josiah17's reviews
219 reviews

I've been in a bit of a reading slump after Memories of Ice, so that hindered this read a little bit. However, I still enjoyed this more than I expected considering some of the mixed reviews I've seen. Yeah, it's got a little bit of what could be called the middle book syndrome, focused on getting characters to a specific location and less action-oriented plot movement. But I still found many sections to be exciting and pretty consequential. I think there was a good balance between expanding on the worldbuilding and moving characters around to set up the chess board. Speaking of worldbuilding, I remain in awe of Tad's ability in this department. Osten Ard is simply such an enchanting fantasy landscape. His prose brings this world to life.

While I did find some sections exciting, I also struggled quite a bit with portions of the last third of the book. Again, partially due to the slump I'm in, but there were some fairly slow and uneventful chapters as well.

All in all, a good read, one I could bump the rating on as time passes. I'm extremely excited to read To Green Angel Tower in the coming months.

First experience with Tchaikovsky was an unfortunate disappointment. I found the past-tense narration mostly enjoyable, and the post-apocalyptic world had some potential. I liked some of the elements of worldbuilding Tchaikovsky tried to explore, but I don't think he does it very thoroughly. Additionally, there were a few solid moments of commentary on human nature and our ability to be destructive.

I also liked one of the flashback sections. However I think the book is structured very poorly. First part I didn't particularly care about anything, then the first flashback section pulls me for it to irritatingly go back to the present. I'm then pulled in enough to be interested, but it ends on a cliffhanger and a new part begins where I never became invested. And then by the time we're back in the present, I really couldn't care less.

The plot was just not very compelling overall and the characters are completely forgettable. I thought the ending was incredibly messy as well. But somehow I still pushed through because I have a problem and can't dnf books.

I'll likely try something else by Tchaikovsky because I like his prose enough and I believe he can write something of good quality, but at the same time I'm not so sure that would be worth my time.

Well, I think it's safe to say Malazan is not for me. I actually thought I was somewhat enjoying this through the halfway point. Specifically due to the introduction of the K'Chain Che'Malle and the intrigue Silverfox presented. I also enjoyed Tool and Toc's interactions. However, that's it. And once I got into the latter half of this book, I realized I was really only pushing through this because it was a buddy read. If it weren't for buddy reading this with my friends, I would've DNF'd long ago. It was not a pleasant reading experience.

I found this to be somehow even more confusing and perplexing than the first two Malazan books. It feels like Erikson provided less context for the expanded worldbuilding and plotlines that take place here. I was lost 95% of the time. And I hate that feeling. What's the point of reading a book if it isn't comprehensible enough? Even when I try to relax and prevent myself from pushing to understand everything—per recommendation by Malazan fans—its still completely bewildering. Trying to use a wiki doesn't help enough either. And not to mention the ridiculous number of POV's in this book. I can't keep track of all the characters when Erikson jumps to at least 20 POV's throughout and doesn't revisit some for hundreds of pages. I used to try to take notes while reading these books but I gave up here because there was simply too much to try to track.

Additionally, especially regarding characters, I simply did not feel invested in anyone or anything. In my experience, I feel there's a severe lack of compelling character development in this series. I find the POV hopping to be a factor in this, not only from chapter to chapter or page to page, but from book to book. How am I expected to feel invested in characters and plotlines when jumping to different continents with each book? It's just exhausting to read something structured this way.

The only consistent factor I have found to be pleasant throughout Malazan is Erikson's prose. I think he's great with words and evokes a grim and mystical atmosphere with his writing that matches the tone and complexity of Malazan. Unfortunately, I'm not drawn in by anything else. I found Kruppe an entertaining character, and Anomander Rake is awesome. Both returning for some POV's in this book was nice. And I was excited to finally see the K'Chain Che'Malle, the sword-armed velociraptors I've heard so much about. The first scene they have in this book was awesome. However, I could not care less about anything else.

That was more of a messy rant than anything, but those are my thoughts on Memories of Ice and Malazan three books in. I enjoyed Gardens of the Moon, found Deadhouse Gates to be overwhelmingly grim and disappointing, and Memories of Ice dropped the ball even more. I do not expect to continue this series. On one hand I'm disappointed by that because I'd love to see what everyone else loves about this series, but I'm also happy to move on to books I'm actually looking forward to reading.

Decent. Definitely better than the first Yangchen book that's for sure. Although my experience with this one certainly would've benefited from a reread of The Dawn of Yangchen because I was a little lost in the beginning as my notes for that book were a little insufficient. The beginning also felt like a bit of damage control as well, but the book started to find it's footing later on.

Overall I just wish the Yangchen books would've followed a different plotline that was perhaps more efficiently planned and executed. But again, this was decent, especially considering how much I disliked the first book. Let's hope the Roku duology is better.

Pretty entertaining. The prose is solid, and the action is fun. Surprisingly good lore for how short this is as well. Unfortunately I didn't really care too much for the characters besides Itami Cho, but the compelling plot compensated for that. I will definitely be reading more Rob J. Hayes.

So ridiculously fun. I loved meeting Susan, Death's granddaughter, and watching her experience Death's perspective of the world. And I loved the dynamic between Glod, Imp, and Lias so so much. They're a blast to be around.

This isn't the most polished book in terms of plot; it's a little muddy with the subplots just as Reaper Man was, but I simply don't care because of how enjoyable this was. I can't say it enough: I love Terry Pratchett.

Edit 2/29/24: Bumping to 4.5 stars. I've been thinking about this book a lot, especially with the amazing premiere of the FX TV adaptation. It's a historical epic that I will surely revisit sometime down the road.

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I'm very glad I finally read this book. From the brief research that I've done, it seems to be a fairly accurate depiction of 17th century feudal Japan. You have the daimyos fighting over their regions and the Shogunate. The religious clash between Buddhism, Christians, and Catholics. The different gender roles of men and women and the formalities of respect and obedience when interacting with each other. It seems Clavell did his due diligence with studying the historical Japanese culture. However there's definitely some exaggeration of some cultural aspects for the sake of the fictional narrative, such as the absurd frequency of seppuku. 

In regards to the overall narrative, it was quite compelling. The political tension was very well written. There's plenty of double-crossing, betrayal, and dishonesty for personal and regional gain. Blackthorne's story also kept me engaged once the whole book started to pick up. At first he's this deplorable Englishmen who views the Japanese in a very negative light, but then comes to appreciate the Japanese culture and becomes accustomed to the ways of the land. And there's even a surprisingly wonderful romance later on with his story.

There are some other really great characters too. Toranaga, Mariko, Yagu, Omi, Fujiko. Particularly Toranaga and Mariko. Just excellent character work from Clavell. 

I've said this many times before, but a Japanese setting is just one of my favorite settings. I love the aesthetic, and I love how the setting and culture is at the forefront of this novel as Blackthorne is thrusted into this foreign land and forced to adapt and learn. It never felt like I was reading a history book or a cultural textbook. It felt almost seamless because the reader is also learning alongside Blackthorne. 

For criticisms, I would say it took me about 200 pages to feel immersed. But I was interested, it was just felt like a lot at the beginning. But maybe that was a me thing and just what I was feeling when I picked up the book. But also, the prose is a little off-putting at first. It's not a knock on Clavell, it's just how the dialogue is because he's writing as Japanese, Portuguese, and Latin translated to English. So the dialogue can often feel disjointed or unusual, but I did get pretty used to it. Otherwise I think Clavell writes pretty well. The action scenes were maybe a little lackluster though, although there were not that many for a 1300 page book which was completely fine.

Altogether, a very intriguing and valuable read. I think I'll continue reading the rest of Clavell's Asian Saga.

I really wanted to love this, and I'm so glad I did. I was particularly excited to experience Hobb's writing in third person, and it was wonderful. Her prose remains top quality and very immersive. 

This is overall just fantastic nautical fantasy with exceptional character writing, as well as complex and entertaining family dynamics. I enjoyed almost every POV for one reason or another. Hobb writes characters that you can root for here, and some that you vehemently despise. I cannot stand Kyle and Torg. Malta really annoyed me even though I understand she's still a kid, I just hope she learns and develops as a character. And I was always rooting for Brashen, Althea, and I really came to sympathize and feel attached to Wintrow. He deserves better, but unfortunately his father is beyond awful.

The additional worldbuilding for the Realm of the Elderlings with the liveships was also very interesting and unique. The idea of a sentient ship bonded through familial blood is amazing, especially because two ships have their own POV's and we get some insight into their perspectives. I'm very curious to learn more about the Rain Wild Traders as well. The relationships they have with the Bingtown traders is interesting, and I hope the sequels explore some of the actual Rain Wild territory. And I have a suspicion about the serpents, but I still don't really know what's going on with them. They're cool though.

Even though the plot was pretty non-existent for most of the book—per usual with Hobb so far—this was surprisingly just addicting to read. The blurb on the cover says "as addictive as morphine," and that's a pretty apt metaphor for my experience. Nautical fantasy just works so well for the visual movie I have running in my brain when reading, and it seems to scratch an itch. Paired with fantastic writing and captivating character dynamics, this is an amazing read. I could see myself bumping it to 5 stars depending on how the trilogy pans out.

It doesn't add much to the Age of Madness trilogy, but it's still worth reading. And the last story was great. It was a nice treat to have a Glokta pov and see some familiar faces. 

I'm just glad to read more of Abercrombie's writing in the First Law world. 

Another fantastic Discworld book. What more could you want than Death experiencing mortality and what's it's like to live a human life? Just utterly phenomenal personification and characterization from Terry Pratchett. He has such a a magic to bringing out profound and meaningful metaphors and lessons within his lighthearted narratives. 

And the side plot with Windle and the Wizards was absolutely chaotic and ludicrous 😂. I'm having such a a wonderful time with Discworld.