30th April, 2010
Relief
After a somewhat lengthy run of cruddy to so-so books, I stumbled upon something worthwhile.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin.
I first thought this book would be a stand alone novel, but I guess that still isn’t allowed in the fantasy realm. Fortunately, I was rather impressed by this debut so I’m actually looking forward to the next two installments. A not-so-standard fantasy tale filled with developed and believable characters, Jemisin spins an imaginative story that was difficult to put down at times. Worth checking out.
4/5 gogs.
Posted at 5:08 am | Comments (5)
28th April, 2010
WMF
Circle March 1, 2011 on your calendars, ’cause that’s the day that Patrick Rothfuss’ new book will be available for purchase. Finally! Now I can go back to grousing about when GRRM’s next installment will be released.
Posted at 5:24 am | Comment (0)
14th April, 2010
Hnn.
Prince of Storms by Kay Kenyon.
In one of the more imaginative series I’ve read in a while, Kenyon wraps up her The Entire and The Rose saga with an ending that was decent but not what I was really hoping for. While Kenyon remains a skillful writer, action sequences really aren’t her forte. Nonetheless, if you enjoyed the first three novels, this wouldn’t be the worst way to spend your time on a rainy weekend.
3/5 gogs.
Spellwright by Blake Charlton.
Ugh. I was suckered into reading this by some of the hype I had seen in the SF/F blogosphere. Fledgling author Blake Charlton trots out the tired old story of lower-caste boy + prophecy = boy becomes all-powerful and saves the world, gussied up with a relativity unique “system” of magic (that of grammar) which is only briefly outlined in the book. Combine said magic with bad puns and wordplay and you have the wince-inducing offspring of Piers Anthony and Brandon Sanderson who displays only the weaknesses of both authors. The book felt like it should be targeted at young adults with its simplistic writing and lecturing tones (Charlton defines English words and explains math problems within) and to top it off, after a rather ho-hum climax, the final chapter read more like a synopsis of the next book in the series than a hook to make you want to go out and pick up the next installment. Not an impressive debut.
2/5 gogs.
Posted at 5:23 am | Comments (2)
1st April, 2010
April? What happened to March?
Huh, spring is here already. It seems like just last week we were still dealing with snow and ice. >.> Without much ado, here are the most recent entries to have left my reading queue:
Dust of Dreams by Steven Erikson.
Book 9 of 10 in Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen epic. Another 800+ page monster – I don’t know how he does it. This book (and the series) does suffer from the sheer complexity of all the characters, plots and subplots that have been introduced and, I will admit, I started to lose faith and interest about midway through this one. I found myself having to go back and re-read entire sections since my mind had drifted away and I had no recollection of what I had just read. Thankfully, there were some bright spots in the book and the ending was pretty tremendous, even if it did end on somewhat of a cliffhanger. Still anticipating the final installation in the series.
3/5 gogs.
Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb.
Hobb takes us back to the land of liveships and dragons. Woot. But wait, what’s this? The first book of her latest trilogy was pretty, well to be honest, boring. Predictable, too. Whatever ailment caused her Soldier Son trilogy to land in the crap pile is apparently still alive and kicking. A thoroughly unremarkable book.
2/5 gogs.
Posted at 5:22 am | Comment (0)
