Elizabeth
I really appreciate that I started this book after taking Latin lessons, because now I understand what things like participles and prefixes and even first-person singular verbs are. I appreciate it even further after learning from Bryson that some of the most ridiculous grammar rules and spellings are based on Latin, despite having nothing to do with Latin in the first place.
It's not all about the Latin, though, I'm just focusing on it because I've been learning Latin grammar this past year. In fact, I found a book full of interesting trivia, like most of Bryson's books.
Although I read some reviews from Actual Linguists slamming this book, I find Bryson's style completely readable and enjoyable and I'm happy to go along with it, knowing that if I want to know more detailed information I'm going to have to go digging for it.
My overwhelming feeling towards this book is ‘eh'. I didn't ever feel compelled to not put the book down, and it shows in that it took me five months to finish it. I felt like we were just killing time for the first three-quarters of the book (is this where [a:Brandon Sanderson 38550 Brandon Sanderson https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1394044556p2/38550.jpg] learned that annoying habit?), and even when Stuff was happening at the end the only person I felt was really doing something was Nynaeve (how much ass does she kick? I love her.)I will read the next one ([b:The Dragon Reborn 11203967 The Dragon Reborn (Wheel of Time, #3) Robert Jordan https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1343770673s/11203967.jpg 791061]), but I'm going to tackle other things on the TBR pile first.
Hits all the beats I expect in YA: young person of unknown (to them) origins destined for Something related to those origins; person from that Something life comes along to enlighten young person; together they team up and Things Happen But Not The Way They Thought They Would; totes romance.
Plus you know I love religion in my genre fic.
For what is essentially LOTR With Chicks, it's a much more readable story than Tolkein's trilogy. I was doing all right with the usual eye-rolling fantasy tropes until I got to the ‘Mountains of Dhoom'. Yeah, the book is nearly 25 years old, but really. Overall though, I enjoyed it and will probably slog through the rest of them.
Underwhelming. Or, I entirely missed the point? It certainly has a reputation for being a life-changer, and maybe it is, in its simplicity. Maybe it reflects my own worldview so neatly the message is lost on me, and I can only see the over-simplified story rather than having a revelatory experience about journeys versus destinations?
Maybe this is a good one for an early secondary school English class on fables or parables, in an easily-consumed package.
Terrible. The exposition and infodumping is as subtle as a brick; the book within the book with the tale of how two of the characters met and carried on a romance, written from the POV of one to the other. Why? She was literally there? You didn't have to write a book to her about how you met her?
Thanks, I hate it.
Aside from a few obvious plot-wagons, I enjoyed this one. It is lovely to be in Nynaeve's POV - she is exactly the ass-kicking lady I like to see in my fantasy. I loved that we barely saw Rand at all, and I wonder how unusual this device was when Jordan wrote the book. I also really enjoyed getting POVs from Mat, since he was a really unlikeable character in the first two novels because of Plot Device. Surprisingly, his 'luck' didn't bother me either even with the potential for it to become an abused trope. In fact, I'm interested to see how both Jordan and Mat handle it's removal in the future.
The only part that really stood out was that, having come through the whole book without Rand, he gets the climactic scene. The rest of Rand's story in this book was told by other people, and it would have been cool if they could have told his fight and 'killing' of Ba'alzamon. Maybe it didn't make sense to do it that way, but it really annoyed me that I had come so far with everyone else, only to have Rand have the ‘glory' at the end, rather than everyone else's reactions to it.
I stopped listening to WtNV a few years ago, and this book reminded me why. It's a bit like Monty Python: some of the over-the-top-ness is brilliant, and some of it is just firmly in silly territory.
Unlike the podcast, though, it's easier to skim ahead to less-silly parts.
I did enjoy this beyond the silliness though. It was fantastic to have a story about The Man in the Tan Jacket, and I did have a lot of genuine laugh-out-loud moments. If you're a fan of WtNV I don't know why you haven't already read this.
Two stars feels unfair to this book, but since I like to stick to the Goodreads rating system and three stars is ‘I liked it', two stars it is. It didn't suck, let's stick with that.I certainly don't feel the book lived up to its amazing hype or time spent on a bestseller list, but I suspect it appeals to those who are either a) Gaiman fan legions, or b) people who don't usually spend time in the fantasy genre. Nothing wrong with either of those, except I am not either of those. Gaiman certainly is someone who can put words together in a sentence in a lovely way, though.On a completely superficial level it reminds me a lot of Jo Walton's [b:Among Others 8706185 Among Others Jo Walton https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1317792367s/8706185.jpg 6449955] in that the fantasy aspects, while underlying the whole story, don't really penetrate the world in a tangible way. Yes, these things do happen to this kid, and yes they're supernatural, but he doesn't really remember. I suspect if this sort of Urban Fantasy was something I liked more, or if I were once a seven-year-old boy, I may have identified with this book in the same way I identified with Among Others.As it stands, it didn't suck. I don't think I'll pick up any more Gaiman though.
As with the others in this series I enjoyed it, and I will read the finish off the story in [b:The Singing 2550219 The Singing (The Books of Pellinor, #4) Alison Croggon https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1331239719s/2550219.jpg 2557914]. As with the previous books, the first and final third were strong while the middle third lagged, and I had some complaints with the way Hem felt towards other people, remembering that he is a 12 year old boy (and really this could just be me, because I have never been or been close to a boy of 12), but this wasn't enough to turn me off entirely.
This was recommended as being something fans of [b:The Hunger Games 2767052 The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1) Suzanne Collins http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1337857402s/2767052.jpg 2792775] would enjoy, and I think it is even better than that trilogy. The world feels more believable, although Tris becoming a badass in the space of a few days is highly improbable. I'm always a fan of girls kicking ass and taking names, however improbable. A quick and enjoyable read, and I'll be reading the trilogy (when it's published!)
This was a great addition to the Chalion series. Although you don't need to have read The Curse of Chalion to get into this one, you'll get spoilers for the first book and (more importantly) miss a lot of the background theology by skipping it.
Paladin of Souls ticks a lot of boxes for me, in the same way The Curse of Chalion did: Kick-ass women, interesting world-building (in this case the theology), a bit of romance, and a happy ending.
I think Briar is my favourite of the four, and I would really like to see more of this story of him, Rosethorn and Evvy.
I wasn't feeling this until about half-way through, but that's par for the course with me and Sanderson. Definitely in the middle ground for YA - teen goes to school and in the process overcomes past demons and grows up, but without the requisite romance which was SO REFRESHING. I will definitely be comfortable with my almost-teen reader reading this one.
This came from a GRRM collection ([b:Dangerous Women 3 21531493 Dangerous Women 3 George R.R. Martin https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1407773333s/21531493.jpg 43000942]) and it feels like it (I'm currently (still!) reading [b:Rogues 20168816 Rogues George R.R. Martin https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1404616147s/20168816.jpg 27565413], Shadows has a similar vibe to the stories included in Rogues). Not enough of a story to hinge a whole novella on, but certainly enough to spend 50 pages one afternoon.
Jane Austen with magic. Except a little heavy on the Austen: all characters seem to be lifted straight from Austen's works, except in only two dimensions. The mother with the poor nerves, the sister who doesn't care about her impropriety, the heartless cad who leads the sister into impropriety. The depth Austen gives these stereotypes is missing here.
Having said that, it was an enjoyable light read. I've read a bit of Austen lately so this fit right in, and I love the idea of glamour being a ‘feminine art' alongside drawing and music as a way for a young lady to display her accomplishments in order to secure a husband. And Austen never had such a good chase scene.
A lot of the reviews of this are along the lines of Chalion, but not. That's exactly what this book is. It is closer to [b:Paladin of Souls 61904 Paladin of Souls (Chalion, #2) Lois McMaster Bujold https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388350884s/61904.jpg 819610] than [b:The Curse of Chalion 61886 The Curse of Chalion (Chalion, #1) Lois McMaster Bujold https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1322571773s/61886.jpg 1129349] in feel, focusing more on theology than politics, and the meshing of old tribal theology with the Quintarian gods. Of course there's also a bit of romance chucked in for good measure and a happily ever after (mostly). Of the three it is my least favourite, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a good read in it's own right - especially if you enjoyed the previous Chalion books.
I think constraining the story to historical figures did this story a disservice - or maybe this is not the story for this particular setting. Having to include Actual Events felt like shoe-horning in plot points that didn't need to be there (or play out that way), and the timescale gives the story breadth at the cost of depth. The lack of depth (and the age of the characters when the story begins) gives the novel a solid YA vibe. Readable but really nothing to sink your teeth into.
Well I thought I really liked the first book in the series, but it turns out I was here for the human girl / damaged immortal boy thirst. Chakraborty put less of that and more story in this one.
I mean, it's a good story and if you liked the first one, do continue. Characters evolve and grow and they're far more interesting. But it still won't be for you if you liked the first one for the YA romance trope.
A delicious little morsel of fun in a world that I love, with the Five-God theology I really enjoy.