Sam Messer
Decent.
Focuses on Nina instead of Luke. I find the whole “It was just a test” plot to be rather convoluted. Regardless, this was an entertaining read.
A decent entry in the Shadow Children Sequence.
I really enjoyed Trey's transformation from cowardly child to courageous rebel, but some of the elements of this story were a little too contrived for me. Boy was Mark lucky that Nedley happened to be the guard he ran into.
I was able to connect with Luke and Smits in this book, more than I'd connected with Luke in the previous Shadow Children books. All of the mixed allegiances toward the end were confusing but I think they resolved nicely enough.
Dan Brown has done it again.
Brown weaves together characters that don't behave like real humans, dialogue that is decidedly unnatural, and absurd amounts of pointless information (in not-so-cleverly placed info dumps) into a paradoxically engrossing thriller. Every chapter ends with a cliffhanger because for some reason every character wants to hold onto every last bit of information until the last possible second. One thing that I will give Brown credit for here is that the female lead is not there just for Langdon to ogle, and so she actually is a useful character.
As always, Dan Brown writes utter garbage that is impossible to put down.
This is probably my favorite book.
King made me feel so much with this one. Every emotion that he put to the page felt real and I really felt for the characters at all times. I cried and laughed the whole way through. I've heard that King doesn't do endings well, but that absolutely wasn't the case with Duma Key.
A completely satisfying read that I truly loved.
An interesting read on mathematical references in the Simpsons and Futurama.
This book was okay. It's written very accessibly, which unfortunately makes it very slow if you have some level of familiarity with the underlying concepts. It feels like a watered down Mathologer video compilation, but it does touch on some really neat stuff.
Incredibly entertaining.
I don't know how I feel about the shift in narrative styles, but it worked pretty well and the story was great. I felt vindicated when Ciri sliced Rience's fingers off.
As King notes in the Afterword, a more complete tale than the first.
I loved the Eddie and Jack storylines, but the Detta/Odetta part was frustrating. I'm glad that character changes to Susannah at the end, who seems much less annoying to me.
Looking forward to book 3.
Entertaining, but I need more information.
This book was pretty good but incredibly confusing. Erikson introduces so many components of his world and proceeds to explain none of them. Despite the confusion, I was entertained. I have heard that this is the worst of the series, and if that's the case then I look forward to reading the rest.
An entertaining story that just begins to touch on a seemingly boundless universe.
I really enjoyed Dune. The story was paced well and the underlying themes were woven into the fabric of the tale seamlessly. I feel like I'll need to read this again at some point to fully understand what's going on, and for that reason I can't give it 5 stars.
Incredible story, incredible character development, beautiful writing.
The biggest detractor from this book is how uncomfortable the escape from Its lair was to read. It makes sense in the context of the book and justifies the inclusion of some earlier passages (Beverly's father/Mrs. Kersh), but I can't help but think there was a less disturbing way to do it.
Also, a significant chunk of the Patrick Hostetter story did nothing but make me uncomfortable.
Took an absurd amount of time to read, but I found it worth the investment.
A worthy sequel to the timeless Dune.
Brilliant story, but at times the mental calculations the characters were doing was difficult to follow. A great book, leaves me hungry for the third in the series.
A disappointing end to an otherwise fantastic story.
I never get the sense that David is in danger, and the way he deals with Calamity feels contrived. I feel almost cheated because Sanderson spent a large portion of the last book and the entirety of this one building up Calamity to be a huge enemy and the biggest battle the Reckoners will ever fight, and then David is able to send him off in a matter of minutes without a fight.
The most frustrating part of Calamity, however, is the epilogue. Somehow, after all of the events we've witnessed, everything turns out okay in a “happily ever after” sort of way.
I was very excited for this book, and the first 80% was fantastic. Unfortunately, Sanderson ended the series leaving a bad taste in my mouth.
Decent entertainment.
Thinner is a good story where nobody wins. I enjoyed it, but it was really just okay.
Absolutely riveting.
I have never felt hatred for a character as strongly as I hated Renna, and her fate in this story was incredibly satisfying.
Good story with fascinating characters.
It seems every Stephen King novel suffers a bit from a strange obsession with genitals and what's happening to them. I enjoyed this book, but did not enjoy reading about Ben's testicles and Ruthie's breasts.
A perfect balance of action and development.
I really like the political intrigue of this series, especially how this book maneuvers the attempted coup in the Wizard's Guild. The Dandelion chapter was really special. I wish Sapkowski would talk less about peoples nipples and crotches when those aspects aren't relevant to the story. A great book.
An incredible story with some character issues.
I loved the world-building and magic system in Elantris. Sanderson does a fantastic job of making a very believable set of cultures, and I was amazed by how real some of the struggles felt.
My biggest complaint is that the characters seemed very black and white. Raoden and Sarene are a little too perfect, in my opinion. Hrathen was easily the most interesting POV character, and his internal struggles were done a lot better than anything similar in Raoden or Sarene.
Overall, I really enjoyed this story and am really looking forward to when Elantris gets its next entry in the Cosmere.
