Let me know if you have a suggestion for a book you'd think I like, or just a book you think is really good. :) (Doesn't have to be Scifi or Fantasy, I really should branch out.)
Reading Now
Legend by Marie Lu
Previously Read
The Last Changeling By Chelsea Pitcher- see review here.
Maximum Ride- The Angel Experiment, School's Out Forever, Saving the World and other Extreme Sports, The Final Warning, Max, Fang, Angel, Nevermore By James Patterson- review coming soon!
Grisha- Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, Rising and Ruin By Leigh Bardugo- see review here.
Chaos Walking- The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and The Answer, Monsters of Men By Patrick Ness- see review here.
Mortal Instruments Book 6- City of Heavenly Fire By Cassandra Clare- see review here.
Angelbound- Scala By Christina Bauer
Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Days of Blood and Starlight, Dreams of Gods & Monsters By Laini Taylor- see review here.
Uglies, Pretties, Specials By Scott Westerfeld- see review here.
Matched, Crossed, Reached By Ally Condie- see review here.
Graceling, Fire & Bitterblue By Kristin Cashore- see review here.
The Lunar Chronicles- Cinder, Scarlet, & Cress By Marissa Meyer- see review here.
The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, & The Death Cure By James Dashner- See review here.
Angelbound By Christina Bauer- See review here.
The Mortal Instruments & The Infernal Devices By Cassandra Clare
Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus By Rick Riordan
Divergent & Insurgent By Veronica Roth
Hunger Games, Catching Fire & Mockingjay By Suzanne Collins
All the Weyrs of Pern By Anne McCaffrey - This book was more science fiction than the rest of the series. It was good in and of itself. Though I didn't like the change, I'm not sure if it's the book or me. It was one of those read occasionally books and I eventually switched books, it just wasn't doing it for me.
Masterharper of Pern By Anne McCaffrey - I like the character of Robinton, but this was a rather sad book. I keep wishing that something good would happen to the poor man. I understand that she wanted to emphasize how good a person he became even though he'd gone through all this hardship. It makes the book hard to read when everything is all downer. I like books to make me happy, but that's just me.
Renegades of Pern By Anne McCaffrey - The book starts with a series several short snippets told by a variety of characters. It was rather confusing and I forgot about many of them by the time they were introduced. Some were really minor characters after all. I liked some of the stories, but most of them were just okay. The best one was of course Piemur's tale. My sister told me this was Anne McCaffery's attempt to write a book without Robinton, but she failed. I'm glad she did, once Robinton comes in the book improves dramatically.
The Harper Hall Trilogy By Anne McCaffrey (Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, Dragondrums) isn't as good as Dragon Riders of Pern where the main story and action takes place, but this side story is still a good read. Menolley and Piemur are good main characters. I only wish we got to seem more of Menolley's growing up in the three years between singer and drums.
Dragon Riders of Pern By Anne McCaffrey (Dragonflight, Dragonquest, The White Dragon) has a rich world full of interesting characters. I truly enjoyed this trilogy and read the entire thing in a week. I can understand why the short story Weyr Search was so popular it got made into a series. Not only are the dragonriders facing an mindless enemy, but also the political difficulties of dealing with the ruling lord holders. My favorite part is the bond between dragon and rider. The third book is told by Jaxom instead of Lessa and F'lar. but the story doesn't suffer for this. The Masterharper is and Mastersmith are particularly interesting characters. All of the characters truly feel like people, this is McCaffrey's strong suit.
The White Rose By Glen Cook continues the story of the Black Company. All of the characters still have an air of mystery about them, but where in the first book it made me curious and want to read more, by the third book I am annoyed that we still don't get to know any of the secrets dangled in our face over the course of the trilogy. Still a good book and certainly better than Shadows Linger, though too many of the good parts are told after the fact, instead of showing us what happened, as with Shadows Linger and Croaker's interactions with the Fallen. It was especially disappointing that during a certain discussion Croaker's memory is conveniently altered, so we don't get to hear anything at this critical part. Also, all three of the main tellers of this tale come off rather similar, complaining old men. I don't think I will bother reading the rest of the black company books.
Shadows Linger By Glen Cook isn't nearly as good as The Black Company. I don't like it when a sequel takes place so long after the first book, about 9 years have passed since last we heard from the Black Company. Cook did this so the war could advance, but I think it would have worked being only a couple of years later. The main problem with this book is the lack action that the other books have and too much of the story being told by an, in my opinion, unlikable throwaway character.
Lord Valentine's Castle By Robert Silverberg is a unique blend of science fiction and fantasy. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I especially like the way he describes all of the locations the characters travel through. The only part that bothered me was how he had so many characters and for long stretches we wouldn't hear anything about some of them.
Magician Apprentice & Magician Master By Raymond E. Feist I'm grouping the two, because they are really one book. The majority of apprentice is setup of the land and the characters, the action starting towards the end. Then it picks up the pace really getting good. It's a story mainly about war, though magic plays a large part. There are elves and dwarves, but this isn't another Tolkien copy, even if the beginning feels that way. Feist creates a unique world of his own.
The Black Company By Glen Cook is one of those books that you don't want to put down, but read in practically one go. It's not the story that grabbed me, but the way Cook tells it. The reader knows none of the characters back stories, ages or even real names, but the characters feel like real people which is what really makes the book. I kept reading wanting to know more about these people.
Arms Commander By LE Modesitte Jr. The most recent book in his Recluse series. Arms Commander takes place after Fall of Angels & The Chaos Balance chronologically. This time the tale is told from the point of view of Saryn, Westwind's Arms Commander, hence the title. After the fall of Cyador, Westwind and Lornth face enemies from both sides. This book follows the pattern of the rest of the series, filled with plenty of battles and magic. Overall an average Recluse novel, not up to the standards of Cerryl or Lorn's tales, my personal favorites, but still worth a read.
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