Book Review: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Lovely bones is a disturbing, and facinating look at family life and growing up in suburbia from a very different perspective. The Alice Sebold manages to weave a story about a family's, love, strength and hope around a story of loss, letting go and tragidy.

View all my reviews

Book Review: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch Book 1 in the Gentleman Bastard series
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A fresh perspective in a fantasy novel, with a pace that pulls you in and pushed you on. The characters are rich and well developed, and intriguing. A fantasy built on city world building combining the best of fantasy and urban fantasy for believable and fascinating worldbuilding.

Unfortunately I found it difficult at first to move past the language used in the book initially it was jarring and pulled me out of the story.

Jen's review May 24, 13 5 of 5 stars

Read in May, 2013

A well-written and thought out book of intrigue, cleverness, and the brotherhood of a small band of exceptionally skilled thieves. The setting is wonderful: magic and alchemy and the unexplained ruins of an alien race suffuse the world without being the central focus. Instead we get a series of cons and plots of vengeance.
The characters each had their one role to play, and sadly therefore lacked a little depth. I appreciated the inclusion of strong female characters, though they were always on the periphery. There also isn't an obvious major overarching plot that I see leading into the next book, so this book stands on its own. But after reading it I can't wait to pick up the next book as I know Lynch can weave a good story with these characters and this world.

View all my reviews

Book Review: American Gods by Neil Gaiman

American Gods by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I highly recommend American Gods, though it is a book that most people will either love or hate.

American Gods, is in many ways a reflection of the American melting pot. Combining the varied mix of beliefs, myths and ideals of America. It surpasses genre, melding and mixing mystery, fantasy, suspense and history.

View all my reviews

Book Review: The Black Prism by Brent Weeks

The Black Prism Book One of Lightbringer by Brent Weeks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Though some basic elements of Black Prism follow the standard fantasy tropes, this first book in a new series will twist you around with plot turns and fast pacing and leave you wondering.

Authors website: Brent Weeks

View all my reviews

Book Review: Living Biographies of Great Philosophers by Henry Thomas & Dana Lee Thomas

Living Biographies of Great Philosophers by Henry Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I Listened to this an Audio Book.

Living Biographies of Great Philosophers is a great addition to understanding the lives, thinking and the works of the great philosophers. By presenting the philosophies in a way that is detailed enough to be informational but not so in-depth that it is readable and understandable.

Discussed in the book are Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Epicurus, Marcus Aurelius, Thomas Aquinas, Francis Bacon, Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Hume, Voltaire, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Emerson, Spencer, Nietzsche, William James, Henri-Louis Bergson, and Santayana.

View all my reviews

Book Review: Towers of Midnight - Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan & Brandons Sanderson

Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Brandon Sanderson and Robert Jordan have done it again.
Though this book steps away from the typical Jordan style mopre than The Gathering Storm did, I think the pacing and jumping around with plot lines and story arcs was a nessecity to bring the sory to a point that can be wrapped up and concluded in the next book.
The Wheel continues to turn in unexcpected ways, many theories and side plots cam to conclusions in this book, some were expected some were twists that were very unexpected, and some things make you question how it is going to end, after 13 books I thought I had an idea of how this world and story would conclude, now I wonder if I know anything.

Fans of The Wheel of Time will pick at the pacing and lack of depth for some of the story arcs, some will agonize over not haveing chapters and chapters to fill out some of the plots they have been waiting for years to have concluded, and others will be furious that so much is still left undone.

I praise Sanderson on trying to meet all expectations as much as he can and to also complete the story, many of us know that this could have continued for another 10 books instead of just the final three, though I would like to continue in this world for another decade, I now eagerly await with many others for the Final Battle.



View all my reviews

Book Review: The Way of Kings- The Stormlight Archive, by Brandon Sanderson

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have read The Way of Kings multiple times both the Hardcover and in ebook format, I decided in my re-read preparation for book 2 in the series that I would give the audiobook a try.

I tend to prefer reading to audio books, but some narrators are just so good that they add something to the books, and this is definitely the case with Kate Reading and Michael Kramer.

There is so much to The way of Kings by Sanderson, he has really taken the Epic Fantasy series to another level with this book, it feels epic, but it also feels new.
Sanderson manages to avoid much of what makes first books in a series slow and difficult to get into.
He manages to weave in the info dumps, backstory and worldbuilding in ways that make it part of the story, where you realize after you have read that it has been there but is less obvious. Where he can not do that, he has included interludes, short stories of side characters that give a look into different parts of the world without adding 100 major POV characters, or bogging down the main story.

My original review after the first read:

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Engaging and epic. For a first book in a proposed 10 book series, The Way of Kings delivers. Brandon Sanderson has created interesting characters that are real, that you grow to like over the span of this 1000+ page book.
Brandon has created a fantasy world without all of the fantasy standards. It was a pleasure to read the description of a world lacking medieval european rolling hills and castles.
This "non-orphan becomes the savior of the world" fantasy will appeal to non-fantasy readers as well. I have already placed this book on the shelf with my re-reads, I plan to enter this world again.


Links:
Brandon Sanderson
Read Sample Chapters
17th Shard: the official Brandon Sanderson fan site, and Wiki and Forums.
Art work and maps from The Way of Kings.

Amazing cover art by Michael Whelan:

View all my reviews