Behind Blue Eyes

The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin My rating: 4 of 5 stars 4.5 stars. This was better than expected, even with the hype. At first I hesitated to buy it. I mean, why do I want to sink this kind of money into one of GRRM's distractions? All that does is encourage him to work on stuff that isn't The Winds of Winter. Right? That, and I'm not even sure how much of this he wrote. He has endorsed it heavily, and I know that he's very protective of his material. So that kind of won me over, and I added it to my Christmas list. At least it isn't a snoozefest of an anthology, right? Right. This book is brilliant. I wouldn't even call it something to tide me over while I wait on TWOW. It's a great work on its own. This is a history textbook that is way more interesting than anything I had in school. And the artwork is breathtaking - it's worth picking up this book ...

Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks My rating: 4 of 5 stars To be honest, I had mixed feelings here. At times I was really into it, but during others I felt it dragged on. I'd say the good outweighed the bad, however. So I'll round up my 3.5 stars to a 4 rating. I really liked the characters, and I loved Banks's development. I also enjoyed the universe building that this first Culture novel has. I'm definitely curious enough to look into reading others (I've actually read Player of Games , but it's been 20 years and I don't remember much). View all my reviews

Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding My rating: 4 of 5 stars I really enjoyed this, and though I've been seeing great things said about it for a long time, I just now got to it. Well, I'm glad I did. I'm good and thoroughly hooked, and I'll be picking up more books in this series. Cross [b:The Winds of Khalakovo|9601072|The Winds of Khalakovo (Lays of Anuskaya, #1)|Bradley P. Beaulieu|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361611024s/9601072.jpg|14488183] with Firefly and you might have a basic idea of what to expect. Or not. It's kinda its own thing too. Recommended. View all my reviews

Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr by Garth Nix My rating: 2 of 5 stars When I glance at the reviews for this book, I'm actually surprised. Not that people would like this book, but that everyone would like it. I thought for sure there would be more of a split on it. I mean, the writing is good. Nix can put together sentences and his plot is soundly articulated. His Old Kingdom is a vast and impressive construct, and his imagination is superb. There were even a couple really good scenes in here. I just...I don't know. I couldn't wait for it to end. I hated the characters. As much as I love Tim Curry as a narrator, even he couldn't save this audiobook. Lirael was annoying, and her dog was worse. Sam started out alright, but I came to loathe him more than Lirael herself by the end. Mogget the cat was pretty good, nearly as enjoyable as he had been in the first book. The first book, which I had liked. What happened here? Ahhh, don't know. Maybe it's suffering from m...

Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones My rating: 4 of 5 stars 3.5 stars. Almost 4.0 (As I write this review, I'm actually rounding up to 4) This was a fun read. I liked it better than Howl's Moving Castle , which I'd read earlier in 2014. There was a nice mixture of wit and magic, and some characters I could really get behind. The concept was absurdly brilliant - a fantasy world used as a theme park by Pilgrim Parties that come to live the adventure. Derk is chosen to be this year's Darklord and must go out of his way to give the tourists the best possible epic thrillride. Execution was nice too. Jones had a way of smooth prose and timing. This book was actually much darker than I'd expected (despite the title) and I'm not really sure I'd call it "YA", as the marketing has it. The light tone (though darker subject matter at times) and satirical approach might have played into that, but it certainly wasn't childish. Much. There was a mo...

The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore My rating: 4 of 5 stars 3.5 stars. This really had some potential, and some of the stuff was downright hilarious. But it did seem to run a bit long at times. Still, Christopher Moore is a funny dude and I'll read more of his stuff. Plus, the audio was dead-on. The narrator, Tony Roberts, had a great voice for narration and nailed the characters. His delivery of Moore's punchlines was spot on too. View all my reviews

The Free by Brian Ruckley My rating: 4 of 5 stars I received an eARC review copy from NetGalley . Looking for a stand-alone epic fantasy? Want some grimdark gritty kick-ass action and some badass magic-fuqery? Look no further. If Joe Abercrombie and Steven Erikson had a secret love child, this would be it. A gruff company of legendary warriors thrown in together with some cool battle scenes, occasional humor, and a wicked magic system with such dire consequences. Magic users that throw this fuqery and its results, along with the cost of these energies, both to the receivers and casters of said magic. Why 4-stars rather than 5, if it has all the great things I like about fantasy? Well, the pacing was a bit slow at times, and the ending had some parts that seemed rather abrupt. Though the majority of the ending was good for me. This book is satisfactory as a self-contained story, but it might just leave you wanting more anyway. There's a lot of great wo...