Review: Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson (The Stormlight Archive #2)

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This post contains no spoilers for The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive #1).

The Stormlight Archive is a series that needs no additional introduction. When I want something long and suitably epic, I can count on it to deliver. But while it works very well as a whole and is one of the better epic fantasy series I’ve encountered, the individual parts are far from flawless and I cannot separate it from the hype surrounding it. Because of that, this has been one of the hardest reviews to write.

For once, I’m not going to attempt to summarize the plot. A lot happens and unlike most epic fantasy, it doesn’t have a clear arc, not until the very end. A good or a bad thing? Depends. As usual, Sanderson holds his cards close and keeps information to  dribble right until the end, when he unleashes everything at once.

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Mini Reviews: Ninefox Gambit, Treason’s Shore, Prince of the Godborn (DNF), A Coalition of Lions

You may have noticed there haven’t been any posts for a while. Since March started and I got hit with a full load of classes and assignments again, time and energy for reviews have been scarce. Writing takes a lot out of me. I faced quite the conundrum: I still wanted to review every book I read, but at the same time I’ve been way too exhausted to and in a massive reading slump besides. Blogging simply fell by the wayside.

This is a compromise: a series of mini reviews that don’t quite fit my usual format. It’s probably not going to be the last post of this type. I’m starting to feel better, there will be longer reviews again, but it’s probably still a while until I’ll be able to post with any sort of consistency.

Reread: Last Song Before Night by Ilana C. Myer (The Harp and Ring Sequence #1)

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I’ve been in a bit of a slump, so I went for another quick re-read. There’s a whole pile of books waiting to be read, a reading challenge to finish…and ended up grabbing and devouring this book again instead. Oops.

This is classic epic fantasy in modern clothes. It’s the living proof how much do complex characters and atmospheric writing improve a seemingly simple, stale story concept – deceptively simple as you read it, then you try to describe it and stumble upon all the little intricacies. And the best thing, it doesn’t take hundreds of pages and multiple books to get to the point as is usual for the subgenre.

All her life, music was a secret. It was what you stole to the cellar at midnight or the deep pine woods to play, or sing. Verse was composed in greater secrecy still, by light of a single candle after dark. Even then, Lin had to hide the burned-out candle the next day, smuggle it out to the midden heap under the cover of the night.

But now music was a drinking song in a tavern performed to  crowds of rough men, or more recently, a stately ballad sung to lords at their firesides.

Review: We Ride the Storm by Devin Madson (The Reborn Empire #1)

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I received an ARC of this book on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

There has been quite a lot of hype surrounding this book in the blogger circles I run in. I simply had to try it. And yes, it lives up.

“But what is choice?” he said, checking over every blister and sore. “What is power? In truth you have none. None of us do. We are but leaves buffeted upon life’s stream, our every decision already made before it comes to us.”

Review: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (The Stormlight Archive #1)

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I went into this book quite wary because of the combination of the incredible amount of hype and my disappointment with most of the other Sanderson books I read. I’m far from new to the genre. In fact, I did not plan to start the series until at least book 4 came out at all. But my friends insisted and I did not regret it.

Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination.

It is, at its core, fairly classic epic fantasy. The protagonists are mostly noble, the antagonists are mostly bad, and the world needs saving. It’s also pretty damn good at what it does.

Review: The Wolf of Oren-Yaro by K.S. Villoso (Annals of the Bitch Queen #1)

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This was quite the page-turner.

A wolf of Oren-yaro fights to make it right, down to the last breath. A wolf of Oren-yaro does not beg. A wolf of Oren-yaro suffers in silence.

It’s a book carried primarily by the characters. They don’t always make the wisest of the least frustrating choices, but they’re likable or interesting enough. The slow unfolding of the truth of what happened between Rayyel and Taliyen was great and so was the ending – just tense enough and tying some things up while still leaving others for the sequels.

Review: The Ill-Made Mute by Cecilia Dart-Thornton (The Bitterbynde #1)

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The Ill-Made Mute is basically the fantasy equivalent of comfort food. It felt cozy and nostalgic, that sort of book you read curled up in a blanket with a cup of tea, and I’d say that despite its many flaws and the cliché/predictable nature of certain plot elements, it was still worth reading.

The plot is mostly about our protagonist’s seach for memories, identity and a cure for poisoning which disfigured their face. After waking up in a tower and spending some time (well, the first 100 or so pages) as a servant, wandering around and being mistreated by everyone, they sneak on a windship and escape with the hope of finding a cure but stumble upon adventure instead. Regardless, despite the fact that nothing happens, I actually liked the early tower section the best and could read a whole book’s worth of that.