NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER READS

November and December tend to fly by in a flurry. Thankfully, I still had some great reads that I fit into the joyful craziness of the end of the year. 

NOVEMBER

1. Murder By Other Means


Another fun 4/5 mystery-thriller set in a fascinating alternate version of our world

While I wasn't certain if this follow up to The Dispatcher would have anything new to say, it actually brings some awesome new ideas to the table and develops the characters in some brilliant ways. I think anyone who enjoyed the first novella, should absolutely give this one a try. 
 

2. The Sunlit Man


A breakneck 4/5 action adventure with tons of Cosmere developments

This is by far the fastest-paced book I think Sanderson has ever done before. While I kind of enjoyed the action-movie style of narrative, I also think there could have been a little more space left for character interactions. While the core cast is fine, many of the side characters fell incredibly flat which is rather unusual for a Sanderson book. Thankfully the plot was fantastic and the Cosmere connections were quite engaging. 
 

3. Starbinder


A nice 4/5 read that expands upon the lore and intrigue from Timmony's debut

While I was a little hot and cold on the first mainline novel in the Eye of Eternity series, this prequel novella worked quite well for me. It's chaotic and confusing at the start but the way things come together and the layers of lore that it adds to the world made for an enjoyable experience. 
 

4. The Blood of the Spear



A  3/5 fantasy adventure with some amazing worldbuilding

Classic fantasy can be very hit or miss for me, but this one was a little bit of both. The characters did not connect with me and I had some issues with certain aspects of the storytelling, but I fell in love with the world that has been lovingly crafted here and found myself fascinated by it's lore.


DECEMBER

1. Travel By Bullet

A fantastic 4/5 follow up to Scalzi's fascinating supernatural mystery procedural

Somehow the novellas in this series manage to keep getting better with this being by far the strongest of the three. If there are more novellas in this series coming then I will be sure to eat those right up. If this is the end of Tony's adventures, then it's quite a satisfying finale to go out on. 
 

2. Ascender Volume 3


A 4/5 installment that finally kicks things into gear

I've had a mixed experience with Ascender so far, particularly when it comes to it's pacing. In this most recent volume, things are starting to come together and I found myself really appreciating the pieces that are falling into place. There's still a lot that needs to happen in the final volume for this to be as satisfying as Descender was, but I am optimistic that the groundwork for something truly epic and awesome has been laid. 
 

As we head into 2025  I'm not really sure what I'll be getting up to. I have some writing goals I'd like to give more focus too as well as decently-sized physical backlog to get through, so I think my focus will likely be in those areas. I did begin Wind and Truth on audio in December, so that will be rolling over for sure. I don't know if I'll finish it in January or February, as I am working my way through it at a pace that suits me. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MINI REVIEW: IMPACT WINTER SEASON 2

Image
A child of the winter... After being so pleasantly surprised by  IMPACT WINTER  and Audible original audio dramas in general, I was thrilled to find out that a second season had been released this year.  HOW I RATED IT  4/5  The sophomore season for IMPACT WINTER didn't quite wow me the same way that the original did, but I still found myself really enjoying coming back to this vampire apocalypse and following Darcy and Hope as they try to find a way to overthrow the vampire queen.  CONTENT Things pick up after a short time skip since the first season. Hope and Penelope are acting as the primary enforcers for their hideout while Darcy and Felix have made a home within an old blood harvesting colony. A lot has changed for these characters, but the story for this season follows an almost identical pattern to the first. There is some initial intrigue that sets the stage, but a lot of time early on is spent on relationship drama. This does end up paying off in...
Read more

REVIEW: DEFIANT (SONGS OF CHAOS #3)

Image
Sons of the night... In the spirit of continuing to catch up on series I've started, I decided to read the third available book in the Songs of Chaos series, mistakenly thinking it was the last.  HOW I RATED IT  4/5  In spite of my incorrect belief that this was the last book in a trilogy, I had a great deal of fun with the third entry into the SONGS OF CHAOS series.  NOTE:  While this review does not contain major spoilers for  DEFIANT , it does mention specific things about  ASCENDANT  and UNBOUND that could be considered as such.   CHARACTERS As with the previous book, this adventure is told across multiple points of view. Holt, Talia, and Osric all return as key persons of interest and are now joined by others like the half-dragon Rake as well as Paragon Adaskar at different points. Even though each had their own mission, I felt like their stories were much more connected this time around. This might be because they were each tryin...
Read more

REVIEW: THE SWORD OF KAIGEN

Image
Long live the emperor... THE SWORD OF KAIGEN is widely lauded as some of the best that Indie Fantasy has to offer. I'd heard so many wonderful things about it, that I stupidly splurged for the gorgeous Wraithmarked Kickstarter edition even though I'd never read this before. Thankfully that purchase paid off in the end.  HOW I RATED IT  5/5  M.L. Wang's acclaimed novel is one of the few instances where I personally felt that a hugely popular book actually lived up to all it's hype. Intricate world design, devastatingly beautiful character arcs, and some explosive action sequences kept me hanging on Wang's every word. CHARACTERS While this story balances characters and plot wonderfully, I think it is worth noting that every single character in this book felt so vividly real to me and I was fully invested in everything that happened to them. This novel isn't really an ensemble situation. The perspective does shift between Misaki and her son, Mamoru within many of t...
Read more