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Tenerle dentro y escucharle reír, porque reía cuando follaba, era querer morirse y detenerlo todo porque nada de lo que la vida te deparase iba a ser mejor que aquello.
Book 5 of the Stormlight Archive. I finished the book in four days and immediately started a (much slower) reread. Decided to spend time processing before putting thought to words. It’s a book I increasingly like the more I sit with it. First, I’m a sucker for stories that circle back on themselves, where they repeat in some ways earlier events or themes. This book does this so well, both internally and back to previous books in the series. Even in how the Way of Kings Prelude and Wind and Truth Postlude were both Kalak’s point of view. Second, slightly related to the first, I love good foreshadowing. This book strikes an amazing balance between satisfyingly foreshadowed events and surprises. Third, the characters continue to shine in this book.
This is definitely a conclusion to an arc, not to the series. It answered so many questions, and raised so many new ones. But given the scope of Stormlight, it had a lot to do in a short (relatively- can’t believe I’m calling a 1300+ book short) amount of time, and it did so mostly well, but I think page constraints contributed to some parts feeling a bit rushed.
I hope audiobook listeners check out the art - especially the chapter headings. It was so incredibly impactful and a defining part of my reading experience. I cried at the epilogue arch with Kaladin’s face on the stone, and had to put the book down for a few minutes before finishing.
In my opinion, parts of day one were a bit rough (though I am appreciating it more on reread, even if it still feels a bit clunky). But the rest of the book was excellent. This book deviates from the previous format, both in that it’s separated by days rather than parts, but also in that previous books have, generally, been a slow build to a huge dramatic climax (Sanderlanche). Where this book felt as if it was a Sanderlanche of the first half of Stormlight Archive.
Favorite character arcs this story include Adolin (and Maya), Jasnah, Renarin and Rlain, and Kaladin. Jasnah’s was emotionally rough but not unexpected, and feels necessary for her character. Renarin and Rlain are just perfect, and I was pleasantly surprised at how their developing relationship was handled. Adolin and Maya are fantastic, per usual, and their interactions were a highlight. Kaladin’s plot started a bit rough. I wasn’t entirely convinced by it until the part where he fights Nale, but that scene sold me on it. Once I was sold on it, I was ALL IN and there was no going back. Considering the events of Rhythm of War, this was the only way I would have accepted Kaladin making a sacrificial play - in choosing to live, of sorts.
Wasn’t expecting how little we got of El or Moash. Curious to see where that goes in the back half. Very excited for more Yanagawn (hopefully).
This book is not a happy ending, but it is a hopeful one. People are separated or dead (or presumed dead), large portions of the continent lost. But, so much room has been left for the back half. It isn’t over. It has a distinct feeling of, as Wit said, that they will be warm again. Not quite sure how I’m supposed to wait until book 6 though. Reread to cope, I suppose.
Might edit this later when I remember everything I wanted to say but forgot about.
“A little,” Renarin said. “The thing is, the deepest truths always sound a little trite. Because we all know them, and feel foolish being reminded.”
I forgot how much I liked this book. Kaye's pov was so compelling and the pacing was just right. Roiben was a big teddy bear with a reputation.
I'll skip Valiant and read Ironside next.
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Once again, I made a bunch of graphs analysing my own reading habits over the past year. Getting to the charts a little late since I was working over the actual New Year, but whatever. In 2024 I read 118 books/34,395 pages. Click through for more details than you could ever want.
A bar graph of the total number of books I've read each year since 2013, when I started keeping track. The highest was 208 in 2014, and the lowest was 101 in 2023. This year's total was higher than it has been for the last couple of years (and my fanfic writing output was correspondingly lower).
A line graph showing the total number of pages I read in each year from 2013. The highest was 67,810 in 2015 and the lowest was 30,760 in 2022. This year's total was 34,395, trending slowly upwards.
A bar graph showing the average length of my books since 2013. The highest average was 356 pages in 2015, and the lowest was this year, at 291. I think I am mellowing out a little as I get on in years. I used to look at anything under 100-something pages and go "That's not a book, it's a damn short story! I read whole anthologies of short stories and those only count as one book, it'd be cheating to call this a book. But reading it and then leaving it out of the stats would offend my devotion to complete and accurate record-keeping. So I'm just not reading it." As we can see reflected in the stats, I'm becoming less of a snob about it now.
The Books
Around half the books I read were ebooks (58). Audiobooks came in second (43), an even bigger chunk of my reading than last year. Then there were 11 paperbacks, and hardbacks were back on the menu (just 4, but last year there were none).
The biggest chunk of books I read came from the library (48). 39 were from Everand (subscription service formerly known as Scribd). 29 were my own books, and 1 was borrowed (it was my cousin's book that I read while staying at her parents' house for a couple of days).
The shortest book I read was The Orange and Other Poems by Wendy Cope at 53 pages, and the longest was The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang at 598 pages. The biggest chunk of books were in the 300-399 pages range. Average length was 291 pages.
Most of the books I read were originally written in English (98), but I also read books translated from Chinese, Japanese, Mongolian, Korean, Swedish and Spanish, and one anthology featuring poems from all around the world, from many different languages. I'm pretty pleased with this! I was hoping to read more translated stuff this year, and I definitely achieved that.
Bar graph showing the original publication dates of the books I read. I'm pretty happy with this one too! The biggest chunk of books were from the 2020s, but the current decade didn't leave everything else in the dust like it has in previous years - there were also a fair amount from the 2010s, some from the 2000s, the 1990s, 1980s, 1970s and 1920s, and five from before the 20th century. The oldest book I read was A Gold Orchid: Love Poems of Tzu Yeh, written in the latter half of the 4th century CE, and the newest was Swordcrossed by Freya Marske, published on the 8th of October 2024.
A horizontal bar chart showing how I rated the books I read on a scale of 1-5 (including half stars). My most common rating was four stars. My average rating was 3.6 stars. I was hoping for more five star reads this year, but... oof. Only 6, and two of those were rereads. I'm not sure how to go about finding more five star books - prioritise books with high average ratings or that come personally recommended, maybe? But none of that guarantees I'll love something.
Anyway, since there were so few five star books I can just list them here. Volumes 1 and 2 of Golden Terrace by Cāng Wú Bīn Bái: a wonderful historical danmei about an arranged marriage between a newly disabled general and a court official. Unfortunately no longer available in English through official channels after the publisher Peach Flower House shut down in November. The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo: the latest in a series of fantasy novellas about a wandering cleric who collects stories to take back to their monastery. This one has a gothic horror plot. Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland: zany, bawdy comedy/fantasy adventure with pirates and spies and cake. And the rereads, A Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki and Dracula by Bram Stoker.
A pie chart showing the target age of the books I read. They were mostly adult (98), with some young adult (14) and a few children's (5). I also read some baby/toddler books with some babies/toddlers but didn't include them in the stats. I liked If I Was A Horse by Sophie Blackall.
Pie chart showing most of the books I read (111) were new to me, with only 7 rereads.
Pie chart of the genres I read. Fantasy is forever and always at the top, with 43 books. It's followed by historical fiction (23), romance (21), contemporary (18), nonfiction (13) and science fiction (12). I'm surprised contemporary outranked science fiction for once! I blame my cosy mystery phase. Horror was back on the menu this year with 8, and then there was mystery(7), literary fiction (5), and I started reading poetry (5 books) for the first time in many years. And finally, bringing up the rear, there was memoir (4), magic realism (2) and thriller (2).
Most of the books I read were standalones (70), with 17 series starters and 30 sequels.
The Authors
More authors were women (80) than men (35). Out of those 80 women, 76 were cis and 4 were trans, and there were 31 cis men and 4 trans men. There were also 4 nonbinary authors and one of unknown gender. I read one trans author for each month of the year, but still, those are pretty small numbers compared to the cis authors. Maybe I can do better next year.
Pie chart showing the authors' nationalities. I'm very happy with this one! OK, my own country of Australia has only 7, which could be better, but for the first time since I started doing this, the USA is not only not the majority, it's not even close. Only 42 out of 118! I'm finally escaping the gravitational pull of their cultural hegemony! I read from a total of 24 countries. The most common (besides America) were the UK & Ireland (19), China (8), Canada (8), Australia (7), Japan (6) and Singapore (5).
My long-term resolution to read two authors of colour for each white author is still going strong. This was the second year where white people (42) weren't the largest single category (that was Asian people, at 51). I only read 1 Aboriginal author, as an Australian I should probably try to seek out more next year.
The Characters
As with the authors, there were more women than men, though the ratio is a bit different for the protagonists. More cis men and fewer trans people.
More of the protagonists were people of colour than not (59: 43). There were also four characters that were impossible to meaningfully classify in these terms (a cyborg, an orc, a robot and a sentient spaceship).
Straight protagonists (49) were not the majority! They were outnumbered by queer or indeterminate characters. 23 protagonists were gay/lesbian, 16 were bi/pan, 5 were ace/arospec, 5 were queer/questioning and 9 were unclear.
read in 2024: you should be so lucky by cat sebastian
“I thought you were beautiful! I couldn't believe how beautiful you were." Beautiful and smart and a little mean, like he was made in a lab to lure Eddie to his doom. But instead of doom, it's this: coffee and breakfast, a dog snoring on the carpet, the near certainty they'll do this again.
