Can you tell I've been on a huge scifi/fantasy kick by all the 4's in the labels for this post?
WWW:Watch - Robert Sawyer
WWW:Wonder - Robert Sawyer
Neuromancer - William Gibson
The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson
Earth Awakens - Orson Scott Card
Words of Radiance - Brandon Sanderson
Cast in Shadow - Michelle Sagara
The Black Prism - Brent Weeks
Once again I will bemoan the fact that I don't update nearly as often as would be ideal to give the best reviews of these books. In fact I'm not confident that I didn't forget some books here. I'm basing the list on the list in my library account but its pretty jumbled.
Lately I've been borrowing far more books than I've had time to read. I need to pace myself better!
Here goes:
The second two WWW books were fantastic. Only for scifi people, but I thought they explored some interesting ideas in a relatively novel (to me) way.
Neuromancer is a scifi classic and I read it because it was mentioned in Snow Crash which I enjoyed. I found Neuromancer more difficult to read, almost as if it was aimed at a different generation of people. For scifi aficionados it would definitely be worth the read.
The Way of Kings and The Words of Radiance are the first two books in the latest trilogy by my most recent favorite author, Brandon Sanderson. They are serious fantasy, but the writing and characters are fantastic. I'd recommend Sanderson for someone who'd never read fantasy before but was interested in trying it out. The Way of Kings is a bit slow - Warbreaker or Mistborn might be better to start with.
Earth Awakens is the last book in Card's pre-Ender's Game trilogy. I enjoyed it because I enjoy everything else he writes, but I'd only suggest reading this if you are very invested in the Enderverse.
I think Cast in Shadow was suggested by a friend. Its basically a mystery in fantasy format. I enjoyed the book but found the fantasy to be a bit too intense for me. This is part of a huge series but I'm not going to seek out the others.
Lastly, the Black Prism is the first in a trilogy by Brent Weeks. It reminded me very strongly of Warbreaker and I enjoyed it immensely. The sequel is the next book on my list. This book is fantasy, but again the characters and plot are engaging and the fantasy is not too overbearing.
Monday, August 18, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
February, March, April, May (?!)
I've been reading this semester, I swear. Its just taken a long time and the semester was... challenging. Its all over now though so I can work at my leisure and post here too!
Earth Afire - Orson Scott Card
Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson
The Well of Ascension - Brandon Sanderson
The Hero of Ages - Brandon Sanderson
The Alloy of Law - Brandon Sanderson
WWW: Wake - Robert Sawyer
Feed - M.T. Anderson
The shitty thing is that its really been too long since I read Earth Afire to comment on it well. I think that I enjoyed it but wouldn't suggest it for anyone other than hardcore Card fans who want to know what happens.
The Mistborn series (all the Sanderson books) were amazing. Unapologetically fantasy though, so if you love fantasy check these out and otherwise stay far away. (I don't think these are the best intro-to-fantasy books, if you're looking to get into it but haven't enjoyed it in the past.)
WWW:Wake is some interesting and well written science fiction. Again, not the best for non-scifi folks, but Card fans (and other scifi fans in general) would like this.
Feed is also scifi, although its really aimed at a YA audience. If you get hung up on cliches and let-me-bang-you-over-the-head-with-how-I-can-reach-teens, don't go for this one. But if you've liked YA in the past, this is a great book and I think it brings up some interesting questions about where people thought the world was going 10 years ago, and where we are now.
Earth Afire - Orson Scott Card
Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson
The Well of Ascension - Brandon Sanderson
The Hero of Ages - Brandon Sanderson
The Alloy of Law - Brandon Sanderson
WWW: Wake - Robert Sawyer
Feed - M.T. Anderson
The shitty thing is that its really been too long since I read Earth Afire to comment on it well. I think that I enjoyed it but wouldn't suggest it for anyone other than hardcore Card fans who want to know what happens.
The Mistborn series (all the Sanderson books) were amazing. Unapologetically fantasy though, so if you love fantasy check these out and otherwise stay far away. (I don't think these are the best intro-to-fantasy books, if you're looking to get into it but haven't enjoyed it in the past.)
WWW:Wake is some interesting and well written science fiction. Again, not the best for non-scifi folks, but Card fans (and other scifi fans in general) would like this.
Feed is also scifi, although its really aimed at a YA audience. If you get hung up on cliches and let-me-bang-you-over-the-head-with-how-I-can-reach-teens, don't go for this one. But if you've liked YA in the past, this is a great book and I think it brings up some interesting questions about where people thought the world was going 10 years ago, and where we are now.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
November, December, January
Clearly I'm terrible about posting lately, but here goes:
The Magicians - Lev Grossman
The Magician King - Lev Grossman
Allegiant - Veronica Roth
Earth Unaware - Orson Scott Card
Earth is Room Enough - Isaac Asimov
Warbreaker - Brandon Sanderson
Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi
I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm missing a few books, but there's nothing to be done about that except update more often!
Both of the Grossman books are OK but not great. I enjoyed parts of each of them, and muddled through parts of each of them. If you are into fantasy, try them out. Otherwise, stay away.
Allegiant is the third in a trilogy (starting with Divergant). Seriously only read this if you've read the first two and just want to know what happens next. And even then... you might want to just read the wikipedia page...
Earth Unaware is the start of a prequel-to-Ender's Game-trilogy. I enjoyed it, but I am extremely biased when it comes to Card, so don't trust me. Read it if you enjoy scifi and/or Card's stuff, but not otherwise.
Earth is Room Enough is a collection of fantastic short stories by Isaac Asimov. I came to admire his skill after reading this book. Which says a lot because I usually hate short stories. Highly recommended, unless you hate scifi.
Warbreaker is a huge book that I found at the library when I was desperate for something to read. Sanderson has also authored Elantris which I was not hugely impressed by. Well Warbreaker has completely changed my opinion on Sanderson. I finished this behemoth in about 3 days and was very emotionally invested in the book. Only for fantasy folks of course, but if you are one you'll love it!
I re-read Persepolis while waiting for 2.5 hours at the DMV for my new license. Yes, after 7 years in this state I have finally made it official. This book is extremely well written and illustrated and tells an important story that should not be forgotten. Everyone should read it.
Aaannnnddd, now that the year is (long) over, the 2013 (approximate) count of books: 34! Which, shockingly, is 2 more than last year, although quite far from the 44 I read in 2011. Works out to ~1.5 weeks per book (~64% of a book per week)
The Magicians - Lev Grossman
The Magician King - Lev Grossman
Allegiant - Veronica Roth
Earth Unaware - Orson Scott Card
Earth is Room Enough - Isaac Asimov
Warbreaker - Brandon Sanderson
Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi
I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm missing a few books, but there's nothing to be done about that except update more often!
Both of the Grossman books are OK but not great. I enjoyed parts of each of them, and muddled through parts of each of them. If you are into fantasy, try them out. Otherwise, stay away.
Allegiant is the third in a trilogy (starting with Divergant). Seriously only read this if you've read the first two and just want to know what happens next. And even then... you might want to just read the wikipedia page...
Earth Unaware is the start of a prequel-to-Ender's Game-trilogy. I enjoyed it, but I am extremely biased when it comes to Card, so don't trust me. Read it if you enjoy scifi and/or Card's stuff, but not otherwise.
Earth is Room Enough is a collection of fantastic short stories by Isaac Asimov. I came to admire his skill after reading this book. Which says a lot because I usually hate short stories. Highly recommended, unless you hate scifi.
Warbreaker is a huge book that I found at the library when I was desperate for something to read. Sanderson has also authored Elantris which I was not hugely impressed by. Well Warbreaker has completely changed my opinion on Sanderson. I finished this behemoth in about 3 days and was very emotionally invested in the book. Only for fantasy folks of course, but if you are one you'll love it!
I re-read Persepolis while waiting for 2.5 hours at the DMV for my new license. Yes, after 7 years in this state I have finally made it official. This book is extremely well written and illustrated and tells an important story that should not be forgotten. Everyone should read it.
Aaannnnddd, now that the year is (long) over, the 2013 (approximate) count of books: 34! Which, shockingly, is 2 more than last year, although quite far from the 44 I read in 2011. Works out to ~1.5 weeks per book (~64% of a book per week)
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