eternitylaep's reviews
214 reviews

The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King

4.5

Ghost Story by Jim Butcher

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A great follow-up to Changes. The memory sequences do a fantastic job at telling us who Harry Dresden is when our eyes haven't been on him. It feels very reminiscent of some of the earlier Dresden novels, namely Fool Moon, where he doesn't have the trust of people he needs it from. It hurts to see Molly so broken after seeing her come so far. Jim Butcher as it seems to always be is a cold and heartless bastard, and I love him for that. Rarely do I feel so much emotion so consistently while reading than when I'm reading his work.

Long Chills and Case Dough by Brandon Sanderson

funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

The pulp is raining and pouring from this one. It's a fun story to read but not required Sanderson reading by any means.

The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The Drawing of the Three was a vast improvement on the story, world, character, and everything in between from The Gunslinger. Roland feels far more dynamic now than he did during the first novel, and he wasn't exactly lacking during that one either. The cast struggles, and they struggle hard throughout this novel. I really liked all the new characters that we got to meet and the way that King is tying things back to the first entry is already very intriguing. I think right now what I'm really looking forward to in the next novel of the Dark Tower is some more scenes with just Roland's gang. I also of course want to see Jake return to the fold as I believe he will. And some more action where it's just Roland and his pistols like in Tull during the first entry. So far this feels so different from everything I've been reading over the past three years and it makes me so happy. Unfortunately based off of the extended reading guide I am following I won't be returning to Roland and the Dark Tower for a little while, but I think that will only make the return that much sweeter.

Murtagh by Christopher Paolini

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Returning to the world of Alagaesia in such a fashion was difficult at times. Murtagh and Thorn at the start of this novel is still very much haunted by the events of the original series. Murtagh is jealous and spiteful towards Eragon and Thorn is terrified of what was done to him, and even paralyzed by his fears at times. I think one of the key geniuses here is seeing Murtagh and Thorn share their true names with one another, wherein they are critical of who they are but accepting of one another despite it. Throughout the novel they fail each other but understand how they have come to these failings. It's very reminiscent of the times when Eragon constantly makes mistakes leaving Sapphira worried and acting more like his mother and caretaker rather than partner. However here it's more like two mistreated dogs who are afraid to act out but are trying to do the best for the other, often unsuccessfully. I don't think this is better than the latter entries of the first four books in the sense that I think it is far less planned and much more of a labour of love, however it is far more polished and the quality of the writing is amongst the best of Paolini's career. I can't wait to see what's next for him in The World of Alagaesia and the Fractalverse.

The Gunslinger by Stephen King

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed The Gunslinger although it was definitely less approachable than the other two King novels that I've read. I don't think a less approachable story necessarily makes something bad, after all Malazan is my favourite fantasy series of all time and that's about as approachable as a hungry tiger. However I do think that it suffers when it comes to communicating the ideas of the novel. If this was a standalone novel (I'm laughing as I type this first part of the sentence because I feel this is the series that I have googled more than any to see what I need to read before entering so imagining the Gunslinger or the Dark Tower as standalone is ironic and funny to me) I wouldn't really be pleased. However knowing that it is one in eight directly connected novels, and even more so one in twenty-five entries that I have been led to believe are somehow related to the Dark Tower. I have faith in Steven King. I can imagine that I may come back to this novel at some point during my read through of the extended Dark Tower series to better understand what happened during the events of the story. I already like Roland and also found Jake very interesting, he didn't seem like your average kid. Of course I am so curious about The Walking Dude after his actions in The Stand and can't wait to see what kind of role that he plays in The Dark Tower series.

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

My second Stephen King novel down.  Within 'Salem's Lot you feel the comfort of a rural town where everyone knows each other but when a set of strangers are suddenly introduced things break down and that ease you felt is whisked away. Characters like Ben, Matt and Mark are delightful to follow despite their hardships and then you contrast it with characters like Sandy and her husband Royce who are utterly despicable. I think I appreciated the smaller scope of this novel in comparison to The Stand but I think they are both great novels in their own right. 

System Collapse by Martha Wells

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

System Collapse is a kind of return to form for Murderbot as it returns to a format more akin to the early novels compared to Network Effect or Fugitive Telemetry. I think I prefer those two but they're only interesting because of the status quo set by entries like All Systems Red, Exit Strategy, and System Collapse. I liked seeing Murderbot and ART interact, as always, but in a slightly more familiar way. Overall another great entry. Now that I'm 100% caught up and there are no new books on the horizon it's the waiting game until the next one comes out, and that may constitute a re-read.

The Primal Hunter 7 by Zogarth

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Too start off the review I'm just going to clarify that book seven is one of the weakest entries in the entire series. However... that doesn't have as serious of consequences as it did when i really didn't like book 3. The third entry had the problem of being a gigantic sequence that should've felt epic and have a lot of things going in favour of it with it being the first full entry where Jake's no longer in the tutorial, and it completely dropped the ball, in my opinion. Book seven feels more like 6.5 then truly it's own book. Besides Carmen's arc and Simulation Jake arc there is truly nothing that I felt was super compelling here. Especially considering it's the shortest book yet. I don't think that book seven indicates a change in quality for the story just a slight slow down after books 5 and 6 felt like roller coasters. I think at this point I am sold on Primal Hunter (kind of weird to say after I've been reading it for like six months and read 7 books) and it will take a lot more than just a single boring entry for me to drop this series before it's conclusion.

The Sunlit Man by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Sunlit man features a returning favourite of mine. To avoid spoilers I won't go into the specifics of who they are but simply refer to them as, Nomad, who they have become. Nomad finds himself nearing death from the first few moments of the story. He struggles through this bleak landscape, one that is ever-changing and beyond confusing. This is an interesting world Brandon has designed here because it reminds so much (once again with these Secret Projects) of a world-building idea that he has posited about during his podcast, Intentionally Blank. As well this is an interesting magic-system that we're introduced to, one that is reminiscent and built off of the foundations of ones we have seen before, yet it's different in key ways that make it hard for us to truly understand, especially considering the far-future nature of this novel. This book had me actually crying, not just tearing, but sniffling and all the good stuff. Nomad's internal battles, self-hatred, and disassociation with who he feels has become resonated so deeply within me that when he made small steps to becoming someone that he more aligned with it felt so personal. For some reason people have become far more critical towards Sanderson over the past year, at least that's what it seems like to me, but he has only become more refined and polished in his craft from my perspective. As a conclusion to the Secret Projects I'd ranked them 4>1/3>2. I think something feeling more relevant to the furthering of the Cosmere with a directly related character rather than just a revelation of the mechanics that make up the universe in side story impacts me more personally and sticks with me harder. That being said I think that the Secret Projects and the Year of Sanderson was a huge success and something I'm extremely happy to have experienced.