two books, someone tries to take Arutha's life and Jimmy successfully stops it. Kind of.

Mainly, Anita has been shot with a poison bolt and the only way to cure her is by finding Silverthorn, a extremely rare plant that grows in the Northlands. So now it's up to Arutha, Jimmy, Gardan, Martin, Laurie and a few others along the way to find Silverthorn and avoid getting killed at all costs.

Of course, we still have a plot with Pug where he finds out about the Enemy coming back to destroy Midkemia and Kelewan which leads to a rift spanning journey back to the place where he was once Milamber. But first things first, thoughts.

Feist has created another great adventure in the world of Midkemia. The characters are great especially Pug who I absolutely love to death. Tomas is also back in a few scenes and gets to kick some Moredhel (Dark Elf) ass! But the character I fell in love with the most was Martin. This guy is such a god damn BADASS! This guy shoots arrows with such accuracy and awesomeness like there is no tomorrow! The final battle in the book had me cheering for him more than Arutha or Jimmy! I absolutely love him in this book and he became more awesome every chapter.

Of course, Arutha is developed even more and is wonderful to see him grow as a character. When Anita is on her deathbed, he is bawling! Like, this was one of my favorite scenes in the entire book because it showed Arutha sharing his emotions with people. Jimmy or Squire James was fine but to be honest I'm not that interested in him except in a few cases. I am impressed however by his change throughout the book from thief to squire.

The only thing I can really nag at is that Carline is basically back to her old self like she was in Apprentice. Always nagging on Laurie to marry her. It's one of the weaker things because she grew through most of the changes even in Master, but now it feels like she is back to her old self which can be a bit frustrating. Don't get me wrong, it's not Robert Jordan "PFFT! MEN!" bad, but Feist can do a bit more to improve the female characters. I had no problems with Katala or Aglaranna at all but maybe it's because they're not doing anything special throughout the book. Maybe Katala supporting her husband which was nice.

Violence and Action are much more gorier and bloodier this time around. The action scenes really impressed me. There are two good examples of this. One is when Arutha and Jimmy go destroy the Nighthawk building and cut off the limbs of all the evil guys there who keep regenerating. It's a bloodbath! Another impressive use of violence and action is on Kelewan where Pug and his friends are getting tortured but the enemies are having problems getting them to hurt bad, leading to some serious cuts on the shoulder and stuff like that. I won't spoil all of it, but Pug does some more awesome shit and is getting crazy powerful every time I read about him.

And that's the thing, the characters are growing with each book. Pug is getting stronger, Jimmy is getting more tougher, Arutha is showing more emotions instead of dark brooding like he usually does, all the characters in the book grow in some way or another. It's great to see all the characters again. Tomas, Kulgan, Kasumi, Lyam, Hochopepa, they are just great classic fantasy characters.

I guess you can say I'm being a fanboy by praising how good The Riftwar Saga is but seriously, it is just a great series of Classic Fantasies that have heart and soul. They are definitely feel good novels with some great action, characters, lands and moments. Elvander is probably my favorite place on Midkemia right now and I'm loving every moment I'm there. When Feist writes about Krondor or Elvander or Rillanon, I feel like I'm there, which is a huge plus for immersion.

If I hadn't made it clear enough, you should read Silverthorn. It has fantastic characters, great action, huge developments and big political schemes of assassination and power that will keep you reading until the last page. I'm so happy that this series is still going strong at Book 3 and I cannot wait for the conclusion of A Darkness at Sethanon to tie everything up.

The books are must reads. That's all I'm saying. Enough chit chat! Enjoy this wonderful ride!

4.5/5
]]> <![CDATA[The Dragon's Bride (A Deal With a Demon, #1)]]> 59126709
Desperate times call for desperate measures, which is how she finds herself making a deal with a demon. Freedom from her husband…in return for seven years of service.

She expects the service to be backbreaking and harsh. She DZ’t expect to be put on an auction block in a room full of literal monsters and sold to the highest bidder.

To Sol.

A dragon.

He might seem kinder than his fearsome looks imply, but she knows better than to trust the way he wants to take care of her, or how invested he is in her pleasure. In her experience, if something seems too good to be true, it certainly is.

Falling for Sol is out of the question. She’s suffered enough, and she has no intention of staying in this realm…even if she leaves her heart behind when she returns to her normal life.

Author's Note: Please check the author's website for all tropes, tags, and CWs.]]> 190 Katee Robert Michael 0 to-read 3.65 2022 The Dragon's Bride (A Deal With a Demon, #1)
author: Katee Robert
name: Michael
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/05/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Mort (Discworld, #4) 13536273 Death comes to us all. When he came to Mort, he offered him a job.

Henceforth, Death is no longer going to be the end, merely the means to an end. It’s an offer Mort can't refuse. As Death's apprentice he'll have free board, use of the company horse - and being dead isn't compulsory. It's a dream job - until he discovers that it can be a killer on his love life...]]> 317 Terry Pratchett 0552166626 Michael 4 2022-reads, discworld
First things first. I've missed Terry Pratchett's prose a lot. He makes some of the most interesting and fun analogies in any series I've read and a lot of the time the writing is strong due to his creative and humorous vision for the series. The book honestly has some beautifully written moments as well, like the entire Goodie Hamstring scene which is one of the most gorgeous and touching things Pratchett has ever written. His characters are equally as strong here and there are many that stand out from Mort, Keli, Ysabell and Cutwell. We even get a cameo role from Rincewind which made me happy so it was nice to see him near the third act of this book.

The strongest aspect I love here is that the entire conflict is just one little thing after the other. It starts with a job gone wrong, then the princess of the kingdom realizing everyone thinks she's dead, to Mort trying to save the princess from actually dying, to Death going missing and being on the town, it's just one damn thing after another for these characters and it makes for a lot of great moments. The door handle at Cutwell's place was also great, probably one of the strongest comedic parts of the entire book.

So in general, the prose is still up to Pratchett's excellent standards, the characters are strong, much stronger than the ones in the third Discworld book Equal Rites which I didn't really enjoy and the entire way the conflict just keeps building up and up until the climax is great. However, I do have my issues with it.

My smallest complaint is that there isn't really a definitive villain here. The book tries to make you believe that the Evil Duke is the villain, but he's ignored until the end. It makes you then think Albert is the villain out of nowhere, but he kind of just stops being evil at some point. Then we're lead to believe that Death is the villain? I don't... what? The main character of this subseries is the villain? Death doesn't seem like a harsh type in these books thus far so I don't get why the climax is some weird sword fight with him to save Keli or whatever.

Also, I'm a bit frustrated by the ending in general. It's a complete copout. The whole book builds up to wanting Mort to save Princess Keli because he develops a crush on her and starts to love her, [spoilers removed] The entire goal of the book feels completely pointless because of this ending. Pratchett spends the whole book trying to convince you of the most likely outcome, but completely does a 180 on us. Not to mention the ending feels rushed in general. It's lacking the satisfactory ending that The Light Fantastic had and in the end it leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

I will say however this is by far the best Discworld book I've read. The strong characters, prose and the way the entire conflict of the story is built up are what make this book absolutely worth reading. It's a big step up from Equal Rites and the book in general has some delightful and touching moments as stated. If I were to rank the books thus far, it would go:

Mort
The Light Fantastic
The Color of Magic
Equal Rites

I'm looking forward to the next book where we'll be seeing Rincewind at the center stage again. Lets hope it provides my first 5 Star rating for the series in general!]]> 4.13 1987 Mort (Discworld, #4)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Michael
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1987
rating: 4
read at: 2022/04/20
date added: 2022/04/20
shelves: 2022-reads, discworld
review:
This was my first time going back into Discworld in a while, but I'm glad I got a chance to read what many consider one of the best books in the entire series. I will say however this was going to be a 5 Star Rating initially but I ended up docking it down to 4.5 for a very BIG reason. Still, I guess I can tell you what I like about this one in general since it's pretty fun most of the time.

First things first. I've missed Terry Pratchett's prose a lot. He makes some of the most interesting and fun analogies in any series I've read and a lot of the time the writing is strong due to his creative and humorous vision for the series. The book honestly has some beautifully written moments as well, like the entire Goodie Hamstring scene which is one of the most gorgeous and touching things Pratchett has ever written. His characters are equally as strong here and there are many that stand out from Mort, Keli, Ysabell and Cutwell. We even get a cameo role from Rincewind which made me happy so it was nice to see him near the third act of this book.

The strongest aspect I love here is that the entire conflict is just one little thing after the other. It starts with a job gone wrong, then the princess of the kingdom realizing everyone thinks she's dead, to Mort trying to save the princess from actually dying, to Death going missing and being on the town, it's just one damn thing after another for these characters and it makes for a lot of great moments. The door handle at Cutwell's place was also great, probably one of the strongest comedic parts of the entire book.

So in general, the prose is still up to Pratchett's excellent standards, the characters are strong, much stronger than the ones in the third Discworld book Equal Rites which I didn't really enjoy and the entire way the conflict just keeps building up and up until the climax is great. However, I do have my issues with it.

My smallest complaint is that there isn't really a definitive villain here. The book tries to make you believe that the Evil Duke is the villain, but he's ignored until the end. It makes you then think Albert is the villain out of nowhere, but he kind of just stops being evil at some point. Then we're lead to believe that Death is the villain? I don't... what? The main character of this subseries is the villain? Death doesn't seem like a harsh type in these books thus far so I don't get why the climax is some weird sword fight with him to save Keli or whatever.

Also, I'm a bit frustrated by the ending in general. It's a complete copout. The whole book builds up to wanting Mort to save Princess Keli because he develops a crush on her and starts to love her, [spoilers removed] The entire goal of the book feels completely pointless because of this ending. Pratchett spends the whole book trying to convince you of the most likely outcome, but completely does a 180 on us. Not to mention the ending feels rushed in general. It's lacking the satisfactory ending that The Light Fantastic had and in the end it leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

I will say however this is by far the best Discworld book I've read. The strong characters, prose and the way the entire conflict of the story is built up are what make this book absolutely worth reading. It's a big step up from Equal Rites and the book in general has some delightful and touching moments as stated. If I were to rank the books thus far, it would go:

Mort
The Light Fantastic
The Color of Magic
Equal Rites

I'm looking forward to the next book where we'll be seeing Rincewind at the center stage again. Lets hope it provides my first 5 Star rating for the series in general!
]]> The Eyes of the Dragon 36334235 The Washington Post) of this bestselling classic tale—an epic fantasy as only Stephen King could envision it.

“Once, in a kingdom called Delain, there was a king with two sons�.�

Thus begins one of the most unique tales that master storyteller Stephen King has ever written—a sprawling fantasy of dark magic and the struggle for absolute power that utterly transforms the destinies of two brothers born into royalty. Through this enthralling masterpiece of mythical adventure, intrigue, and terror, you will thrill to this unforgettable narrative filled with relentless, wicked enchantment, and the most terrible of secrets…]]> 372 Stephen King Michael 4 standalones, 2022-reads
This one was pretty damn good. It's your basic classic fantasy tale featuring a dragon, two princes, an evil magician, loyal friends and some excellent prose. I'll say this right away that King's prose excels here. The whole story is told in this storyteller fashion, with a first person/third person style narrative of a storyteller telling us this one piece of history in the kingdom of Delain's history. The prose is easily the strongest part of the book for me and King absolutely did a fantastic job writing this one. The story itself mostly has a lot of character archetypes and it does feature the dreaded cliche I hate of "Character with Daddy Issues because his older brother was more loved by him than he was.", but it doesn't feel intrusive to the entire story in general. Still, most of the book is Peter, the main character trying to escape the Needle, this huge prison tower and it's pretty fun seeing how he plans things out. It ends up being a fun prison escape book which I had no idea this would turn into that.

I was concerned that many of the characters were getting left on the curve like Peter's friend Ben Staad, but the only one who unfortunately gets the boot to the curve is Thomas. You don't get to see much of him during the book and it's only during the beginning when you get to know stuff about him. Thankfully he does get a moment to shine at the end of the book so I can almost forgive King for forgetting about him. As for the rest, I enjoyed reading about Ben, Dennis, Naomi, her husky Frisky and Judge General Anders Peyna as they were some of the strongest parts of the book and thankfully a lot of time is spent on them, especially Ben at the last quarter or so. I also enjoyed King's recurring villain Flagg whose plan obviously falters in the long run.

I'm also surprised the title of this book is actually relevant, having to do with the Head of the Dragon King Roland killed a long time ago called Niner. This whole dragon head plays nicely into the entire part of the story [spoilers removed] Usually with books I don't really see how some of these titles are relevant at all to the story, so this was nice that the title actually kind of has a point of being named that.

On another note, the book has some pretty decent illustrations. They weren't necessary, but it does sometimes help to envision what is going on in whatever scene you're on. I'm also kind of surprised how short the chapters were here. There is 142 Chapters in general and most of them are about 2-6 Pages long and considering this is a short book I thought the ending would unfortunately be a bit rushed. Thankfully, it's a satisfying conclusion in the end so I'm not bothered at all.

I don't have many major complaints in general, except that Thomas gets put on the sidelines through most of the book. But even then I had a good enough time with this one. It's finally good to be back reading again and I'll be re-reading a couple of things in the future, such as The Riftwar Saga and Books 3 and 4 of The Witcher before I get going on the next few books. Hell, maybe I'll take a look at The Priory of the Orange Tree, a giant standalone with dragons! Hehe, I'm just glad to be reading again and am looking forward to exploring more books in the future!

This one is probably a solid 4/5. I liked it fine and maybe I'll come back to it in the future.

4/5]]> 3.89 1984 The Eyes of the Dragon
author: Stephen King
name: Michael
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1984
rating: 4
read at: 2022/03/30
date added: 2022/03/30
shelves: standalones, 2022-reads
review:
So it's been a long while since I reviewed anything. I had terrible book burnout for two years after reading The Lord of the Rings, but now I have finally come back to review this pleasant standalone book from Stephen King himself. My review style might be different from my older reviews so please bare this in mind while reading it.

This one was pretty damn good. It's your basic classic fantasy tale featuring a dragon, two princes, an evil magician, loyal friends and some excellent prose. I'll say this right away that King's prose excels here. The whole story is told in this storyteller fashion, with a first person/third person style narrative of a storyteller telling us this one piece of history in the kingdom of Delain's history. The prose is easily the strongest part of the book for me and King absolutely did a fantastic job writing this one. The story itself mostly has a lot of character archetypes and it does feature the dreaded cliche I hate of "Character with Daddy Issues because his older brother was more loved by him than he was.", but it doesn't feel intrusive to the entire story in general. Still, most of the book is Peter, the main character trying to escape the Needle, this huge prison tower and it's pretty fun seeing how he plans things out. It ends up being a fun prison escape book which I had no idea this would turn into that.

I was concerned that many of the characters were getting left on the curve like Peter's friend Ben Staad, but the only one who unfortunately gets the boot to the curve is Thomas. You don't get to see much of him during the book and it's only during the beginning when you get to know stuff about him. Thankfully he does get a moment to shine at the end of the book so I can almost forgive King for forgetting about him. As for the rest, I enjoyed reading about Ben, Dennis, Naomi, her husky Frisky and Judge General Anders Peyna as they were some of the strongest parts of the book and thankfully a lot of time is spent on them, especially Ben at the last quarter or so. I also enjoyed King's recurring villain Flagg whose plan obviously falters in the long run.

I'm also surprised the title of this book is actually relevant, having to do with the Head of the Dragon King Roland killed a long time ago called Niner. This whole dragon head plays nicely into the entire part of the story [spoilers removed] Usually with books I don't really see how some of these titles are relevant at all to the story, so this was nice that the title actually kind of has a point of being named that.

On another note, the book has some pretty decent illustrations. They weren't necessary, but it does sometimes help to envision what is going on in whatever scene you're on. I'm also kind of surprised how short the chapters were here. There is 142 Chapters in general and most of them are about 2-6 Pages long and considering this is a short book I thought the ending would unfortunately be a bit rushed. Thankfully, it's a satisfying conclusion in the end so I'm not bothered at all.

I don't have many major complaints in general, except that Thomas gets put on the sidelines through most of the book. But even then I had a good enough time with this one. It's finally good to be back reading again and I'll be re-reading a couple of things in the future, such as The Riftwar Saga and Books 3 and 4 of The Witcher before I get going on the next few books. Hell, maybe I'll take a look at The Priory of the Orange Tree, a giant standalone with dragons! Hehe, I'm just glad to be reading again and am looking forward to exploring more books in the future!

This one is probably a solid 4/5. I liked it fine and maybe I'll come back to it in the future.

4/5
]]> <![CDATA[Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #1)]]> 77566 500 Dan Simmons 0553283685 Michael 0 to-read 4.26 1989 Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #1)
author: Dan Simmons
name: Michael
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1989
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/03/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Dune (Dune, #1) 53180949 Librarian's note: There is an Alternate Cover Edition for this edition of this book here.

In 1965, after being rejected by more than a dozen publishing houses, a book called "Dune" was brought out by the Chilton Book Company. Its respected author, journalist Frank Herbert, had written "Dune" with nothing more in mind than to entertain his readers with the telling of a particularly complex story, one which had occupied his thoughts for more than six years. No one - not Herbert, not Chilton, not the science fiction community at the time - had any idea that "Dune" would be adopted and read by successive generations with a fervor bordering on cult worship. Or that it would prove to be merely the first of what have now become five international bestsellers about a desert world of the future - the planet Arrakis, called Dune.]]> 884 Frank Herbert 0441172717 Michael 0 to-read 4.36 1965 Dune (Dune, #1)
author: Frank Herbert
name: Michael
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1965
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/02/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Axiom's End (Noumena, #1) 51171377
It’s fall 2007. A well-timed leak has revealed that the US government might have engaged in first contact. Cora Sabino is doing everything she can to avoid the whole mess, since the force driving the controversy is her whistleblower father. Even though Cora hasn’t spoken to him in years, his celebrity has caught the attention of the press, the Internet, the paparazzi, and the government—and with him in hiding, that attention is on her. She neither knows nor cares whether her father’s leaks are a hoax, and wants nothing to do with him—until she learns just how deeply entrenched her family is in the cover-up, and that an extraterrestrial presence has been on Earth for decades.

Realizing the extent to which both she and the public have been lied to, she sets out to gather as much information as she can, and finds that the best way for her to uncover the truth is not as a whistleblower, but as an intermediary. The alien presence has been completely uncommunicative until she convinces one of them that she can act as their interpreter, becoming the first and only human vessel of communication. Their otherworldly connection will change everything she thought she knew about being human—and could unleash a force more sinister than she ever imagined.]]> 384 Lindsay Ellis 1250256739 Michael 0 to-read 3.68 2020 Axiom's End (Noumena, #1)
author: Lindsay Ellis
name: Michael
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/01/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Shadow of the Gods (The Bloodsworn Saga, #1)]]> 52694527 Set in a brand-new, Norse-inspired world, and packed with myth, magic and bloody vengeance, The Shadow of the Gods begins an epic new fantasy saga from bestselling author John Gwynne.

After the gods warred and drove themselves to extinction, the cataclysm of their fall shattered the land of Vigrið.

Now a new world is rising, where power-hungry jarls feud and monsters stalk the woods and mountains. A world where the bones of the dead gods still hold great power for those brave - or desperate - enough to seek them out.

Now, as whispers of war echo across the mountains and fjords, fate follows in the footsteps of three people: a huntress on a dangerous quest, a noblewoman who has rejected privilege in pursuit of battle fame, and a thrall who seeks vengeance among the famed mercenaries known as the Bloodsworn.

All three will shape the fate of the world as it once more falls under the shadow of the gods . . .]]> 480 John Gwynne 0356514188 Michael 0 to-read 4.19 2021 The Shadow of the Gods (The Bloodsworn Saga, #1)
author: John Gwynne
name: Michael
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/11/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Thief (The Queen's Thief, #1)]]> 30363359 Instead of Three Wishes, the first book by Megan Whalen Turner. Her second book more than fulfills that promise.

The king's scholar, the magus, believes he knows the site of an ancient treasure. To attain it for his king, he needs a skillful thief, and he selects Gen from the king's prison. The magus is interested only in the thief's abilities. What Gen is interested in is anyone's guess. Their journey toward the treasure is both dangerous and difficult, lightened only imperceptibly by the tales they tell of the old gods and goddesses.

Megan Whalen Turner weaves Gen's stories and Gen's story together with style and verve in a novel that is filled with intrigue, adventure, and surprise.]]> 320 Megan Whalen Turner 0062642960 Michael 0 to-read 3.67 1996 The Thief (The Queen's Thief, #1)
author: Megan Whalen Turner
name: Michael
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1996
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/09/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fate of the Fallen (The Shroud of Prophecy, #1)]]> 43263191 The start of a brand new adventure from New York Times bestselling author Kel Kade

Not all stories have happy endings.

Everyone loves Mathias. Naturally, when he discovers it’s his destiny to save the world, he dives in head first, pulling his best friend Aaslo along for the ride.

However, saving the world isn’t as easy, or exciting, as it sounds in the stories. The going gets rough and folks start to believe their best chance for survival is to surrender to the forces of evil, which isn’t how the prophecy goes. At all. As the list of allies grows thin, and the friends find themselves staring death in the face they must decide how to become the heroes they were destined to be or, failing that, how to survive.]]> 352 Kel Kade 1250293790 Michael 0 to-read 3.70 2019 Fate of the Fallen (The Shroud of Prophecy, #1)
author: Kel Kade
name: Michael
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/07/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Press Reset: Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry]]> 55277893 From the bestselling author of Blood, Sweat, and Pixels comes the next definitive, behind-the-scenes account of the video game industry: how some of the past decade's most renowned studios fell apart -- and the stories, both triumphant and tragic, of what happened next.

 Jason Schreier's groundbreaking reporting has earned him a place among the preeminent investigative journalists covering the world of video games. In his eagerly anticipated, deeply researched new book, Schreier trains his investigative eye on the volatility of the video game industry and the resilience of the people who work in it.

The business of videogames is both a prestige industry and an opaque one. Based on dozens of first-hand interviews that cover the development of landmark games -- Bioshock Infinite, Epic Mickey, Dead Space, and more -- on to the shocking closures of the studios that made them, PRESS RESET tells the stories of how real people are affected by game studio shutdowns, and how they recover, move on, or escape the industry entirely.

Schreier's insider interviews cover hostile takeovers, abusive bosses, corporate drama, bounced checks, and that one time the Boston Red Sox's Curt Schilling decided he was going to lead a game studio that would take out World of Warcraft. Along the way, he asks pressing questions about why, when the video game industry is more successful than ever, it's become so hard to make a stable living making video games -- and whether the business of making games can change before it's too late.]]> 301 Jason Schreier 1538735490 Michael 0 to-read 4.02 2021 Press Reset: Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry
author: Jason Schreier
name: Michael
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/06/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Blood, Sweat, and Pixels 34376766 Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, Jason Schreier takes readers on a fascinating odyssey behind the scenes of video game development, where the creator may be a team of 600 overworked underdogs or a solitary geek genius. Exploring the artistic challenges, technical impossibilities, marketplace demands, and Donkey Kong-sized monkey wrenches thrown into the works by corporate, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels reveals how bringing any game to completion is more than Sisyphean—it's nothing short of miraculous.

Taking some of the most popular, bestselling recent games, Schreier immerses readers in the hellfire of the development process, whether it's RPG studio Bioware's challenge to beat an impossible schedule and overcome countless technical nightmares to build Dragon Inquisition; indie developer Eric Barone's single-handed efforts to grow country-life RPG Stardew Valley from one man's vision into a multi-million-dollar franchise; or Bungie spinning out from their corporate overlords at Microsoft to create Destiny, a brand new universe that they hoped would become as iconic as Star Wars and Lord of the Rings—even as it nearly ripped their studio apart.

Documenting the round-the-clock crunches, buggy-eyed burnout, and last-minute saves, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is a journey through development hell—and ultimately a tribute to the dedicated diehards and unsung heroes who scale mountains of obstacles in their quests to create the best games imaginable.]]> 353 Jason Schreier 0062651242 Michael 0 to-read 4.21 2017 Blood, Sweat, and Pixels
author: Jason Schreier
name: Michael
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/06/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture]]> 222146
Americans spend more money on video games than on movie tickets. Masters of Doom is the first book to chronicle this industry’s greatest story, written by one of the medium’s leading observers. David Kushner takes readers inside the rags-to-riches adventure of two rebellious entrepreneurs who came of age to shape a generation. The vivid portrait reveals why their games are so violent and why their immersion in their brilliantly designed fantasy worlds offered them solace. And it shows how they channeled their fury and imagination into products that are a formative influence on our culture, from MTV to the Internet to Columbine. This is a story of friendship and betrayal, commerce and artistry—a powerful and compassionate account of what it’s like to be young, driven, and wildly creative.

“To my taste, the greatest American myth of cosmogenesis features the maladjusted, antisocial, genius teenage boy who, in the insular laboratory of his own bedroom, invents the universe from scratch.  Masters of Doom  is a particularly inspired rendition. Dave Kushner chronicles the saga of video game virtuosi Carmack and Romero with terrific brio. This is a page-turning, mythopoeic cyber-soap opera about two glamorous geek geniuses—and it should be read while scarfing down pepperoni pizza and swilling Diet Coke, with Queens of the Stone Age cranked up all the way.”—Mark Leyner, author of  I Smell Esther Williams]]> 339 David Kushner 0812972155 Michael 0 to-read 4.28 2003 Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture
author: David Kushner
name: Michael
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/06/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Legend (The Drenai Saga, #1) 618177 DRUSS the Legend. His skill in battle has earned him a fearsome reputation throughout the world and the stories of his life are told everywhere. But the grizzled veteran has spurned a life of fame and fortune and has retreated to the solitude of his mountain lair to await his old enemy, Death.

Meanwhile, barbarian hordes of the Nadir are on the march, conquering all before them. All that stands before them and victory is the legendary six-walled fortress of the Drenai empire, Dros Delnoch. If the fortress falls, so do the Drenai. Druss reluctantly agrees to come out of retirement. But can even Druss live up to his own legends?

Held by many to be Gemmell's most iconic work, the book is considered a classic in the heroic fantasy genre.]]> 345 David Gemmell Michael 0 to-read 4.26 1984 Legend (The Drenai Saga, #1)
author: David Gemmell
name: Michael
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1984
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/06/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The King Beyond the Gate 13706716 368 David Gemmell 0356501388 Michael 0 to-read 4.05 1985 The King Beyond the Gate
author: David Gemmell
name: Michael
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1985
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/03/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Sword of Shannara (The Original Shannara Trilogy #1)]]> 349320 726 Terry Brooks 0345314255 Michael 0 to-read 3.56 1977 The Sword of Shannara (The Original Shannara Trilogy #1)
author: Terry Brooks
name: Michael
average rating: 3.56
book published: 1977
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 2020 on ŷ 49583273
For those of you who don't like to add titles you haven't actually 'read', you can place 2020 on ŷ on an 'exclusive' shelf. Exclusive shelves don't have to be listed under 'to read', 'currently reading' or 'read'. To create one, go to 'edit bookshelves' on your 'My Books' page, create a shelf name such as 'review-of-the year' and tick the 'exclusive' box. Your previous and future 'reviews of the year' can be collected together on this dedicated shelf.

Concept created by Fionnuala Lirsdottir.
Description: Fionnuala Lirsdottir
Cover art: Paul Cézanne, Turning Road at Montgeroult, 1898
Cover choice and graphics by Jayson]]> Various Michael 0 2020-reads
Equal Rites (Discworld, #3) by Terry Pratchett
Harry Potter but it's about a witch that gets rejected from magic school and stars her Granny (Named Weatherwax) who is also a witch and is a total miserable bitch and makes everyone's lives miserable and then not Harry fights Voldemort or something at the end. Uhm? Really Pratchett? 3/5

Rivers of London (Rivers of London, #1) by Ben Aaronovitch
A hilarious police procedural urban fantasy about a pop culture spouting Wizard's Apprentice who solves a bunch of violent murders and riots going on. Excellent prose, hilarious and likable characters and what Dresden Files and Storm Front wants to be. That's right. It's better than Dresden. Fight me! 4.5/5

How the Marquis Got His Coat Back by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman is god's gift to urban fantasy and literary novels and this short story only strengthens that fact. A fun short story about Neverwhere's Marquis De Carabas that has some pretty great fan service. As you can tell, I'm a Gaiman fanboy. 5/5

Queen of Sorcery (The Belgariad, #2) by David Eddings
Even better than the first book! Polgara is still the sassy aunt I love, Barak and Silk are still great, Mandorallen is kick ass and Garion is becoming way more in depth than in the previous book thanks to him maturing as a character. The action is also great and it leaves you with a warm feeling of satisfaction. 5/5

The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1) by J.R.R. Tolkien
A masterpiece. No other words to describe it. Fellowship is beautifully written, incredibly dense and epic in scope and has wonderful characters to root for all the way to the finish line. Boromir is my man! 5/5

The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2) by J.R.R. Tolkien
The weakest entry in the entire book. The first half is really good with Helms Deep, Theoden and Gandalf The White, but the second half is redundant and drags on. The psychological aspects of Gollum are fun to read about but it feels so far and few in between. WE GET IT FRODO. You're tired. Shut up already! 4/5

The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3) by J.R.R. Tolkien
Better paced than Two Towers with more beautiful and lyrical writing, great action, satisfying conclusion and incredibly groundbreaking for it's time. 4.5/5

The Lord of the Rings (The Lord of the Rings, #1-3) by J.R.R. Tolkien
I've talked about them above. Here is my overall score: 4.5/5

The Armored Saint (The Sacred Throne, #1) by Myke Cole
The best book I've read all year (As of updating this) with some impactful moments, a very easy to get into writing style, LGBT moments and a strong cast the leads the first in a Grimdark Epic. I really love Heloise and the rest of the cast and can't wait to read more about them! 5/5

One Piece, Volume 1 Romance Dawn by Eiichiro Oda
Surprisingly after rereading this it is a strong start to the long running and popular Shonen series with highly stylized panels, funny as hell moments and great impactful emotional scenes. I don't see how this was my least favorite of the Big Three Shonen Manga growing up! 5/5

False Gods (Horus Heresy #2) by Graham McNeill
A successful sequel that while not as consistently strong as the first book, is still a fantastic epic military science fiction series with copious amounts of gore, blood and dismemberment, amazing characters to cheer for and some highly entertaining moments. Definitely a strong continuation of this epic 50+ book series! 5/5

Galaxy in Flames (The Horus Heresy #3) by Ben Counter
An absolute blast and fantastic conclusion to the opening trilogy of this 50+ book behemoth series. Awesome action, fantastic characters, powerful moments, great prose, and a fantastic fun main antagonist makes this series one of the best I've read so far. I cannot wait to continue this amazing series! 5/5

I will update more later probably at the end of the year but this is how my reading year has gone. Thanks to COVID I got more time to read but most of my time especially in the later months were spent writing on my own time and creating my own book series that I plan to publish on a blog. Still, I'm getting back into the groove of things I think and will continue reading more throughout the next part of the year.

Best Book So Far: The Armored Saint by Myke Cole
Worst Book So Far: Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett
Runner Up For Best: How The Marquis Got His Coat Back by Neil Gaiman]]> 4.06 2020 2020 on ŷ
author: Various
name: Michael
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/10/26
shelves: 2020-reads
review:
I'll probably make a bigger more in depth review of my reading year at the end of the year but here is what I have read so far this year in order and the ratings I gave the books:

Equal Rites (Discworld, #3) by Terry Pratchett
Harry Potter but it's about a witch that gets rejected from magic school and stars her Granny (Named Weatherwax) who is also a witch and is a total miserable bitch and makes everyone's lives miserable and then not Harry fights Voldemort or something at the end. Uhm? Really Pratchett? 3/5

Rivers of London (Rivers of London, #1) by Ben Aaronovitch
A hilarious police procedural urban fantasy about a pop culture spouting Wizard's Apprentice who solves a bunch of violent murders and riots going on. Excellent prose, hilarious and likable characters and what Dresden Files and Storm Front wants to be. That's right. It's better than Dresden. Fight me! 4.5/5

How the Marquis Got His Coat Back by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman is god's gift to urban fantasy and literary novels and this short story only strengthens that fact. A fun short story about Neverwhere's Marquis De Carabas that has some pretty great fan service. As you can tell, I'm a Gaiman fanboy. 5/5

Queen of Sorcery (The Belgariad, #2) by David Eddings
Even better than the first book! Polgara is still the sassy aunt I love, Barak and Silk are still great, Mandorallen is kick ass and Garion is becoming way more in depth than in the previous book thanks to him maturing as a character. The action is also great and it leaves you with a warm feeling of satisfaction. 5/5

The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1) by J.R.R. Tolkien
A masterpiece. No other words to describe it. Fellowship is beautifully written, incredibly dense and epic in scope and has wonderful characters to root for all the way to the finish line. Boromir is my man! 5/5

The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2) by J.R.R. Tolkien
The weakest entry in the entire book. The first half is really good with Helms Deep, Theoden and Gandalf The White, but the second half is redundant and drags on. The psychological aspects of Gollum are fun to read about but it feels so far and few in between. WE GET IT FRODO. You're tired. Shut up already! 4/5

The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3) by J.R.R. Tolkien
Better paced than Two Towers with more beautiful and lyrical writing, great action, satisfying conclusion and incredibly groundbreaking for it's time. 4.5/5

The Lord of the Rings (The Lord of the Rings, #1-3) by J.R.R. Tolkien
I've talked about them above. Here is my overall score: 4.5/5

The Armored Saint (The Sacred Throne, #1) by Myke Cole
The best book I've read all year (As of updating this) with some impactful moments, a very easy to get into writing style, LGBT moments and a strong cast the leads the first in a Grimdark Epic. I really love Heloise and the rest of the cast and can't wait to read more about them! 5/5

One Piece, Volume 1 Romance Dawn by Eiichiro Oda
Surprisingly after rereading this it is a strong start to the long running and popular Shonen series with highly stylized panels, funny as hell moments and great impactful emotional scenes. I don't see how this was my least favorite of the Big Three Shonen Manga growing up! 5/5

False Gods (Horus Heresy #2) by Graham McNeill
A successful sequel that while not as consistently strong as the first book, is still a fantastic epic military science fiction series with copious amounts of gore, blood and dismemberment, amazing characters to cheer for and some highly entertaining moments. Definitely a strong continuation of this epic 50+ book series! 5/5

Galaxy in Flames (The Horus Heresy #3) by Ben Counter
An absolute blast and fantastic conclusion to the opening trilogy of this 50+ book behemoth series. Awesome action, fantastic characters, powerful moments, great prose, and a fantastic fun main antagonist makes this series one of the best I've read so far. I cannot wait to continue this amazing series! 5/5

I will update more later probably at the end of the year but this is how my reading year has gone. Thanks to COVID I got more time to read but most of my time especially in the later months were spent writing on my own time and creating my own book series that I plan to publish on a blog. Still, I'm getting back into the groove of things I think and will continue reading more throughout the next part of the year.

Best Book So Far: The Armored Saint by Myke Cole
Worst Book So Far: Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett
Runner Up For Best: How The Marquis Got His Coat Back by Neil Gaiman
]]> <![CDATA[The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn (Kingdom of Grit, #1)]]> 50998106 Master con artist Ardor Benn and his crew of intrepid thieves are hired to pull off a series of wildly complex heists, from stealing a crown to saving the world, in this daring fantasy adventure.
Liar. Thief. Legend.


Ardor Benn is no ordinary thief. Rakish, ambitious, and master of wildly complex heists, he styles himself a Ruse Artist Extraordinaire.


When he gets hired for his for the most daring ruse yet, Ardor knows he'll need more than quick wit and sleight of hand. Assembling a dream team of forgers, disguisers, schemers, and thieves, he sets out to steal from the most powerful king the realm has ever known.


But it soon becomes clear there's much more at stake than fame and glory - Ard and his team might just be the last hope for human civilization.


Discover the start of an epic fantasy trilogy that begins with a heist and quickly explodes into a full-tilt, last ditch plan to save humanity.


Kingdom of Grit:
The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn
The Shattered Realm of Ardor Benn
The Last Lies of Ardor Benn

]]> 752 Tyler Whitesides 031646323X Michael 0 to-read 4.04 2018 The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn (Kingdom of Grit, #1)
author: Tyler Whitesides
name: Michael
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/10/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Wishsong of Shannara (The Original Shannara Trilogy #3)]]> 603211
Thus continues the enthralling Shannara epic, a spellbinding tale of adventure, magic, and myth...]]> 504 Terry Brooks 0345356365 Michael 0 to-read 3.83 1985 The Wishsong of Shannara (The Original Shannara Trilogy #3)
author: Terry Brooks
name: Michael
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1985
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/10/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Elfstones of Shannara (The Original Shannara Trilogy, #2)]]> 44182484 564 Terry Brooks Michael 0 to-read 3.86 1982 The Elfstones of Shannara (The Original Shannara Trilogy, #2)
author: Terry Brooks
name: Michael
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1982
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/10/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)]]> 33387769
But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid � a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.� Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.

But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

]]> 152 Martha Wells 0765397536 Michael 0 to-read 4.10 2017 All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)
author: Martha Wells
name: Michael
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/09/20
shelves: to-read
review:
Right now I'm just not feeling it. I just can't seem to get invested into this world enough for me to pick it up. There are other things I could be reading that will be much more interesting. For now, I'll leave this alone and maybe pick it up another day.
]]> <![CDATA[The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1)]]> 2495567 My name is Kvothe.

I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.

You may have heard of me.

So begins a tale unequaled in fantasy literature--the story of a hero told in his own voice. It is a tale of sorrow, a tale of survival, a tale of one man's search for meaning in his universe, and how that search, and the indomitable will that drove it, gave birth to a legend.

]]> 722 Patrick Rothfuss 0756404746 Michael 0 to-read 4.43 2007 The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1)
author: Patrick Rothfuss
name: Michael
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/09/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Galaxy in Flames (The Horus Heresy, #3)]]> 815091 416 Ben Counter 1844163938 Michael 5
Wow. Where do I begin? The book is basically a huge transitional period for the Sons of Horus and the entire Crusade. It has the same characters you knew and loved from the previous books, Loken, Torgaddon, Nero Vipus, Iacton Qruze 'The Half Heard', Saul Tarvitz, fighting against the Warmaster's forces on Istvaan III after Horus literally kills almost the entirety of the planet with horrible virus bombs. It shows the final fights of Loken and Torgaddon, the final stand against the Choral City, it is incredibly tragic and truly brilliant.

I bloody loved this book. What can I say? There were many moments where I felt satisfied with the way the story went. The storyline about Euphrati Keeler, Sindermann and Oliton were very well done and made me feel good about what is to come to them in the future of this gigantic epic. Iacton Qruze also played a really cool part when he was just a smaller character in the stories before. I really enjoyed Nathaniel Garro and Saul Tarvitz as well, they pretty much stole the entire show for me. I'm very looking forward to seeing more of Garro in the next book and I'm very satisfied with what I saw here.

The Virus Bombings were also incredibly well written and vividly described. The fighting for the Choral City was just fantastic. I loved every moment of betrayal, loyalty and honor and I couldn't get enough of every single scene during the second half. The second half really shines here as the characters just keep getting better and better.

Horus, I love him! He is such a great villain. He is incredibly evil while still being a strong headed commander on a mission of his own. I really enjoyed his interactions with Abaddon, Erebus, Maloghurst and Fulgrim, especially Fulgrim. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of Fulgrim in Book 5 (After all, the fifth book is literally named after him) and he might become one of my favorite Primarchs.

But that ending. HOLY SHIT that ending! Just explosive fight after another explosive fight with grueling losses and deaths. [spoilers removed] then the fact that [spoilers removed] I loved this ending. It was absolutely tragic and I don't know how this series can get any better. If James Swallow can continue the excellent fights and continue to write these characters thoughtfully in The Flight of the Eisenstein I will be blown away.

I'm also curious about what role the Sons of Horus is going to play in later books. I'm also curious about Magnus the Red and Sanguinius (who I loved in Horus Rising) so I cannot wait to read even more books in this fantastic franchise.

This book series is brilliant. It's becoming one of my favorite series and it's my destiny to read every single book in this series. I bloody loved Galaxy In Flames as much as I did the previous two books. It's an military science fiction epic that just keeps on giving. I'll be taking a little break from the series for now so I can focus on other books but I will still be thinking about the Warmaster's exploits even after I moved onto another book or series. This world is incredibly immersive and I want more!

I can't recommend this series enough. Galaxy in Flames is almost a masterpiece and I'm tempted to put it into my Masterpieces shelves on ŷ, but hey, I'll leave it in my favorites like the other two books in the series.

The Heresy was revealed and it was outstanding.

5/5]]> 4.13 2006 Galaxy in Flames (The Horus Heresy, #3)
author: Ben Counter
name: Michael
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2020/08/30
date added: 2020/08/30
shelves: 2020-reads, favorites, horus-heresy
review:
Jesus Christ, The Horus Heresy keeps getting better and better! After two stunning books that talk about the beginnings of the Heresy, Galaxy In Flames, the third book in this 50+ Epic book series strongly concludes the opening trilogy of the beginning of the Heresy.

Wow. Where do I begin? The book is basically a huge transitional period for the Sons of Horus and the entire Crusade. It has the same characters you knew and loved from the previous books, Loken, Torgaddon, Nero Vipus, Iacton Qruze 'The Half Heard', Saul Tarvitz, fighting against the Warmaster's forces on Istvaan III after Horus literally kills almost the entirety of the planet with horrible virus bombs. It shows the final fights of Loken and Torgaddon, the final stand against the Choral City, it is incredibly tragic and truly brilliant.

I bloody loved this book. What can I say? There were many moments where I felt satisfied with the way the story went. The storyline about Euphrati Keeler, Sindermann and Oliton were very well done and made me feel good about what is to come to them in the future of this gigantic epic. Iacton Qruze also played a really cool part when he was just a smaller character in the stories before. I really enjoyed Nathaniel Garro and Saul Tarvitz as well, they pretty much stole the entire show for me. I'm very looking forward to seeing more of Garro in the next book and I'm very satisfied with what I saw here.

The Virus Bombings were also incredibly well written and vividly described. The fighting for the Choral City was just fantastic. I loved every moment of betrayal, loyalty and honor and I couldn't get enough of every single scene during the second half. The second half really shines here as the characters just keep getting better and better.

Horus, I love him! He is such a great villain. He is incredibly evil while still being a strong headed commander on a mission of his own. I really enjoyed his interactions with Abaddon, Erebus, Maloghurst and Fulgrim, especially Fulgrim. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of Fulgrim in Book 5 (After all, the fifth book is literally named after him) and he might become one of my favorite Primarchs.

But that ending. HOLY SHIT that ending! Just explosive fight after another explosive fight with grueling losses and deaths. [spoilers removed] then the fact that [spoilers removed] I loved this ending. It was absolutely tragic and I don't know how this series can get any better. If James Swallow can continue the excellent fights and continue to write these characters thoughtfully in The Flight of the Eisenstein I will be blown away.

I'm also curious about what role the Sons of Horus is going to play in later books. I'm also curious about Magnus the Red and Sanguinius (who I loved in Horus Rising) so I cannot wait to read even more books in this fantastic franchise.

This book series is brilliant. It's becoming one of my favorite series and it's my destiny to read every single book in this series. I bloody loved Galaxy In Flames as much as I did the previous two books. It's an military science fiction epic that just keeps on giving. I'll be taking a little break from the series for now so I can focus on other books but I will still be thinking about the Warmaster's exploits even after I moved onto another book or series. This world is incredibly immersive and I want more!

I can't recommend this series enough. Galaxy in Flames is almost a masterpiece and I'm tempted to put it into my Masterpieces shelves on ŷ, but hey, I'll leave it in my favorites like the other two books in the series.

The Heresy was revealed and it was outstanding.

5/5
]]> <![CDATA[The Tower of Fools (Hussite Trilogy #1)]]> 41556954
But once he passes beyond the city borders, he finds that there are dangers ahead as well as behind. Strange mystical forces are gathering in the shadows. And pursued not only by the affronted Stercza brothers, bent on vengeance, but also by the Holy Inquisition, Reynevan finds himself in the Narrenturm, the Tower of Fools.

The Tower is an asylum for the mad, or for those who dare to think differently and challenge the prevailing order. And escaping the Tower, avoiding the conflict around him, and keeping his own sanity might prove a greater challenge than Reynevan ever imagined.]]> 560 Andrzej Sapkowski 1473226120 Michael 0 to-read 3.44 2002 The Tower of Fools (Hussite Trilogy #1)
author: Andrzej Sapkowski
name: Michael
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/08/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Ashes of the Sun (Burningblade & Silvereye, #1)]]> 52822248
Gyre hasn't seen his beloved sister since their parents sold her to the mysterious Twilight Order. Now, twelve years after her disappearance, Gyre's sole focus is revenge, and he's willing to risk anything and anyone to claim enough power to destroy the Order.

Chasing rumors of a fabled city protecting a powerful artifact, Gyre comes face-to-face with his lost sister. But she isn't who she once was. Trained to be a warrior, Maya wields magic for the Twilight Order's cause. Standing on opposite sides of a looming civil war, the two siblings will learn that not even the ties of blood will keep them from splitting the world in two.]]> 592 Django Wexler 0316519545 Michael 0 to-read 3.91 2020 Ashes of the Sun (Burningblade & Silvereye, #1)
author: Django Wexler
name: Michael
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/08/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How the Marquis Got His Coat Back]]> 26838903 A Neverwhere short story from one of the brightest, most brilliant writers of our generation - the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author of the award-winning The Ocean At the End of the Lane.

The coat. It was elegant. It was beautiful. It was so close that he could have reached out and touched it.

And it was unquestionably his.]]> 37 Neil Gaiman Michael 5
Like, this guy is a GOD when it comes to writing books and stories and I cannot believe it!

Alright. Calm Down Michael, get to the point.

How The Marquis Got His Coat Back is a tale from the world of Neverwhere/London Below. Neverwhere was a favorite of mine last year and I could not wait to get back into this world and read more about one of the best characters, Marquis De Carabas.

Basically, this short story consists of Marquis De Carabas trying to find a very extravagant coat that is "Unquestionably his". He also has to deliver a letter to a person named Drusilla, gets captured by a long time enemy known as the Elephant (who has an elephant head), gets rescued by his awesome brother Peregrine and of course, the coat must be saved!

The thing about Gaiman's prose I love so much is that I want to be in the Floating Market, I want to be in London Below, I want to be on a adventure with De Carabas! This short story is GOD DAMN AWESOME!

The Marquis has a brother? Sure! Why not? It makes for some great interactions and thoughts in the Marquis' head while he is on his quest and this coat of his is put into such wonderful detail that I absolutely couldn't put it down until I was finished with it.

The Floating Market of course, is wonderful as always with some pretty cool vendors including a youthful mushroom man with spores growing on him who wants the hand of Drusilla, a mysterious and most beautiful woman.

AUUUGHHH!!! I LOVE LONDON BELOW!

If you're also wondering where I got this physical edition, Book Depository has a copy of it on their site so buy it now after you've read Neverwhere!

In the end, Neil Gaiman has made another sure shot favorite of mine. The man is literally god and I am his fanboy who will eat anything by him up. If you loved Neverwhere and can't wait for the sequel The Seven Sisters, this will definitely keep you busy for a short while.

Masterful. Just Masterful. It should appeal to anyone who loves his work. READ IT DAMMIT! It's awesome and I can't get enough!

5/5]]> 4.05 2015 How the Marquis Got His Coat Back
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Michael
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2020/02/02
date added: 2020/08/11
shelves: 2020-reads, favorites, standalones, london-below
review:
WOW. Neil Gaiman has done it! A-FREAKING-GAIN!

Like, this guy is a GOD when it comes to writing books and stories and I cannot believe it!

Alright. Calm Down Michael, get to the point.

How The Marquis Got His Coat Back is a tale from the world of Neverwhere/London Below. Neverwhere was a favorite of mine last year and I could not wait to get back into this world and read more about one of the best characters, Marquis De Carabas.

Basically, this short story consists of Marquis De Carabas trying to find a very extravagant coat that is "Unquestionably his". He also has to deliver a letter to a person named Drusilla, gets captured by a long time enemy known as the Elephant (who has an elephant head), gets rescued by his awesome brother Peregrine and of course, the coat must be saved!

The thing about Gaiman's prose I love so much is that I want to be in the Floating Market, I want to be in London Below, I want to be on a adventure with De Carabas! This short story is GOD DAMN AWESOME!

The Marquis has a brother? Sure! Why not? It makes for some great interactions and thoughts in the Marquis' head while he is on his quest and this coat of his is put into such wonderful detail that I absolutely couldn't put it down until I was finished with it.

The Floating Market of course, is wonderful as always with some pretty cool vendors including a youthful mushroom man with spores growing on him who wants the hand of Drusilla, a mysterious and most beautiful woman.

AUUUGHHH!!! I LOVE LONDON BELOW!

If you're also wondering where I got this physical edition, Book Depository has a copy of it on their site so buy it now after you've read Neverwhere!

In the end, Neil Gaiman has made another sure shot favorite of mine. The man is literally god and I am his fanboy who will eat anything by him up. If you loved Neverwhere and can't wait for the sequel The Seven Sisters, this will definitely keep you busy for a short while.

Masterful. Just Masterful. It should appeal to anyone who loves his work. READ IT DAMMIT! It's awesome and I can't get enough!

5/5
]]> <![CDATA[To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (Fractalverse, #1)]]> 48829708 move.

As war erupts among the stars, Kira is launched into a galaxy-spanning odyssey of discovery and transformation. First contact isn't at all what she imagined, and events push her to the very limits of what it means to be human.

While Kira faces her own horrors, Earth and its colonies stand upon the brink of annihilation. Now, Kira might be humanity's greatest and final hope...]]> 880 Christopher Paolini 1250762847 Michael 0 to-read 3.77 2020 To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (Fractalverse, #1)
author: Christopher Paolini
name: Michael
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/08/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fulgrim (The Horus Heresy, #5)]]> 957931 512 Graham McNeill 1844164764 Michael 0 to-read 4.00 2007 Fulgrim (The Horus Heresy, #5)
author: Graham McNeill
name: Michael
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/08/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Flight of the Eisenstein (The Horus Heresy, #4)]]> 80155 416 James Swallow 1844164594 Michael 0 to-read 4.06 2007 The Flight of the Eisenstein (The Horus Heresy, #4)
author: James Swallow
name: Michael
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/08/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[False Gods (The Horus Heresy, #2)]]> 381817 416 Graham McNeill 1844163709 Michael 5
Horus Rising: 5/5
/review/show...

In September of last year, I read Horus Rising, the start of an epic 50+ book series called the Horus Heresy. I was blown away by how awesome that book was. It was violent, gory, action packed and super fun to read about the characters of Horus, Gavriel Loken, Tarik Torgaddon and the rest of the now named Sons of Horus.

Now, I have finally read the second book in this massive series. With a different author at the helm, was it just as good as Horus Rising? Was it better?

In my opinion, while this is not the better book, this is still an excellent military science fiction tale with the same amounts of copious bloodshed, gore chunks, Bolter awesomeness and exciting new turns for the series.

First off, I want to say that Graham McNeill wrote this book differently than the first. Horus Rising by Dan Abnett was super action heavy full of many war sequences that blew me away. The first and third part of this book is way more story driven than anything else. However, McNeill writes a compelling story about the Warmaster's true intentions as he becomes fully emerged in chaos. The ending really got me excited to see his maniacal exploits that will happen in the next book.

But the action man, the action was something I wasn't sure on going into this as I thought it would be way more toned down. While the action isn't as mind blowing as Horus Rising's opening sequences and the fighting on Murder was, the action is still the same great gore chunk head exploding blood fest that I loved about the first book. The big parts of the action on Davin's moon especially with the fight of Horus and the Chaos Warped Temba was really fun to read about. It was one of the most intense scenes in the entire book. The final part is also really action packed with a big war going on.

I really loved reading about Horus again. His decisions that make him into what will soon be the Warmaster of Chaos is really cool to read about. I really want to see what happens in the next book as there was tons of setup at the end for the Istvaan system.

Loken and Torgaddon were also great to read about. Their friendship was way more apparent in this book than in Horus Rising. I loved that they will work together and keep their brotherhood close at hand. Abaddon was also getting big development as it showed his overwhelming loyalty to the Warmaster and it will definitely set up him to be a much bigger part in the story of the Horus Heresy. Note that I had read a bit about the events during and after the heresy so I'm really looking forward to reading all about the exploits of what I will be calling the Chaos Crew.

Some other big name Primarchs were introduced like Magnus the Red and Fulgrim. I really liked the scenes with Horus and Fulgrim at the end of the book. I don't know if Fulgrim will die or become a big villain in the Horus Heresy, but I'm excited to see more of him later on. Other than that, there were some interesting things going on with Karkasy and the other lesser people on board the main ship and some big deaths happen.

So, is this book better than Horus Rising? No. I must admit that Horus Rising blew me away more because it was my introduction to the head exploding gore chunk filled madness of the Warhammer 40K Universe, but False Gods is still a super fun military science fiction action story that brings the beginning of the Horus Heresy closer than ever.

I'm going to be immediately picking up Galaxy in Flames next and hopefully, the action will even bigger and gorier than this book. I'm expecting big things from Ben Counter's first work in the Horus Heresy so here's hoping that he will conclude the opening trilogy really well.

Until then, I will be shouting Lupercal! into the night as I continue this grand adventure.

5/5]]> 4.11 2006 False Gods (The Horus Heresy, #2)
author: Graham McNeill
name: Michael
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2020/07/15
date added: 2020/07/15
shelves: 2020-reads, favorites, horus-heresy
review:
Here is my previous review of the first book:

Horus Rising: 5/5
/review/show...

In September of last year, I read Horus Rising, the start of an epic 50+ book series called the Horus Heresy. I was blown away by how awesome that book was. It was violent, gory, action packed and super fun to read about the characters of Horus, Gavriel Loken, Tarik Torgaddon and the rest of the now named Sons of Horus.

Now, I have finally read the second book in this massive series. With a different author at the helm, was it just as good as Horus Rising? Was it better?

In my opinion, while this is not the better book, this is still an excellent military science fiction tale with the same amounts of copious bloodshed, gore chunks, Bolter awesomeness and exciting new turns for the series.

First off, I want to say that Graham McNeill wrote this book differently than the first. Horus Rising by Dan Abnett was super action heavy full of many war sequences that blew me away. The first and third part of this book is way more story driven than anything else. However, McNeill writes a compelling story about the Warmaster's true intentions as he becomes fully emerged in chaos. The ending really got me excited to see his maniacal exploits that will happen in the next book.

But the action man, the action was something I wasn't sure on going into this as I thought it would be way more toned down. While the action isn't as mind blowing as Horus Rising's opening sequences and the fighting on Murder was, the action is still the same great gore chunk head exploding blood fest that I loved about the first book. The big parts of the action on Davin's moon especially with the fight of Horus and the Chaos Warped Temba was really fun to read about. It was one of the most intense scenes in the entire book. The final part is also really action packed with a big war going on.

I really loved reading about Horus again. His decisions that make him into what will soon be the Warmaster of Chaos is really cool to read about. I really want to see what happens in the next book as there was tons of setup at the end for the Istvaan system.

Loken and Torgaddon were also great to read about. Their friendship was way more apparent in this book than in Horus Rising. I loved that they will work together and keep their brotherhood close at hand. Abaddon was also getting big development as it showed his overwhelming loyalty to the Warmaster and it will definitely set up him to be a much bigger part in the story of the Horus Heresy. Note that I had read a bit about the events during and after the heresy so I'm really looking forward to reading all about the exploits of what I will be calling the Chaos Crew.

Some other big name Primarchs were introduced like Magnus the Red and Fulgrim. I really liked the scenes with Horus and Fulgrim at the end of the book. I don't know if Fulgrim will die or become a big villain in the Horus Heresy, but I'm excited to see more of him later on. Other than that, there were some interesting things going on with Karkasy and the other lesser people on board the main ship and some big deaths happen.

So, is this book better than Horus Rising? No. I must admit that Horus Rising blew me away more because it was my introduction to the head exploding gore chunk filled madness of the Warhammer 40K Universe, but False Gods is still a super fun military science fiction action story that brings the beginning of the Horus Heresy closer than ever.

I'm going to be immediately picking up Galaxy in Flames next and hopefully, the action will even bigger and gorier than this book. I'm expecting big things from Ben Counter's first work in the Horus Heresy so here's hoping that he will conclude the opening trilogy really well.

Until then, I will be shouting Lupercal! into the night as I continue this grand adventure.

5/5
]]> Black Clover, Vol. 1 27406725
Young Asta was born with no magic ability in a world where magic is everything. In order to prove his strength and keep a promise with his friend, Asta dreams of becoming the greatest mage in the land, the Wizard King!

ձ> 192 Yūki Tabata 1421587181 Michael 0 to-read 4.04 2015 Black Clover, Vol. 1
author: Yūki Tabata
name: Michael
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[One Piece, Volume 2: Buggy the Clown]]> 364956 193 Eiichiro Oda 159116057X Michael 0 to-read 4.36 1998 One Piece, Volume 2: Buggy the Clown
author: Eiichiro Oda
name: Michael
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[One Piece, Volume 1: Romance Dawn (One Piece, #1)]]> 1237398 207 Eiichiro Oda 1569319014 Michael 5
Romance Dawn follows the exploits of Luffy, who has eaten a devil fruit that makes him impervious to bullets. The downside is he can't swim. Luffy after witnessing a traumatic event decides to become King of the Pirates, which is a now made fun of and cliched plot in Shonen today. In this first volume, consisting of Chapters 1-8, Luffy meets cabin boy Koby, who Luffy helps show him bravery against his abusive commanding officer and the two go to a Naval Town to rescue Zolo, a bounty hunter wrongfully accused of trouble. The naval town is run by a scary Captain Axe Hand Morgan and Luffy eventually beats him, freeing the navy and then taking off with Zolo to other territory to find more crew members.

For some reason, out of all the manga I read in High School, One Piece was one of my least favorites. Now that I've reread this volume again, I don't see how this was one of my least favorite mangas. THIS FREAKING VOLUME ROCKED.

The writing is hilarious, there are so many good funny moments that I kept laughing no matter what happened. There is always a light shining even in the darker moments of this story and I absolutely like that a lot. Zolo might go on to be one of my favorite characters during the manga. I absolutely adored the tragic promise he made to that girl in the flashback he had. The villains are incredibly colorful and cartoony as well. The art style is incredibly unique. It has very expressive faces and sometimes going in for more wide angle shots than most manga does. Originally, I hated this Wide Angle lens like panels because I felt they clogged up the pages way too much and left little breathing room to read the text, but it's nowhere near as bad as I remember in this volume. It might get worse but we'll see.

Another thing I usually like to joke about is my drinking game for this series. It goes like this. "Take A Shot Every Time Someone Cries" and I remember there being LOTS of crying. I don't know why the hell everyone is so emotional in this damn manga as I remember so many people tearing up or being a big crybaby throughout the manga. I don't know if this is a common issue but it just feels like there has always been this thing with One Piece and being a emotional little baby. I'm hoping this won't turn into too much of a annoyance later on.

I should also mention the action in this volume is really good. There are some absolutely crazy moments in this volume especially at the Navy Base where there are so many good action scenes. I'm hoping the pace doesn't slow to a crawl as the series progresses and hopefully Oda doesn't pander on many things. I'm saying this because the action is really good and hopefully it will get better.

I really loved Romance Dawn after reading it again, this was a very strong start to one of the most popular manga series in the entire world. It's pretty obvious to see why One Piece merchandise like movies, anime, OVAs, Video Games, Albums, toys and every other related One Piece medium exists. I can't wait to read Volume 2 where we meet Nami.

Loved this volume. Go read it now!

5/5]]> 4.49 1997 One Piece, Volume 1: Romance Dawn (One Piece, #1)
author: Eiichiro Oda
name: Michael
average rating: 4.49
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at: 2020/06/27
date added: 2020/06/27
shelves: 2020-reads, one-piece, 2019-reads, manga-favorites
review:
For those who don't know, I used to be a HUGE manga fan in High School. My school had a big selection of manga to choose from, whether it be Naruto, Bleach, Death Note, Slam Dunk, Vampire Knight, and my all time favorite manga, FullMetal Alchemist, there was always something to choose from, but one of the ones I remember reading 30 volumes of was One Piece. A HUGE Sprawling Epic about Piracy. It's over 90 volumes long today and it's gonna get longer as time goes on. It's beloved by many, considered one of the best Shonens ever created. But after high school. I didn't read much manga, so now, that I'm slowly getting back into Manga, I decided to review the first volume of each of the Big Three Shonen starting with One Piece. I will eventually go on to read Naruto and Bleach later, but for now, I want to give you my thoughts on this first volume, titled Romance Dawn.

Romance Dawn follows the exploits of Luffy, who has eaten a devil fruit that makes him impervious to bullets. The downside is he can't swim. Luffy after witnessing a traumatic event decides to become King of the Pirates, which is a now made fun of and cliched plot in Shonen today. In this first volume, consisting of Chapters 1-8, Luffy meets cabin boy Koby, who Luffy helps show him bravery against his abusive commanding officer and the two go to a Naval Town to rescue Zolo, a bounty hunter wrongfully accused of trouble. The naval town is run by a scary Captain Axe Hand Morgan and Luffy eventually beats him, freeing the navy and then taking off with Zolo to other territory to find more crew members.

For some reason, out of all the manga I read in High School, One Piece was one of my least favorites. Now that I've reread this volume again, I don't see how this was one of my least favorite mangas. THIS FREAKING VOLUME ROCKED.

The writing is hilarious, there are so many good funny moments that I kept laughing no matter what happened. There is always a light shining even in the darker moments of this story and I absolutely like that a lot. Zolo might go on to be one of my favorite characters during the manga. I absolutely adored the tragic promise he made to that girl in the flashback he had. The villains are incredibly colorful and cartoony as well. The art style is incredibly unique. It has very expressive faces and sometimes going in for more wide angle shots than most manga does. Originally, I hated this Wide Angle lens like panels because I felt they clogged up the pages way too much and left little breathing room to read the text, but it's nowhere near as bad as I remember in this volume. It might get worse but we'll see.

Another thing I usually like to joke about is my drinking game for this series. It goes like this. "Take A Shot Every Time Someone Cries" and I remember there being LOTS of crying. I don't know why the hell everyone is so emotional in this damn manga as I remember so many people tearing up or being a big crybaby throughout the manga. I don't know if this is a common issue but it just feels like there has always been this thing with One Piece and being a emotional little baby. I'm hoping this won't turn into too much of a annoyance later on.

I should also mention the action in this volume is really good. There are some absolutely crazy moments in this volume especially at the Navy Base where there are so many good action scenes. I'm hoping the pace doesn't slow to a crawl as the series progresses and hopefully Oda doesn't pander on many things. I'm saying this because the action is really good and hopefully it will get better.

I really loved Romance Dawn after reading it again, this was a very strong start to one of the most popular manga series in the entire world. It's pretty obvious to see why One Piece merchandise like movies, anime, OVAs, Video Games, Albums, toys and every other related One Piece medium exists. I can't wait to read Volume 2 where we meet Nami.

Loved this volume. Go read it now!

5/5
]]> <![CDATA[The Bone Shard Daughter (The Drowning Empire, #1)]]> 49105812 Alternate cover edition of ASIN B085DH8RL1


The emperor's reign has lasted for decades, his mastery of bone shard magic powering the animal-like constructs that maintain law and order. But now his rule is failing, and revolution is sweeping across the Empire's many islands.

Lin is the emperor's daughter and spends her days trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets. When her father refuses to recognise her as heir to the throne, she vows to prove her worth by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic.

Yet such power carries a great cost, and when the revolution reaches the gates of the palace, Lin must decide how far she is willing to go to claim her birthright - and save her people.]]> 448 Andrea Stewart Michael 0 to-read 4.09 2020 The Bone Shard Daughter (The Drowning Empire, #1)
author: Andrea Stewart
name: Michael
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Wolf of the North (Wolf of the North, #1)]]> 32843534 326 Duncan M. Hamilton 1539423441 Michael 0 to-read 3.81 2016 The Wolf of the North (Wolf of the North, #1)
author: Duncan M. Hamilton
name: Michael
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[House of Dragons (House of Dragons, #1)]]> 44603554 Five royal houses will hear the call to compete in the Trial for the dragon throne. A liar, a soldier, a servant, a thief, and a murderer will answer it. Who will win?

When the Emperor dies, the five royal houses of Etrusia attend the Call, where one of their own will be selected to compete for the throne. It is always the oldest child, the one who has been preparing for years to compete in the Trial. But this year is different. This year, these five outcasts will answer the call....

THE LIAR: Emilia must hide her dark magic or be put to death.

THE SOLDIER: Lucian is a warrior who has sworn to never lift a sword again.

THE SERVANT: Vespir is a dragon trainer whose skills alone will keep her in the game.

THE THIEF: Ajax knows that nothing is free--he must take what he wants.

THE MURDERER: Hyperia was born to rule and will stop at nothing to take her throne.]]> 448 Jessica Cluess 0525648151 Michael 0 to-read 3.85 2020 House of Dragons (House of Dragons, #1)
author: Jessica Cluess
name: Michael
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mathias Thulmann: Witch Hunter (Warhammer Chronicles)]]> 36373729 A Warhammer Chronicles Omnibus

Of all the Empire's zealous witch hunters, one name in particular strikes fear into the heart of all � Mathias Thulmann. This omnibus contains all three of C L Werner's tales of this most vicious killer of dark creatures.

READ IT BECAUSE
The classic witch hunter trilogy returns under the Warhammer Chronicles banner. If you've never experienced Thulmann and his deadly adventures, this is your chance.

THE STORY
In the grim medieval Old World, the dreaded witch hunters are feared above all others. These tyrannical individuals are tasked with hunting out evil throughout the towns and villages, using whatever means they find necessary in order to destroy those foolish enough to all with the Dark Powers. Counted amongst the most zealous of the witch hunters is Mathias Thulmann, whose ruthless and legendary exploits are recounted to terrify the citizens of the Empire.

C L Werner tells the action-packed tale of Mathias Thulmann as he strives to free the Empire from evil and corruption.

CONTENTS
Witch Hunter
Witch Finder
Witch Killer]]> 816 C.L. Werner 1784967084 Michael 0 to-read 4.32 2004 Mathias Thulmann: Witch Hunter (Warhammer Chronicles)
author: C.L. Werner
name: Michael
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Paradise Lost 15997 Paradise Lost is one of the greatest epic poems in the English language. It tells the story of the Fall of Man, a tale of immense drama and excitement, of rebellion and treachery, of innocence pitted against corruption, in which God and Satan fight a bitter battle for control of mankind's destiny. The struggle rages across three worlds - heaven, hell, and earth - as Satan and his band of rebel angels plot their revenge against God. At the center of the conflict are Adam and Eve, who are motivated by all too human temptations but whose ultimate downfall is unyielding love.

Marked by Milton's characteristic erudition, Paradise Lost is a work epic both in scale and, notoriously, in ambition. For nearly 350 years, it has held generation upon generation of audiences in rapt attention, and its profound influence can be seen in almost every corner of Western culture.]]> 453 John Milton 0140424393 Michael 0 to-read 3.83 1667 Paradise Lost
author: John Milton
name: Michael
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1667
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Armored Saint (The Sacred Throne, #1)]]> 37534890 "Cole weaves a fantasy world that feels comfortably familiar, then goes to places you’d never expect. You won’t stop turning pages until the stunning finish." —Peter V. Brett

Myke Cole, star of CBS's Hunted and author of the Shadow Ops series, debuts the Sacred Throne epic fantasy trilogy with The Armored Saint, a story of religious tyrants, arcane war-machines, and underground resistance that will enthrall epic fantasy readers of all ages.

In a world where any act of magic could open a portal to hell, the Order insures that no wizard will live to summon devils, and will kill as many innocent people as they must to prevent that greater horror. After witnessing a horrendous slaughter, the village girl Heloise opposes the Order, and risks bringing their wrath down on herself, her family, and her village.]]> 206 Myke Cole 1250199670 Michael 5
Lets just say I was BLOWN AWAY hardcore!

The Armored Saint is about the Factor Family, mostly Heloise and her father Samson. They live in a world where a blind tyrannical cult known as the Order rule all as they burn down villages and kill anyone associated with wizards. The book follows Heloise going from frightened girl to a angry bad ass demon killer. There are also LGBT moments sprinkled in which was a nice touch.

I was absolutely stunned by this book. I haven't read much Grimdark except for The Witcher but this book absolutely made me love the genre even more. Everything I looked for in a Grimdark, the rotten world, the evil cults, the strong characters, the pessimistic attitude, it's all there. But what really made me love this book was Cole's writing style.

Cole is one of the most strongest writers I know of working in the sci-fi/fantasy genre right now. Cole's writing style not only has impactful moments of big emotions and high stakes, but it's also very easy to get into. The writing style is incredible. He has a strong writers voice and I am very much looking forward to how he improves it in The Queen Of Crows.

The characters are absolutely awesome. Heloise is a awesome character and the string of emotions she goes through is quite powerful. Her character arc is super strong in this book and it feels almost self contained in a way that you'll be satisfied if you don't read any of the other books. I also enjoyed the grim nature of a lot of the characters like Sigir, Samson, Barnard, and the hopeful Clodio that has a little light shining in on this story.

I couldn't stop reading this. After going through the entirety of Lord of the Rings, this was a breath of fresh air. The writing style was so easy to really dig myself into and just be comfortable in the world Cole created. I really cannot stop praising Cole's writing and narrative and finished the book in three days.

Is this the best book I read all year so far? Quite possibly, Yes. Yes it is.

I am going gaga over this book just because of how awesome it was written. It is one of the finest Grimdark fantasies I have read in a while. I highly enjoyed the strong and pessimistic characters, the impactful moments of emotion and the writing style is absolutely one of the best I've read in a while.

Don't underestimate me when I say this. The Armored Saint by Myke Cole is a fantastic opener to the Sacred Throne trilogy. It is absolutely a wonderful book that will bring you joy by the end pages. I cannot wait to read the rest of this trilogy now. Myke Cole just might have a place on my favorites shelf he keeps this up! BRAVO!

5/5]]> 3.65 2018 The Armored Saint (The Sacred Throne, #1)
author: Myke Cole
name: Michael
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2020/06/07
date added: 2020/06/07
shelves: sacred-throne, favorites, 2020-reads
review:
How do I even start this review on this fantastic Grimdark novel? First, I never really heard of Myke Cole until Holly Hearts Books, one of my favorite booktubers, gave really high praise to his Sacred Throne Trilogy. Because I usually take her recommendations seriously, I decided to pick it up as my next read. I know Myke Cole (Or if you say his name fast enough, it's Michael) has been highly acclaimed for this novel and I didn't know what to expect other than a brief summary at the back of the book.

Lets just say I was BLOWN AWAY hardcore!

The Armored Saint is about the Factor Family, mostly Heloise and her father Samson. They live in a world where a blind tyrannical cult known as the Order rule all as they burn down villages and kill anyone associated with wizards. The book follows Heloise going from frightened girl to a angry bad ass demon killer. There are also LGBT moments sprinkled in which was a nice touch.

I was absolutely stunned by this book. I haven't read much Grimdark except for The Witcher but this book absolutely made me love the genre even more. Everything I looked for in a Grimdark, the rotten world, the evil cults, the strong characters, the pessimistic attitude, it's all there. But what really made me love this book was Cole's writing style.

Cole is one of the most strongest writers I know of working in the sci-fi/fantasy genre right now. Cole's writing style not only has impactful moments of big emotions and high stakes, but it's also very easy to get into. The writing style is incredible. He has a strong writers voice and I am very much looking forward to how he improves it in The Queen Of Crows.

The characters are absolutely awesome. Heloise is a awesome character and the string of emotions she goes through is quite powerful. Her character arc is super strong in this book and it feels almost self contained in a way that you'll be satisfied if you don't read any of the other books. I also enjoyed the grim nature of a lot of the characters like Sigir, Samson, Barnard, and the hopeful Clodio that has a little light shining in on this story.

I couldn't stop reading this. After going through the entirety of Lord of the Rings, this was a breath of fresh air. The writing style was so easy to really dig myself into and just be comfortable in the world Cole created. I really cannot stop praising Cole's writing and narrative and finished the book in three days.

Is this the best book I read all year so far? Quite possibly, Yes. Yes it is.

I am going gaga over this book just because of how awesome it was written. It is one of the finest Grimdark fantasies I have read in a while. I highly enjoyed the strong and pessimistic characters, the impactful moments of emotion and the writing style is absolutely one of the best I've read in a while.

Don't underestimate me when I say this. The Armored Saint by Myke Cole is a fantastic opener to the Sacred Throne trilogy. It is absolutely a wonderful book that will bring you joy by the end pages. I cannot wait to read the rest of this trilogy now. Myke Cole just might have a place on my favorites shelf he keeps this up! BRAVO!

5/5
]]> <![CDATA[The Sundering (4) (Warhammer Chronicles)]]> 35297663
Malekith, betrayer and usurper, architect of the great war that will forever divide the race of elves. Alith Anar, wrathful avenger whose spirit will forever haunt the traitorous druchii. Caledor, reluctant leader, the one elf who can hold back the darkness and restore peace to Ulthuan. Witch King, Shadow King and Phoenix King. Their deeds are legend. This is their story... This mighty omnibus collects together the full account of the war that divided a race and changed the Warhammer World forever, and contains the novels Malekith , Shadow King and Caledor , along with several bonus short stories.]]> 960 Gav Thorpe 1784966444 Michael 0 to-read 4.22 2012 The Sundering (4) (Warhammer Chronicles)
author: Gav Thorpe
name: Michael
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Rise of Nagash (2) (Warhammer Chronicles)]]> 34466792
In the fantasy world of Warhammer, magic suffuses the land to such an extent that even the dead can ‘live� again, and whole empires of undead creatures hold sway in the dark places of the Old World. The vampires in the forests, the ghouls in their tunnels, the tomb kings of the southern deserts - all can trace their dark lineage back to Nagash, the first necromancer and supreme lord of undeath. For it was Nagash, two millennia before the time of Sigmar, who wrested the secrets of life and death from the dark elves, embarking upon a quest for immortality that would spark a war, destroy an empire and unleash a plague of undeath that would blight the Old World until the End Times and beyond.]]> 960 Mike Lee 1784966185 Michael 0 to-read 4.35 2012 The Rise of Nagash (2) (Warhammer Chronicles)
author: Mike Lee
name: Michael
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Champions Of Chaos (Warhammer Chronicles Book 5)]]> 39972927 In the cold Wastes of the north, the followers of Chaos gather in their thousands, eager to lay ruin to the soft lands of the south. These bloodthirsty, undisciplined warriors can only be controlled by the fiercest of leaders � champions who have risen through the ranks by dint of their infamous deeds to become the favoured of the Dark Gods.
This omnibus collects together the stories of three such mighty leaders � Prince Sigvald the Magnificent, the Gorequeen of Khorne Valkia the Bloody, and the rogue wizard Egrimm van Horstmann. Be warned: though the journey to greatness is long and hard, the battle to maintain such a position of power amid the servants of Chaos is never-ending�
CONTENTS
Sigvald by Darius Hinks
Valkia the Bloody by S P Cawkwell
Bloodraven� by S P Cawkwell
Blood Blessing ​by S P Cawkwell
Reaper ​by S P Cawkwell
Harbinger ​by S P Cawkwell
Van Horstmann by Ben Counter

Read it Because

It's three dark and gloriously deadly novels � and four short stories � from the World That Was, packaged together to give you iconic tales of characters from days gone by.

]]> 944 Sarah Cawkwell Michael 0 to-read 3.00 Champions Of Chaos (Warhammer Chronicles Book 5)
author: Sarah Cawkwell
name: Michael
average rating: 3.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Shadow on the Glass (The View from the Mirror, #1)]]> 1937397 586 Ian Irvine 0140271961 Michael 0 to-read 3.84 1998 A Shadow on the Glass (The View from the Mirror, #1)
author: Ian Irvine
name: Michael
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Kingdom of Liars (The Legacy of the Mercenary Kings, #1)]]> 49931405
Michael is branded a traitor as a child because of the murder of the king’s nine-year-old son, by his father David Kingman. Ten years later on Michael lives a hardscrabble life, with his sister Gwen, performing crimes with his friends against minor royals in a weak attempt at striking back at the world that rejects him and his family.

In a world where memory is the coin that pays for magic, Michael knows something is there in the hot white emptiness of his mind. So when the opportunity arrives to get folded back into court, via the most politically dangerous member of the kingdom’s royal council, Michael takes it, desperate to find a way back to his past. He discovers a royal family that is spiraling into a self-serving dictatorship as gun-wielding rebels clash against magically trained militia.

What the truth holds is a set of shocking revelations that will completely change the Hollows, if Michael and his friends and family can survive long enough to see it.]]> 596 Nick Martell 1534437789 Michael 0 to-read 3.70 2020 The Kingdom of Liars (The Legacy of the Mercenary Kings, #1)
author: Nick Martell
name: Michael
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)]]> 727798 The first part of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic adventure THE LORD OF THE RINGS

In a sleepy village in the Shire, a young hobbit is entrusted with an immense task. He must make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ruling Ring of Power � the only thing that prevents the Dark Lord's evil dominion.

Thus begins J.R.R. Tolkien's classic tale, which continues in The Two Towers and The Return of the King.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780261102354]]> 566 J.R.R. Tolkien Michael 5
For one, I've seen the movies quite a few times. The Return of The King is my all time favorite movie ever. I loved the movies so much that I avoided the books for so long because I thought It would taint my enjoyment of the movies. But, since there was a Amazon TV Show coming out for it being made, I thought I would finally dive into this massive Epic Fantasy.

It didn't disappoint.

WOW. Tolkien is on a whole nother level of world building. This book is DENSE. There are songs strung together throughout the text, there is history and lore everywhere, there are so many little things spread out it needs several re-reads to get it all in! After all, he wrote this universe for a few decades. He wanted to make a mythology for England and have no allegory, a thing he hates. I agree with him on the allegory part. There is no allegory in this book which is amazing. It's just pure adventure and fantasy.

The prose is so god damn good! It's the best of both worlds. It's a heavy lyrical style with a dash of early fantasies from pulp to what was being made at that point in time. With Fellowship, you have to read very carefully and not skip anything. DO NOT SKIM THIS BOOK. Because skimming it will lose all the detail and creativity you will find in it. The book is brilliantly written and it's very description heavy. Yes, other authors have done better heavy description writings like Robert Jordan in the 90's, but the point is Tolkien was a one of a kind at that point. This was many peoples first introduction to the fantasy genre and it is important for many first parts to info dump everything. Tolkien was the first to really nail world building.

But anyways, lets get into the characters. Of course, Frodo is the classic hero of this story, but he isn't even that young. He is like in his 50's in this book which is interesting to have a middle aged protagonist for something this early when most fantasies of the 70's and 80's focused primarily on Youthful Boys like Garion, Simon and Pug. I don't have much to say about him but him being middle aged is quite interesting. There is also Sam Gamgee, who is a nice little companion to Frodo, Merry and Pippin are cool as well I guess. Gandalf was also fine as well being a very informative character who dumps lots of lore into the readers lap. But the later characters are the real meat.

Tom Bombadil is a character I was hyping up so much to be this awesome person I would fall in love with but ended up being very underwhelmed by him. He is just this tree whispering spirit god type person. I loved that he can't get corrupted by the ring of power. I know people say "Tom Bombadil could just bring the ring to Mordor and be done with it!" but the point of him is that it's not his story. They even say at the Council of Elrond that he would lose it and not understand because he is not corrupted by it so he would be like "What's The Point?"

Okay. Aragorn is a pretty good character as well. He contemplates with his own destiny later on in the book and I really think he will become more of a great character later on. Legolas was super cool and I really enjoyed when Galadrial and Celeborn gave him that bow. Awesome stuff. Gimli! OMG. I love him! I love his friendship later on with Legolas. It was so damn good! I highly enjoyed it. He was also very fun to be around. I loved him so much.

But you know who was the real shining star of this book?

Boromir.

Holy Crap. I really loved Boromir and I will be sad to see him... well, everyone basically knows at this point. But the thing is Boromir was a man with his heart in the right place and he was incredibly cautious even if he already knew what his destiny was going to be. Boromir is the cause of the tragedy of the Fellowship here and of course, with the ring being in the Company for so long, Sauron would start to corrupt the others and Boromir was the easiest target. Borormir has a point in this book about using the Ring of Power on Sauron and the dark forces themselves but of course, Frodo has none of it. As far as I'm concerned, Boromir, if he were to live on in the continuing books and movies, would have become a great hero himself in some way. He is awesome.

The action scenes were surprisingly well written as well. They were simple but I was still engaged at points like when the Balrog showed up and the Orcs attacking on The Great River. Aragorn had some good action scenes as well. The company all got to be a part of the action and violence. However, most seem unaffected by it. It's done better in later books like in Queen of Sorcery by David Eddings, where Durnik kills someone for the first time and then breaks down into tears because he took someones life. If Tolkien would have made the hobbits feel some kind of shock when they first killed someone, it would have been a bit more effective.

Is there anything else more to say? This book is definitely up there with Classic Literature novels like Fahrenheit 451 and The Alchemist, which the latter is my favorite non fantasy book of all time. From Tolkien's dense world building, to the heavy lore, to the awesome characters, the amazing prose, the heavy descriptive writing, everything in this book is basically awesome. I totally can see why Tolkien was one of the Grandfathers/Grand Masters of the fantasy genre back then. His world is so HUGE it is insane!

So do I recommend it? At the drop of a hat yes. Do I recommend it to people who have seen the movie adaptations dozens of times? Yes! I thought it would ruin my liking of the movies but I highly enjoyed reading it due to the amazing lyrical prose.

A Classic indeed, and I still need to get through The Two Towers and Return of the King!

5/5]]> 4.39 1954 The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Michael
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1954
rating: 5
read at: 2020/04/01
date added: 2020/06/07
shelves: middle-earth-saga, 2020-reads, favorites, masterpieces
review:
Finally. It is done. I read the first part of the highly acclaimed Lord of The Rings. It was a long time coming but it was a interesting history getting here.

For one, I've seen the movies quite a few times. The Return of The King is my all time favorite movie ever. I loved the movies so much that I avoided the books for so long because I thought It would taint my enjoyment of the movies. But, since there was a Amazon TV Show coming out for it being made, I thought I would finally dive into this massive Epic Fantasy.

It didn't disappoint.

WOW. Tolkien is on a whole nother level of world building. This book is DENSE. There are songs strung together throughout the text, there is history and lore everywhere, there are so many little things spread out it needs several re-reads to get it all in! After all, he wrote this universe for a few decades. He wanted to make a mythology for England and have no allegory, a thing he hates. I agree with him on the allegory part. There is no allegory in this book which is amazing. It's just pure adventure and fantasy.

The prose is so god damn good! It's the best of both worlds. It's a heavy lyrical style with a dash of early fantasies from pulp to what was being made at that point in time. With Fellowship, you have to read very carefully and not skip anything. DO NOT SKIM THIS BOOK. Because skimming it will lose all the detail and creativity you will find in it. The book is brilliantly written and it's very description heavy. Yes, other authors have done better heavy description writings like Robert Jordan in the 90's, but the point is Tolkien was a one of a kind at that point. This was many peoples first introduction to the fantasy genre and it is important for many first parts to info dump everything. Tolkien was the first to really nail world building.

But anyways, lets get into the characters. Of course, Frodo is the classic hero of this story, but he isn't even that young. He is like in his 50's in this book which is interesting to have a middle aged protagonist for something this early when most fantasies of the 70's and 80's focused primarily on Youthful Boys like Garion, Simon and Pug. I don't have much to say about him but him being middle aged is quite interesting. There is also Sam Gamgee, who is a nice little companion to Frodo, Merry and Pippin are cool as well I guess. Gandalf was also fine as well being a very informative character who dumps lots of lore into the readers lap. But the later characters are the real meat.

Tom Bombadil is a character I was hyping up so much to be this awesome person I would fall in love with but ended up being very underwhelmed by him. He is just this tree whispering spirit god type person. I loved that he can't get corrupted by the ring of power. I know people say "Tom Bombadil could just bring the ring to Mordor and be done with it!" but the point of him is that it's not his story. They even say at the Council of Elrond that he would lose it and not understand because he is not corrupted by it so he would be like "What's The Point?"

Okay. Aragorn is a pretty good character as well. He contemplates with his own destiny later on in the book and I really think he will become more of a great character later on. Legolas was super cool and I really enjoyed when Galadrial and Celeborn gave him that bow. Awesome stuff. Gimli! OMG. I love him! I love his friendship later on with Legolas. It was so damn good! I highly enjoyed it. He was also very fun to be around. I loved him so much.

But you know who was the real shining star of this book?

Boromir.

Holy Crap. I really loved Boromir and I will be sad to see him... well, everyone basically knows at this point. But the thing is Boromir was a man with his heart in the right place and he was incredibly cautious even if he already knew what his destiny was going to be. Boromir is the cause of the tragedy of the Fellowship here and of course, with the ring being in the Company for so long, Sauron would start to corrupt the others and Boromir was the easiest target. Borormir has a point in this book about using the Ring of Power on Sauron and the dark forces themselves but of course, Frodo has none of it. As far as I'm concerned, Boromir, if he were to live on in the continuing books and movies, would have become a great hero himself in some way. He is awesome.

The action scenes were surprisingly well written as well. They were simple but I was still engaged at points like when the Balrog showed up and the Orcs attacking on The Great River. Aragorn had some good action scenes as well. The company all got to be a part of the action and violence. However, most seem unaffected by it. It's done better in later books like in Queen of Sorcery by David Eddings, where Durnik kills someone for the first time and then breaks down into tears because he took someones life. If Tolkien would have made the hobbits feel some kind of shock when they first killed someone, it would have been a bit more effective.

Is there anything else more to say? This book is definitely up there with Classic Literature novels like Fahrenheit 451 and The Alchemist, which the latter is my favorite non fantasy book of all time. From Tolkien's dense world building, to the heavy lore, to the awesome characters, the amazing prose, the heavy descriptive writing, everything in this book is basically awesome. I totally can see why Tolkien was one of the Grandfathers/Grand Masters of the fantasy genre back then. His world is so HUGE it is insane!

So do I recommend it? At the drop of a hat yes. Do I recommend it to people who have seen the movie adaptations dozens of times? Yes! I thought it would ruin my liking of the movies but I highly enjoyed reading it due to the amazing lyrical prose.

A Classic indeed, and I still need to get through The Two Towers and Return of the King!

5/5
]]> <![CDATA[The Night Angel Trilogy (Night Angel, #1-3)]]> 13246018
For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art -- and he is the city's most accomplished artist.

For Azoth, survival is just the beginning. He was raised on the streets and knows an opportunity when he sees one -- even when the risks are as high as working for someone like Durzo Blint.

Azoth must learn to navigate the assassins' world of dangerous politics and strange magics -- and become the perfect killer.

Devour this blockbuster tale of assassination and magic by New York Times bestselling author, Brent Weeks, which has delighted readers all over the world -- with over one million copies in print!]]> 1264 Brent Weeks 0316201286 Michael 0 to-read 4.36 2009 The Night Angel Trilogy (Night Angel, #1-3)
author: Brent Weeks
name: Michael
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>