Epic Page Count Incoming

You can call me Minx. (she/they) I'm an elder millennial living in Southern New England with my partner and a couple of cats. Reading was my first hobby - I taught myself to read because my Father told me he wouldn't read me The Hobbit for the twentieth time in a row. So you could say that I have always been obsessed with epic fantasy. (and Smaug was my first love)

I'm a mood reader with many interests. I tend to get into reading cycles - one year I might read 20 biographies, the next I might be knee-deep in horror, and the following year I might be tackling a major fantasy series. I love fiction and nonfiction in equal measure. Storygraph says that I read books that are Emotional, Adventurous, and Informative; that probably covers it.

If you can define my fiction its probably "anything that doesn't resemble the now." Historical fiction is fine, fantasy and sci-fi are amazing, but I read to escape. Ultra modern just isn't my thing.

Currently, I'm working my way through the Cosmere, and I've been pretty into Rottage Core.

I'm take it or leave it on romance as a main plot device; it's good when it's good, but on its own, it's not particularly captivating to me.

You'll see a mix of books from the newest fiction to historical manuscripts, to occasional books on spirituality and mysticism (a long-time interest of mine). I try to be honest in my reviews without giving too much away of the main story. It's okay if your opinions on a book are different from mine; that doesn't make either of them wrong. Different people enjoy different things; that's one of the amazing things about human beings.

Mostly these days, I'm borrowing books from Libby to read on my Kindle because my partner and I have a giant library and our home is out of space for more books.

I read seven books in May, totaling 2,926 pages. I feel like this is pretty good given that one of them was Rhythm of War, which was 1,200 pages and took me most of two weeks to read. You might also notice that Dawnshard was an audiobook; I listened to it in the car while my partner and I went on some birthday adventures.

Because I knew Rhythm of War was going to be a major read this month, I tried to pepper the rest of the month with books that weren't necessarily epic fantasy. The Raven Scholar was a crossover from April, but otherwise, I tried to make the only fantasy of the month Cosmere books.

As a result, my feelings about the books were pretty mixed. I enjoyed Shark Heart a lot, as well as Yellowface; but was underwhelmed by This Thing Between Us and downright disliked Stonefish. (I also really liked The Raven Scholar.)

Next month, I am tackling the final book in Stormlight Archives*, Wind and Truth, which is even longer, so I expect it to take up much of the month. What I'll get up to otherwise is anybody's guess.

Coming in at the last moment with a seventh book for May, Yellowface by R. F. Kuang. This is a literary thriller about a younger writer named June Hayward, who, in a fit of jealousy, steals the first draft of her (more famous) friend's novel after her friend's sudden death. If this isn't bad enough, her dead friend is Chinese, and the novel is about living the diasporic experience Junie has no right to talk about or understand.

On the surface, this book is about race and appropriation. But, as Kuang writes in the acknowledgments, "Yellowface is, in large part, a horror story about loneliness in a fiercly competitive industry." Nobody - not Junie, not dead Athena Lui, not the publishers or the other writers - makes it out of this book unscathed. It's also largely about cancel culture and the monster that is the seething masses of anonymous internet trolls who are unafraid to send death threats and reshare information, true or not.

It's about how rumors and accusations can ruin an author's career, something that feels very relevant right now in light of the recent AI/Shy Girl scandal.

Once I got past the intense secondhand embarrassment (totally a me problem), I truly enjoyed this book. I'm a writer, and I spent much of my childhood wanting to be a novelist, so this book hits closer to home than I expected. If you like social commentary, this might be the book for you. If you like your books far from reality, this is probably one to skip.

Next up: The Poet Empress by Shen Tao and then...Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson.

So a 500-page book and then a 1,300-page book.

Book #6 for May was Stonefish by Scott R. Jones, which is listed as being horror/speculative fiction. It was certainly something; I think Speculative Fiction fits better than Horror. It follows Den Secord, a reporter in a dubious future Earth, who is investigating the disappearance of tech guru Gregor Makarios.

From there, it devolves fast. There is some sort of future internet/neural network called the Noönet, cryptids that control the world, and for some reason, sentient AI.

This book is a mess. I think it's by design; both Secord and Makarios speak like raving lunatics (with good reason given the story), which I found incredibly challenging to follow. I had to be completely on to pay attention to this book, and found myself having to reread passages multiple times to attempt to understand - especially towards the beginning.

At only 253 pages, this should not have been a difficult read, but it was. I forced myself to finish it; if I was the DNF type, this would have been a DNF.

Book #5 for May was Rhythm of War, Book 4 in Brandon Sanderson's epic Stormlight Archives. I cannot even begin to tell you what this book is about without spoiling major portions of the books before it. You are either invested in Stormlight Archives, or you're not.

This was my favorite book in the Stormlight Archives series so far, and my favorite book in a series I've read by Sanderson to date. This might have to do with Navani being one of the major POVs; she is such an interesting character! I feel so much shock and awe after finishing this book. I was really and truly surprised by a few of the things that happened at the tail end.

I would implore everyone to read this book. That said, you need to have (at the least) read the three books preceding it, and - at best - read all eight Mistborn books as well to understand the full scope of what is unfolding. I understand how daunting getting into Brandon Sanderson is because it took my partner three years to convince me to sink my teeth into it.

The payoff is worth it. In world-building. In character realization. In representation. In meta-narrative.

Read these books.

I want chapter upon chapter about Navani finally becoming the scholar she's always dreamed of.

I started it last Sunday night (5/10), but didn't even get that much time to read that week because there were birthday things and anniversary things, and life was very hectic.

Book #4 for April was Dawnshard, Book 3.5 in Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive series. This story follows master trader Rysn and Windrunner Lopen as they lead an expedition to the fabled island of Akina at Navani Kholin's request. Similar to Edgedancer before it (Book 2.5), this book examines side characters who don't get much airtime in the main novel and provides lore/context that helps you better understand the overarching view of what is going on.

I don't feel like I need to do more introduction. By book 3.5, I know you are fully invested in the Stormlight Archives. (I know, that joke never gets old) This story is fast-paced, fun, and deep, while staying light enough to enjoy. Lopen, the formerly one-armed Hardazian, is the perfect companion to the recently disabled Rysn; through their conversations, Sanderson beautifully explores the complexities of disability. For that reason alone, this book feels like a must-read.

I feel the need to point out that I like Sanderson a lot, but rarely give his books 5★ ratings. This novella (by Sanderson's standards, anyway - it's 250 pages) definitely deserves it.

Book #3 for May was Shark Heart by Emily Habeck. This is a literary fiction about a young couple whose first year of marriage is interrupted when the husband begins to transform into a Great White Shark. Although this cover says "A Love Story" (and it definitely is), this story is NOT a romance.

In many ways, this is a coming-of-age story, if 30 is the new 16. In other ways, you can call it a character study of the FMC, Wren, both a study of the things that led to her life as it was when the story starts, and the ways the story itself changed her. This story is Magical Realism, as should be apparent from the synopsis.

I really enjoyed this book. Do I think it's for everyone? Probably not. I think realists might not be able to handle the allegory of the shark husband. The writing style was also peculiar; it wasn't a turnoff for me, but it could be for some people. I wanted to read outside my usual genres, and I enjoyed every page along the way.

Book #2 for May was This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno, a contemporary literary horror novel set in the months after the sudden death of Vera, the wife of Thiago, the MC. It is a fever dream of grief that never seems to end, and a book that I ended up barely being able to make heads or tails of.

In the end, I think I understand what happened, but I'm still a bit confused by the ending. It was okay, a very different read from what I've been into, and I appreciate that.

We should not be encouraging people to believe in only one love, as it keeps people in toxic or abusive situations. It rewards adrenaline, not connection.

Me: laughs in Brandon Sanderson. Then laughs in Alchemised. Then laughs in The Raven Scholar.

Looks at how much of my TBR on Libby is over 500 pages.