One Thing That I Really Liked

I've read quite a few books over the last couple of months and I've often thought about writing some reviews. That's not what I'm going to be doing here though. I feel like reviews should be written shortly after reading so that everything is still fresh in your mind. Also, these are a lot of books and writing a review for each of them would be a very long post. Instead I thought I'd try something a bit different to show what I like as a reader and to focus on one thing that really stuck with me even months after reading.

(Missing on the shelf: The Skull Throne by Peter V. Brett and The Bands of Morning by Brandon Sanderson)

Spoiler Warning! Some things that I mention will have spoilers, especially since most of these books are sequels.

The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks

Spoiler! The reveal that several scenes from earlier books are delusions from one of the characters. It really made me want to reread the earlier books and it shed a completely new light on the character.

The Lords of the North by Bernard Cornwell

Spoiler! The revenge. Uhtred has many scores to settle and he does so in this book with a very fitting end for one that has done him and his Danish family much harm.

Dexter is Dead by Jeff Lindsay

The last book ended on quite the cliffhanger, begging me to purchase this final installment in the series. I enjoyed how things started out on a pretty bad note and just got worse and worse without you, the reader, or Dexter being able to see the what would go wrong next.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

This book has too many great things to choose from, but since I have to choose only one, I'll take a broad term that covers many things and I'll name one specific example. What I really enjoyed was Rothfuss's use of foreshadowing. Especially, when it comes to Kvothe having learned to play the lute with only six strings.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

I just love the thought of the gateway between the two worlds. I think I'm strongly influenced by the movie version, because in my head I see this tiny wall that is easy to jump over, but it is the hole in the wall that is the gateway.

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

I believe Sanderson called the giant swords and heavy plate they wear in this a gee whiz factor and I agree. The magic is great, but fight scenes with the shards definitely left an image in my memory.

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

The POV from a Parshendi is one of the greatest things in this book, because their culture and their entire being is so different from ours and Sanderson does a great job of showing it.

Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson

Spoiler! The twist at the end. Finding out who the Kandra Wax is after actually is and what role she played in his past.

The Bands of Morning by Brandon Sanderson

The books have always centered around one geographic area and since the world has gone through such drastic climate changes life in other regions was never thought of. But life did exist and Sanderson's other sentient beings on this world are so original and their use of the magic is so different it really stuck with me.

The Gate Thief by Orson Scott Card

Spoiler! The consequences of having several gods go through great gates will be catastrophic in my eyes. I'm excited to see how things continue in the next installment.

Lowball edited by George R.R. Martinand Melinda M. Snodgrass

A fight club with jokers! I'm in. Granted, the story is about stopping what is going on and saving the poor jokers who are forced to fight each other, but the idea is great. If I hadn't already been influenced by an old Angel episode this would have ignited food for thought for a story idea.

You Before Me by Jojo Moyes

There were a few things that I didn't like in this book, but since I'm only naming one thing that I did like, I'd have to go with the main character's quirkiness. To me at least, the character was quite original and amusing.

The Skull Throne by Peter V. Brett

The ending. Without spoilers, I just have to say that so many threads of the story line take such an abrupt and horrible turn that I didn't see coming. I felt loss at the death of some and satisfaction at the demise of others, all of it masterfully done.

Lions and Demons and Horses! Oh my!

I just found this blog the other day and I think it's one of the reasons why I started my own. Ashana Lian's blog is full of good fantasy stuff. Reviews full of personal opinion that are fun to read. I especially enjoyed reading them, because she pointed out a lot of the same feelings that I felt when reading those same books, but never thought to put into words.

I really like the design of the site and especially the artwork at the top. All in all, the site is similar to what I hope my site will grow up to be one day. I'm still in the early stages of creating this blog and I might change its appearance from time to time. Might even add some cool art in the header like Ashana one day.

On another note, one of Ashana's book reviews was on "The Painted Man", also known as "The Warded Man" by Peter V. Brett. I really loved that book and its sequel. The world, the magic, it was all so immersive. Right down my alley. After a long wait I finally have the third book in the Demon Cycle series and I can't wait to read it. All I have to do is finish up "Lionheart" by Sharon Penman, historical fiction. It's a good read, a bit tough getting into, but also very interesting once you're in the thick of it. Really makes me want to read more about the different Crusades.

(Art by Nikola Yordanov)

Fitting to the Crusades, I chose this piece of art. The little details, like the arrows in the earth, the cross dangling from the knights neck and the fine chain mail really caught my eye. The horses face and the expression caught therein truly gives this painting its spirit. So much so that I feel the horse is the protagonist, not its rider.