Tag Archives: 5-stars

Review: Brandon Sanderson – Mistborn

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Mistborn
Brandon Sanderson
Vin uses her Luck to get her out of bad situations. Little does she know that she is a powerful Mistborn, with the ability to use Allomancy on many different metals. She finds herself thrown in with a huge theiving crew, with the aim of ruining the Lord Ruler.
The introduction to this story is a bit slow, and I found myself wondering when things would warm up. I liked Vin, but it wasn’t quite enough. I persevered though, and ended up very pleased with the way the novel headed.
Vin transforms from a scared street brat into a lady with brilliance. That’s not to say she’s absolutely fantastic at pretending to be a lady at first, but that makes her character progression that much more believable.
Kelsier’s perspective, and that of the other crew members are refreshing when contrasted with Vin’s rather fatalistic and paranoid viewpoint. You don’t really gain that many insights into her character this way, but the rest of the narrative is good.
At the end, I simply couldn’t believe that he died! My mind kept wanting to suggest that there was some way he still lived. The trick with the Kandra was pretty inspired though. This part definitely set the tone for the other two novels as well.
A brilliant story that I couldn’t put down. Really highly recommended by me. I borrowed this from my older brother, who recommended it to me, and I can’t wait to be able to buy books and put it on my own shelves.

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Review: Mercedes Lackey – Take a Thief

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Take a Thief
Mercedes Lackey
Skif lives out on the streets, trying to find a spot of warmth and a bite to eat whenever and where ever he can. When his old mentor is murdered, little does Skif know that this will set him onto an entirely new path.

Skif’s one of those awesome protagonists that you admire for his bravery, skills and sense of humour. Yay, a male protagonist that I actually like! Well, I wouldn’t expect anything less from Lackey anyway.

The climax is pretty weak really. Some child slavers? And burnt buildings? An enemy that neither of them even mentioned before they were found. Not to mention that Lord Orthallen just ends up fine again – and it’s not really clear why he hates Skif in later books.
The descriptions of thievery are some of my favourite parts of the book. I skipped over some other parts of this novel on this reread – I’ve read it enough times that I remember basically everything anyway. A comforting, if not particularly exciting, read.
Skif livens up into a ‘normal’ child pretty easily. The Collegium accepts him – and clearly he can read and write. He fits in with the rest of his yearmates easily. Still, he does have an adult perspective. Not bad at all.

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Review: Tamora Pierce – Terrier

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Terrier
Tamora Pierce
Beka is a lower city Dog, a lawkeeper. With interesting informants, or Birdies, she must solve a number of unknown crimes in an area that noone else seems to care about.
I love Beka. She’s a heroine with faults, which makes her ever so much more likeable. And she is aware of most of those, which endears the reader to her even more.
When I read this novel for the first time, I hated the journal format, longing for the more familiar third person prose of Pierce’s other books. I settled into it though, and now I really appreciate that the action is compacted.
The dust spinners and pigeons add a bit of light heartedness to the novel. Who ever hear of the dead and voices speaking through those? Pounce too adds a little humour. There’s little to laugh about most of the time, Beka is so serious about her job.
The ending of this novel comes as a bit of a surprise, or at least some parts of it do, so that makes it way more exciting. A good, solid teenage read that I’d recommend to any teenager who loves fantasy and strong female heroines.

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Review: Mercedes Lackey – The White Gryphon

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The White Gryphon
Mercedes Lackey
The city of the Black Gryphon has been in operation for 10 years after the collapse of Urtho’s empire. Now threatened by the black skinned owners of their land, Skan and Amberdrake are threatened as never before.
Skan returns – but he’s fat and bored with life. The novel here sees him getting back into shape, but also being saved only by the smidgen of luck. The same goes for Amberdrake. Sometimes it feels like they’ll use up all their luck just being alive!
I would have liked to see more of the regular life at the settlement, and more of the black people’s lands. But I guess you can’t fit everything into one novel.
The action isn’t bad, even if there isn’t really much suspense, because the reader already knows who and what is happening. You feel sure that they are going to triumph. You don’t even like the people who are murdered!
Something I disliked about this novel were how the partners of the men were basically ignored as sideeffects and weren’t really given much of their own say. This was particularly true of Zaneel.
Although I was intending on reading all of this trilogy in a row, this novel put me off reading them for a bit. For me, these novels are some of the weaker ones in the series.

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Review: Mercedes Lackey – A Cast of Corbies

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A Cast of Corbies
Mercedes Lackey
Raven has been made unofficial leader of the Free Bards. Little does he know that things aren’t going to be the same at the faire – and that they might need to work harder than ever to make their livings.
Raven’s a neat guy character. He’s got that element of being rakeish that appeals to me, yet he’s really an understanding bloke at heart. Magpie on the other hand, I don’t feel much sympathy for her insecurities and wish she’d just get over it!
To some extent, this novel is not very interesting. There’s no real antagonistic figure other than the Church and the Guild, and that’s been the case in all the other novels of this series. The beginnings of the love interest between Raven and Magpie is ok, as is Jaysen and Linnet’s, but again, it’s nothing remarkable.
There’s some really neat one liners and coincidences that make the novel for me. Plus, I really like the play, and the way the music would have fit in with it. I only wish I could have seen a performance of it.
I managed to knock this novel over in around 3 hours, which I think is typical for me, even though I have read it before. It wasn’t a waste of 3 hours, and it made a nice change from the other Valdemar novels I have been reading recently.

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Review: Mercedes Lackey – Exile’s Honor

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Exile’s Honor
Mercedes Lackey

Alberich has been rescued from almost certain death by the fires of Karse. But did he really want to be rescued? Drowning in a new culture, there is little he can do to save himself.

Alberich is one of my favourite male protagonists in the Valdemar series. He’s always thinking hard, and his honor is the most important thing about him. I could read about him all day, and wish that this was a trilogy.

Nothing about this novel is boring. It’s cut into three sections to make the action move faster, and it really works. The war is as dangerous and action filled as you would desire.

The Herald chronicler, Myste, adds a nice counterpoint to Alberich’s unapologetic masculinity. I only wish there was more on her. It’s funny to imagine her, because the descriptions are all from Alberich’s fit point of view.

I could have sworn that I had read and reviewed this novel already, so I paid less attention to taking notes on what I enjoyed about it as I went along. Oops!

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Review: Mercedes Lackey – Arrows of the Queen

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Arrows of the Queen
Mercedes Lackey
Talia has been freshly Chosen, but she doesn’t understand what that means. Thrown into the dangerous world of the court of Queen Selenay, she must find her feet quickly or drown in the doing so.
Talia is one of the strong female heroines that makes Lackey’s writing so powerful for me. Her shaky beginnings only make her better in my eyes, and her love of music is a minor note that makes me happy too.
It amazes me every time the skill with which this first novel in Valdemar was written. There’s bits that tie in with the other novels she has written in the series, and also tight links into the other books in the series.
Amazingly, some parts of the book made me want to cry! I’ve reread it a bunch of times, and it always surprises me the way it pulls my heartstrings.
It’s nice to see a stable lesbian relationship portrayed in a positive light, and that gives the book some additional thumbs up from me.

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Review: Mercedes Lackey – The Oathbound

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The Oathbound
Mercedes Lackey
Tarma and Kethry are unlikely companions, mage and warrior. Bound together to go against bandits, they’ve stuck together to get Tarma home to the plains to claim her birthright. There’s plenty in the way before the can fulfill that though.
176797It would have been nice to have a little more backstory from both Tarma and Kethry. Nevertheless, the bit you get about Tarma isn’t bad. If there’s a deficit, it’s that the magic that Kethry practices is nothing like what you see in other novels, and more of that would have been good too!
Most of the story seems to be told from the perspective of Tarma, which suits me just fine, just haven’t read a bunch about Kerowyn (Kethry’s granddaughter). Tarma is a sexless warrior, absolutely skilled in the blade. She’s not cold though, she cares about her people and Kethry.
This is the first outing of the sword, Need. Need plays an important role in ‘By the Sword’ and also the novels with Elspeth and Darkwind (the Winds trilogy).
I made the mistake of reading this, and then reading the second book straight afterwards. Now I can’t remember what I really liked about this novel! I did like it though.

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Review: Mercedes Lackey – The Black Gryphon

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The Black Gryphon
Mercedes Lackey
Skan is a powerful gryphon, a creation of the mage Urtho. Fearless and brave, little does he know he’s going to fall for a cull gryphon. With the help of his friend Amberdrake, they will have to overcome the final treachery.
There’s so many tiny storylines in this novel that you hardly get a sense of the overall war. However, it’s clear that there is a war going on, and that most of this would not have happened if not for the selfish ways of Ma’ar.
In some ways, this novel sets up the Winds trilogy with Elspeth. Ma’ar also appears in those novels, and the reason why is shown at the very end of this novel. I still don’t understand exactly why he hates gryphons, but he does with a passion.
I’m happy that Amberdrake is able to find someone to keep him company, even though it’s not what you would expect! There’s no real antagonistic figure except Conn, and you don’t know how important he is going to be until the end.
Normally changing perspectives would drive me nuts. Here though they serve well, because I’d get bored of Skan’s hissing speech and Amberdrake’s superior attitude pretty quickly.
I didn’t get a sense of terrain. This novel was about the people and animals. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I’m pointing it out nonetheless.

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Review: Tamora Pierce – Trickster’s Queen

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Trickster’s Queen
Tamora Pierce
Aly has survived the summer. Now she returns to the city, and must protect Sarai and Dove even more carefully, in order to set one of them on the throne.
Aly really comes into her own in this novel. The few things about the first novel, where she doesn’t seem suited to a life of slavery, are entirely suitable to this novel. She’s independent, she’s finally trusted, she just needs to make sure she doesn’t become over confident.
I like Dove. She’s sensible, and really has her head on straight. She’s much more likeable than the headstrong Sarai. The other characters, mainly the leaders of the rebellion, also ring true for me.
The love interest with Nawat is really understated and won’t have your teenager going ‘ugh’. Adult readers might wish for a bit more action, but it wouldn’t be fitting with the rest of the novel.
Readers will be unsurprised by the ending, but pleased by it nonetheless. I think there was only one way it could have ended, and so of course it does end in that way. Predictable but true.
Something I possibly should have mentioned about the first book in this series as well is the wonderful world building. Just like The Immortals Quartet, it’s good to see some world outside Tortall for a change. It shows that Pierce has really thought about the whole universe, not just the mainland.

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