I’m writing a review on just the first chapter of this book for right now. Balcony of Fog. I entered a bunch of giveaways on Book Riot, forgetting about it, and this book arriving in the mail sometime later. Hey, free book, sure. I had no idea what This book contained.
The description is “A toiler from post-nuclear America meets a mysterious woman who escapes with him to the cloud realm, where sublimity and nightmare mix to illuminate the tension between the power of love and the love of power.”
All I’ve read so far is chapter one, which is 28 pages long. I’m not sure if I will continue reading or not at this point.
Chapter one opens during a storm and since men are trying to repair a breakage. Arden, our main character, attempts to rescue a man against the orders of his superior. Thus being beaten and left for dead. Arden wakes up some time later alone. He makes his way back to town, but makes a stop at a secret ravine where he has been building a boat. I did not really follow most of that myself to retelling it briefly was difficult. It seemed to be saying a lot of nothing and missing a lot of marks that would have helped. No descriptions of why this guy wants to beat him up beyond disobeying a single order to help a coworker. Lots of explaining about how it’s raining.
A woman appears, naked. Beautiful? Don’t know what color her hair or eyes are or what makes her beautiful. In that case, what about Arden? What does he look like?? She claims to be running from the storm who happens to actually be a person? All we know right now is her name is Estra and that the storm is Ingis and her ex who she is running away from.
Arden sneaks her into town and to his room, which is forbidden. There is some talk about god’s and fear. The society seems very strict and terrible. Arden wants to escape and have a better life, even though it seems weird for him to know to want anything different than he has ever known so far. That’s just my thought at this point. Maybe it explains more later.
Then, they make love. Why? Cause they can! Okay, sure. Why not. They’ve only known each other for maybe two hours at this point. Now they’re in love and it doesn’t seem new in any way. Zero build up of chemistry other than simple physical attraction. They make love twice in fact. And now she’s going to run away with him. Because love.
If that sounds like something you’d like and want to try, go right ahead! I don’t think I’ll be continuing much farther into this book. I might give it another chapter or two just to see. Its also got a ton of similar bad reviews on goodreads. A lot of people got the book free and didn’t want or ask for it. Its just a terrible.
I’ll just go ahead and say that now. This was so much better than I expected. Finding a rating for this was difficult. Once it was over it had to marinate in my head. It only took a few minutes thinking back on all the events that happened in the book to realize how much I loved it. Especially the last half. It took me a few chapters to really get excited to pick it up again and not be able to put it down.
To give you a short non-spoiler summary if you don’t know anything about this book I’ll give it to you in 10 words. That’s a thing I want to do now: 10 word summaries. Here goes: Girl finds giant alien statue and global fame/dreams ensue.
Now a little more detailed description. April May finds a giant alien statue in New York City that she makes a video of with her friend and it goes viral. She named it Carl on a whim. Fame comes quickly to them and she becomes an alien ambassador/symbol. A dream begins to plague the world, being spread person to person starting from April. Puzzles in said lucid dreams must be solved by working together. Weird things happen with Carl. Ending is a disaster and a cliffhanger. The end. I think that sums everything up quickly and vaguely?
First of all…what kind of name is April May? Her parents must have been idiots or mean. They are described as incredibly nice and supportive, but that name is just bad. Coming from the girl who imagine that was her name as a kid. I know how that it isn’t good.
I know a lot of people don’t like April. She is a self-centered impulsive brat. However, she’s also sarcastically funny and determined. She’s addicted to mass attention so she makes a lot of mistakes with her friends. It’s human.
April has a few monologues at the beginning of a few chapters. The story is more of a commentary of April looking back on events and explaining her side of things. I didn’t agree with some of her points, like the “tiers of fame” was kind of silly.
This is a science-fiction young adult book. It has aliens, sort of. There are alien statues that are ten feet tall. 64 all over the world exactly alike. When something happens to one it happens to them all. I would have loved a little bit more happen with Carl. He was neat. There was the shared dreams thought to be caused by Carl. The dream world was very interesting and it was the exact same for everyone. Except April. It had puzzles to be solved working together to get a string of passcodes. What were the codes for? I still don’t know. Neither does April, I think. (That’s what a sequel is for. I hope.)
All in all it was a pretty good book. It also features pop culture, a female president, diversity, humor, science, action, friendship, humanity, a bad annoying guy you just want to punch. I had to immediately begin the sequel. I don’t want to give away too much more. I think you should read it for yourself.
The Lunar Chronicles #1 – a Cinderella inspired sci-fi.
4/5 Stars. The prose needs a lot of work. Spoilers to follow, of course.
Overall, I really enjoyed this novel. I look forward to continuing the series, eventually. (I’m going alphabetically so it’s not time yet.)
Cinder is a cyborg in New Beijing in the distant future. She was adopted by her “stepfather” (why she calls everyone step when she’s adopted is beyond me) and he dies shortly after. Her “stepmother” is atrocious, because this is Cinderella. Surprisingly, Cinder does get along with her younger stepsister, Peony. There is a plague going on that is incurable (that seems kind of relatable actually). The moon is now occupied by the Lunars, who happen to now have a bioelectrical ability to control peoples feelings and how they are see. If they don’t use their powers they go crazy…but to use their powers is to manipulate everyone around you? That is a very poorly designed magic system….
So, Cinder is a renowned mechanic, because she’s a cyborg so why not. She’s hated and not seen as human for being a cyborg. There are so many things wrong with this future, you’d think people wouldn’t be so bad eventually. Guess not. We wouldn’t have a story otherwise, however. Back on track, Prince Kai comes to Cinder’s repair book for help with an android and things begin from there. You think they fall in love? Well, mostly you’re right. Until he finds out she’s a cyborg. And (SPOILER) Lunar. Earthen’s hate Lunars and vise versa. That makes a lot of sense considering. Another spoiler, Cinder is the long lost thought dead princess of Lunar.
Other characters include; Peony who catches the plague, the one person her actually loved her! Iko, her little assistant android is adorable and weird, but not actually alive. Dr. Erland who studies her and is also Lunar but going crazy for not really using his power, he’s on Cinder’s side as well. Kai, the handsome prince who isn’t ready to be Emporor after his parents die to the plague. The rest of the family; Adri and Pearl, mother and sister respectfully, both awful. and Levana, the evil Lunar queen.
To not give much else away with the plot and to keep this nice and short; for all it’s problems I did really enjoy reading this. After the first few chapters I was hooked and couldn’t stop. I felt Cinder’s personality was relatable and understandable. She just wanted to be free and normal. What she got was so much worse. I’m excited to see where her story goes in the sequels. Does she get the prince eventually or what?? We will see next time in the Lunar Chronicles.
After I read The Murder on the Orient Express, I figured I should read some more books by the renowned Dame Agatha Christie. First up is And Then There Were None, hence the title. This the first book of 2021 that I started and finished. Rhythm of War was started in November and finished in January. I wish I had read it faster, but I also enjoy taking my time. For a long time I wasn’t ready to get it out of my head and start anything new that wasn’t related to the Cosmere. I did it, though. I listened to the audio for And Then There Were None and it was a fast listen. It took me 5 days. It is a short book, however. On to the review! With spoilers.
3/5 Stars, unfortunately.
I wanted to like this book a lot more than I actually did. It was hyped up a little too much due to it’s reputation. After Orient Express, this was a bit of a let down with a lot of similarities. I enjoyed it enough to finish it, but the ending reveal was too neatly tied in a bow.
The novel was first published in 1039 with a very racially offensive title; Ten Little N*****s. It was also the title of the feature children’s poem that the story revolved around. Regardless of the UK’s view on the word (they don’t see the word quite as negatively as the US does), especially at the time period, the US smartly retitled it immediately to And Then There Were None, from the last five words of said poem. I found this tidbit to be rather interesting and shocking at the same time. Honestly, I’m surprised the US renamed it so quickly considering it’s own racist views even today. The poem now consists of 10 little soldiers, instead, with the island being called Soldier Island. Soldier obviously replacing all mentions of the offensive word. The UK version now uses the term Indian.
The poem plays a major role in the novel as it’s featured in the bedrooms over the mantel and is the mode of death for the actual people on the island. This part of the plot is a fun idea. The mystery comes to who, why, and when, not so much the how. Also, who is doing the killing. The 10 people on the island are brought under false pretenses and find themselves trapped for supposedly murdering other people. They are the only people on the island. Fascinating!
Who is the killer? Is it one of them? Who is going to die next? They slowly go mad and desperate. Eventually, no one is left. Still, the mystery remains unsolved. The police can’t figure it out either. Until an epilogue of a letter in a bottle describing everything in admittance by the killer. Very slowly do they explain why and how this all happened and their identity is hinted at, then revealed at the very end. I don’t like that bit. It seems to convenient for a letter to explain everything. The killer never got away with it, they died too! Supposedly they were dying anyways, which is hinted at in the letter. Why? We shall never know. Something about a surgery. So many questions still!
So, all in all it’s a decent mystery novel. Not the best, but good. I would like to see it as a movie. Apparently there is a 2015 mini series. I’ll have to check that out. I do recommend it for mystery lovers and to anyone who wants to read Agatha Christie since it’s one of her most notable pieces. Her next novel I plan to read is Death on the Nile. Kenneth Branagh is directing this as well and it’s meant to be released this year in September, after the success of his Murder on the Orient Express (which is what made me read that one).
This post contains SPOILERS for Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson. Book 4 of the Stormlight Archives.
This isn’t going to a full on review. There is just so much to cover and not a lot of time for something like that. If you’re interested in that then I suggest YouTube. There are lots of channels for that. Especially 17th Shard. So much content! What I am going to do is list out the Top 5 best moments and the Worst 5. In my own opinion! Not in any particular order, mainly ordered by whatever comes to mind first. So to keep this short and sweet, hopefully, let’s just jump in!! Don’t forget, there will be spoilers.
1- Kaladin
Kaladin goes through a remarkable amount of things as usual, but maybe a little amped up. He’s released from duty and trying to find his new way, dealing with depression, losing people left and right in various ways, his father hates him, and he loses some of his abilities and Syl for a time. It all ends up leading to the 4th Ideal as suspected. The journey before destination was done so well. His overall arc is so sad, but turns out so satisfying. I would have liked to see a bit of his relationship with Lyn, it was all off screen before the book even started. It was a shocking moment that was then over on a blink of an eye, if not even quicker than that.
2- Venli and Eshoni Flashbacks
I did not care for Venli’s chapters or the flashbacks. Yes, it was nice to see some inner workings of the Singers and Fused, but it was also on the annoying side. Reading of their attuned to emotions got a bit old in book one. Eshoni’s final chapter was beautiful. It was nice to see her get some closure for her life. Venli didn’t feel particularly sympathetic, even when she was trying to redeem herself. I have seen that some people didn’t care for her parts either until the end and some loved it all. I wish Venli trusted and listened to Timbre a lot more than she did, which was not at all.
3- Navoni
Navani gets to be a badass and have her moment finally. We see how bad her marriage with Gavilar was and watch her grow into confidence under Raboniel’s guide, even if she was technically a prisoner. Honestly, being a prisoner for Raboniel in particular was such a good thing for Navoni. She would never have discovered all the things she did otherwise. I wasn’t much of a Navoni fan before, she was just kind of there, being useless. Now, she’s a little more useful. At the same time, but Rlain. He was meant to bond Sibling. How cool would that have been?? He does end up with a spren of his own eventually so it works out, I suppose.
4- Taravangian
What a douche. I never did like him. Now he’s literally an evil God. What the heck, Sanderson. And we shouldn’t even be surprised after Sazed became Harmony! We knew it was possible. His scheming little smart mouth. I don’t think he ever had good intentions. I don’t even have to say that I hope he is defeated by Honor’s champion in book five. I kinda hope the champion isn’t Dalinar, but it seems like it will be. I don’t know who I hope it ends up being.
5- Raboniel
What an amazing villain. I don’t even hate her. She was fascinating. I don’t think she was ever actually mean to anyone. Tough, but not mean. She encouraged Navoni. She was patient with Venli. Sure, she took over the tower and let her people do a few questionable things. She spied on Navoni’s conversations with the Sibling and counter acted to trap Kaladin, then fought him. I wouldn’t say she was mean about it, though. She is still a villain after all. Just a pretty cool one. I hope we get to see more of her in flashbacks.
6- Shallan/Herself
I wanted to slap Shallan so much. I had to remind myself that her mental illness is the problem and you can’t really do much about that. I just wanted her to face this thing already. It had been a year, time to stop hiding and put your big girl pants on. She can’t and I understand that. She did eventually though! Sorta. She absorbed Veil and Formless emerged for a moment before being taken care of, as far as we know. Shallan had a badass moment with Mraize at the end telling him off and being decisive. I would have liked to see a little more of this trip with more eventful happenings than just travelling and a trial, but less of the spying. It does seem like a boring trip for screentime. Shadesmar isn’t exactly thrilling, ever.
7-Maya/Adolin
Oh my, I love this couple! I loved that Adolin helped Maya so much that eventually she was able to speak for herself! Still such a long way to go, but it is amazing so far. Adolin is such a sweetheart caring about her and Shallan. Granted he shakes off too many things that Shallan has done without any questions expect to tease. Unconditional love is great, but be smart. Work on that brain a bit, bud. I do hope to see more of Maya and Adolin in the future. More now would have been nice. Unfortunately to see full Maya they have to be in Shadesmar.
8- Moash and Teft
Eff Moash. Nuff said. Crying for Teft!! The poor man finally getting things right and doing so good for himself and he dies. The worst thing Moash could have done! He better die soon. Even off screen would be fine. He trips and breaks a neck or something. Or Kaladin comes for him on page. Either way. Maybe with the rest of Bridge 4 at his back helping, finally knowing what Moash did. They still don’t know! Kaladin should have just gotten it over with in the beginning. I’m F*** Moash.
9- Cosmere content
So much Cosmere! Every chapter seemed to have some sort of mention to another planet or worldhopper. You know what I noticed earlier today, days after having finished the book? NIGHTBLOOD AND VASHER ARE IN THE TOWER TOGETHER AT ONE POINT AND NEVER INTERACT!! As far as we know. Did Nightblood really not sense Vasher nearby?? Oh goodness. And then we have Kelsier as the Ghostblood leader. So many others than I’m sure I’m forgetting.
10- It ended.
What else can I say? I want more and I don’t want to wait until 2022! I understand Brandon Sanderson needs some time away from such a heavy and big world.
I hope to see Rock come back. I don’t know who the focus is for 5, maybe Szeth? Szeth and Kaladin on a road trip! That’ll be interesting. Wait so Kaladin won’t be around for the fight or being in 10 days they leave after….? I also want to see what more the tower can do now with the Sibling and Navoni bonded. How will the airships progress, what do they decide on for fabriel’s, can we see more of Renarin, more of Wit and Jasnah’s relationship, and everything else! I need more.
I posted a review for All Systems Red, the first novella of this series, already. I’ve since been sort of binge reading the rest. I wanted to finish it all before I wrote another review, doing it all at once.
This series is so fascinating. It has an over arching storyline covering 4 novellas and 1 novel. Beginning with how Murderbot, a Security Unit (SecUnit for short), first meets Dr. Mensah. She doesn’t appear in every book, but she is a big factor overall and SecUnit’s favorite human. The relationships that All Systems Red and Rogue Protocol introduce is the winning factor that keeps the story so good.
SecUnit is learning to be a person. He wants to be free, but to keep doing his job and watch his serials. Oh the comfort of The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon, his favorite. His friendship with ART, a transport ship, is hilarious. Their arguments and how they help each other is so enduring. It’s the best part.
It was hard to keep track of who was who and the relationships between the humans via audiobook. I couldn’t easily go back to remember something. Seeing names and places written down is much easier for me to remember. I am very much visual for retaining information.
5/5 After All Systems Red came Artificial Condition. SecUnit is searching for information about his supposed rogue murders that occured before All Systems Red began. He meets ART, a research transport, and some nice humans when he pretends to be an augmented human and applies to be their security consultant. I love ART, the humans aren’t too bad either.
4/5 Rogue Protocol continues SecUnit’s search for the truth. He also happens to get some information for Dr. Mensah and sends it to her family. I’m not crazy about the storyline with the robot, Miki, and his humans. It wasn’t bad either, though.
4/5 Exit Strategy, SecUnit heads “home” to reunite with Mensah and team. This one felt a little off compared to the others. I’ll be honest- I don’t remember a lot of details of this one. The stories are all overarching so it all blended together.
5/5 Network Effect is the full novel about SecUnit being kidnapped along with Mensah’s “daughter” by ART to help get ART’s crew back from some corrupted colonists. The relationships, again, were the best part of the story. SecUnit is mad at ART and ART is just as stubborn not admitting it needed help. They eventually make up and are besties.
The world building, if you can call it building, is so good. SecUnit doesn’t see the need to explain some details that he takes for granted and doesn’t actually care about himself, it’s just matter of fact. The rest is flushed out enough that it feels so real.
I hope there will be more to this series. It sort of felt like there could be. I wouldn’t mind more novellas or full novels, I just want more.
I’m sorry if this was a jumbled incoherent post. It was some time between finishing 3 or 4 stories before I got around to writing this. I highly recommend this series if you are looking for a sci-fi with a bit of humor. And now it’s been even longer since I even got around to posting this.
I used to read a lot. I didn’t keep track so I couldn’t tell you exactly, but I was a bookworm I fell out of reading for the most part some time ago. I’m definitely a mood reader. for the longest time my older brother was my library. I read what he recommended or already had on his shelf. Then, I moved out when I got married and didn’t have that. Didn’t have as much time for it.
For the last few years I have made Goodreads challenges in attempts to remedy that. I set it to 24 books in 2018. I read a total of 15 books. Okay, not terrible considering. I had set it rather high for getting started again. In 2019 I set it for 20 books. A little lower but higher than the success of 15 from 2018. Now, in 2020, I set the goal for 10 books. A measly 10. However! This year has been incredibly different. For everyone. A Pandemic. A worldwide spread of a virus with no cure and a high death rate. Yeah, I still only read 2 books from January to September. See, I had a baby in March, so I wasn’t exactly thinking about books 90% of the time.
I discovered Booktube in September. I forget exactly how I came across it. Yes, around 3 months later and I don’t remember already. Can you blame me? I do remember that the first Booktuber I saw was Hailey in Bookland. Must have just popped up my feed somehow. From there I discovered the community of Booktube and Bookstagram. After about a week Iade my own channel!! And an instagram account just for books. After 3 videos I gave up. I live with my in-laws, my husband, and an infant. I also happen to work part-time essentially. (Bakery clerk in a major grocery store, not as exciting as it sounds.)
So I do a lazy instagram for what I’m reading as I go. I’m not one of those fancy photography and question of the day types. I see lots of those, I follow several and love them. I don’t have time or energy or the right camera/props for that. Mainly books. I don’t have access to most of my physical books right now and use ebooks and audio primarily. Those don’t go for great pictures. I do what I can.
Hailey in Bookland
Thus I decided a blog was my perfect solution! No video or personal pictures and I can tell you about what I’m reading! I also have a twitter that I tend to do some running commentary of the books at times. So here I am! It’s December and the end of a year. A very globally terrible rotten no good year. And I am wrapping it up in a neat christmas bow.
Back to my Goodreads challenge of 2020. As of discovering Booktube the need and urge to read has (clearly) taken a hold of me again and I have so much more motivation and recommendations for reading! I hit my goal of 10 books and upped it to 15! Not including any re-reads. I hit that mark and I’m just going to see where December takes me for the rest.
I am a big Fantasy reader. Most of what I read is fantasy, be it adult or young adult, or even middle school. I’ve read a few non-fantasy here and there over the years. With my new found motivation, and some inspiration from Booktube videos, I decided to give it a go at broadening my horizons. Try new genres. Get a little dirty in the genre field. (Yeah, that was bad sorry.) I read 7 books with zero magic in it. Some sci-fi, some fiction, and a few urban fantasy (modern world with supernatural/magic). My favorite book this year has been the novella series The Murderbot Diaries. I am still on #3 right now. Also, Dawnshard but I don’t want to add that in as it feels like part of Rhythm of War (though not technically) that I’m currently reading and don’t want to count that just yet.
Screenshot of my Bookstagram
So that’s my wrap up for 2020 in a sweetened condensed milk version. I could go into the books themselves more, but they all already have reviews of their own. This is already long enough and I’m not even done.
2021 ya’ll!!! I doubt it’ll be much different to be honest. What will be different is my reading! Normally my new year resolutions are the typical exercise. Don’t eat junk. Et cetera. Et cetera. This year my resolution will be to read more genres and more books in general. I will set my Goodreads challenge to *drum roll* 30 books! Just kidding. I read 12 books just since September under the new fire power. At that rate I could do 50! Give or take. I have a list and it currently only has 48 books listed for 2021. Yes, I made a list for the entire year. I might do a drastic change still, however.
My TBR list is a spreadsheet. Google Docs and Sheets is my life. I got bored at a summer job last year and made a spreadsheet of kpop history of events over a span of 12 years for a single group. For fun. It was a bit extensive. Yup.
Right now I have each month divided into genres. January, month of resolutions and the beginning of new things is autobiography/biography. You’d think it’d be self-help. You’d be wrong. I don’t think I’d read a self-help just for fun. Now, I did put in two months for fantasy. Its my favorite so why not? It was hard to choose 12, or 11, different genres that I could actually see myself reading more than one book in. I had planned 4 books each month. Now, my new plan that I will write out and test is to do it by seasons, 4 quarters in other words. I haven’t worked out any other details about it yet. Honestly, I kind of forgot about it. Oops. I will work on that this week and share it when I have it all figured out. If you ever care.
My TBR spreadsheet. It clearly needs some love and updating.
Finally, I want t o make a post schedule. It’ll help keep me organized. I love organization and lists (clearly). So far my idea is to post twice a week. Maybe Monday and friday, not to include randomly timed book reviews. That’s more than I do right now! But I am still in a learning curve and it’s the holidays now so forgive me.
That’s all I have for my 2021 goals right now. Thank you for sticking around to the end. I know it’s so long. I hope you keep sticking around and I will see you guys next time! Oh and Merry Christmas!
Dawnshard is the new novella in The Stormlight Archive, occuring 3 months after the events in Oathbringer. It follows along Rysn, a Thaylen merchant we saw before during interludes, and Lopen, the once one-armed Herdazian now Radiant, on their adventure to discover an Oathgate on the mysterious island Aimia.
I probably wouldn’t do a more thorough description justice so here is the blurb:
WHEN A GHOST SHIP IS DISCOVERED, ITS CREW PRESUMED DEAD AFTER TRYING TO REACH THE STORM-SHROUDED ISLAND AKINAH, NAVANI KHOLIN MUST SEND AN EXPEDITION TO MAKE SURE THE ISLAND HASN’T FALLEN INTO ENEMY HANDS. KNIGHTS RADIANT WHO FLY TOO NEAR FIND THEIR STORMLIGHT SUDDENLY DRAINED, SO THE VOYAGE MUST BE BY SEA.
SHIPOWNER RYSN FTORI LOST THE USE OF HER LEGS BUT GAINED THE COMPANIONSHIP OF CHIRI-CHIRI, A STORMLIGHT-INGESTING WINGED LARKIN, A SPECIES ONCE THOUGHT EXTINCT. NOW RYSN’S PET IS ILL, AND ANY HOPE FOR CHIRI-CHIRI’S RECOVERY CAN BE FOUND ONLY AT THE ANCESTRAL HOME OF THE LARKIN: AKINAH. WITH THE HELP OF LOPEN, THE FORMERLY ONE-ARMED WINDRUNNER, RYSN MUST ACCEPT NAVANI’S QUEST AND SAIL INTO THE PERILOUS STORM FROM WHICH NO ONE HAS RETURNED ALIVE. IF THE CREW CANNOT UNCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE HIDDEN ISLAND CITY BEFORE THE WRATH OF ITS ANCIENT GUARDIANS FALLS UPON THEM, THE FATE OF ROSHAR AND THE ENTIRE COSMERE HANGS IN THE BALANCE.
Dawnshard cover, duh
I read this novella a lot slower than I normally would since I just didn’t have a solid couple hours to knock it out. I’d say I read pretty quickly, but I have a lot of distractions I can’t just tune out (my 8 month old daughter). I read a chapter here and there, mainly in the shower (insert laughing emoji here).
This is not something that is immediately necessary to read before reading Rhythm of War as far as I know. I haven’t really read RoW yet, just the prologue. It does seem like it is going to be much more important later on in any case. Right now it’s just a side quest and character building for Rysn and Lopen who haven’t gotten any big parts before.
The development of these two plus the introduction of Cord, Rock’s daughter, was really well done. Brandon does so much research into everything he does, specifically here with mental health. Rysn is confined to a chair due to immobility of her legs and that is a big deal for her. It would be for anybody to suddenly lose the use of limbs. She has all these insecurities about it and herself. Rysn is constantly reassuring herself and attempting to not keep herself down from it like she had immediately following her accident. It’s a beautiful journey she goes on mentally and physically. Rysn also has to gain the trust and respect of her ship crew. The way it’s written was so rewarding.
Lopen’s journey is a little more subtle. Most of his character change comes towards the end. It’s fascinating to see himself and everything else from his own eyes for once. His humor isn’t for everyone, I never cared for it too much. Lopen is fine in small doses. Dawnshard changed that and made him more likable for me. It was pleasant to see his cousin Huio more, as well. Their relationship is sweet. I don’t know why I always see Lopen as an old man. There is a scene between him and Cord that made me really confused as to his age. Apparently I’m not the only one who sees him as an old man when I looked up his age. According to Coppermind, Brandon says Lopen is in his early 20’s.
I hope we get to see more Cord in Rhythm of War. I know I’m a little behind everyone else who is passionately reading it already. Where we leave her story at the end of Dawnshard, I’m going to assume we don’t see her a lot in RoW. I loved her growing friendship with Rysn. Someone Cord could finally connect with in a language she was comfortable using.
Overall, I loved the novella. It gave us a lot of new content to the cosmere and some side characters and definetly helped pump me up for RoW. I rated it a 5 Stars.
The Murderbot Diaries sweeping 4 novella and 1 full novel, is a sci-fi series about an artificial construct (meaning robot with organic parts, particularly a Security Unit (Or Sec Unit), who hacked his system to become independent and calls himself Murderbot. He is contracted to a group of scientists for a surveying job on an unpopulated planet. He grows fond of them and saves them out of compassion when the mission is sabotoged by an unknown party. A big factor is that Murderbot just wants to watch his entertainment media, aka space opera television.
With a slow beginning and a not super interesting plot for the last bit, Murderbot’s commentary on his surroundings are so good that it makes up for everything. It has good humor and awkward moments and good interactions between characters.
Found on Tumblr
I enjoyed this one so much I immediately began the next one, Artificial Condition. Already a few chapters in and I laughed! So hard at this one particular scene. My goodness I want you to read it for yourself. I have been listening to the audiobook (surprise surprise) and the narrator, Kevin Free does a really good job. Especially at the sarcastic bits.
5 Stars all around!!!
Being a novella, this post is short and sweet. I will update when I finish Artificial Condition. Ta-ta for now! (We just got a winnie the pooh stuff toy for my daughter, forgive the tigger reference.)
Published in 2006 as Temeraire in the UK, the US title changed to His Majesty’s Dragon. An alternate history set during the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815), intelligent and sapient dragons (like many portrayals of dragons) are used in aerial warfare. This first book of 9 describes how Captain William Laurence of the Royal Navy acquires a dragon egg when taking a French ship and accidentally becomes the handler of the dragon that hatches within the day. The dragon is named Temeraire by Laurence. They go on to train for the war in Scotland.
What I liked most was the relationship between Laurence and Temeraire. Laurence is portrayed as a English gentleman who doesn’t show a lot of emotions, loves rules and following his duty no matter what. He is, at first, reluctant to leave his ship to become an aviator. Slowly, the relationship between them grows and his fondness for Temeraire is clear. It’s adorable! Temeraire is so smart and kind, caring so much about Laurence more than his duty as a dragon in the war.
Laurence and Temeraire by Biohazardia on DeviantArt
The story is slow, which was totally fine. It’s more of an origin story, so to speak. The main points are Temeraire’s hatching and training to his first real battles. They both have to deal with heirarchy and finding their place among the aviators.
This might be a spoiler so keep reading if you dare. Parts I didn’t like had to do with Rankin and his dragon, Levitas. It’s written well and the characters seem accurate, but it’s heartbreaking to read of someone mistreating such a well spirited creature. I was just waiting for someone to punch this man. It just goes from bad to worse to worse to worse. I don’t think the book would be better without it, but it was the hardest parts to listen too.
Overall, it was a fun read/listen. I’ll continue the series at some point. I have so many other things to read first.
Rachels Books 
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