Sean

This was an inspirational story of what it means to connect with a place and be physically and spiritually immersed within it. It changes the way I want to think about time spent in the mountains. I also might just have to run away to the Sierra to get even a fraction of what Stan and co have experienced there.

This could not have been closer to being a 5⭐️ read. The sword of kaigen was one of the most unique fantasy books I’ve ever read. Hidden behind the usual fantasy elements like complex magic systems, political intrigue, and epic action sequences was a really deep story about family and loss and gender roles that gave it a very real feel in an otherwise fantastical world. Each character experienced real growth in the book in ways I didn’t see coming. That rings particularly true for Takeru who I feel I owe an apology to for how much I criticized him before finally learning who he was and instantly relating to him. My criticism of this book is the world building didn’t feel complete. There were snippets every once in a while but I need more to fully grasp the scope of the world. Also, misakis flashbacks to Livingston were almost entirely stolen from Batman Im pretty sure, right down to the characters name being robin and him shooting a signal over the city to communicate with the police. It was entertaining but I’m not sure why it was in this story. My only other thought is there better be a sequel soon. I need more and will absolutely read it the day it comes out.

Empire of Silence is epic sci-fi, very much in the tradition of Dune and the later Enders Game books(some of my favorite of all time). It’s written as Hadrian’s memoir, thousands of years after the events of the first book, and is constantly dropping hints about what’s to come in the future as Hadrian evolves into this emperor/deity who is retelling his own story. This book is full of his personal philosophy and the phases of it each teach him some new lesson, in an almost religious way. Until the end when he meets the Cielcin, it doesn’t feel like the events of this book have major stakes for the story at-large outside of evolving Hadrians character. The most interesting part is the Cielcin, how unknown and inhuman they are, and how the majority of humanity views them compared to how Hadrian does, feels like the foundation of the series going forward and I’m glad I got to read about Hadrians first encounters with the aliens he’s so obsessed with. Knowing where the story goes makes me so excited to know how it gets there. This book itself wasn’t that great, but the world it builds and the future it sets up is what has me hooked.

Howling Dark takes a major step up from empire of silence in terms of the scope of the world and the relevance to the bigger story. The worlds they visit in this book are wonderfully weird, exploring what it even means to be human in the far future, while still working towards the goal of making contact with the Cielcin. When contact is made eventually, it feels like the true start of this series. The entire negotiation drives home the major differences between humans and Cielcin before culminating in an incredible battle scene that seems like it will have major impact going forward. The concept of The Quiet, this almost supernatural group of beings, is probably my most pressing question going into book 3. They’re clearly pulling some strings and have a vested interest in Hadrians success.

The main reason this book isn’t five stars for me is they skipped an entire book in between 1 and 2. The first 200 pages of Howling Dark are talking about this campaign they’d been on and all the crazy events that happened, but we don’t get to see any of it and so the first part of the book just doesn’t have the impact it should. He clearly wanted to emphasize the found family aspect of the Red Company but didn’t do enough to develop the side characters to make it hit hard. I really hope book 3 continues developing Valka well and adds some more interesting secondary parts.

Empire of Silence is epic sci-fi, very much in the tradition of Dune and the later Enders Game books(some of my favorite of all time). It’s written as Hadrian’s memoir, thousands of years after the events of the first book, and is constantly dropping hints about what’s to come in the future as Hadrian evolves into this emperor/deity who is retelling his own story. This book is full of his personal philosophy and the phases of it each teach him some new lesson, in an almost religious way. Until the end when he meets the Cielcin, it doesn’t feel like the events of this book have major stakes for the story at-large outside of evolving Hadrians character. The most interesting part is the Cielcin, how unknown and inhuman they are, and how the majority of humanity views them compared to how Hadrian does, feels like the foundation of the series going forward and I’m glad I got to read about Hadrians first encounters with the aliens he’s so obsessed with. Knowing where the story goes makes me so excited to know how it gets there. This book itself wasn’t that great, but the world it builds and the future it sets up is what has me hooked.

Where the Water Goes is written as someone who doesn't know anything about the Colorado River going on a source-to-sea trip and learning the basics of an incredibly complex network of legal, social, and environmental factors dictating how water is supplied to essentially the entire southwestern US. It did an excellent job explaining everything the author saw on his trip, however, I went into the book with a solid understanding of the majority of these systems already and so didn't gain as much from it as I would have. If you're at all interested in learning about the Colorado River, this is definitely a good place to start and will make you want to know even more.

Warbreaker is such an interesting book with so many classic Sanderson elements, but just doesn’t quite put them all together as effectively as a lot of his other works do. The worldbuilding is incredible as always. It’s almost mistbornesque in that it’s urban based, with gangs of thieves and mercenaries, as well as an extremely powerful religious group running the show while leaving the commoners in the dark. Where it differs from mistborn is the colors. Mistborn is dark and grimy with ash falling nonstop and general despair, while Warbreaker is full of life with splashes of color all over the place and the people prioritizing leisure and entertainment even during their struggles.

Perhaps my problem with this book stems from false expectations. I thought it was going to be the story of Vasher creating Nightblood, or at the very least centered on those two, but they were auxiliary characters who played massively important roles, especially at the end of the book, but I’m left with more questions about them and even more desire to know their full story. That’s not to say that Vivenna and Siri are not interesting characters. The dichotomy and role switch between the sisters is an excellent plot. I just felt more drawn to Vasher’s story.

Lastly, how the hell is there not a sequel to this book. The sanderlanche was all about setting it up for future adventures, which was frustrating because there aren’t any yet and it made the events at the end of the book feel less impactful than they should have.