Jukka
A history lesson. This series is great. I have not watched the one on Netflix. This is what is great in historical fiction, it makes you google these dudes and places and cultures and then you know a little bit more about humans, history, religion, tradition.. I might have enjoyed the beginning of the series more, simply because of the fact that there simply are no defeats and in every book there is a battle or two.. this invincibility becomes jarring. But great fun nevertheless!
such a fun audiobook read. The stakes are getting higher.
This is a depart from the peaky blinders influence for the most part which is a good thing
ALMOST as good as the [b:The Physician 4692 The Physician (Cole Family Trilogy, #1) Noah Gordon https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1389582565s/4692.jpg 1612436]
The Norsemen are now heading towards the land of the franks and their fellowship has grown by some Englishmen. The battle successes seem to get even more fantastic from the previous book and of course Raven heroically comes trough all of then. Then there is this difficult love thingy with Cynetryth.. It is a bit “been-there-done-that”. Still enjoyable to read and I am going to finish the trilogy although I feel this is YA stuff, for nothing seems to even scratch the main character and my guess is that he won't die any time soon.
I am a junkie of Asian history and stories. I loved this. I don't know how realistic this is but it definitely was an interesting description of a world and society that no longer exists. And yes, there was love larger than life as well as assholes and a mentor. All elements that you get in sooooooooooo many coming of age stories or “bildungsroman”..But I warmed to this one despite all it's cliches. The ending was emotional and really crowned the book. 5/5
Going to read this again when/If i ever go to istanbul. Cultural History, West/Orient, Memoirs etc.
having read the legends of the first empire before this series I'd say this was still very satisfying. I'd love to see the stories in this universe that are set to the futures of where this story ends. Particularly Royces future, the Elves, something tied to Siri and/or the gods of Elan would be fun to read. The magic system is slightly boring where everything just convieniently tends to happen with the help of magic if there is no other way forward. There sometimes is a feel of having to fit every fantasy trope in the world in this series and the story at times has such YA feel, that is enfuriating, but the plot works, the world building works, the characters work. A classical case of “why am I reading this” turning into a page turner.
I'll be back perhaps in this year in this world with the rise and fall books
A powerfull novel about war. Zola puts together a plot with fantastical coincidences. One which is very stereotypical, everything happening in the right order much like in modern day soap-opera.
Nonetheless, the historical events and battles are real. Zola describes the distruction of the war and the destroyed battlefields very vividly. The annoyance of the French over Prussia getting stronger comes trough vividly as does the shock of the invincibly advancing german coalition and the ultimate capitulation. This was not supposed to happen it was afterall just 2 generations ago as the French themselves ran over the then small german states. The whole French perception of the world was centered around past heroics and nationalism and now this capitulation.. Unfortunately it took a couple of more wars to abandon those sentiments on both sides.
Ps. This is the first Rougon-Macquart series book I remember ever to have read and allthough this is supposed to be read second to last, this book stands on its own.
Great book especially because of the rebellious Bazarov who is an unapologetic rebel, a nihilist who challenges every Russian traditional value there is to be challenged. This is a great description of generational divide and almost a prophetical novel given the turmoils and destruction russia went trough in the next 100 years after this novel was written. I put this roughly in the same place as [bc:The Idiot 12505 The Idiot Fyodor Dostoyevsky https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327865902s/12505.jpg 6552198] By [a:Fyodor Dostoyevsky 3137322 Fyodor Dostoyevsky https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1456149904p2/3137322.jpg]. However Fathers and Sons moves the story much more quickly and in the end you get the feeling that the book was even too short. A remarkable thing to say about a russian novel in the world of aristocracy and social and political upheaval. Turgenev is easy to read, despite this book having a character you would like to punch on multiple occasions in the face. The foreword is great the afterword is great and the annotations guiding the modern day reader are great. A great tribute for penguin classics.
I enjoyed the Story of Alice and Cedric immensely. I like to root for the underdogs and even though the twists and turns did not come out of the blue, it was in total still enjoyable. Sintara is cool too.
Maurice is a womanizer who has a younger wife and a younger lover, funerals of his father in sight, an alcohol problem and a ghost in his inn. Too many clishes, but the book is not apologetic of that and delivers a short-story like tale in a novel format. I havent read any kingsley Amis before, so i do not know how good is this compared to his other stuff, but i would hope there would be something that stands out a bit more than this.
Stereotypical adventure novel where the main character is typical aging battle hardened superstar. This is one of those books you get the feeling of already having read dozens of. There are some historical characters but none of them, nor the fictional ones have much depth on them.
BUT I might still continue the series just to see are there any surprises at all in the plot. Plus, this is of course a good snack after some brainworm like Dostoyevsky.
One of the audiobooks i've ever heard. Beautiful immersion into the Greek Mythology.
Prince Myshkin arrives to St. Petersburg as a naive, full of life fellow. It turns out that he is quite unable to survive in the high society of the Russian metropole. The first day of the book is the most enjoyable to read. The book unfolds in the one day described so that the prince already is a complex love relationship with Nastasya Filipovna by the end of the very first day he is staying in St.Petersburg. Then Myshkin falls in love with another woman, Aglaya Yepanchina. She is a daughter of a distant relative of prince Myshkin. Eventually the story takes twists and turns that are quite a torment to read.
It is widely perceived that Dostoyevsky used many elements of his own life in creating the characters for this story. (F.e he had a lover that quite resembled the character of Nastasya filipovna.) Such notions always make a book more interesting to read.
The middle part of the book is quite philosophical and promoting russian patriotism and deep religiousness, themes that Dostoyevsky likes to discuss. Towards the end I was in pain to see how prince Myshkin was shattered slowly but surely into bits and pieces, perhaps suggesting that true virtue does not survive in the real world.
Bare with this book until the the very end because that is where it unravels. The Main Character Okonkwo tries to come in terms with the legacy of his father and with the arrival of the Colonial rule. Interesting Novel about clashing institutions and belief systems shown trough both, the colonial and native lense.
[bookcover:The Heroes 10404497] was a great war novel. This one was an Attempt for a westerner. S0me new characters, some old characters, one juicy scene of violence and a Dragon. Maybe a hint for the future?
The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones
Everything that ever happened in westeros is in this book plus a description of all the houses and their vassals, tribes, dragons and other monsters.
Things get from bad to worse.Bad sometimes gets what it deserves and good almost never. Very very Grimdark, very first law.
I liked Circe more but this retelling was enjoyable enough. That being said, I have not read Illiad, it will be on my reading list for next year I should hope.
Like many before me have written this is a magnificent example of micro history, but a very controversial book as well, because the story apart from the court documents has been constructed by means of historical fiction. Many claimed that historical fiction does not have any value for the actual research of history, sparking a big debate for and against.
Expect the unexpected. Not all of the many short stories are good but there are a couple that make great insight considering the main trilogy.
I had very high expectations about this one and maybe because of them i give this “only” 3 stars. The magic system is great and reading the [b:The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince 16244663 The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince (Realms of the Elderlings, #0.5) Robin Hobb https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1357838601s/16244663.jpg 21858020] before starting the actual story seemed to make a lot of sense at least for me. Nothing too wild but the “wit” and the “skill” and “forging” add a great element into the world. I somehow felt that there is not enough interaction between the main character FitzChivalry and some of the more interesting characters such as Galen, Regal and Verity or the king. A nice start for things, but i hope things really take off in the next one!