tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87380842559215151082024-03-12T23:24:26.789-04:00Eco de las Hojas A wayward repository for my book reviews.Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-73976389829497462202020-01-06T14:32:00.001-04:002020-01-06T14:32:23.634-04:00Review: The Killing Light
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34371031" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1549032294l/34371031._SX98_.jpg" border="0" alt="The Killing Light" /></a>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34371031">The Killing Light</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/804399">Myke Cole</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3116735743">2 of 5 stars</a>
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I have to say I originally fell in love with this trilogy, with what it tried to do, with its style and pacing, with every last one of its character and its story. The first book was an utter joy to read. So was the second, up until the disappointing Deus Ex Machina at the end of it. <br /><br />This one wrecked any last hope I had with half a book still to go. Its not that the ending was bad, or that the characters themselves turned tedious. I enjoyed reading about most of them, thought they were all intriguing and well-written. And I actually enjoyed the ending itself as well, if an ending can ever be considered apart from all the plot elements that drive the story into it. <br /><br />What I truly hated was the choice of making the devils into the main antagonists of the story, instead of the Order, when the other two books spent themselves basically setting the Order as the enemy. It was both lazy and disappointing. In one fell swoop the author killed what I consider was the driving heart of the series, and replaced with a standard and generic 'save the world' that felt utterly flat, all the more because the devils were utterly boring as enemies.<br /><br />I would have much preferred a final confrontation between Tone and Heloise, and think it would have been more fitting with the story of the two previous entries.
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Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-44563721272966842552019-12-30T18:11:00.001-04:002019-12-30T18:11:31.043-04:00Review: The Armored Saint
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35018914" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1499255978l/35018914._SX98_.jpg" border="0" alt="The Armored Saint" /></a>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35018914">The Armored Saint</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/804399">Myke Cole</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3100382394">4 of 5 stars</a>
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Short, well-paced and tightly-written, I have to admit this fantasy story was a bit of a surprise to me. The ARC of Sixteenth Watch didn't really woo me, but I thought I'd give the author another go, and the eye-catchy cover of this book drew my attention the most. Boy, was I not disappointed.<br /><br />From the very first chapter, the story propels itself forward, introducing in short order the most important elements of the tale. Our oppressive and zealous antagonists nominally devoted to Imperial Writ, our heroes (or heroine, really) and their chafing and foolishness beneath their oppression, the point of conflict and the general way of things in the world. The author weaves all this disparate elements into a well-constructed narrative that never stalls and is never overburdened by exposition. Just action begetting action. In one fell swoop, we are introduced to all the good and bad in Heloise, our MC, traits that will naturally keep the story turning on its wheels in a way that for the most part felt refreshingly natural and didn't rest (too much) on silly or stupid plot twists.<br /><br />Personally, I liked Heloise from the start, though some of the developments she goes through did test believeability or seemed a little too shoe-horned for subsequent plot events, but they were still interesting and well-written so the flaws are easy to forgive. The rest of the cast never felt cardboard-ish, but for the most also never really gathered the same level of importance or spotlight as our main character.<br /><br />The setting was also rather well developed, if a little bit too reminiscent of 40k at times in regard to powered armour, deified emperors and forbidden magic. However, this could be entirely subjective on my part, as none of those elements on their own are particularly distinctive of warhammer.<br /><br />All in all it was a very enjoyable book, and I am definitely looking forward to see where the second entry in the series will take things.
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Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-92021496591981541322019-12-29T02:27:00.001-04:002019-12-29T02:27:35.445-04:00Review: Essex Colony
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49437572" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1576699550l/49437572._SX98_.jpg" border="0" alt="Essex Colony" /></a>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49437572">Essex Colony</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7810871">Lia Cooper</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3101280160">4 of 5 stars</a>
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[Received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review]<br /><br />Surprisingly effective and dare I say cute fantasy scifi love story with suspense and action elements. At least, this was my takeaway after I finished reading it. The characters and plot were captivating thorough, though character exploration is ultimately where this little gem truly shines, and the plot feels more like a vehicle to get there . I really enjoyed Soran as a main character, and enjoyed looking at things through her point of view. Her relationship with Aline was also explored in an interesting way, the back and forth between present and past somehow managing to keep things interesting enough despite how easily (and often) such a tactic can become simply annoying.<br /><br />Though the story was overall both satisfying and entertaining, I think the climax hung a little loose. I expected a bit more than what we go. In that regard, the denouement to me also feels like it was a little rushed for the sake of the cliffhanger-ish ending.<br /><br />All in all, a very enjoyable story. I will look forward to other things from the author, and hope she continues exploring this setting, and maybe shows us more from the particular point of view of the characters we got to know here.
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Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-80863077040009793702019-12-25T12:03:00.001-04:002019-12-25T12:03:28.691-04:00Review: Sixteenth Watch
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44047421" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1563235426l/44047421._SX98_.jpg" border="0" alt="Sixteenth Watch" /></a>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44047421">Sixteenth Watch</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/804399">Myke Cole</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3083688980">3 of 5 stars</a>
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[Received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review]<br /><br /><b>Summary</b>: Set twenty minutes into the future, so to speak, Sixteenth Watch is a solid military fiction book with scifi elements, more so than science fiction book proper, one that attempts to juggle a futuristic plot concept and wrap it around a core of familiarity with the present. The idea of trying to imagine how things in the military could be based on how they are now is intriguing, and the book definitely does its best when deep in the action or in the moments of political tension between the branches. I would like to see where the author could take the setting in the future, and the way the story ends makes me wonder if perhaps he is planning to find out. However, what makes the novel is also in some ways what threatens to damn it. The over-use of acronyms in particular is like to be off-putting for people not familiar with them, and might well dilute whatever enjoyment they can get from the book as having to constantly flip over to the end of the book just to understand what the hell the characters are saying is severely off-putting to say the least.<br /><br /><b>Prose</b>: There were a few scattered typos, but nothing terribly obnoxious or pervasive. More troublesome than that is the fact I see no reasonable excuse for an epub to not have each instance (or at least the first instance) of every acronym linked to a definition in the glossary. Obviously, people familiar with the terms will not need them, but I'd hazard to say most people who pick up the book wont be familiar with the terms, and in a book so heavy with acronyms, expecting people to go back and forth manually seems like a gross oversight. In general, while I respect what the author was trying to achieve, I feel like overall they work against the story more than for it, but again that might just be because I have little familiarity with the Service. <i>3/5</i><br /><br /><b>Plot</b>: I have mixed feelings about the plot. Or more exactly about the way the plot peters out in the end. On one hand, as mentioned, the overall concept is really appealing, and the execution of the latter parts of the novel in particular kept me well interested. Ironically, it is as the story progresses that it starts to feel more and more like the novel has forgotten its own plot. Like the author is simply meandering from here to there until he finds an arbitrary spot he likes in the regolith. I am fully aware this is an odd complaint, as the latter parts of the book are the more action-packed and generally speaking the ones I liked best, but meandering is ultimately unsatisfying, and the bits of action ultimately don't save the whole from the feeling of... 'what' when you suddenly stumble into an epilogue that feels like the end of a chapter more than a proper cliffhanger. <i>2/5</i><br /><br /><b>Pacing</b>: I found the first 1/3 of the book to be both rather slow and really uninteresting in comparison to the rest of it. It felt like the author wasn't really sure of the best way to start off the story. He definitely didnt know how to end it either, but once pas the introductory bit, at least, things start picking up at a nice enough rate. <i>3/5</i><br /><br /><b>Characterization</b>: I generally enjoyed Jane's character, as well as Ho's. Their dynamic with each other is specially entertaining. The rest of the cast seemed much less developed, sometimes verging dangerously on flat. specially her team. None of them are particularly memorable or interesting, and could in most cases likely be encompassed with one or two words. <i>3/5</i><br /><br /><b>World-building</b>: As mentioned in the summary, the concept itself is one of my favourite parts of the book. I hated the way the acronyms were presented, sure, and the acronyms were there partly to deliver a certain believability to the speech pattern of officers in the military, but thats more of a technical flaw they could easily fix, specially in the electronic version of the book. I also really enjoyed the little snippets we get at the beginning of each chapter, as they really do help to flesh out the peception we have of this slightly more futuristic earth. <i>4/5</i>
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Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-18770658827421621062019-12-14T22:10:00.001-04:002019-12-14T22:10:01.097-04:00Review: Aster of Pan V1
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49092185" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575465791l/49092185._SX98_.jpg" border="0" alt="Aster of Pan V1" /></a>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49092185">Aster of Pan V1</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4647653">Merwan</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3085321631">4 of 5 stars</a>
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With its ironically warm, if slightly washed-out palette and charismatic art style, Aster of Pan pulls reader into a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by an as-of-yet not really delved into catastrophe, though likely military in origin. Not a lot actually happens for most of this first volume, we mostly see the ruins of the world as a duo of scavengers roam in search of relics they can sell or exchange for rations. The author takes its time in building and establishing aspects of the world while giving the reader a tour-de-force around some typical locales. This makes the volume to feel somewhat dull at first, but the arty style saves it from being boring.<br /><br />Overall, there's enough promising tidbits to make up for an enjoyable read, though I have to admit the big bad being obsessed by sports stroke up the silly chord in me.. And of course, there's the pretty the arty style. Whether the title will take advantage of its pluses remains to be seen, but it is only fair to give it a vote of confidence and enough time for it to fully find its feet.
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Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-64656844013331288912019-12-13T13:53:00.001-04:002019-12-13T13:53:37.665-04:00Review: Crooked Hallelujah
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43301992" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1573553754l/43301992._SX98_.jpg" border="0" alt="Crooked Hallelujah" /></a>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43301992">Crooked Hallelujah</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16645862">Kelli Jo Ford</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3080525197">3 of 5 stars</a>
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Flawed but beautiful, Crooked Hallelujah is an intimate road trip of a book portraying the stormy life of three generations of Cherokee (<i>though this fact actually barely features in the narrative itself</i>) women hailing from Oklahoma. Sporadically narrated by a variety of tertiary characters, we most often look through the eyes of either Justine or her daughter Reeny as they each attempt to find their way in the world. <br /><br />To my mind, two things make this book both special and poignant. One is the sweet simplicity of its prose. There's no overwroughtness here, no artificial desire to dress up the writing in more layers than it needs. Its sharp and uncompromising in parts, and it lays things bare instead of padding them up. Ironically, this results in something that is far from dry or boring or dull despite some part of me actually that it should be boring or dull. I think that is remarkable. <br /><br />The other one is the characterization itself. Simply put, it feels like the author has really tapped into the minds of Lula, Justine, and Reeny, and like a magnet, we are simply drawn to learn about them. That is how I felt, at least.<br /><br />Unfortunately, there are also two glaring flaws that kept this book from being truly outstanding. First and foremost, are the narrations from the tertiary (at best) characters like Moses and Ferrel that not only break away from the book's subject matter, but they don't really add anything in return. I kept hoping they would be made relevant, but by the book's end this simply did not happen. I can't help but think those chapters could have been better utilized by exploring more about Reeny, who basically carries the first half of the book and then disappointingly fades for long swathes of the second half. <br /><br />The second flaw is more insidious. Up until about the halfway point of the novel, I feel like I can put a finger on what the author is trying to do, and the author herself also knows both what she is trying to do as well as how to do it. But this certainty vanishes as the book starts to resemble a random assortment of jumps between various loosely-related characters more the character-driven... something it really wanted to be.<br /><br />It was sad, really. I will look forward to what the author writes next, certainly, and hope that perhaps next time she is better able to keep the writing from running off a side-path.
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Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-81867656686794007762019-12-09T22:43:00.001-04:002019-12-09T22:43:08.256-04:00Review: Spear of the Emperor
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44180893" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552228041l/44180893._SX98_.jpg" border="0" alt="Spear of the Emperor" /></a>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44180893">Spear of the Emperor</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/172152">Aaron Dembski-Bowden</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3066479003">5 of 5 stars</a>
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[Received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review]<br /><br />Framed as the memories of an ancient thrall in service of the Mentors Chapter, Spear of the Emperor tells the story of an expedition that has braved the Straits of Epona, crossing the Cicatrix Maledictum to reach the Darkened Imperium beyond and establish communications with the Adeptus Vaelari stranded there. <br /><br />Seen through the eyes of Anuradha, Helot Secundus to Amadeus Kaias Incarius, the story brims with some of the themes that make Warhammer 40k such an interesting setting to read about: Hope in the face of hopelessness, freedom in the face of slavery, defiance in the face of impossible and heart-breaking odds. It is a heartfelt and beautifully-executed look at the cogs of the machine, so to speak- the Astartes, their thralls, the worlds they come from. Their tales are painfully their own, as they always are on the best stories, but they are also evocative of the larger universe they live in, of an Imperium perpetually on the brink, and of the many sacrifices that must be made in the name of keeping it running, as one characters put it, from day to day, sometimes from hour to hour. <br /><br />There is no endless orgy of blood to be found here. Blatant violence, when it happens, its usually swift and brutal, a punctuation sign to that which preceded and that which will follow, but the book is all the better for it, for the focus are unashamedly the characters, not the arsenals, their triumphs and their tragedies as they strive to eke out some manner of personal meaning in such a hostile world.
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Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-81905151155033181442019-12-06T01:36:00.001-04:002019-12-06T01:36:37.340-04:00Review: Dark Harvest
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46301957" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1566404337l/46301957._SX98_.jpg" border="0" alt="Dark Harvest" /></a>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46301957">Dark Harvest</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6554297">Joshua Reynolds</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3070730338">4 of 5 stars</a>
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[Received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review]<br /><br /><b>Summary</b>: This story had all the classic elements of horror. The decaying, decrepit town was of course present, as were the hostile, unhelpful inhabitants and the secret cult. So were the troubling dreams had by our main character, the dread visions caught at the corner of the eyes. But these elements, unsurprising and almost token in their predictability, were woven very effectively into a compelling narrative that kept me faithfully turning the pages. They provided a journey that is likely to be of great interest to people who crave this kind of horror in a non-urban setting.<br /><br /><b>Prose</b>: Perhaps one of my favorite elements in the book was the prose itself. The author manages to capture and paint a vivid picture of the story events and the dreariness of Wald in a way that really made the place pop in my mind. It sure made for an enjoyable read. The word <i>green</i> was utterly ubiquitous, but I suppose could not be helped. <i>4/5</i><br /><br /><b>Plot</b>: As mentioned above, the particular elements of the plot fall on the table almost as a matter of course. This by itself is not necessarily a bad thing, though at times it did feel a bit too by-the-book other than the fact it was taking place in a fantasy setting. There was a points that soured my enjoyment of the story, however. <a class="jsShowSpoiler spoilerAction">(view spoiler)</a><span class="spoilerContainer" style="display: none">[ Namely, the Old Stag not devouring Harran at the end by virtue of the latter already belonging to Sigmar. It makes sense, but it also makes all the suspense the book had been slowly building feel like a sham. The second, also concerning the Old Stag, is that his speech felt a little too refined whenever he spoke to the character. Also, Gilt's death felt utterly cheap and telegraphed from the moment he mentioned the foretelling. <a class="jsHideSpoiler spoilerAction">(hide spoiler)</a>]</span> <i>3/5</i> <br /><br /><b>Pacing</b>: The story felt a little plodding near the beginning. Though Harran is a very interesting character and viewpoint for most of the story, the very start of it felt a little too studded with banal introspection. <i>3/5</i><br /><br /><b>Characterization</b>: The characters were without a doubt the most enjoyable aspect of this story, alongside the prose and the world-building. Harran, specially, and I can't help but wonder if we'll see him again in another book. <i>4/5</i><br /><br /><b>World-building</b>: Though this was the first book I've read set in the Warhammer Fantasy universe, I feel like the author did a particularly excellent job in providing flourishes of memory of Harran's previous life to embellish his present situation and his character as a whole. The same goes with the information he provides regarding the different creatures and the setting. <i>4/5</i><br /><br /><b>Final Score</b>: 3.6/5 rounded to 4/5.
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Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-10884240864514561302019-12-03T00:59:00.001-04:002019-12-03T00:59:29.502-04:00Review: Cadia Stands
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35297654" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1497083669l/35297654._SX98_.jpg" border="0" alt="Cadia Stands" /></a>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35297654">Cadia Stands</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7106283">Justin D. Hill</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3066287919">2 of 5 stars</a>
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<b>Summary</b>: I will be frank, this book was a severe disappointment to me. Maybe I just came to it with the wrong expectations, maybe I am not really the target for this kind of book. Anyway, the fact remains that there is very little I find memorable in this book. There are no great descriptions, no great characters, no great dialogue, no great prose. The author just throws names and explosions and disjointed scenes with recurring characters that are minimally developed and calls the job done. It tries to paint the very grim picture of Cadia's fall, but somehow it manages to paint all the epic fighting and doomed resistance in an amazingly boring light.<br /><br /><b>Prose</b>: The book is written in an astonishingly dry fashion. The author really doesn't spend any time being descriptive. He goes briskly about painting the barest hints of scene, then proceeds onto the events, narrating them with equal briskness. For the first half of the book we are mostly treated to disjointed vignettes of characters used to show us the progress of the war, but again, the author goes about this in a way that feels almost perfunctory, not memorable in the least. <i>2/5</i><br /><br /><b>Plot</b>: The plot is literally the doomed, grimdark resistance and ultimate fall of Cadia as seen through a handful of hardly-developed characters. None of which is told in a particularly memorable manner. I mean, take the pylons. They are introduced as important to the standing of the Cadian Gate, but the plot opts instead for a diabolus ex machina destruction instead of properly integrating the pylons more directly into the fall of the planet. As it is they are completely left by the wayside. Really, I feel like the whole plot is an excuse to write numerous vaguely interconnected after-reports set on the Warhammer 40k universe. <i>2/5</i><br /><br /><b>Pacing</b>: As mentioned, the book is really brisk, it never lingers too much on any character or even on any particular event, and as such most of everything lacks any kind of emotional impact. <i>1/5</i><br /><br /><b>Characterization</b>: I'd hazard to call what we have in the book more viewpoints than characters. Obviously, they <i>are</i> characters, but none of them are particularly developed, they all have the same basic drive and behave in basically the same fashion, effectively making it very easy for one to blend into the other. <i>2/5</i><br /><br /><b>World-building</b>: The book does a half-hearted attempt at painting an image of what life is like on Cadia. I think it fails, much like most of the rest of the book, because as mentioned above the prose is brisk and dry, and it never really stops being so. The meager information feels like you are reading an exceptionally boring tourist brochure for an imaginary place. <i>2/5</i>
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Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-45989065629709206132019-12-01T21:25:00.003-04:002019-12-01T21:25:38.399-04:00Review: The Fifth Season
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19161852" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386803701l/19161852._SX98_.jpg" border="0" alt="The Fifth Season" /></a>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19161852">The Fifth Season</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2917917">N.K. Jemisin</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1836817612">5 of 5 stars</a>
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There are really no words for this book, except to say it was stupendous in every way that counts. Really, what follows is basically me just praising the book and everything in it. If you have no stomach for such, just know that I honestly believe it is worth a read for anyone who likes fantasy, but specially character-driven fantasy.<br /><br />With that out of the way.<br /><br />From characters to plot to writing to pacing to world-building and every conceivable thing in between, it all shines. <br /><br />Sure, some things might take a bit of effort to get used to (<i>it might well be the first novel I've ever read written with a second person pov, even though I am familiar with Choose your Own Adventure books written with similar styles</i>) but I honestly did not find them jarring as some others apparently have. Sure, it was unusual, but for me it ended up being another bit of strangeness that effectively added to the story, and the fact that two of the three point of views were written in more conventional pov hinted to the fact there was a point to the strangeness. I was not disappointed.<br /><br />The plot was entrancing, and I thought the way the author introduced us to it was stupendous as well. This is a story about the end of the world... <i>But what does that mean, exactly?</i> And then the author walks us through all the possible meanings, all of them spectacularly interwoven. The intimate, heart-wrenching end of the world for a mother who comes home after a long day of work only to find her son has been beaten to death and her daughter kidnapped by her husband, the wider cataclysm that serves as backdrop as the massive super-continent in which the story is set is wounded and riven in such a way as to bring forth the latest and perhaps the worst in a long series of disasters. And then planetary... except not. As the author helpfully informs us, the phrase 'the end of the world' is usually an exaggeration at best and a lie at worst, because the world will eventually straighten itself out. It will not 'end'. It is only the people in it who will.<br /><br />But the author also reminds us that from every ending, no matter how big or small in scope, comes a new beginning. And I think this is as much a theme of the story as the rest. And so start each of our three pov characters, each having already tipped or tipping into and end, and then struggling to make some sense from it, wrench back some meaning from which they can carve their life.<br /><br />So yeah, this was probably the most ramble-y review I've done in a while, but the short of it is go read it.
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Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-31513076634164509512019-12-01T21:25:00.001-04:002019-12-01T21:25:17.572-04:00Review: A Gathering of Shadows
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20764879" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1429627728l/20764879._SX98_.jpg" border="0" alt="A Gathering of Shadows" /></a>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20764879">A Gathering of Shadows</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7168230">V.E. Schwab</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1834848843">2 of 5 stars</a>
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I am a bit torn regarding this book. I relish the setting, and the writing. But the plot was an abysmal let down. Not that the first book was perfect, either, but the first book had a certain freshness to it, and in any case, it did not have the flaws I felt in this one.<br /><br />Most of the plot here felt meandering, meaningless. A journey without a destination. Specially so near the first half of the book. Alucard never really manages to be an interesting character, everything related to him feeing mostly tacked-on. All the allusions to his past hint to a big reveal that ends up being mostly disappointing too. The only really redeeming qualities are the few White London snippets we get on the way, always so disappointingly short. <br /><br />During the second half gets a little better, but even then, things mostly feel purposeless, and again, the various allusions to political danger end up being completely irrelevant. I can understand that the author might have been setting up for the third book, but in a way that is how the whole book felt like, and it was disappointing. <a class="jsShowSpoiler spoilerAction">(view spoiler)</a><span class="spoilerContainer" style="display: none">[ Also, Delilah getting completely away with killing that guy -and- his two men felt really cheap. <a class="jsHideSpoiler spoilerAction">(hide spoiler)</a>]</span><br /><br />In the end, much like in the first book, I find Holland to be the show stealer, and again find myself wishing the story had been centred on him and his White London instead. Hell, I found myself wishing that Kell would somehow get possessed by the Dark Magic thing just so that Holland be spared, and perhaps redeemed.<br /><br />Here's to hoping the third, and likely final entry will redeem the series.
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Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-25275843982479243962019-12-01T21:24:00.001-04:002019-12-01T21:24:35.469-04:00Review: A Head Full of Ghosts
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23019294" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1415678368l/23019294._SX98_.jpg" border="0" alt="A Head Full of Ghosts" /></a>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23019294">A Head Full of Ghosts</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/648612">Paul Tremblay</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1790545435">3 of 5 stars</a>
<br /><br />
Having read the book in full, I still don't know what to think about it. I still don't think it is scary, and the fact I expected it to be so, or to be more traditional horror in some way, probably colours how I feel about it. I don't think it was badly written by any stretch of the imagination, and when I stopped looking for the scary and just settled into the story I started really enjoying. Some scenes were particularly well-done, but more than anything else, I found the book to be terribly poignant, and more dramatic than scary. <br /><br />The ending was the equivalent of a surprise gut-punch no matter how much I braced myself for it.<br /><br />My only criticism is that at some points the book, much like the in-universe shows, seems to fall into a sleepy lull, but again, this might have more to do with my mistaken expectations than with any fault in the writing.<br /><br />So if you are going to read this book, don't actually read it for the scary-ness/horror factor. Read it as drama and treat it as such, that way you wont have betrayed expectations colouring how you feel about it.
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Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-78357780293340962262019-12-01T21:23:00.001-04:002019-12-01T21:23:45.100-04:00Review: Silver on the Road
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20748097" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1426361800l/20748097._SX98_.jpg" border="0" alt="Silver on the Road" /></a>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20748097">Silver on the Road</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/168090">Laura Anne Gilman</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1525275101">3 of 5 stars</a>
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This book had a marvellous premise, interestingly woven character and excellent prose. All brought low by the plot's execution. I honestly felt like the instances where something was actually <i>happening</i> were few and far between. Those instances were without a fault intensely engaging and interesting. But the rest of the time was spent on what felt like aimless, purposeless wandering. <br /><br />I know we are probably meant to see Iz's growth from a child who had never left Flood to a proper rider, but like in <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9359818.God_s_War__Bel_Dame_Apocrypha___1_" title="God's War (Bel Dame Apocrypha, #1) by Kameron Hurley" rel="nofollow">God's War</a>, the previous book I read, we mostly just see a lot of moving around. Waking up, preparing camp, random bit of world-building, moving on, rinse, repeat. Granted, there's a point to all the moving, but the fact remains there's little to no actual advancement of the book's apparent plot for most of the book itself, the important scenes peppered in between a whole lot of nothing. And no matter how prettily written it is, it still is mostly uninteresting. Even if it compels you to read on somehow.<br /><br />I'll admit, I feel a little guilty writing this. I don't know whether I am simply being too harsh on the book. Perhaps there's just some genre convention that I am missing. It is possible, as I honestly just decided to read it based on the premise and little attention was paid to anything else. But in any case, for the few interesting scenes, and the engaging characters (I loved Farron and Isobel) and the premise itself, and the hope that the second book will redeem the failing's of the first, I give it three stars.
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Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-66206853575117799512016-07-02T22:25:00.001-04:002016-07-02T22:25:28.025-04:00Review: God's War
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9359818" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1303144535m/9359818.jpg" border="0" alt="God's War" /></a>
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9359818">God's War</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4369922">Kameron Hurley</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1653798707">2 of 5 stars</a>
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Well. I've finally managed to read the whole thing, and I still don't know where exactly I stand with it.<br /><br />Part of me found the story interesting enough to want to know how it all would end, and the characters and world-building were for the most part interesting enough as well. The other part of me was completely turned off by the prose. Or the pacing. I don't know which exactly it was, perhaps a mix of both, but it made reading the book a slow, agonizing chore no matter how much I actually wanted to do it.<br /><br />Basically, the story is about a fucked-up bounty hunter in an even more fucked-up world who goes over with the rag-tag bunch of misfits that is her team in order to accomplish their most dangerous mission to date. But for a war-torn world, it felt like there really was not much actual action at all. Mind you, I don't want the equivalent of a <em>shonen</em> anime in novel form, but it felt like most of the book consisted of people moving from one poorly described place to the next, where barely anything happened no matter how much they had been bracing and waiting for <em>it</em> before they had to move again.<br /><br />Still, it did something well, because it made me want to continue reading despite that. I just don't know whether I'd honestly recommend it to anyone else. <br /><br /><a class="jsShowSpoiler spoilerAction">(view spoiler)</a><span class="spoilerContainer" style="display: none">[ I also absolutely hated the way Nyx non-reacted to Taite's dead. I get it that she is cold and a bit fucked-over and whatever but her only reaction is alarm that their place has been compromised and escaping. Then again, I think I might have bought if she did not go the next instant to agonizing over Rhys. It felt pretty jarring, like she was suddenly someone else. <a class="jsHideSpoiler spoilerAction">(hide spoiler)</a>]</span>
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Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-39012358563431206012016-06-04T19:15:00.001-04:002016-06-04T19:15:52.698-04:00Review: Ancillary Mercy
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23533039" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1424479056m/23533039.jpg" border="0" alt="Ancillary Mercy" /></a>
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23533039">Ancillary Mercy</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3365457">Ann Leckie</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1650521694">4 of 5 stars</a>
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I am both incredibly happy and incredibly unsatisfied with the ending of this book, which is as I understand it, also the ending of the trilogy.<br /><br />Incredibly happy because the book had no boring sections for the most part. From very early on the stakes were high. Things happened an kept happening and there hardly any navel-gazing. To me, at least, it felt like it gathered the very best from the first and the second instalments and condensed it into a third book, all the while doing away with the few parts that felt plodding in Ancillary Sword. It also had me laughing a surprising lot, more than either of the previous books, really, all the while without devolving into a funny or comical story or ruining the more serious aspects of it, which to me is quite a feat in itself.<br /><br />Incredibly unsatisfied because I disliked the manner in which the book ended. I mean, Breq herself acknowledges that there are no real endings, and in some ways it suits the story just fine. Or at least, it fits a few themes in the story (<em>It never was a grand, world-ending cataclysmic epic, after all, no matter how much material it seemed to have for that.</em>) <a class="jsShowSpoiler spoilerAction">(view spoiler)</a><span class="spoilerContainer" style="display: none">[But it also leaves us (By which I mean, it left me) with the feeling of everything being driven to an uncertain, unsatisfactory and clearly just temporal standstill, with none of us privy to the <em>real</em> resolution, unless Ann Leckie decides to write a story set after this book. In some ways it has the worst parts of a cliffhanger with none of the good parts. <a class="jsHideSpoiler spoilerAction">(hide spoiler)</a>]</span><br /><br />I wonder if I am alone in feeling like this. In any case, the immediately above is not enough to deter me from giving the book a well-deserved four stars, that could have easily been five, but alas.
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1650521694">View all my reviews</a>
Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-34638528240003584202016-02-24T14:13:00.001-04:002016-02-24T14:13:50.807-04:00Review: Paladin of Souls
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61904" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388350884m/61904.jpg" border="0" alt="Paladin of Souls" /></a>
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61904">Paladin of Souls</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16094">Lois McMaster Bujold</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/330231513">4 of 5 stars</a>
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I have to admit, first time I tried reading this book I did not get past the first dozen or so pages. The beginning of the story has a certain tediousness to it, and the author's prose, while good, doesn't have that quality that can make a pleasure of otherwise drab passages.<br /><br />But this time around I resolved to push past that, and I was glad to do so. Mostly because Ista was a pleasure to read. The other characters were mostly entertaining, mind you, but it was Ista, her personality, her inner voice, her struggles and her history that captivated me.<br /><br />If you read the first book you know more or less who she is, you know of her madness, etcetera.<br />What this book explores can best be surmised the following words: <br /><blockquote>“Once, she had been her parents' daughter. Then great, unlucky Ias's wife. Her children's mother. At the last, her mother's keeper. <em>Well, I am none of these things now. Who am I, when I am not surrounded by the walls of my life?</em>” </blockquote><br /><br />And so Ista goes on a pilgrimage meant to escape this void that is her life, with no more plan than to stray as far as possible from those walls that had held her for so long and would still do so, even as they hold no meaning any more. And then, of course, things happen.<br /><br />I usually enjoy stories with multiple points of view, but fortunately, we are never left to wander in the bland waters of less interesting characters' murky viewpoints here, though I admit I would have liked to learn more about Jojen, be it by visiting her viewpoint or somehow else. I really did not fancy her resolution at all.<br /><br />But that is a safely minor point in the grand scheme of things.<br /><br />Carrying on, one thing I would advice people is to not worry about where everything is going. This is, more than anything else, a character-driven story and the travel is in a way the destination. (not that there isn't a very real and satisfying destination at the end, but you get the point. Hopefully) I say this because things can feel a little bumbling and a little random at times, but I think it is safe to say that by the end everything will be accounted for, and there's really nothing that happens without a particular reason or to set up something for later on. So read on, and enjoy!<br /><br /><strong>Prose</strong>: 3/5 <br />Not the best fantasy writer in terms of prose, but not the worst either. People who shy away from the more elaborate and wordy fantasy authors are probably going to like her style much more, though.<br /><br /><strong>Pacing</strong>: 3/5<br />It was decent enough, specially after things were established. <br /><br /><strong>Plot</strong>: 4/5<br />The plot by itself is not the greatest thing ever, but in execution it is made very enjoyable by the vividness of its main character.<br /><br /><strong>World-building</strong>: 3/5<br />I've honestly never become too invested in the world in which the stories take place. We never really get to know it too terribly well, and are only ever afforded a few scant details about it. Half-tempted to give it two stars instead of three, really.<br /><br /><strong>Characterisation</strong>: 5/5<br />If you've read this far, then this should not come as a surprise. The definite jewel of this books is Ista's characterisation thorough. And she in turns make the whole of the book interesting. So of course she gets a five out of five.<br />
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Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-7849555709923015332016-02-15T01:57:00.001-04:002016-02-15T01:57:46.835-04:00Review: The Silence of Medair
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9837154" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327151832m/9837154.jpg" border="0" alt="The Silence of Medair" /></a>
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9837154">The Silence of Medair</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4493935">Andrea K. Höst</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1528428013">5 of 5 stars</a>
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I cannot truly overstate how much I enjoyed this story(and by this book, I mean both The Silence of Medair and Voice of the Lost)<br /><br />It is not often when I find a book that neatly reunites so many things I enjoy in such a spectacularly well-done whole. Beautiful prose? <em>Check</em>. Attractive characters? <em>Check</em>. Interesting world-building? <em>Check</em>!<br /><br />Captivating story? <em>Oh boy!</em><br /><br />Its a very interesting premise, really. Our heroine, seeing her homeland about to be overrun by invaders, undertakes a mystical quest, and actually succeeds against all odds in finding the mystical muffin. Except, sure of her victory, instead of hurrying back home with her prize, she makes the most fatal, and yet the most innocuous-seeming mistake of overstaying her welcome in the muffin factory, with the end result of emerging 500 years too late to actually fulfil her mission.<br /><br />It sounds deceptively simple, but the author makes an excellent work of exploring every last one of the intricate nuances of this mishap, and in a supremely engaging way too. How do you live with yourself knowing that you had the keys to save your world and way of life from the invaders warring unexpected war with your nation, and that you botched it in the most unbearably stupid of ways? This and over equally interesting issues are constantly explored in the story as Medair struggles again and again to come to terms with the catastrophic proportions of her failure.<br /><br />She is caught, understandably, in a present that abruptly becomes a 500-year old past. But what really quicks the history on is that she is not the only one unable to let the past, or her, be.<br /><br />Medair is, for many reasons, the most developed character in the story, but the author does a very good job of fleshing and texturing the whole cast, and you never really feel you are wasting your time when any one character is in the lime-light. You might, however, regret every minute you are not reading or learning more about a particular few, but that just goes to prove you can be damned for being too good.<br /><br />The above being said, I do have some grievances. The story never quite satisfyingly concludes a few scattered and relatively minor threads that I would have liked elaboration. Most of those pertain to the pseudo second book, <a class="jsShowSpoiler spoilerAction">(view spoiler)</a><span class="spoilerContainer" style="display: none">[the plot of which felt a little more <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DiabolusExMachina"" rel="nofollow">Diabolusus-ex-machina-like</a> than I would have liked. I found that overall it was not as rewarding as that of the first, either in itself, or in the way it affected the stupendous world-building. <a class="jsHideSpoiler spoilerAction">(hide spoiler)</a>]</span> But such things are not enough to mar just how much I enjoyed every last page of this and how much I hung on every letter as the story neared its end<br /><br />Really, just stop reading reviews and go get it. Just remember, its two books, but it is definitely and most assuredly a single story.
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Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-33350220066346050652016-02-07T12:03:00.001-04:002016-02-07T12:03:40.629-04:00Review: The Song of Achilles
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11250317" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1331154660m/11250317.jpg" border="0" alt="The Song of Achilles" /></a>
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11250317">The Song of Achilles</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/176372">Madeline Miller</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/349351850">3 of 5 stars</a>
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I do not know how to rate this book. In some ways, it feels not so much as a novel but as fan-fiction. What I mean is that it leans very much on the Iliad to be enjoyable. In a way, I suppose thats part and parcel of wanting to explore an already established setting with a novel like this, with wanting to fill the blanks and the like, but I can't help but feel that a tighter plot would have made this go from entertaining to excellent.<br /><br />Also, Patroclus' constant fawning over Achilles, while fitting, also felt very tiring at times. The whole book, really, felt somewhat too ti ring at times, sometimes going very slowly in scenes that would have been best skipped over, while other times being very sparse on scenes that I think would have been best explored in detail. <br /><br />One such scene, or number of scenes, really, that I think we could have done without were the ones concerning Patroclus before he met Achilles. While they do serve to establish his character in an useful way for the rest of the book, they were also supremely uninteresting to read. I think, in general, that the tale could have started later, and used other plot points, or even recollections for that particular purpose.<br /><br />Conversely, there were a number of scenes that could have been longer. Those coming after <a class="jsShowSpoiler spoilerAction">(view spoiler)</a><span class="spoilerContainer" style="display: none">[Patroclus' death <a class="jsHideSpoiler spoilerAction">(hide spoiler)</a>]</span>, specially. The book falls into a sort of awkward fast-forwarding summary-style narration (still in the voice of Patroclus) that I really dislike. <br /><br />Its like some authors think that after the climaxing point of the story people are just itching to discard the book. While in a way that might be true, tying things up properly is as important as everything else, and that includes making the reading of it interesting as well. <br /><br />The above being said, I did enjoy the book. I rather liked Patroclus' intimate way of narration, and the style of prose employed in general was very fitting for the book. My favorite parts, however, were probably the sad ironies and the little bits and pieces that I suppose could be called foreshadowing, except I can't imagine anyone reading this who has not read the Iliad first.<br /><br />Would I recommend the book? Perhaps. To someone who enjoyed the Iliad and enjoyed reading fan-fics and who considered himself or herself a romantic at heart.
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Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-91666369377749141392016-02-01T12:13:00.001-04:002016-02-01T12:13:49.882-04:00Review: La clave está en Rebeca
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/894099" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1266667911m/894099.jpg" border="0" alt="La clave está en Rebeca" /></a>
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/894099">La clave está en Rebeca</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3447">Ken Follett</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1526546953">3 of 5 stars</a>
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Muy pocas veces se encuentra uno con libros cuyos personajes, aun estado en bandos enteramente opuestos, resultan ser igual de atractivos e interesantes de una forma tal que el lector termina deseando un desenlace al menos feliz para ambos, en lugar de decidirse enteramente por uno u otro lado.<br /><br />En este caso, me pase la mayor parte del libro deseando tanto la victoria de Vandam y la de Alex. En realidad, el personaje de Alex fue para mi mucho mas atractivo y complejo que el de Vandam, y me decepciono bastante que ya cerca del final del libro el autor pareciera repentinamente decidido a destruirlo (o tratar de pintarlo bajo una luz enteramente negativa sin los matices grises que había usado al principio). Creo que esto fue una jugada baja que le resto mucho impacto el libro. <a class="jsShowSpoiler spoilerAction">(view spoiler)</a><span class="spoilerContainer" style="display: none">[A mi parecer se sintió mas como una especie de justificación para darle la victoria final al 'príncipe azul'. <a class="jsHideSpoiler spoilerAction">(hide spoiler)</a>]</span><br /><br />Otra cosa que me incomodo bastante fue el repentino uso del 'monologo interior' por parte de Wolf, Billy, y Elene. Sin duda ese par de paginas fueron las mas difíciles de leer de toda la novela por ser tan completamente diferente del resto.<br /><br /><strong>Argumento</strong>: 3/5<br /><strong>Prosa</strong>: 3/5<br /><strong>Ritmo</strong>: 4/5<br /><strong>Caracterización</strong>: 4/5<br /><strong>Marco</strong>: 4/5<br /><br /><strong>Total</strong>: 3.6/5
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Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-67185487085251423882016-01-26T11:34:00.001-04:002016-01-26T11:34:30.043-04:00Review: La reina estrangulada
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9773348" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1301507202m/9773348.jpg" border="0" alt="La reina estrangulada" /></a>
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9773348">La reina estrangulada</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/57294">Maurice Druon</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/327757109">3 of 5 stars</a>
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En verdad me es un poco difícil darle una puntuación justa a este libro. Por una parte es definitivamente entretenido, con una prosa que da gusto leerla. Por otro lado, ningún personaje realmente llega a ser interesante, ninguna parte de la trama particularmente memorable. El libro termina, en cierta forma, tal y como empieza, empujando tu atención y nada mas. Al final no termina siendo muy diferente a una muy particular clase de historia.<br /><br />Es tal vez, por esto, que no encuentro nada en particular que decir en los apartados de argumento, ritmo, y marco (world-building).<br /><br /><strong>Argumento</strong>: 3/5<br /><br /><strong>Prosa</strong>: 4/5<br />Si la caracterización (O falta de) es donde mayor cae la novela, la prosa es sin duda la parte que mas la levanta. El autor realmente poseía una gran facilidad para atrapar con su prosa, para hacer reir, para disminuir a un mínimo los momentos tediosos. Por esto, mas que por nada mas, la recomendaría a cualquiera que tuviera intereses en el periodo que abarca o en la ficción histórica en general. Es entretenida. Lastimosamente, no llega a mucho mas.<br /><br /><strong>Ritmo</strong>: 3/5<br /><br /><strong>Caracterización</strong>: 2/5<br />El fallo mas grande del libro, creo, es en cuanto a la caracterización. Todos los personajes se sienten mas como si fueran distintas mascaras de una misma persona. A excepción, tal vez, del Artois, ninguno es memorable, ninguno, en realidad, se siente como si fuera un personaje de verdad. Mas que muchas otras novelas, esta me hizo sentir que los personajes no eran mas que algunas palabras que se repetían cada cierto tiempo en el texto.<br /><br /><strong>Marco</strong>: 3/5<br />
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Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-45547230650874721002016-01-24T13:42:00.001-04:002016-01-24T13:42:55.607-04:00Review: Broken Banners
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28537511" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1452728471m/28537511.jpg" border="0" alt="Broken Banners" /></a>
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28537511">Broken Banners</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7822301">Mark Gelineau</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1521458203">3 of 5 stars</a>
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So, before I get into this review, I have a confession to make: Despite this being the second entry in a series, I haven't actually read <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26721866.A_Reaper_of_Stone__A_Reaper_of_Stone__1_" title="A Reaper of Stone (A Reaper of Stone #1) by Mark Gelineau">A Reaper of Stone</a> yet. In some ways, this makes for an unfair review, but as the story is also rather self-contained, with but a few hints of what comes next to wet one's curiosity, it does not matter too terribly much, I think.<br /><br /><strong>Prose</strong>: 3/5<br />As far as prose goes, I think it was solid, if not particularly inspiring. For the most part it was good enough to tell the story it wanted to tell without drawing too much attention to itself, but there were a few places where it felt a little drab and lacking. Somewhat cut and dry. The best that it could be said is that it certainly matched the snowy, mountainus setting.<br /><br /><strong>Pacing</strong>: 3/5<br />This, too, felt solid. However, I find there really wasn't enough difference between some of the viewpoint character to warrant going from the head of one to the head of another when they were both in the same place. I honestly think the novel could have done completely without Con, as Aldis and the female lead were clearly the more interesting characters, and more time in their head-space (specially Aldis') could only have been a good thing<br /><br /><strong>Plot</strong>: 3/5<br />While the plot in itself was interesting enough (specially with that first Aldis chapter and the subsequent drive to know what happened to him), I think the previously-described drabness of the prose sabotaged just how much more impact it could have had if things had been better described and we had been allowed to dwell just a little longer in the world, seeing things just as the characters saw them, instead of getting what felt like a skimmed-through version. Also, the resolution felt a little cheap and anti-climatic. Perhaps my opinion is skewed because of not having read the first instalment like I said (and perhaps after I read it I will feel better about this) but the mountain-power thing feel ridiculously deux ex machina-ish.<br /><br /><strong>Characterisation</strong>: 3/5<br />Aldis and the female lead were nice enough, but the rest of the cast was just barely there. However, the one reason I give this a three instead of a four is merely because of how much of a disappointment the main villain was. <br /><br /><strong>World-building</strong>: 2/3<br />Something else that is probably also being affected from me not reading the first instalment. However, I believe there could have been explanations, at the very least, for what Razors are. I mean, sure, you might have explained that in the first book, but even an oblique, passing half-reference to the nature of their powers or something to that effect could have helped. <br /><br /><strong>Overall</strong>: 3/5<br />I feel like I said a lot of negative things with very few nice ones, however I think this series has promise, if the authors can polish their style a little more. The book was definitely an entertaining read, specially since it was so short, but part of me can't help but feel I would have enjoyed it even more if it had been longer and more thoroughly explored in all the right ways.
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Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-21002263372914059392016-01-21T12:06:00.001-04:002016-01-21T12:06:00.734-04:00Review: Here be Dragons
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77449" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1448657042m/77449.jpg" border="0" alt="Here be Dragons" /></a>
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77449">Here be Dragons</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/24655">Sharon Kay Penman</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1310946679">4 of 5 stars</a>
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After not writing a review for so long, I am afraid I must again learn to organize my thoughts and to set them down in an enjoyable or at least informative manner. I am not quite there yet, and s o this might feel more than a little stilted and awkward (not helped by the fact that English is not my native tongue.) In any case, I apologize. To help myself a bit, I went back to organizing my ideas regarding five different aspects:<br /><br /><strong>Prose</strong>: 5/5 stars<br />If there is one thing that initially caught and charmed when I first started reading this book, it was its prose. The way scenes, inner thoughts, and historical snippets were written was truly marvellous and a pleasure. if there were times when I tired of the book and put it away, it was never because of any technical fault or flaw in the writing.<br /><br /><strong>Pacing</strong>: 2/5 stars<br />If the book has an enemy, I think it is its own pacing. The constants jumps from scene to scene, from year to year were tiresome and jarring and usually forced me to put down the book for a while. I suppose this might have been to keep in hand with known dates and events, perhaps. In keeping with the historical part of this history But if so, I think I would have preferred more vagueness, more drawing upon her own imagination and less keeping in fact with reality, because in my opinion it is the one thing that makes the book rather tedious to read.<br /><br /><strong>Plot</strong>: 3/5 stars<br />From reading the synopsis, one might expect the story to centre immediately upon Joahnna and Llewelyn's joint troubles. For better and for worse, this only happens after we get a sizeable number of pages introducing us to the lives of the three big players: John, Joahnna, and Llewelyn. This is not terrible, by any means. It works specially well in the case of John and his daughter, but it can nonetheless feel plodding at times. <br /><br /><strong>Characterization</strong>: 4/5 stars<br />I can honestly say I've seldom had more fun with a novel's characters. From the first they always feel very much alive and vibrant. My only qualm, as I mentioned during the reading, is the way we are often treated to more than one character's inner thought in any one scene. The switching about is awkward and jarring, even if it never gets outright confusing. I can understand why the author did this- specially when one more than one character were thinking the same while expecting the worse from each other, as it fuelled these scenes with poignancy and irony and the like, but I think I would have liked it better if she had kept to one's character head per scene, or per chapter or very much anything else but this awkward juggling.<br /><br /><strong>World-Building</strong>: 5/5 stars<br />Not much to say here, except that the world feels as lively and genuine and well-crafted as the characters. It certainly feels consistent with itself, and with what I know of the period (which is admittedly not much, as while I love history, I am far from an expert on it). It was certainly an interesting and realistic window into a much romanticised period.<br /><br /><strong>Overall</strong>: 4/5<br />All things considered, the book is a joy to read. It has its small number of flaws, certainly, but the positives far outweigh the negatives, and if you forgive the slow beginning, I can assure you that you are going to get completely caught up in the story it tells. You will sheer, and you will cringe, and you will stare in abject horror, because in the end it is just that good of a book.
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Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-57128525307330064602012-12-01T15:23:00.001-04:002012-12-03T15:18:28.652-04:00Mistborn: The Final Empire<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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What a long time has it been! I actually finished this book before starting Legion, but for some reason I just could not bring myself to post a review about it. But now thats over! Thankfully, so is the book.</div>
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If you are like me, it is inevitable you've heard a lot regarding Brandon Sanderson. More specifically, you've heard a lot of people singing his praises. You've read a lot of rave reviews of his books. You've ached to read him, and enjoy the panacea-in-book-form so wonderfully advertised among fantasy fans. And then you do read him. And all falls flat. </div>
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To be fair, that is the way hype usually works. Scarce are the things that end up being as good as they are famed to be. Not to mean everything said about Sanderson is false, or that he is a bad writer, but in my opinion, some of the things he is really good at ultimately (and ironically) get in the way of his own stories.</div>
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Yes, I have a gripe with his magic systems. Or, more exactly, I have a problem with the way he over-feeds us with explanation regarding his magic systems. I can appreciate the fact that they are very well developed, and all that. But I can't bear to read explanations about the intricacies of their workings every now and then. If something is well-developed, that should be apparent by itself. There is really no need for Brandon to shine a proverbial limelight upon it the way he does, sometimes making the whole thing feel more like the tutorial of an RPG than a novel proper. In this regard, I admit I am more of a fan of the way Steven Erikson writes the magic in his <i>Malazan</i> series.</div>
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And hey, you might say, thats not really specific to this book! And in a way its true. Still, bear with me. As far as I've seen, this flaw is also somewhat present in Warbreaker, the only other <i>novel</i> of Sanderson I've read so far (thought I didn't manage to finish it).</div>
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Now, continuing on, boring explanations are not the only problem we'll face. Indeed, the real killer is the feeling of blandness that emanates from many of the characters. Besides Kelsier and Vin, most of them don't have that feel of solidness, of not just being words and a name. As a result, there's not much empathy invested from our part unless the affected in any scene are either of the two aforementioned. </div>
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To his credit, Brandon built an 'after-the-end' world that, unlike many of his secondary characters, does manage to feel real (I would say alive, but the world portrayed is not really in that good of a shape). It captivated me from the very first line. And it was the world that made me stay interested when all the other things I disliked urged me to leave. This in itself felt somewhat refreshing (thought not ideal), because usually it is the inverse that tends to happen. </div>
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About the plot I won't say much. It feels somewhat typical at first, the story revolving around the efforts to defeat an evil overlord and all that. Yet this specific evil overlord is akin to a god, and this, together with the well done world-building, gives the story a certain edge over most in the <em>defeat-the-evil-overlord</em> genre.<br />
<br />Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-78811618588176860712012-10-18T22:11:00.000-04:002012-10-18T22:14:57.596-04:00Legion<div style="text-align: center;">
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First of all, I apologize for my absence. I never intended to leave this blog unattended for such a long span so shortly after having created it.But simultaneously attending college and having a job tend to do that to one´s plans, and to me they have proved to be an exhausting combination.</div>
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I wonder, however, if part of the reason I had not updated was also that I had this review waiting for me here. How do you review something this short? I mean... Anyone even remotely interested can pick the book and just read it all and be done with it. No great loss, whether you end up liking it or not...</div>
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But enough of that. </div>
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For what its worth, I really liked Legion. In terms of characterization, dialogue and prose it was flawless, even if not outstanding. It had me reading page after page. It definitely was entertaining. But for all that, I can´t help feeling the short story form killed what would have otherwise been a greater novel. I say this mostly because the execution of the plot really falls short in basically every possible way, thought in pacing above all. Everything just feels... hurried. More like a prologue or even a summary of the story than the actual story.<br />
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And come to think of it, if I recall correctly, there <i>is</i> a tv series in the making based on the aftermath of the book, so...<br />
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Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738084255921515108.post-43761565063460706972012-10-02T00:03:00.001-04:002012-10-03T14:56:28.991-04:00Legacy of Kings (The Magister Trilogy, #3)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The plot basically centers on Gwynofar, Salvator, Kamala and Colivar as preparations are made and plans hatched not only to confront and finally vanquish the Souleaters that have trespassed the Wrath, but to come to peace with their past, their beliefs, and their future. It is mostly this group whom we follow through the novel, thought now and then we fortunately get glimpses from Siderea, who now stands in direct opposition to them. </div>
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As the last book in the trilogy, LoK is supposed to be the climax in terms of plot and character development. However, for the most part what we find are overused words (<i>Dark, </i><i>for example. I get that magisters are dark and what-not, but there is really no need to describe every third damned thing any joe does with the wor</i><i>d</i>. ), overlong phrases, needless viewpoint characters, and awkward pacing and resolutions. In short, the book is a veritable letdown when compared to the first installment or even the second. And that in itself says a lot, because neither <i>Wings of Wrath</i> nor <i>Feast of Souls</i> were perfect.</div>
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There is also the fact that, at times, characters seem to speak in too modern a way. The use of words like<i> ex-lover</i> only make this more noticeable and jarring. (To be precise, my grip is with the <i>ex</i> part. Why not say <i>former, </i> or any other synonym, instead? <i>Ex</i> has too much of a modern air about it, even if its use is technically valid.)</div>
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Oh, and remember the random viewpoint chapters I mentioned in the review of #2? They are back, too. And as useless. One could argue they each have a purpose, be it to flesh Colivar and Nyuku's past, or a certain other situation. However, the author mostly fails to add weight to these events. Nyuku never rises above being wall-paper pretty but flat at best, and the situation with the stolen babies and the souleater queen is barely even fleshed badly, the characters Hedda and her husband never again mentioned, making it doubly bad.<br />
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But the worst offender, by far, was the way the story just... ended. There was no true climatic confrontation, no memorable passages, no excitement. Just Siderea acting terribly out of character, apparently forgetting all she knew about magisters and protecting her reputation as if she truly had need of Nasaan, thus getting killed in the most stupid, unbelievable way. Siderea knew how magisters thought. I find it impossible to believe she had not at least considered the utter probability of one of them uncovering her tracks. </div>
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Yet I suppose it is not fair to say, and thus I won't pretend, it was all absolutely bad. I thought Salvator's characterization was really good, for example. So was Colivar's deconstruction, thought the latter's thoughts did get repetitive at times. If someone were to ask me, I'd probably say the best parts of LoK were the ones that developed either of these two characters.<br />
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Thats it, I think. It was probably inertia and the desire to complete the series that kept me reading this to the end.<br />
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Guillermo Aristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535034599476576305noreply@blogger.com0