Lacking Thought

I am very conflicted about Guy Gavriel Kay's The Lions of Al-Rassan. The first 90% of the book was flawless, but I found the last 10% deeply disappointing. Going into this, I knew Kay was known for breathtakingly good prose, and the book met those expectations. I was pleasantly surprised that the other stuff is good too. The narrative was interesting, setting up complex political pieces deftly. The characters are likable and even minor characters are memorable. For the first 90% of the book, I was in love.

Let's talk about the last 10%. The bromance between Rodrigo and Ammar dies when they end up on opposite sides of the holy war. I love the idea of these two legendary men fated to meet on the battlefield, but I don't believe the justifications to put them there were well executed. For me to buy into the inevitability, I have to feel like there were no alternatives. Why does Ammar choose the Muwardis? We see repeatedly in the narrative that his allegiance changes as the wind blows. Either him or Rodrigo could have easily walked away; it wasn’t as if they had no choice but to join the war.

After a perfectly paced 90%, it's amazing to me that we skip instantly a year ahead to the final battlefield at Silvenes. We built up Ghalib only to have him killed off-screen. The entirety of Ragosa's siege is glossed over. We rapidly set up the one to one combat then sped forward years later when the war is over. I felt robbed of the pay off and the fallout.

My other big issue with this book is Jehane. I was led to believe she was a main character in this story. She's around for a lot of the major events, and she's tied to many of the other characters. What happened? How did we lose her character so completely? Carnival happens, she finally chooses Ammar, and suddenly that becomes ALL she is. She went from "I don't need your protection" to "I will not leave him". She chose her side in the war based on which her lover picked. Don't forget, that's technically the side that sent assassins after Rodrigo that ultimately led to Velaz's death.

After reading Kingdom of Ash and dealing with this empty hole inside that can’t be filled by any other book, the only solution was to go back and read Throne of Glass from the beginning. Knowing where all these characters end up has made the weaker early books better on reread... but I still can't stand Chaol. This reread has convinced me to go right ahead and skip Tower of Dawn this time around (and every time after).

A long string of curse words come out flying out of my mouth whenever Chaol is in a scene in Queen of Shadows. This is the ultimate Chaol book; he is at his most insufferable. He is just so dang JUDGEY! To be fair, he gets stuck with the role of fun police. Everyone in the story is Aelin's plaything. Chaol is the voice questioning Aelin's motives and drawing attention to her flaws. The problem is that we as readers know Aelin is a good person and can safely assume she will do the right thing. So, it grates endlessly when Chaol doubts her motives, misunderstands her actions or blames her for literally everything. Shadow Market being burned? That's because Aelin saved Aedion. Southern Continent alliance falling apart? That's because of Aelin's antics. The Sorcha/Aedion/Dorian/Chaol vs. King face-off? That's because Aelin fought some Valg a continent away. TAKE SOME GOD DAMN RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS. YOU WERE THE ONE WHO USED THE SHADOW MARKET FOR MEETINGS. YOU WERE THE ONE WHO DIDN'T EVEN TRY TO NEGOTIATE A TREATY, AND YRENE EARNED IT IN THE END INSTEAD. YOU'RE THE ONE PLAYING INDECISIVE TRAITOR THE ENTIRE HEIR OF FIRE BOOK AND FINALLY GOT CAUGHT.

Another issue is that Chaol exists as a side character to everyone else. It's hard to be sympathetic to a guy who has the weakest plotline and lacks personal stake in the events that happen in the series. He's Dorian's best friend. He's Aelin's love interest. He even plays support to Yrene in his own spin-off book!

Too much time has passed for me to try to now write how I felt about this book. At the time, I had a lot of strong feelings, and they were all conflicting. This is going to be a rather short summary. I honestly don’t know if I’m going to read the next trilogy. (Spoilers)

This book has so much pain and misery that I didn’t enjoy reading it. So many good characters meet terrible ends. Because this is a Riyria prequel, we know certain things are true. Nyphron, despite being a manipulative dirtbag that caused the deaths of an uncountable amount of people, gets to rule and be deified. It is hard to read a book where I am rooting against who I know will be the ultimate winner.

Raithe drew the short end of the short stick. He lost his whole family, fell in love (side note, what an awfully written romance), name is lost to the ages and the only meaningful thing he could do was die.

Suri similarly has seen the deaths of three surrogate mothers at this point, including the random death of Arion who was actually INTERESTING. Suri killed her wolf, she killed Raithe...just WHY?

“Raithe, I wish I could say I was sorry, but I can’t. I just can’t because…because this just hurts too much. You took away my chance, you stole my one hope to make everything right, and honestly, at this moment—I hate you. I hate you so very much…almost as much as I hate myself. So take it.” This upsets me. He asked Persephone if she could ever love him, she says no, he runs off and agrees to be human sacrifice to save them all and SHE hates him? There was no way he could’ve known she was lying, she wasn’t even going to tell him the truth until she was 100% sure she was going to die. What gives her the right to stand at his GRAVE and tell him she hates him?!

Her prose is distracting. The writing style she uses has a lot of stunted sentences that I personally believe should be used more sparingly for its emphatic effect. Employed everywhere across multiple books, it loses its impact.  - For example, near the start of chapter 50: "Aelin said nothing. Couldn't find the words. Her power roiled. She didn't feel it." - A few pages later: "No embers trailed her. Mud did not hiss beneath her boots. There was no fire at all. Not a spark. As if Maeve had snuffed out that flame. Made her fear it. Hate it."

Also, there are so many repeated phrases I started making a list: - Anyone crying (and there was a lot of crying, me included) had "silver-lined eyes" - Gavriel could not be spoken of without using "tawny" - Angst makes our heroes have "cracking" or "crumbling" inside. - And, oddly, light is always described as "watery" in this book. - A longtime favorite across both series involves the "cold", "darkness" or "space" between stars.

As a sidenote, I admire her dedication in sticking to "male" whenever one might use "man" to describe the Fae.

I still don't think I've fully recovered from essentially trying to absorb Kingdom of Ash into my soul. It was a mostly satisfying conclusion to a long series that got progressively better as it went along. I can think of nothing more I wanted from it, though I am heartbroken that there will be no more novels with these characters. I honestly loved this book, though I may complain about its flaws. I think, somewhere in what I read was the perfect conclusion to Aelin's story. I just have to dig through some stuff that distracted me on the way there. (Spoilers) SPOILERS!

We have come so far from the beginning, I don't even recognize it anymore. I honestly didn't care for Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight or Tower of Dawn. But, Maas has a fantastic ability to write characters, and I am eager to read whatever project she tackles next. (Hopefully one with less Fae mating bond bullshit)

Even more so than Empire of Storms, this book buckles under the weight of all its POVs. The cast is so large, it took nearly 20% of the book to get readers up to speed. We needed to return to a smaller core group to ground us in a story with this many moving pieces. Some of this could have been alleviated by reducing the POV switches that do nothing but reiterate angsty melodrama between the "ships". I don't need to keep checking in with Aedion/Lysandra, Elide/Lorcan, Chaol/Yrene, and Nesta/Sartaq. There's just nothing to say about the latter two, and the first two was just too repetitive. I wish we let Elide be mad at Lorcan (since she has an actual reason to be), and we pushed back Aedion/Lysandra's romance development to start in this book instead. Either way, all this romance angst distracts from Dorian and Aelin's actual, you know, plot ... where they do actual things. 

You know what I don't understand? Why the emphasis on Yrene? She was the spotlight character, her name being chanted at the end of Aelin's story. Yrene showed up in one short story in Assassin's Blade and was the star of Tower of Dawn. I like her, but those two books aren't exactly "mainline" and putting this much focus on a character previously unknown and with 100% less emotional investment was incredibly underwhelming. She has no emotional stake in this other than her connection to Chaol, unlike our other leads. The shift in focus to her took away from Manon, Dorian, Elide and everyone else who we've seen struggling for so long in the darkness of Erawan's Adarlan empire. Where was Manon that entire last standoff? What I would've given to see her join into that fight against Maeve, a callback to her forced inaction at the end of Empire of Storms. 

The last showdown in general was a bit confusing. We skipped too quickly from one battle to the new one with Maeve/Erawan. We never got the reset to rebuild that tension. I don't understand the sudden inclusion of the Wolves. That should've been sprung earlier (or not at all), and their involvement was pointless if all Valg dropped dead anyway. Similarly, we spent more than one book building up to "Valg Princesses" and it went NOWHERE. What the heck was so dang special about them?!

Okay, now the praising. This was better than A Court of Wings and Ruin. It was a more believable war with much more groundwork put in. We know these places, and we know these armies. Also, there was 100% less setting up for a sequel trilogy by spawning plot threads out of nowhere. 

We've fixed some of the problems from previous books. Book 4 and 5 was just Aelin repeatedly not telling her group what she's doing so we can surprise the readers when the plan was sprung. It's not bad to do things that way, but we lost Aelin's voice. I liked her involving Rowan in her plans and giving others a say in decisions. She asks for aid, where before she demanded it. 

Dorian got an upgrade, too. He is overpowered as fuck in this book, and he got some much needed screentime. I'm very glad that he's no longer playing sidekick to Aelin's heroics. With how much is going on with Aelin, it was a very good decision to move the third Wyrdkey into Dorian's plotline instead.

Manon's my favorite. She showed the most growth through these books, and she's one of the only people to stand distinct from Aelin. I loved the ruthlessness in her pursuit for Crochan aid leading into her guilt and earning their respect. Her fear of losing Toothless and then the Thirteen was responsible for most of my tears. 

There’s really good set pieces in this book. Aelin fighting some water, Aelin escaping the camp, Elide’s flight across the battlefield, Manon facing the three crones, ... I mean the list goes on. Let’s hope we get this Hulu show and all the way to this ending. 

God, I just can't get over how much I dislike Chaol. There's literally nothing wrong with him in this book for once, but I still get so irritated when it switches to his point of view.  

The battle sequences reminded me a lot of the Lord of the Rings movies. There was a lot of shooting siege towers, closing gates, holding bridges, bracing for catapults, arrow volleys, war drums and dams breaking. Sadly, we never got to see Rowan skateboarding down some stairs shooting arrows.

I really liked this book. It was so refreshingly different from every fantasy book I’ve read in the past few years. As a standalone, this is a perfect palette cleanser after all the stuff I’ve been reading. But, I didn’t LOVE the book...and I’m hoping writing this will help me figure out why. (Spoilers)

The prose is beautiful and goes a long way into establishing this mythical, fairy tale tone that enraptured me. We’ve moved beyond poetic prose straight into what only can be described as lyrical beauty.

On the other hand, the amount of times Sybel “presses her fingers to her eyes” was starting to drive me insane by the end. It’s not a very long book, this one thing was REALLY distracting.

I found Sybel’s whole arc of learning to be human very compelling. She has to leave her isolation, learn to love, learn to hate and find her way back to herself. I think where it falters is how she finally decides to let go of her revenge against Drede. I didn’t buy that scene with the Blammor being sufficient. Letting go of that hate should have come from within and not from an external fear monster. I also thought it was very irresponsible to just leave after setting all these events into motion. It contradicted her previous development when she abandoned all she loved to their own fates. Even if it was too late to stop the war, shouldn’t you...try? Also, it’s incredibly anticlimactic that I never got to see the Drede vs. Sybel standoff. While I enjoy the poetic justice in his death, it left Sybel’s revenge arc hanging when he died off screen.

I really liked the beasts overall. For some reason, I never expected Sybel to free them (probably because they all seemed so content in their containment). I loved that she freed them, and when given the ability to choose, they chose to help her. Maybe the author made Sybel run away so the beasts could have this payoff.

I felt so bad for Coren. Even at the very end I never felt like Sybel truly loved him (certainly not as much as she loves that bird).

Finally got around to reading Elantris, and while I think it’s one of Sanderson’s weaker books, I still liked it a lot. Its got a fantastic premise (and a great hook), but pacing problems make me like it less than I want to. (Spoilers)

There's the usual political and religious pondering that fill every Sanderson book I've read so far. What's different this time is less emphasis on action. Most of the action speeds through very quickly and lacks any visual flair to make it memorable. I don't need combat scenes to enjoy a book, but I do feel like the lack of them in the first chunk of the novel can turn some readers away. Personally, the mystery of Elantris was compelling enough to keep me invested.

The pacing problems are rough. There's just a lot of plot points that needed more time. The resolution of Iadon was just left field crazy. Yes, there were scratchy noises so it wasn't like his sneaking about wasn't foreshadowed. But, Sarene stumbling across ritual sacrifice in a sewer was incredibly abrupt. We went from 0 to 100 real fast. What's worse is the aftermath of that discovery went by so quickly, I didn't have time to process what just happened. Similarly, we go from Ahan's betrayal to Roial's death to Telrii & Eondel's death rapidly. How easily Sarene persuaded the country to accept a Shaod King was just ridiculous.

To compliment Sanderson on world-building and magic system is so trite. Though less unique, I liked it more than Warbreaker's magic system that sometimes felt like it was buckling under the weight of its rules. I kind of enjoyed the more straightforward magic this time around. As usual, the limitations Sanderson puts into his systems are what makes them so good. The Elantrians are powerful but only as defenders of home. Also, they need functional hands and are limited by how fast/precise they can draw.

Pitting the main characters against each other was very fun. It paid off multiple times to see move and countermove from both perspectives. Some things that Sarene saw as a fantastic play, we know from Hrathen's viewpoint as a happy accident.

For once, the romance isn't bad. There was sufficient groundwork laid to sell an arranged political marriage working out. There were many interactions between them to sell their chemistry. Also, I found it very adorable that she physically dragged him to the altar at the end to counter any potential Murphy's Law shenanigans.

The Seons are like spren but less interesting. They lack personality save for Ashe. I expect sequels set in Elantris might reveal more, but they’re just convenient plot devices for most of this book.

I have never been so invested in a character drawing a line in some dirt.

I can't pronounce these names. Also, "Hoed" is unintentionally hilarious.

What in the world happened to the mindless Shaor men that worship Raoden? Did they become full Elantrians at the end and regain their consciousness?

She’s probably one of my favorite characters. While it can be quite ludicrous how overpowered she is with her sex abilities, beauty and speaking three billion languages, Phèdre’s just so … INTERESTING. Many characters I like are some of these things, but I can't name very many who have quite as many bullet points worth listing.

I love how clever she is. A lot of other fantasy series main characters stumble upon solutions, get lucky or a god sends them dreams. Phèdre makes a lot of decisions, comes up with unique solutions and gleans a lot from reading others. I enjoy an active protagonist with agency in the story; Phèdre is almost always the driving force in the narrative.

I love how her intelligence is earned. She may conveniently have a gift for language, but we see her studying a lot. Phèdre doesn't magically understand religions and politics, she researched. We see her spending time learning new languages. She's even done her due diligence on sex things! 

I love that she's religious. She definitely has a very complicated relationship with more than one god, but Phèdre unfailingly believes. I think her faith adds a dimension to her character. 

Similarly, I love how much she loves her country. To truly believe the lengths Phèdre would go to in this trilogy, you have to buy that SHE cares about what she is trying to protect. You feel that every time she thinks of home. She even remembers the smell of Terre d'Ange! 

I love that she's so strong, but not in the physical sense. She never learns to fight; she kills two people the entire trilogy. That which yields is not always weak. I find it fascinating that a masochist is somehow our protagonist. While it is a central part of her character, it doesn't imply weakness or incapability.

I love that she, at times, hates who she is, yet Phèdre rarely wallows in self-pity bemoaning her fate. I mean, she has all the reason to, but that can get so very tiresome to read. The first person perspective gives readers a front row seat to all of the inner diatribe of protagonists. It isn't uncommon that they end up sounding pretty whiny. Fitz from Realm of the Elderlings is the reason I couldn't like that series. He just endlessly mopes about the poor hand he was dealt. 

I love how cognizant she is about the deaths she has caused. It's refreshing to read a story that is self-aware enough to remember all the casualties/victims along the way. Phèdre never lets us forget the names of those who paid a price. 

I love that she's vain. Phèdre unfailingly comments on every character's physical attractiveness. I'm quite sick of female protagonists seemingly always needing to be not conventionally attractive or is pretty but is "above" caring about her appearance. That would flat out not be believable for a courtesan. Heaven forbid, she loves pretty clothes and taking baths!

Though a tad repetitive, I love her love/hate relationship with Melisande. I’m trying to recall ever reading a hero vs. villain dynamic where they’re in love with each other, much less a sadomasochistic flair thrown in. The reasons for Melisande sparing Phèdre multiple times in the trilogy are a bit contrived, but we ARE given evidence that she cares about Phèdre too.

I have never read anything like this trilogy, and I think I would count this in my top 10 now that I have survived it. And, believe me, it’s definitely a series one survives. However, I feel like it was a story better suited to one novel. In a way, each book overstays its welcome and wears out the novelty of its unique setting. I’m not against starting the other trilogies, but I’m not exactly chomping at the bit either. (Spoilers)

There’s an odd pacing in this series where it feels like every book goes on one arc too long. In Kushiel’s Dart, we hit the climax of the story when she is betrayed, loses nearly everyone she loves and is sold into slavery. We follow her all the way back home to finally reveal the treachery; it feels like the conclusion of that tale. But, we then get hundreds of pages of a new arc going to a country with a new cast of characters. Phèdre even fights in a whole other war before returning to end the political uprising in her home country. All this would be fine if it was a standalone book that ended with Melisande dying. This story would be better for it if it didn’t allow a sequel bait escape and her continued involvement in two more books that feel more episodic: The Continued Adventures of Phèdre and Joscelin! I’d name that stand-alone book one of my favorite of all time if it were so.

We see this extra arc in book two when Phèdre again falls prey to Melisande’s machinations and is nearly driven insane in prison. She escapes and suddenly we’re in a pirate story ending up in Not-Greece. It seems to go on forever till we circle back around to that whole assassination plot. The third book’s harem plot was so painful yet compelling that I had to force myself all the way through it in one sitting to get back to happier places. It’s ridiculously anticlimactic to have to read a Not-Africa religious journey afterwards that is MUCH less intense (and another trip to the Straits after). At least here, I do understand we needed some time to heal and reform bonds. It would’ve felt abrupt to end a trilogy immediately after all that pain.

None of the things happening in these extra arcs are BAD, but it undermines a lot of the tension. It’s all good stuff, but feels like filler. This girl travels to so many countries where we are forced to learn characters, locations, religions, and governments that have very little to do with Terre d’Ange and her story. When your plot can be drawn on a map of Europe, we may have a problem.

I don’t like "Strangled by a Red String” feel of Hyacinthe and Sibeal in the third book. That whole thing came from nowhere; I don’t think they have a single conversation. It just seems to be a contrived way to resolve the third leg of a halfhearted love triangle. It was tiresome enough, the repetitive guilt Phèdre feels about Hyacinthe’s sacrifice whose plight never seemed as dire as we are told it is. Waiting a whole season before going?! He must be desiccating! Give me a break.

Now that all the negatives are out, I can start gushing at how good nearly everything else in this trilogy is. We can’t talk about this book without talking about sex. This series portrays sex as a religious experience. There’s no cutting to black like a lot of fantasy out there, yet it isn’t  “trashy”. That’s got to be incredibly hard to balance, and it succeeds for the most part. It doesn’t titillate, and it’s not there for the sake of being there. Sex is tied into the fabric of Phèdre and her home country. I wish its implications was explored more rather than spending a lot of time away from Not-France in places which view sex more traditionally.

My favorite thing about this series are its characters. The fringe characters can be two dimensional, but the core few are fascinating and nuanced. Above all, I love Phèdre. That’s probably the biggest reason I don’t have a lot of interest in the other trilogies, because they AREN’T Phèdre. .... You know what, my  love for Phèdre deserves its own post. TO BE CONTINUED!

I finished this book a few months ago, and I can't decide if I enjoyed it or not. Certainly there were parts of it that I really liked, and some bits stuck with me. But, I remember having a very hard time getting through it (particularly the first half). I apologize for how rambly this will sound, because my thoughts on this book are all over the place. People tell me that this is the best of the three books. I think I'm going to pass on the next two unless I get really bored. (Spoilers)

The frequent disruption of the narrative in the first half of the novel was extremely frustrating to read. I was constantly interrupted by a flashback or a flashforward or sometimes just a segue to something completely off topic. An example of this: Locke shows his scam victims some expensive alcohol. The chapter ends. The next chapter starts with a long explanation of an arena fight between some women and sharks. I'm forced to wait impatiently for the book to circle back around to resuming the conversation about the alcohol. It may just be a few pages in this case, but this happens constantly until the midway point of the book. We are constantly jumping around in time. Let me be clear, this didn't confuse me; it frustrated me. I feel like any time the plot had some momentum, it would stutter just enough to throw it off. The second half of the book, save for a chapter spent explaining fantasy dodgeball, is much better because it derails less often.

To its credit, there are times the novel uses these flashbacks to great effect. The best example being a flashback conversation between Locke and Chains stressing the importance of not crossing a bondsmage immediately leading into Locke's fan-favorite "Nice bird, asshole!" line. Another I enjoyed was the callback to Locke winning a fight by simply hanging on and waiting for Jean. When flashbacks work, it's quite funny. 

I am disappointed by the bits where Locke fails to be as clever as I am told he is. He has to be in two places at once? How is this possible?! What clever way will the author come up wit----oh,  he's just going to pretend to be sick. That's about as clever as a kid who doesn't want to go to school. Locke's big plan to thwart a Batman-villain-esque plan to turn the gentry into zombies is to ... barge in shouting at people to believe him ...

For all my complaints, I had a lot of fun with his revenge quest once things kick off (and several characters meet violent ends). While I wasn’t attached to his crew, it’s entertaining to see Locke unleash hell on all the people pulling his puppet strings. I especially enjoyed the final bait and switch to sink the treasure ship and how he solves the “killing a bondsmage” problem.

I like the setting. Fantasy novels borrowing Venice canals is getting repetitive at this point, but the shark infested waters adds some nice flavor (a nice copper blood taste). Throw in some elderglass bridges and shipwrecks? Paints a pretty picture.

Holy cow, I really hate this book! A Court of Frost and Starlight is easily the worst Sarah J. Maas book that I've read, and that's saying a lot when considering the first Throne of Glass and Tower of Dawn. As someone who counts A Court of Mist and Fury as one of my favorite books of all time, this causes me figurative pain. This "novella" (200+ pages long) is a complete waste of my time. (Spoilers)

Previously, I accused Tower of Dawn of being unnecessary. I apologize to Chaol, because at least his book provided ...you know... plot? It had new characters, returning characters, new locations and a couple revelations that will tie into the next book to come. ACOFAS doesn't need to exist. It reads like a fanfiction. It's "What if ACOTAR cast but Christmas?" with most of the plot being about Solstice shopping. The greatest source of conflict in 200 pages is “Will my sister be joining us for Christmas dinner?”.

What's worse is fanfiction would actually be better. A fanfiction epilogue might actually give closure. An issue I had with A Court of Wings and Ruin was that it introduced a lot of side plots that were an obvious set-up for the next trilogy. This novella just reiterates all of it. We're in the same place we started at with every single one of these side plots. Vassa? Still a bird. Lucien/Elain? Still awkwardly mated but not talking. Mor/Azriel? Mor's still not telling, and Azriel's still pining. Tamlin's still broody. Bryaxis still missing. No progress on Autumn Court. I read 200 pages where nearly NOTHING has changed. 

One of the only changes we get is with Nesta. It's clearly setting her up for a major role in the next trilogy: a redemption arc intertwined with Cassian's dream of female Illyrian warriors. This was probably the most compelling topic, though I don't see how it can't be told at the start of the next trilogy (from the excerpt, it looks like it will be reiterated already). It's incredibly out of her character to abandon Elain, but honestly that's okay. Why not. I do enjoy reading protagonists who aren't easy to like. Count me cautiously optimistic about the next trilogy, though I no longer have confidence in the author's plotting abilities.

I’m glad that I finally got that missing conversation where Tamlin suffers for what he did. I wanted it in black and white that he is the maker of his own downfall, and there are no excuses for the things he did to Feyre. However, I somewhat wish that the book still remembered way back at the beginning of ACOMAF when it was clear he was also suffering from the events Under the Mountain. That some of his over-protectiveness and inner demons stem from the same trauma that Feyre dealt with. I don’t think it should EXCUSE his behavior, but it did add a layer to this conflict.

I found it unnecessarily disorienting flip-flopping between first person chapters from Feyre/Rhys and third person limited when we are in the Mor/Nesta/Cassian ones. I assume the next trilogy will no longer be in first person, so this book serves as a bridge?

I'm honestly a little annoyed that every time we jump into Rhysand's head, he's thinking about sleeping with Feyre. Did we just run out of ways for them to interact? No scene between them is without an overt sexual overtone. I don’t recall this being the case in the other books.

When did all of Night Court become the cast of Cougartown? They're endlessly drinking. I find it mildly hilarious that everyone is inebriated for 95% of the whole book.

The book overall was interesting, definitely going to continue reading to see where it goes. I'm very eager for Garion to become more of an active protagonist and make his own decisions. I don't fault the author for keeping the reins in someone else's hand for this book (especially since Garion is written as a kid), I'm just ready for him to move away from that as the series goes on. They definitely should have de-aged him, I think. Being 14 going on 15 is too old for how he's portrayed. If his age hadn't been stated, I would've guessed he was 10 or 12 years old based on his maturity and how others treat him. (Spoilers).

I like Aunt Pol the most. She's kind of a bitch and mothers Garion too much, but I think her interactions with him were some of the best parts of the book. I found how much Garion needed to not be alone in the world (for Polgara to actually be his aunt) to be a very compelling plot point. Their relationship reminded me a lot of Yennefer and Ciri, actually.

My biggest problem with the book was with the plot, itself. They just go from one place to another with an "overthrow some kings" plot thrown in at the end to serve as a climax with no build-up (*cough* foreplay *cough*). Too often does Garion just happen to be in the right place at the right time. The meeting in the woods just happened to take place where Garion was waiting for the boar and yet away from where everyone else was waiting. He was exploring the palace conveniently where and when the green-cloaked man was eavesdropping on the meeting for the first time. It happened again at the end where blindly running through passages ends with Garion on top of the throne room to witness the interrogation. I think the problem stems from choosing to tell the story solely from the perspective of a child who isn't allowed places so the author has to write reasons for him to be there so the reader can see the things that are happening offstage. I think this problem will fix itself as he becomes more of the central character. Also, I assume these contrivances will be in-universe explained as prophecy/fate fulfilling.

For side characters in the party, I like Silk and Durnik a lot. I'm glad there was someone in the book willing to teach and explain things to Garion. I also find the "normal" perspective from Durnik to be just refreshing. I think Durnik's character voice was captured very well and is really necessary. We needed Garion to not be the only one in the dark trying to figure things out in the company of many others who are very skilled, accomplished and already know everything about events happening. 

On the other than, not a fan of Barak's stuff. Like, any of it. I don't like that his wife is painted as a shallow shrew. It is explicitly stated that he forced himself on her in a "drunk" and "brutal" manner, and I don't think it was written as a condemnation of his actions. Their relationship is almost written like we should be sympathetic to Barak for having a difficult wife who constantly mocks him. I have this uncomfortable feeling that she's going end up liking him, and their marriage will suddenly be a happy one by the end of this series.

Another Sanderson series I really liked, though I had trouble getting through it which has never happened in his other works. It still does things better than most fantasy out there, and I look forward to starting Wax and Wayne. (Spoilers)

It seems repetitive at this point to point out how good Sanderson's world building and magic systems are. I'd say this world is purposely less "foreign" with its fantastical elements so there is a lower barrier of entry. Allomancy, feruchemy and hemalurgy are all great individually, and it's even better how they play off each other. Hemalurgy is such a crazy, visceral thing to read about, especially all the eye mutilation. I also really enjoyed koloss growing into (and out of) their skins.

Actually, Sanderson has really great visual flair. I absolutely adore the idea of a world covered in ash and mist. Whether its Vin doing her Batman-brooding on rooftops or falling through stained glass windows, everything is just so COOL (for lack of a better word).

He's also good at subverting my expectations. I love his take on the classic trope of prophecy-chosen heroes overthrowing evil overlords. I love that we get to see the "now what?". I'm so proud of myself for figuring out Vin's earring early on; I was so excited when that thought struck me, my outburst scared the people around me. I didn't fare as well with other twists such as the OreSeur/TenSoon one.

I love Vin; she's my favorite in this whole series (which is probably good since she's the main character). Her growth, her blunt decision making, her love for pretty dresses ... I just love everything. Her and Elend deserved a better ending. She's lived an awful life, overthrew a dictator, fought a few wars and basically has never had any chance to actually be happy without the world ending in the background. Why did she have to die at the end? This isn't some criticism of the decision Sanderson made to kill off the leads, and I get that she's supposedly happy where she is. I just want to whine that she didn't get to live out her life with her husband, friends and dog in the world she saved. WHINE! 

Okay, now my major gripe. I had trouble getting through Hero of Ages. I don't think separating the plot threads so completely in the last book of a trilogy was a good decision. 

The TenSoon trial in kandra territory (while interesting on its own) was a lot of exposition into a new culture that didn't intersect with the rest of the world till the very end of the book. It's hard to care about the politics between generations of kandra when the world is literally ending. I’m also extremely disappointed we never saw a TenSoon and Vin reunion.

The entirety of the Spook/Sazed half of the book didn't work for me. I assume Sanderson wanted to show two different cities that had opposite reactions to the Lord Ruler's death. On one hand, we have one trying to keep everything the way it was. On the other, we have the classic oppressed becoming the oppressor. It's really hard being invested in both of the invasion stories with how similar they are. 

I like Spook, but setting him up to be a main character at the last book of a trilogy makes NO SENSE to me. Sazed's whole religious crisis was just too drawn out and repetitive. Every time we checked in with him it was the same thing: person gives him insightful advice and Sazed goes through some religions on his list. It might have worked better if I bought what drove him to have said crisis. I've mentioned before that my opinion of Sanderson's romances isn't very high. I don't think Sazed/Tindwyl was particularly convincing so it's hard for me to believe her death hurt him so deeply that he's spiraled for this long. Her character seemed introduced just so we can kill her off and give the religion-obsessed man his crisis of faith. Sanderson's usually not too bad when inserting his philosophies and world views into the text, but some of Sazed's internal religious pondering has as much subtlety as Marsh hammering spikes through people.

On Vin and Elend's side, I get the feeling there just wasn't a lot of new character substance there. Most of their development happened in the first two books, and by this one they're comfortable in their roles on the most part and there's no conflict (and therefore no movement). It almost feels like there's nothing more to say about these two, so that's why we have a shift in focus onto Sazed and Spook.

I would have liked to see the Vin/Elend and Sazed/Spook stuff just combined. We could have the more interesting dried-canal, Citizen-ruled setting combined with Spook being Elend's spy within the city and Vin being captured. We get to keep all the good stuff like Elend now being the invader he fought against a book ago, but we remove the disjointed tale of two cities.

On a side note, I'm a little disappointed that Elend became a more powerful Allomancer than Vin. I'm sick of "unbalanced power" relationships being flattened out forcibly, especially with Elend ending up even stronger than she is. Zane's argument throughout Well of Ascension was that Elend would never understand Vin because he wasn't an Allomancer. I guess this proves Zane right? 

I'm currently struggling to get through the first 25% of Hero of Ages, so I'm gonna write out a thought I had to try to ground myself. My thought: Mistborn has a very cool magic system and a bit of wasted potential. It's probably my fault for expecting something and being disappointed I didn't get it.

I really like Sanderson magic systems (like every other Sanderson fan, I'm sure). I love that they tie into other aspects of the world, how thought out they are and especially love their built-in limitations. My problem with this metal-based magic system is how inconsequential METAL is with only one exception. Allomancy ironpulling and steelpushing is just playing with magnets, and it is what I wanted more of. We get to deal with polarity, a very metal thing.

All the other powers are what I have issue with. So much of this series is about burning metals and discovering new metals that do new things. These "things" however have nothing to do with metal. Burning or storing eyesight inside tin to see better, what does that have to do with TIN? I guess I was just hoping for more interesting metal-related things and was slightly disappointed to discover "burning metals" is akin to "activate magic".

Eyesight, seeing the future, detecting powers ... these things don't scream metal to me. I'm stepping into backseat driving here, but it would've been cool to see a hard metal (say like chromium) used to strengthen your body instead of a very malleable pewter. Maybe using silver/gold/copper to give yourself conductivity, lead to make yourself dense, aluminum to get lighter, or tungsten to resist heat?

While not as ridiculously fantastic as Words of Radiance was, Oathbringer comes pretty damn close. This series has to be one of my favorites even if we're only 3 books in. How in the world am I going to survive years waiting for the next? I see a reread in my future to tide me over. (Spoilers)

First off, I really enjoyed that this book deals with a lot of psychological issues you wouldn't find the focus of many fantasy books. It's refreshing that sometimes characters have struggles not directly related to end of the world or magic plot lines. Kaladin's depression, Teft's addiction, Dalinar's PTSD and alcoholism, Shallan's identity crisis ... it's all great stuff! I do hope it doesn't get too drawn out, though. We've had three books of mopey Kaladin already, I think it's time for a new plot line.

Flashback sequences never really worked for me in the previous two books. They usually felt repetitive and took too long to get to that one chapter where we finally learn that major life event that created present day version of Kaladin and Shallan. For some reason, Dalinar's flashbacks prove the exception. I think this is partly because a lot of the flashbacks directly contrast his current struggles. Also, I find the mystery of how he lost his wife and subsequently his memory of her to be quite compelling. Don't get me wrong, there are still too many of them. Hopefully flashbacks will continue to improve. 

While on the subject of Dalinar, he's really great in this book (which makes sense since it's HIS book). I love that the lesson he learns is ultimately to own up to his mistakes and take the "next step" to being a better person. I get chills just thinking about Dalinar telling Odium he can't have his pain. Also, I just love all the Lift and Dalinar scenes. 

Another standout was Venli. Sanderson pulled a fast one on us. I knew before Oathbringer came out that Eshonai was the flashback character in the next book so imagine my utter bewilderment when she's apparently very dead. I'm really excited to see a Parshendi Radiant spy plot line next book for a character I really hated for most of the time I've known her. 

A minor thing, but I'm really happy most of the romance stuff gets resolved this book. It's definitely not Sanderson's strong suit, so the less focus we get on it the better. Dalinar and Navani's wedding was quickly tied up. (By the way, please don't kill another of Dalinar's wives. Navani deserves better.) The Adolin/Shallan/Kaladin triangle had the potential to be played for laughs with Shallan's conflicting personalities, but the execution was slightly mangled. We were missing a mature conversation acknowledging Shallan's decision to choose Adolin. What we have isn't bad, but the ROMANCE of it is where it falters. 

I love Jasnah, and I can't wait to find out what her damage is. She was an absolute queen of badassery during the final battle. People fawning over her essay was hilarious. On the other hand, I was a little disappointed at how glossed over her reunion with the Kholin family was. I think that could've been a nice opportunity to show some affection towards Renarin. It would have better sold the already good scene where she decides not to kill him.

So, Warbreaker is required reading at this point with how closely it ties into the Stormlight Archive books. We've gone from Cosmere hinting to full on crossover. I don't talk about Szeth much (I think I'm one of the only people who don't find him all that interesting), but his conversations with Nightblood were fun. I'm "meh" about Vivenna showing up. Honestly, I'd find it way cooler if her personality even remotely resembled who she was in Warbreaker. 

I was initially interested in these books because the premise started off very amusing. Now, I really kind of hate these books. The idea of a guy who is great at absolutely everything but doesn’t understand basic human concepts was very fun! But, by the third book, I feel like the author has no idea who his characters are and where he is going with the plot. (SPOILERS)

Every man wants to be him, every woman wants to be with him. The book multiple times actually show women fighting over him. Frisha, the main love interest, has nothing to do in these books except love Rezkin and get jealous over any girl who goes near him. I really hope they go down this implied route that Rez was projecting who the girls wanted to see through his magic abilites causing them to all fall in love with him. If not, this book needs to work on its portrayal of women. The third book, at least, introduces Ilanet who has her own plot and isn’t instantly in love with Rez. Though, her “romance” with Tam was rushed and oddly dropped as soon as it came out she was a princess. Her whole character suddenly got pushed to the background after they arrived on the island!

The third book itself is just not very good. Most of the cast is on a boat removed from everything happening. Rez spends a lot of the later chapters possessed or something and the demons kidnapping people came out of nowhere. I thought this series was going to be just a trilogy. I thought he would amass an army, usurp the throne, and the story would end. Now, it seems there’s a demonic invasion on the way and who knows how many more books before it ends?