Jai Sedai
3.50/5.00
“They made me the poster boy for disproportional response. They made me a butcher”.
Great read. Solid character building for Fred.
4.50/5.00
“Zorian sighed”.
Mother of learning Arc 4 brings an explosive end to the series with an incredible plot that intertwined so well with the story so far. The author has clearly paid so much attention to detail in writing the final battle, and the ending was written so well, that it suprised me considering the very basic prose I have seen so far. The characters finally developed with satisfying arcs. I would say that these are not focused on character development, but these books made excellent characters none the less.
What a battle scene! While it gets pretty insane at times, it feels well earned and well developed through the story. I also liked how the book left some loose strands at the end, which is appropriate for a story this massive. Highly recommended !! This is a an excellent example of progession fantasy paying off so well. The plot! the plot is so good!
Emotional Impact -> Amazing time, so much fun. I enjoyed the end of this story and I didn't want it to end! This is not true even for some of my favorite books. I wanna see what Zorian does next! Very high EI score for this explosive ending. My favorite moment was when Zorian fucks with Red Robe's mind, the return of the aranea matriarch, Zack greiving Zorian, Rea pointing out how Zorian has changed and how everyone had looked to him for leadership.Characters -> I finally love Zorian. He is so real and still has so many flaws. Zach could have had a couple more emotional moments with his best friend... which would have been perfect, but I am happy with what I got. I finally like Damon. I loved the moment where Zorian realizes that he cares what Damon thinks and values his opinion.. so satisfying. Plot -> Here is the banger. What a plot! The final battle was so much enexpected that I though. The truce, the threat, the angelic intervention, the angelic contract, the dragon-hydra battle wow!! The plot is consistent with the characters and feels so real. I loved the ending POV chapters and how it was written. I kind of saw the ending coming but it was still pretty wild. So many plot threads which were suggested in the first three books wound togeher in the final battle. So impressive... Zorian riding on freaking hydra and battling a freaking dragon mage and using battle tactics foreshadowed in book 2 is crazy fun!Prose -> Pretty average and similar to previous book. But I give a higher score since the final battle was so well done.World building -> Not bad. Angels and demons was kind of a let down. I loved Zorian's final cube-shield.. and the world building done so far was done really well. Nothing new here except to finish the massive plot, which is fine with me. The simulacrum mind hive is crazy fun. The pocket dimension prison for the grey hunter is so good. the time trap to kill Quartach-itchel was so innovative. Well done.
4.00/10.00
This one was bad.
This one is a good read through most of the book. But I hated the ending. Too much chaos. The last minute arrival of allies who never had any character development other than being mentioned in the books was very unpalatable. Rhys death scene was mostly pointless. Amren's return was anti-climatic. The king's death was a let down... The highlights are Tamlin's character development, the war strategy with the death gods, Mor's coming out and Ianthe storyline.. Bottomline the ending was a let down.
2.00/5.00 The creator had made the world and then left humankind to make of it what they would, a heaven or the Pit of Doom by their choosing. The Creator had made many worlds, watched each flower to die, and gone on to make endless worlds beyond. A gardener did not weep for each blossom that fell.
Crossroads of Twilight, sigh. How to review a book that is shameful low point in this epic series? It is exactly as bad as advertised. This book was the first time ever in the wheel of time, where I stopped paying attention to the audiobook and didn't bother to rewind, especially during the Elayne POV. There are still some significant events that take place in this book, but all these events are wrapped in innumerable named characters curtsying to each other, which makes it impossible to take these events seriously. I don't understand how an editor can read this book and approve of how it is written. I ground through the book anyway.
The worst part of this book is the Elayne-Aviendha-Andor where nothing happens and we get to hear about all the politics where nothing happens. Perrin storyline is abysmal as usual, but the story ended in an interesting twist. Mat's storyline comprises of some immeasurably small progress. Egwene's plot seemed the most productive, but is still riddled with all the issues I have stated earlier.
The beautiful visual writing of wheel of time is bogged down by an insane amount of named characters, with meaningless inter-personal interactions such as facial reactions, and body language and dress details.
The wheel barely turns.
3.50/5.00
Reading this book was a learning experience for me. When I finished this book, I didn't like the ending. I watched some review and I read the ending again, slowly this time, and realized that I missed many things. I am glad to have this experience since I think it made me appreciate discworld so much more. Mort is a beautiful story, and with an ending I did like. I get it now. “THERE IS NO JUSTICE, THERE IS JUST ME” - DEATH.
SPOILERS!!
Plot -> Great plot, a character driver story, which I did not pick up on in the first read through. I will strongly recommend reading this slowly. Some details like Mort realizing how time zones worked, and Mort and Ysebell's relationship and so endearing.
Worldbuilding -> This was much better. The life-story books, Binky, Death's role and Mort, the bubble of alternate reality, the gods and the whole concept of afterlife was just first class worldbuilding.
Characters -> Mort's character is subtle but powerful. The book's character development is focused on Death, and how all these Mortals are changing as a person ( or to a person). Mort himself seems pretty much himself through the book. His character is very consistent, driven by instincts and his gut, he challenges Death in many ways. Ysebell's final scene with Death where she confronts him on his hypocrisy is just gold. Then Death realizing that he is a hypocrite is pretty satisfying.
Prose -> Excellent prose. Probably I am not able to appreciate the book as much as some others because of Terry Pratchett's style. His humor is often based on similes and metaphors, which often exit from the discworld and use real-word elements, which I found disorienting.
Emotional Impact -> A very fun story, so philosophical, so deep! I loved the worldbuilding so much. Death as a character is a masterpiece of fantasy storytelling. I don't find the humor as funny as most others but I think Discworld books are funnier than most.
5.00/5.00
Morning star is an epic. One of the best books I have ever read. Action-packed with an incredible story world and characters. Peirce Brown kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end! And this book my goodman is a masterpiece conclusion to the trilogy. This book might just be better than the first one. The outer rim battle is made for blockbuster movie or TV.
My favorite scene: Roque's deathMy favorite political moment: Roque-Darrow-Mustang-RaaBiggest surprise: Cassius's "Betrayal"Best battle of the entire trilogy: Poet v Helldiver
4.50/5.00
A satisfying sequel to red rising! Fast moving story, spectacular action made for epic tv (someday) I can totally imagine iron rain being an episode.
beauty, love and poetic prose. I have no words for the best gay romance novel I have ever read. I cried for the last hour of the book.
4.50/5.00
Never have I read a story so perfectly written. In just 127 pages, Brandon Sanderson has managed to create two (or three including the Emperor) of the most fascinating characters I have ever read in Fantasy. I don't know if I want more or not, but I got what was perfect. Brandon created a beautiful and concise magic system, that is so well explained and developed in such a short story! This is my favorite story from the Lord Ruler.
This is the first and only book I have thrown a perfect character score.
SPOILERS!!
Story/Plot -> This is a short story, and hence the story is rather simple, but perfectly chosen for the concept. A little reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes in a heist story, but with perfect character flaws.
Worldbuilding-> For a short story the worldbuilding is good, the magic system is very well done, better than Elantris by far, which begs the high score here. If it wasn't for the “skeleton” soldiers, I might have given a higher score.
Character Development -> Shai is wonderfully flawed, and this is story is totally competence porn for this character. I loved the relationship between the Gao and Shai, I actually teared up when she mentioned her “grandfather” idea. It highlighted her loneliness, and how much she connected with him.
Prose/Dialogue -> Great writing, super competent and perfect for this story.
Emotional Impact -> I enjoyed it very much, nearly teared up a point. Great Short story! Except for the skeleton warriors.
5.00/5.00
The shadow rising sets the standard for worldbuilding. The complexity and the intricacy of this epic is hard to believe. The book shocks and awes at moments, and fearlessly wades into places the first three books dare not venture. The book provides so many answers to the numerous questions raised so far, and somehow explodes with new questions. This is unquestionably one of the best fantasy books I have read so far.
WorldbuildingI am starting with an easy one here. My mind is in pieces with all the facts I learned in this book! Tel' aran'rhiod OMG, Rhuidean OMG, the bubbles, the history of Aiel is probably the best worldbuilding moment of the series. I don't know what could beat this. Plot/StoryComing in hot with the most complex and innovative plot lines! Finally a satisfying and interesting Perrin arc, a fascinating Nynaeve-Elayne arc, Rhuidean-Aiel-Rand is fascinating! so many things happened in this book, and I could not predict anything. I had no idea WTF was happening most of the time. I did actually enjoy the Perrin-Faile romance in this book, I though it was funny and it heartfelt at moments. Although I cringed at their romantic reunion at the end.. kind of killed the mood for the battle. But the Elayne-Egwene-Rand romance is hard to swallow, so I am docking a point for this. What a crazy moment when Rand tries to resurrect the dead child!Dialogue/ProsePerrin and Nynaeve's story arcs were written very well. However, I found Rand's story was lacking the necessary details and pacing. Rand's story was often hard to follow, as the sentence structure was weird in some places... I think Robert Jordan deliberately left things hazy.. so we can remain in the same level of confusion as the characters in the book. Maybe this is how it is to read Malazan lol. Also, it looks like Jordan has given up on writing poetic prose.. I doubt any of the books going forward will read like the Great Hunt. I will give RJ a higher score here, as I think the worldbuilding was handled so well. I am getting a tired of Robert Jordan's never ending commentary on the stereotypical behavior of women and men. I get that these books were written 30 years ago and we cannot expect any modern day ideas here.. but his comments are hard to read sometimes. But I see his good intentions. He writes about a world where women and men sharing the power, and how that is the best way to go. But people have character that are not defined or limited by their gender.... Character Dev Perrin easily takes this category. Followed closely by Nyneave. Rand is pretty fascinating too, but he is cloaked in mystery as usual. I don't feel as connected to Rand's character as much as other four. Egwene does a lot of good stuff in the book but takes a back seat along with Mat. The cringe part is the Egwene-Rand-Elayne romance meeting. OMG. So cringe. But I decided to accept this for what it is, a realistic look into how young adults would behave. Emotional ImpactThe book scores high here as well. Very satisfying read. Not quite the same as reading the ending of Great Hunt, but I really enjoyed the worldbuilding and the Nynaeve-Mohidean battle, as well as the story of Lord Perrin. The history of Aiel moment is one of the greatest fantasy chapters I have ever read. For that reason, this book scored high.
4.50/5.00
Let the Lord of Chaos Rule!
I am going to sound like a broken record here, when I say that this book is exactly like the last two books. Incredibly complex plotlines, outstanding worldbuilding, satisfying character moments, and shocking twists and turns, while we have to suffer through terribly written romance and romantic drama. Character developments improves significantly from the other books.
Glory to the Lord Dragon! Hail the Asha'man!
Kneel to the Lord Dragon or you will be Knelt!Story/Plot -> Egwene's plot is the most satisfying in this book. The story surged ahead with for Nyneave, Egwene and Elayne (finally!). Rand-Taim is fun, Rand-Min is horrible, Perrin-Faile is barely readable and so boring. Some amazing twists, Alanna!, Nicola jumping in! Elaida's plan was pretty impressive. I enjoyed the plot and loved the ending, but there was so many parts of the book [all the romance] where it was not even readable... I could have tolerated Rand-Min. Egwene-Gawyn was actually good! But I cannot take another page of Faile and Perrin. DELETE DELETEWorldbuilding -> Great worldbuilding as usual! Healing, Travelling, Ter'Angreal, Asha'Man, The WHEEL of TIME and the DARK ONE! My god!!! But this one does not make the full 10/10, since I think books 4 and 5 did much better. Character Development -> Egwene steals the show here. The use of her learning Aiel culture, and her moment of clarity to speak the truth, the way she wrenches control from the Salidar Aes Sedai! So satisfying. Finally an Egwene book. I loved Nyneave's changing character. Not so much anger, more frustration and embarrassment, and her PTSD from Moghedien! Rand is truly the Lord of Chaos, so well done. I loved the chaos of Lews Therin in his mind, the Chaos of his battle plans, his choas of trying to install Elayne in Andor, and just Chaos everywhere. Love it! New fav character -> Mazrim Taim (who is probably Demandred)As usual, there are a ton of pointless characters I will never remember. Literally why is Berelain in this book? Just to antagonize Faile ? FAILE I want to DELETE! Prose/Dialogue -> Credit to RJ for toning down the Men-Women commentary here in this book, but it is still there... Romance and associated plotlines are still so cringe, but let's not talk about this again. Some very impressive writing, especially with the ending. Emotional Impact -> I am so confused how to rate this. There were part of the book which loved so much and other parts I could never read again. But the ending was glorious and I love glorious endings. But it also took so long to get there.. so much nonsense in the second half!
3.50/5.00
A Crown of Swords is an interesting choice for the name of this book. I have mixed feelings about this book of the wheel of time. While there are some plotlines which had interesting developments, a few were downright confusing. Some great moments, some satisfying conclusions, some unsatisfying “conclusions”, moderate worldbuilding, and slowed down pacing. A Crown of Swords is a “meh”.
Plot -> I enjoyed the Nynaeve-Elayne Plotline. Nynaeve finally gets rid of her block! But I was so disappointed... Is that all ? So she just went to the brink of death and then suddenly she surrendered... After reading Theodrin's story of getting her block removed, I was expecting something more meaningful. I actually had this theory that Nynaeve's block will break if she cuts her braid.... lol. That would have still been better than what happened here. Mat's plot line was so much fun and so much horror! Very unexpected for a WoT book, but it was certainly interesting to read. Egwene plays a smaller role here.. pretty much pointless for her to be in this book. Moghedien's plot was fun. Rand was bonkers in this book. The power is getting to his head. I did not quite follow the whole Illian invasion thing. It looks like Rand sends the spears to Illian earlier in the book, and then suddenly the attack is failing cause Rand was unconscious, and then somehow he invades anyway.. I think the whole Illian plot line was poorly executed. Worldbuilding -> Not much of new worldbuilding here. I was hoping for more with the Sea Folk, but it kind of felt really flat. The Wise Woman worldbuilding took so many pages! So slow! The magic system does not develop much. I am disappointed that RJ did not provide any answers in this book. He started new plot lines and mysteries but he failed to answer at least some of the world building questions. Every WoT book has had some good stuff in it.. Not much Tel'aran'rhiod in this book, which is disappointing. Character Dev - > Mat wins this category, I just love him. Loved the Mat-Birgitte friendship, loved how he protected his friends no matter how badly they treated him. Rand goes through so much in this book, the PTSD, the clausterphobia! The corruption of all the power that he is amassing.. His never ending battle with putting women in danger (although I think this should be a lesson that he should have learned by now), and finally the self-loathing.. .which is what RJ is going for so job well done. Cadsuane was fun! Sammael is so confusing! I am disappointed with Lan. He is treated like a piece of meat in this book, by all the women who control his life. Why does he let Nynaeve treat him like that... Instead of thanking him for saving her ass from the river, she just hits and slaps him! What a horrible person (I agree with Mat on this lol, at least someone acknowledged how awful she is). There is not much Elayne POV here so I could not appreciate her very much. Prose -> The pacing is slowing down.. but there are some really good things in the book. RJ's writing is pretty much the same, but I think he fumbled the ending here. The Mat-Nynaeve-Elayne part was written very well. The Ending for Rand was not done well at all.. The battle for Illian was a let down. Emotional Impact -> mixed for me... I did really enjoy the moment where the bubble of evil attacks Rand and Cadsuane.... It was finally Aes Sedai and Rand working together. Elayne taking command of the Aes Sedai was good. Mat's POV in general was fun and the whole thing about his rape was weird when the way Elayne reacts to it! OMG!
3.50/5.00
Let me begin this review by stating unequivocally that I have not read the Lord of the Rings, and I have not read any classic-epic fantasy. I deliberately made the decision to start with The Wheel of Time, since the story is largely unknown to me (except for whatever was in the first 2 seasons of the show). as compared to LOTR.
This book was a wonderful journey. For the first time, I was inspired to create page marks as references for the lore. I loved the lore, the cultures, the history and the naming of places and people. I got to experience the breeze of classic-epic fantasy in a very satisfying way. The prose is very good. Robert Jordan had me searching the dictionary so many times! There was a “charm” to the dialogue and the prose that I don't quite find in modern fantasy (lot of doom and gloom and depression there).
The plot was okay, obviously derivative of the fellowship of the ring, but I enjoyed it either way. Character work is “okay” at best. Overall a great read, looking forward to more books. I am such a sucker for strong female characters and I absolutely loved Moraine Sedai, Moraine Aes Sedai!
The wheel weaves as the wheel wills! Awesome!
My fav character was Nyneave, but other than her, I didn't quite take with any of them. I found Rand to be quite bland, and being a boring narrator. I did like some of the comedic relief in the book, which was so rare that I was craving more. Loved Shienar, loved the moment when the gang reunites and there is literally a "mommy Moraine" moment when Rand is so relieved to be under here protection again.
5.00/5.00 “Far Dareis Mai carries your honor, and you take ours away”.
The fifth installment of the Wheel of Time is rich in worldbuilding and filled with crazy twists and turns. As a welcome surprise, there is an excellent battle scene in the book, which superseded expectation and was woven beautifully in to the plot. However, Robert Jordan's writing is a point of frustration. His brilliance in writing a thematic and intricate plot, jaw-dropping twists, super-coherent and satisfying magic system, combined with incredible character moments, is dragged down by repetitive descriptions, innumerable pointless characters, cringeworthy romance and irritating character flaws.
I come out on the largely positive side for this book. The wheel weaves as the wheel wills. Glory be to the Lord Dragon Reborn! Hail Lord Mat!
Story/Plot -> Jaw dropping & unpredictable moments such as Birgette's return, Elayne bonding her as warder, Nyneave tearing Moghedien a new one, Rahvin being the final villain, the incredible battle, Mat killing Couladin, the amnesty and so much more! Even the Aviendha-Rand romance was enjoyable. I am really not enjoying the Elayne-Min-Rand part of this romance. I also cringed at the Elayne-Thom part, WTF was that. Remove romance from these books, and the story would be a perfect 10.Worldbuilding -> No need to rehash the extraordinary worldbuilding in WoT. It is outstanding as usual. The One Power and Tel'aran'rhiod is so well developed in this book, that it is mind blowing. I love how the story weaves around the magic system in such a wonderful way. Characters -> Rand and Moiraine steal the show here. Rand's madness, his relationship with Far Dareis Mai, with Moiraine is outstanding. The gut wrenching Moiraine death leading to Rand's character development is just heaven. I actually liked Galad? wow. On the other hand, listening to Nyneave's thoughts and opinions on men are just so vexing. If it wasn't for Rand and Moiraine, I would have dropped this score. And what a character moment for the Far Daries Mai leader Sulin! Dialogue/Prose -> I feel like the writing gets really bad in some places, but is decent overall The whole thing about Rand-Aviendha-Elayne-Min "romance" is just cringe worthy to read. Every time Rand is attracted to a woman, why does he have to talk about Min and Elayne ? I get what Robert Jordan is trying to do. He wants Rand to have three wives, a blonde, a red head and a brunette, which is just cringe for me. I would just go back and delete all romance from WoT books. And why does every female character think men are stupid ? Why do all the men think women are crazy? Why does it have to be stated and reminded every 5 mis ? Why is everyone so angry and violent ? Why do we need so much recap ? Why is every other female character described as "plump" (the only time to use this adjective is to describe a tomato!) ? Why do we care so much about necklines and dress colors ? I have decided to just accept this style of writing and adjust my expectations. I wanted to throw an above average score here, but I am going to give RJ the bonus for the dream world writing, the battle scenes, which are just excellent. Emotional Impact -> I really enjoyed the worldbuilding, the battles, the plot twists and the ending. I struggled with the writing here, but it didn't "bother" me as much as I just noticed the problems and wished it was better. Moiraine stole the show for me. This book scores high for her.
4.50/5.00
After reading The Well of Ascension, I realize that I have prematurely judged Brandon Sanderson, the Lord Ruler himself. I tired to scale him against others and this is a mistake. The Cosmere is a new chapter in the realm of fantasy literature, and this book, is its herald. The book continues seamlessly from its predecessor, the writing better, the story more character focused. And yet, the book entirely unpredictable. The mystery of this incredible world is exciting. The plot twist and turns, the lore amazes, the story leads with brilliance.
Brandon Sanderson is not a poet, but a brilliant storyteller.
4.00/5.00
This is my first dive into the cosmere. I have always wondered what the hype about Sanderson is, now I see it. This book blows my mind with attention to detail. The complexity of the magic system is the certainly the best part. Some of the action sequences were pretty good. A very satisfying read for fantasy lovers. Vin's character is pretty well developed.
However, the writing was overly simple, the dialogue is okay. I've heard many people tell me that Brandon Sanderson‘s writing has improved in his later books, so I am, hoping the next one will be better.
There were no glorious character moments that I enjoyed. There is one character moment in the book, which could have been amazing but I thought it kind of fell flat. Most of the cast seemed one-dimensional. Kelsier and Vin are properly done. The magic system is thoughtful, creative and spectacular just as you would expect from Brandon Sanderson. Emotionally. It wasn't very impactful, but this is the first book so I'm gonna give the benefit of the doubt.
4.00/5.00
A great third act for this story. Packed with action as usual, exellent plot twist at the end, and a spectacular cliffhanger! The character work suffers here very much. The main charcters don't make much progress emotionally or learning anything new about themselves. The writing is so average that it can only be described as “not bad”.
Overall highly recommeded! Great fun book to enjoy to break up the monotony of other book. I mostly use these books as “audiobook” material, since I think the worldbuilding is basic enough to warrant low attention to terminologies and names.
Emotional Impact -> Great fun, several small battles, one massive battle and lots of adventure and magic fun. I do think that this book felt like a filler book to develop the character's magic ability without any much signifcant character development. Characters -> This is the weakest part of this book, but still not bad. Imaya, Alanic, Damon -> good. Zack, Zorian -> not much change. Others boring. No kirielle so I was bored with characters. This book also feels the least emotional so far, turning into hard lit-RPG.Plot -> hmmm... the intricacies of the plot are good. The story and the world tie togther seamlessly! But pretty basic adventure plot for this one, with an excellent twist at the end. Prose -> Just not good. not bad, but not good either. World Building -> Lots of fun magic worldbuilding. But the simulacrums and the combat magic in this book were not as fun as mind magic in book 2. Nothing was as good as ARANEA in book 1. I hope the final book returns the magic of book 1.
4.00/5.00
The Dragon Reborn is a journey of the characters, their self-discovery, their emotional growth, of adventure, and of learning their own power. It is in this part of the book where Robert Jordan has delivered an exceptional story. The worldbuilding/magic system development has some jaw dropping moments, just as I hoped. The story of Nyneave, Egwene and Elayne is the most interesting and the most satisfying, with Mat's character development being quite spectacular.
On the down side, Robert Jordan really cannot write Romance.... and I didn't get the glorious ending that I wanted, it was good, but not as glorious as the Great Hunt.
WorldbuildingThere is a ton of magic system development in this, balefire, the FUCKING quantum mechanics of Mat!, Black Ajah, dream world, tar-angreal... there is so much here! This book deserves the high score. Story/PlotWhile I think Nyneave-Egwene-Elayne and Mat-Thom story lines were very impressive, I think the Perrin plot is a big miss. It started off great but went into boring territory and slid into downright cringe moments where the Falcon romance started.. Ughhhh... Robert Jordan cannot write romance. And how many are we going to "kill" Ba'alzamon? And how many will we split and rejoin and try again ? Dialogue/ProseThe prose in this book is similar to the books before, but I didn't feel any particular example stood out to me. I also noticed a lot of repetitive descriptions..... I always enjoy Robert Jordan's painting a picture with words approach, and I get that he wants us to experience this story as we would if we were a third person observer of events. I am mostly okay with this.. but the writing could have been better.. the last couple chapters could have been more glorious and more poetic.. Character DevSolid character development for all character development for all! Even if Rand's POV is like only 3% of the book I though his state of mind and his "madness" was so well depicted. I loved the scene where he just attacks some people with a flaming sword in paranoia! I also totally get his anger and frustration at the end and how his defeat of Ishamael finally made him accept himself. "I am the Dragon Reborn!" MAT MAT MAT, I loved this character! no more words needed. Emotional ImpactI would say my emotional impact is a bit low, I was really thrown off by the Perrin storyline and the cringe-worthy romance, and the repetitive killing of Ba'alzamon... And I am a bit disappointed at how the last few chapters didn't really deliver the glory of the Great Hunt, but it could have!
6.90/10.00
Solid world-building, exhilarating romance, page-gripping action and a total twist cliffhanger. If could not put this one down. Lots of familiar tropes in the book but somehow reads new. Definitely better than SJM, because one can actually like the main character and she is the hero of the story.
I love that the book is so familiar and yet so completely unpredictable!
But yeah it's not good fantasy. Its Romantacy. Not for the sandarsonians, not for the wheelers.. but for people who were able to enjoy SJM books.
2.50/5.00
And so, the cosmere expands into science fiction. This is something that I have been expecting for a while now, and the execution is good. Not perfect, not amazing, just good. Reading through this book, I can feel the familiar tone of Sanderson's fantasy novels. Just as I expected, this wade into sci-fi has not changed his tone. He writes as good as he has ever written, just shy of some exceptions. The Sunlit Man tells us another delightfully innovative cosmere story, packed with action and intrigue. The character work is in-line with what I have come to expect with Sanderson's secret project novels, which I think are below his earlier works. Solid fun and action!
But is this the future of the cosmere ? This slightly above average prose, with Investiture thrown around to technology work ? Are we moving away from the details, the exact mechanics of this hard magic system, and moving into soft sci-fi? This is not Mistborn, this is not the Stromlight Archive, this is a poor representation of the spectacular world building of those fantasy masterpieces.
Emotional Impact -> I am not enjoying the cosmere's version of sci-fi. Are we just going to forget that Investiture is just magic and treat it as science ? The Scadrians are being turned into asshole villains, no surprises there, but that is so boring. I enjoyed the fantasy of cosmere, the shards, the oaths, the push and the pull, the creation and destruction. Now spren are turning into AI assistants. The story is action packed, which is the main reason I kept reading. Characters -> I really like the Greater Good. I thought those characters brought a sense of cultural intrigue to the plot. I liked Sigzil as well, but why the Dawnshard? Why the highspren bond? When did he become a skybreaker ? Was this story really needed now ? Why not after Stromlight 5 where it would have been more linear? How the Scadrians have space travel so soon ? How long has Sigzil lived ?Plot -> Not a bad plot, but no big twist. Pretty predictable. Conversation with Wit was nice.Prose -> I really thing Sanderson needs to write better dialogue. This is really missing. I think he always does a great job of world building, but the dialogue is just not very good. World building -> Interesting, very cosmerian, but so shallow. Zero focus on history. The world building reads like a history book.
4.00/5.00
Mother of Learning continues to deliver the solid entertaintment that it promised at the start. The stroy evolves fully into lit-RPG in this second arc, taking the readers on a wild ride that entirely impossible to predict. The plot is intricate, filled with expcetional magic system developmet, while spinning around lovable characters which gives this series a slice of life aspect while being bonkers in other ways. Great read! Fun Ride! Excellent audiobook performace!
My only gripe is that I miss my favorite character (and perhaps the voice of this character in the audiobook), and there hasn't been anyone else to replace this character. I think ending makes up for this and so I think arc 1 and arc 2 are just as good as each other.
Emotional Impact -> What an awesome battle! I lived for this battleeeeeee..... I loved it. Zorian my cute wool. You are the best. Loved the return of the Zach. Enjoyed every moment of Zorian's found family. I suspect that Zach is in love with Zorian. That's exciting! The next arc is going to be AWESOME! (could it be a 5-star review ?, we will see). Characters -> Loved the found family's characters. Zorian and Kirielle's relationship is so endearning, I want a brother like Zorian! I want to be a kid in this family and play with my Gollum dolls. Taiven steals the show in this arc. Very nice! But so many background noise characters... Not many made as much impact. No interesting aranea characters.....Plot -> Lots of fun, great battle, unpredictabe plots.. very well done. This is my highest category. The return of Zach was foreshadowed and executed perfectly. The highs and lows are arranged perfectly for a continuosly enjoyable reading experience. In this regard, I think nobody103 might be better than Sanderson, who focuses too much on the ending and drags in the middle. Prose-> Its better, a slight improvement! Could be even better but competant. Its too story bookish... needs more flair and drama. Worldbuilding -> Loved the magic system. Nothing creative in this book though. A dragon, seriously ? Can't we do anything more creative? And there are no new species to have fun with here.. I am a bit dissapointed.
Quite a beautiful book. So many wonderful moments, so much pain and suffering. Sometimes it's hard to relish the love when reading about such horror. The gore factor could have been scaled down. There were so many characters who die so it's hard to keep track and feel the death.
I guess the novel is realistic.
4.50/5.00
The Butcher's Masquerade is a wonderful addition to the series of Dungeon Crawler Carl. To my surprise this book had a sander-lanche style ending, which was nothing short of amazing. This book takes a slightly darker tone than the previous DCC books, finally bringing the horrifying reality of the dungeon world to its pages. Our characters are put in extremely stressful situations, making them lose hope, taking them to the point of breaking.
The book contains many heartbreaking moments, spends time developing the world beyond the dungeon. Introduces complexity with the supposed villains of this story, and somehow manages to be funnier than the books before. The lawyer character is my favorite character in this book even though he appeared only for a very short time.
Matt cinnamon set the standard for the personification of a cat. Donut manages to be ridiculous, incredibly consistent, and wonderfully hilarious at the same time. This is my most favorite DCC book so far, this series just keeps getting better and better.
Kill kill kill!
4.50/5.00
Mother of learning is an excellent introduction Progression Fantasy. To put it simply, this book is pure fun. There is not a single boring moment in this book. Despite using a well-worn time loop trope, this book is incredibly unpredictable. We meet so many great characters, and the plot is well designed.
I highly recommend it! I mostly read this novel, but audiobooked a good 30%. I swear the narrator does a wonderful job of bringing one important character to life. A certain “matriarch”. Fantastic!
Emotional Impact -> Total fun! Not a moment of boredom, rootable characters with relatable problems and an entirely unpredictable plot. Such a rare thing to see a character who is absolutely not the chosen one be the main protagonist. The story stands well representative of its central promise. "Repetition is the mother of learning".Characters -> Favorite character - Zach! Is he gay/bi ? That will be fun to read. Loved the anrenea matriarch! what a great spin on the Moiraine-type trope. There is also some good cultural worldbuilding from her, which is a suprising turn. Kirille, Kael are close comptetitors to the top characters. Zorian's character development is good. I'd say it can be better. There was a lot of telling and not showing with him. He is written so analytical compared to all other characters so it is hard to recognize his emotional growth. He does make some great strides with his sister and the matriarch. I really hope he grieves for the aranean spiders in the next book. Plot -> Great plot. Some parts predictable, some entirely unpredictable. So much fun with the magic system! Prose -> Here is where we drop to just average, or even below average. There is so much telling and not showing. A ton of information dumping. Casual prose, so causal it reads like it was written by an amateur. What a missed oppurtunity! Worldbuilding -> THe magic system is primary focus of this book. It is very well done. Great hard-soft blend! Cultural worldbuilding is severely lacking, with the book hyper imited in scope because of the premise. But I think it would be unfair to judge a progression fantasy book like an epic fantasy book. Every moment with Zorian is so well earned. That moment when we telepathically talks into the taime (or the girl hier) is fire! Aranea spiders wow! So woderfully complex! LOVE IT.