Book #4 of 2016: The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater (The Raven Cycle #2) Facebook memories reminded me that a year ago last night, I stayed up past midnight for finish an ebook I was hooked on: Firefight by Brandon Sanderson, an outstanding sequel to one of the freshest series premieres I had read the …
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Book #87 of 2015: Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce (Song of the Lioness #1-4) I read this fantasy quartet bound as a single hardback edition, only realizing later that the different sections of the story were actually separate books. For that reason — and because I’m piecing together this review from scattered notes …
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Book #86 of 2015: The King’s Justice by Stephen R. Donaldson I wasn’t super blown away by either of the two (unrelated) novellas in this book, but even middle-of-the-road Stephen R. Donaldson is still worth the read. And there are echoes of many of the stories I love from his collection Reave the Just and …
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Book #78 of 2015: Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn #5) I have mixed feelings about this Mistborn novel. For backstory: author Brandon Sanderson originally wrote a high fantasy trilogy in this setting, and plans to someday write another series where the technology has progressed to modern levels. He then added a standalone novel, …
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Book #62 of 2015: Fire by Kristin Cashore (Graceling Realm #2) Just like its predecessor in this series, I have mixed feelings about Fire. There’s a lot it does right, including foregrounding gender discrimination issues in an organic way throughout the plot. But there’s so much falling action, with a good 20% of the book …
Book #59 of 2015: Fool’s Assassin by Robin Hobb (The Fitz and the Fool #1) Ideally, any sequel should justify its own existence. Why are we returning for another chapter of this story? What new developments require plucking these characters and their world out of the happily-ever-after stasis that we last left them in? Of …
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Book #56 of 2015: Graceling by Kristin Cashore (Graceling Realm #1) This is a book that really grew on me as it went along, especially as its feminist themes became clear. Cashore has a lot to say about the major and minor oppressions that women can face in a male-dominated society, as well as the …
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Book #52 of 2015: The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker I wasn’t sold at first, but I ended up really liking this story about two mythical beings in nineteenth-century New York. It definitely got better as it went along – the beginning is brimming with characters that don’t have a clear relation to …
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Book Review: Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson (The Stormlight Archive #2) This Stormlight Archive sequel is much better and more eventful than the first one, which could seem like just a massive prologue in a lot of ways. (The Way of Kings does have great writing, worldbuilding, and character work, but so very little …
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