Book #211 of 2019: Blood of Dragons by Robin Hobb (The Rain Wild Chronicles #4) This final volume in The Rain Wild Chronicles embodies all of the problems of that fantasy quartet. It’s long and uneventful and curiously detached from its characters, none of whom seem to have much of an arc or any particular …
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Book #185 of 2019: The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials #3) Author Philip Pullman takes some odd plotting shortcuts in this trilogy’s conclusion — like offering practically no motivation for a pivotal trip to the world of the dead — and it’s easy to see how his populating a traditional Christian theology …
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Book #180 of 2019: City of Dragons by Robin Hobb (The Rain Wild Chronicles #3) Fantasy author Robin Hobb can effortlessly spin out a tale, but this quartet remains one of the weakest elements within her larger Realm of the Elderlings saga. Although this third volume is at least more action-packed than those before (and …
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Book #165 of 2019: Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy #5) This final Hitchhiker’s book is, unfortunately, mostly toothless. It skates by on some borrowed goodwill from earlier in the series, but it also abandons numerous plots, concepts, and figures that really deserved a proper send-off of their own. And …
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Book #164 of 2019: Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson I reread this title for my book club meeting tonight, but I mostly stand by my previous review from 2017: “A sobering and deeply moving account from death row lawyer Bryan Stevenson on the injustices that pervade our justice system, …
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Book #151 of 2019: Dragon Haven by Robin Hobb (The Rain Wild Chronicles #2) In my review of the first book in this Realm of the Elderlings quartet, I complained, “Not much happens, and then it just continues not happening right through the end.” Yet compared to this sequel, that original novel was action-packed. At …
Book #144 of 2019: So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy #4) This novel is packed with the usual dry witticisms and absurdist observations of author Douglas Adams, but it carries a very different tenor to the rest of this comic sci-fi series. The new …
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Book #130 of 2019: Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb (The Rain Wild Chronicles #1) The fourth series in Robin Hobb’s larger Elderlings saga starts out pretty slowly (and doesn’t improve much on that front, if memory serves). That’s a common fault in the author’s works, but it’s so aggravated in this initial Rain Wilds novel …
Book #128 of 2019: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials #1) Another old favorite that I’m revisiting, this time in anticipation of the upcoming TV adaptation. This trilogy ultimately goes in some odd directions (and I was underwhelmed by its recent prequel), but the first novel is a masterful piece of fiction, …
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Book #122 of 2019: Elantris by Brandon Sanderson Brandon Sanderson’s debut novel is full of the rich worldbuilding, intricate magical systems, and ballroom intrigue that have now made him a household name within the fantasy genre. Although there are some cracks that show on a reread and mark this as a first book — like …
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