Book #145 of 2021: The Invasion by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs #1) At the start of this long-overdue series reread, I am struck by how well the first Animorphs book holds up decades on, both from the perspective of a now-older reader and as a cultural artifact removed from its original pre-9/11 context. (The last …
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Book #127 of 2021: The One Tree by Stephen R. Donaldson (The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant #2) A thoroughly excellent nautical fantasy, fleshing out the wider landscape of this setting, adding fascinating new wrinkles to the series lore, and finally introducing readers to beings like the sandgorgons and Elohim who had been briefly mentioned …
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Book #111 of 2021: The Wounded Land by Stephen R. Donaldson (The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant #1) In the first Thomas Covenant trilogy, the titular antihero resisted the appeal of the fantasy realm that summoned him from our reality, but gradually came to decide that its ideals were worth fighting for even if he …
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[Review originally written 4/1/16, updated 4/10/21] Book #100 of 2021: Mistborn: Secret History by Brandon Sanderson This novella is honestly not one of Brandon Sanderson’s strongest examples of self-contained storytelling. But that’s fine, because it’s not aiming to be. It’s instead a behind-the-scenes sort of deal, showing one particular character’s actions during the second and …
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Book #89 of 2021: The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn #3) This closing volume to the original Mistborn trilogy is another outstanding adventure by the standards of the epic fantasy genre at large, but I think it’s perhaps just a minor step down from the first two books. The malevolent force called Ruin …
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Book #76 of 2021: The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn #2) Another phenomenal piece of epic fantasy, juggling pulse-pounding cinematic action, endearing characters, court intrigue, worldbuilding revelations, and even a hidden traitor subplot with apparent ease. Although I miss the feeling of daringly clever heist shenanigans from the first novel, this sequel is …
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Book #63 of 2021: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn #1) This first Mistborn novel is every bit the modern classic that I remember, although it does have a few gender issues that author Brandon Sanderson improves upon in his later works. (Nothing too egregious, but except for our teenage heroine, this is a …
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Book #52 of 2021: A Man Rides Through by Stephen R. Donaldson (Mordant’s Need #2) This 1987 sequel is a significant step up in pacing and action from its already-great predecessor, but it exhibits the same disappointing levels of sexism, torture, and rape, which are not always treated with the care that such sensitive topics …
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Book #41 of 2021: The Mirror of Her Dreams by Stephen R. Donaldson (Mordant’s Need #1) As with many of author Stephen R. Donaldson’s works, I have some complicated feelings towards the Mordant’s Need duology, and especially this first volume. In terms of worldbuilding and atmosphere, the story is top-notch. The mirror-based magical system is …
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Book #33 of 2021: The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia #7) What a depressing and offensive conclusion to a generally solid children’s fantasy heptalogy. Author C. S. Lewis has always had his share of mid-twentieth-century hangups, but they are seldom so blatantly awful as here, where traditional feminine interests like …
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