This time, I am looking back at series I’ve abandoned and why I did so, excluding the series abandoned by the writers as this is about my choice to leave them be.
Category Archives: Books
Reading: Narrator and spoilers
In this post, I’ll look into one specific type of narrative I encountered: one where the story is told by a narrator retrospectively and interrupted here and there with the narrator’s perspective. While my sample on this kind of narrative is small, it was enough to discover potential issues in that approach – something I’ll talk about now.
Continue readingBooks: thoughts about awards
With the annual Goodreads awards being upon us, I’ve decided to share my thoughts on the matter of awards in general – and how they (don’t) affect my choice of next book.
Book review: Drakin, the story of Raiya
After two Sci-Fi books (Jurrasic Park and Resist), I got to read a book that is some kind of a mix of Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Another step into the unknown for me – and one that worked for me.
Book review: Resist by M. Van
Book Review: Jurrasic Park
This is a read that was in the queue for a while – I bought it on sale around the release of the newest movie. Yet, it was something I was considering reading so I went for it.
Sci-fi thoughts: From human to cyborg
While I am mostly reading fantasy, I read a bit of Sci-Fi here and there and watch Sci-Fi movies more (lasers and explosions, yay!). So, here comes a Sci-Fi post inspired by a discussion on Goodreads about when one stops being human and starts being a cyborg.
Storytelling: Positive traits of antagonists
A few days ago, I was thinking a bit about the positive traits of ‘bad guys’. These thoughts came to me – how else – when I was lying in bed waiting for sleep to come. Even antagonists can have positive traits – and it’s not about the traits but how they use them that matters in the end.
As with my romance-related posts (#1, #2), the thoughts come primarily from fantasy genre but are not limited to it.
Significant inspiration comes from a post about character traits by M.L. Davis.
Continue readingRomance elements in fantasy, part two: endings
Not so long ago, I wrote about how I saw romance elements in fantasy. This time, I’ll continue from where I left off the last time and share my opinion on some of the possible ends and how I see them – positives and negatives in all cases. It’ll not be tied to fantasy in several cases as, I believe, these work in general.
Book review: Crusade
The trilogy started with Ordination and followed by Stillbright ends here. The looming threat of Braech’s followers is closing while followers of the Mother are recovering from the battle for Thornhurst.
By the battle’s end, the children of the corrupt Lionel Delondeur are prisoners of war and while they struggle to trust each other, it’s their armies that threaten the situation even more.
Along with those two, there are other visitors to Thornhurst: Allystaire’s sister and Garth, now her husband, along with the Iron Ravens. Cerisia. And, to my surprise, Rede.
The beginning takes a long time to deal with seeking a solution for Barony Delondeur and who of the two siblings would take the throne without causing even more damage. While that might sound like boring politics, the struggles around are ever-present as soldiers revolt against the pact Allystaire tries to forge.
In the meantime, there’s some development for Gideon who delves into mysteries of power and gods while getting some lessons from Allystaire and even others to not losing himself in it and to avoid doing something he might regret more than he’d be able to bear.
With the matters in Thornhurst settled, Allystaire creates a plan that would have the other Barons meet at the vineyards of Baron Innandan as guests of the only of them who ever tried to call for a peace council. Yet, Landen and Chaddin will find trouble in Londray as the servants of Braech tried to take over.
The new Baron Oyrwyn – the very same from which Allystaire ran away at the beginning of book one – tries to gain from the meeting and threatens the result, even if it could mean his own end. To not spoil much about his plan, I’ll only say that the number of times not only Allystaire had to keep himself from killing him were many and the young Baron would deserve his death many times over.
From there, the patchwork forces hurry to where Braech’s forces assault the weak spot of the war-torn land and the remains of Barony long-believed defeated hold the line for the others to arrive for the final battle. Both Braech and the Eldest sorcerer will face their deserved justice.
Read dates: 1.-8.9.2018
Published: 1.9.2018
Goodreads / Amazon links (very few ratings yet)
My rating: 95%
Length: 768 pages (Kindle edition)
My highlights
Many of the questions raised were answered, even if not all. Part of me is glad the book got an end that is truly an end. Even though it was revealed early that Symod leads the forces of Braech, it was still surprising where and how the final fight went down. It had several emotional moments, more so at the end. There’s probably much I could say but I can’t, not without massive spoilers.
Tomas - the wandering dreamer 
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