Category Book Reviews

Aug 12 2014
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Book Review: The Fool’s Assassin by Robin Hobb

fools assassinTitle: Fool’s Assassin

Author: Robin Hobb

Series: The Fitz and The Fool #1

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 5/5 stars!

The Overview: FitzChivalry—royal bastard and former king’s assassin—has left his life of intrigue behind. As far as the rest of the world knows, FitzChivalry Farseer is dead and buried. Masquerading as Tom Badgerlock, Fitz is now married to his childhood sweetheart, Molly, and leading the quiet life of a country squire. Though Fitz is haunted by the disappearance of the Fool, who did so much to shape Fitz into the man he has become, such private hurts are put aside in the business of daily life, at least until the appearance of menacing, pale-skinned strangers casts a sinister shadow over Fitz’s past . . . and his future. Now, to protect his new life, the former assassin must once again take up his old one. . . .

Want more details? Head here: www.atrandom.com/fools-assassin

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The Review:

Before I get into talking specifics about Fool’s Assassin, you should know that Fool’s Fate (the last Hobb book that included these characters) was the story that single-handedly made me want to start a book blog. It was profound and wonderful – a perfect completion to the story arc that had been developing since the Assassin’s Apprentice. I laughed, I cried, I enjoyed the pieces out of that book. Most importantly, it was so mesmerizing that even though I read it a couple of years ago I still remember every detail – it’s likely to stick with me for the rest of my life. I don’t usually have such a profound connection to a story and its characters, but those rare occasions when I do is proof that books are magical. So, having finished Fool’s Fate feeling completely satisfied with the ending, I was thrilled when I found out Hobb decided to continue the story.

There’s more?!!!! :D

Although several years had passed for the characters, picking up Fool’s Assassin brought me back home. It’s as if nothing had changed – the people were rounded and interesting (because they are too real to be considered mere “characters”), the world was rich and familiar (especially because I’ve since explored more of it in the Liveship Trilogy and the Rain Wild Chronicles), and the plot was totally immersive. Hobb conveys such a great depth of character that I was immediately absorbed back into Fitz’s world. All of the things he’s gone through on his journey came tumbling back over me in waves of joy and sorrow, but I also found myself hopeful for his future as he faced several new challenges.

Without giving much away, I feel it’s prudent to point out that Hobb spent a good portion of the book introducing some amazing new characters (don’t worry, there were plenty of meaningful passages with beloved characters too). Because of this, however, the overall arc of the story really didn’t come into play until near the end of the book. A couple of my fellow reviewers didn’t love how long the story took to get going, but seemed to agree that it was still oddly absorbing. While I can definitely see where they are coming from, I love being in Fitz’s world so much that every moment felt golden and purposeful. It gave me new insight into Fitz himself (which I loved seeing) and also made me fall in love with some of the new characters. I think the bond they formed with both Fitz and the reader will be very important going forward. I loved every bit of this book and was incredibly sad when ended. It was heart-wrenching and beautiful, and the next one can’t come too soon.

I consider The Fool’s Assassin a must-read for any fan of the series, but would strongly recommend that anyone new to Hobb’s work start with Assassin’s Apprentice, where all the magic began! It takes a while to fully appreciate the beauty of the story, but it is well worth the wait!

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Aug 8 2014
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Book Review: Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

words of radianceTitle: Words of Radiance

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Series: Stormlight Archive #2

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 5/5 stars!

The Overview: In the first volume, we were introduced to the remarkable world of Roshar, a world both alien and magical, where gigantic hurricane-like storms scour the surface every few days and life has adapted accordingly. Roshar is shared by humans and the enigmatic, humanoid Parshendi, with whom they are at war. Among those caught up in the conflict are Highprince Dalinar Kholin, who leads the human armies; his neice Jasnah, a renowned scholar; her student Shallan, a brilliant but troubled young woman; and Kaladin, a military slave who, by the book’s end, was beginning to become the first magically endowed Knight Radiant in centuries.

In Words of Radiance their intertwined stories will continue and, as Sanderson fans have come to expect, develop in unexpected, wonderfully surprising directions. The war with the Parshendi will move into a new, dangerous phase, as Dalinar leads the human armies deep into the heart of the Shattered Plains in a bold attempt to finally end it. Shallan will come along, hoping to find the legendary, perhaps mythical, city of Urithuru, which Jasnah believes holds a secret vital to mankind’s survival on Roshar. The Parshendi take a dangerous step to strengthen themselves for the human challenge, risking the return of the fearsome Voidbringers of old. To deal with it all, Kaladin must learn how to fulfill his new role, while mastering the powers of a Windrunner.

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The Review:

I’ve been stalling on writing this review for months. You see, there wasn’t a single thing I disliked about the entire novel. It was every bit as amazing as Way of Kings and was, if anything, better. This provided me a bit of a challenge while trying to compose the review because 1) I didn’t want to talk specifics and give away spoilers 2) I felt the pressure to do it justice and 3) I didn’t want to just regurgitate everything I talked about in my review of Way of Kings. It has everything you’d want out of a high fantasy novel – great characters, epic world-building (some of the best I’ve ever seen), a masterfully woven plot, rich cultural immersion, and beautiful, exotic settings – all adding up to one of the best books I’ve ever read. Since I’ve already broken down all of these story elements in my review of Way of Kings, I’m going to take this review in a slightly different direction (… a geek-out).

Let’s talk about Sanderson for a minute and how totally fantastic and unreal I think he is. I mostly want to know how he managed to publish two 1000+ page books and not have a single boring passage within either one?! Every scene had purpose, developing character or advancing the plot with a vibrance and elegance you don’t come across often. I devoured every page and finished the novel feeling like I could have kept reading for ages. I personally believe this series marks a new generation of fantasy… it’s absolutely brilliant. I’d like to say it’s my new all-time favorite, but am having trouble relinquishing loyalty to all of the other amazing fantasy books I’ve read. Let’s just say for now that it’s in strong contention.

While I acknowledge that it’s impossible for a book to please every reader, I’ve never had a conversation with someone who didn’t also love the shit out of this book. If you’ve been on the fence with this one, take it from me – it’s a crowd pleaser. And the best news? The Stormlight Archive is currently projected to be a 10+ book series, and those novels can’t come out soon enough! Seriously, this is the type of epic storytelling that makes my inner fangirl go crazy. I’m positive I will be rereading them for years to come.

Overall, if you are a fan of high fantasy, this series is a MUST read. I’m not normally that pushy but, if you haven’t read it, you are missing out on the beginning stages of what I consider to be the next era of fantasy evolution. As blasphemous this will sound, Jordan ain’t got nothing on Sanderson.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Aug 7 2014
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Book Review: The Inventor’s Secret by Chad Morris

Inventor's secretTitle: The Inventor’s Secret

Author: Chad Morris

Series: Cragbridge Hall #1

Genre: Middle Grade

Rating: 4/5 stars

The Overview: Imagine a school in the year 2074 where students don’t read history, but watch it happen around them; where running in gym class isn’t around a track, but up a virtual mountain; and where learning about animals means becoming one through an avatar. Welcome to Cragbridge Hall, the most advanced and prestigious school in the world. Twin siblings Abby and Derick Cragbridge are excited as new students to use their famed grandfather’s inventions that make Cragbridge Hall so incredible. But when their grandfather and parents go missing, the twins begin following a trail of clues left by their grandfather. They must find out where their family is, learn who they can trust, and discover what secrets are hidden within Cragbridge Hall. Abby and Derick soon realize they are caught in a race with a fierce adversary to discover their grandfather’s greatest secret–a dangerous discovery that could alter both history and reality.

Inventor's secret 2

The Review:

There came a point in my life where I realized I just wasn’t enjoying middle grade books as much as I used to. It was a horrifying discovery because, after all, these were the titles I grew up on – the very genre that nurtured my love of reading. Nowadays, it takes a remarkable-sounding novel to even get me interested. The Inventor’s Secret was among those exceptions.

It had all of the adventure I was hoping for, but also had some other cool, unexpected elements. For one, there was an overall mystery that held some appeal for my adult tastes: Abby and Derick had to solve a series of clues left by their grandfather to figure out what happened to both him and their parents. Combine the puzzle-solving tasks with some really neat classroom challenges, and I was sold. Those challenges even reminded me of the obstacles Harry Potter faced while going after the Sorcerer’s Stone… Resonance.

The Inventor’s Secret also introduced something that gives my inner child a major geek-out: ANIMAL AVATARS!!! How cool is that? I always love books that incorporate wildlife, and the unique presentation of this concept is what initially drew me to the book. Essentially, these kids are hooked up to a computer that transfers their minds over to mechanical animals (oh, how I wish I was a student at this school). This element reminded me of the Animorphs series by Applegate, which gets extra credit for sparking my love of reading when I was ten… More resonance.

As much as I love mystery, adventure, and animal avatars, I also love when I feel like I’ve learned something from a book (be it potion-making, science, basket weaving, whatever!). I liked this one, especially because it took an ordinary school subject, history, and made it fun! The classrooms were equipped with virtual projectors that surrounded the students with scenes from the past, essentially making them part of the action. Morris made history come alive while simultaneously making me want to learn more about each event (I don’t know exactly how accurate the references were, but I imagine they were well researched). Add all of that awesomeness to some good old time-travel, and the possibilities are endless.

You can see how many great elements this book brought to the table. There was honestly nothing I didn’t like about it. The writing was geared more towards younger readers than Fablehaven or Harry Potter, but not by much. All in all, I highly recommend this title and am excited for the sequel.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Aug 1 2014
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Book Review: Crashed by Robin Wasserman

CrashedTitle: Crashed

Author: Robin Wasserman

Series: Cold Awakening #2

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Rating: 3/5 stars

The Overview: Before the accident, Lia Kahn was happy.Before the accident, Lia Kahn was loved. Before, Lia was a lot of things: Normal. Alive.

Human.

Lia no longer believes in before. Six months after the crash that killed her, six months after being reborn, Lia has finally accepted her new reality. She is a machine, a mech, and she belongs with her own kind. It’s a wild, carefree life, without rules and without fear. Because there’s nothing to fear when you have nothing left to lose. But when a voice from her past cries out for revenge, everything changes. Lia is forced to choose between her old life and her new one. Between humans and mechs. Between sacrificing the girl she used to be and saving the boy she used to love. Even if it means he’ll hate her forever.

Crashed 2

The Review:

Because I’ve owned the beautiful little hardcovers of this series for several years now, I decided it was finally time to read them. Well, I guess you can say it was finally time to read them again, as this was my second time through the first novel, Skinned. While I enjoyed Skinned immensely more this time around, it still left me feeling depressed. I decided that if I was going to tackle the series again, Crashed better offer some sort of silver lining, or else I may never make it to the third and final book. You see, awful heart-wrenching things happen to Lia in the first book (some of which she brought on herself), and there really weren’t any positives to the story. Don’t get me wrong, it was written beautifully and parts of it were absolutely genius. Even so, I was still left without that tiny ray of hope and feared the negative aspects were going to be the only aspects of the series. While Crashed was equally evoking, it managed to give me what Skinned had not: balance.

Now that Lia has finally come to terms with her situation (well… mostly), it allowed the focus to shift to the broader conflicts of the story. It also provided an opportunity to get to know the secondary characters a bit more, and they were AWESOME. If I’m honest, I’m probably more excited to see where their decisions take them moving forward than the main character herself. That’s not to say the protagonist is a weak character, I just found others more relatable.

It’s one thing to have written great characters, but Wasserman really knew how to use them. Personalities clash, epiphanies take place, true motives are revealed, and all of it was evident through the brilliant dialogue. Thought-provoking, drawn-out arguments took place between the characters and they were always so engaging that I found myself riled enough to want to join in. Even if the rest of the book was total crap (it wasn’t), the dialogue alone would have been enough to keep me reading on – it was superb!

There are so many strengths to this series that I wish I could recommend it to everyone. The trouble is, the plot is downright depressing – focusing on all of the dregs life has to offer – that I just can’t justify putting it up for recommendation. If you decide to try it anyway, be warned that Wasserman will rip your heart out, but she’ll do it in the most beautiful, profound way possible. If you need me, I’ll be over here steeling myself for the final novel.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Jul 25 2014
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Book Review: Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

Steel heartTitle: Steelheart

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Series: The Reckoners #1

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Rating: 4/5 stars

The Overview: Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills. Nobody fights the Epics…nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them. And David wants in. He wants Steelheart – the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David’s father. For years, like the Reckoners, David’s been studying, and planning – and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience. He’s seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.

Steel heart 2

The Review:

I really liked Steelheart, which is awesome because I wasn’t totally convinced I was going to. You see, even though it’s a Sanderson (a HUGE endorsement in itself) I was afraid I’d find the comic book storyline too cheesy. While the book constantly straddled that line, I never felt like I was reading something juvenile. Not to say that I didn’t roll my eyes on occasion, but only because the main character kept using these ridiculous metaphors (which I thought was a brilliant character quirk) that were so bad they were good, if that makes sense.

Overall, Steelheart was just plain fun to read. And it was different from anything I’ve read before. The book was fast-paced and action-packed, with good guys you can really get behind and a villains who are fun to hate. I will say, though, I did find it a mite predictable. In fact, all of the members who attended March’s Escape Reality Book Club meeting agreed that Steelheart was highly predictable. The interesting thing is that none of us predicted the exact same twists to the plot. They noticed things that I didn’t and vice versa. What this says to me is that the book has to be a lot more complex than we originally gave it credit for because of the sheer number of opportunities we all had to predict things. That also makes our predictions a lot less impressive – we were bound to be right some of the time, right?

The bottom line is, there were a lot of elements to this book, which is a big reason why I enjoyed reading it so much. All of that thinking ahead and trying to figure out what was going to happen invested me in the story and made it feel more… interactive. I know some people had trouble getting into it, but I was hooked right from the very beginning by what I consider to be superb storytelling. I am eager to find out what happens next in Firefight when it comes out in January!

Sanderson has yet to disappoint, and every new novel sends him higher and higher on my favorite author list. I have not yet read a book from him that I didn’t like – the writing, story, world-building, and characters are always superb. Steelheart was no exception!

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Jul 20 2014
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Book Review: The Jewel by Amy Ewing

the jewelTitle: The Jewel

Author: Amy Ewing

Series: The Lone City #1

Genre: Teen Dystopian

Release Date: September 2, 2014

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

The Overview: The Jewel means wealth. The Jewel means beauty. The Jewel means royalty. But for girls like Violet, the Jewel means servitude. Not just any kind of servitude. Violet, born and raised in the Marsh, has been trained as a surrogate for the royalty—because in the Jewel the only thing more important than opulence is offspring. Purchased at the surrogacy auction by the Duchess of the Lake and greeted with a slap to the face, Violet (now known only as #197) quickly learns of the brutal truths that lie beneath the Jewel’s glittering facade: the cruelty, backstabbing, and hidden violence that have become the royal way of life. Violet must accept the ugly realities of her existence… and try to stay alive. But then a forbidden romance erupts between Violet and a handsome gentleman hired as a companion to the Duchess’s petulant niece. Though his presence makes life in the Jewel a bit brighter, the consequences of their illicit relationship will cost them both more than they bargained for.

the jewel 2

The Review:

As a HUGE fan of the Selection Trilogy (well, the first one, anyway) you can imagine how excited I was when The Jewel popped up on my radar a couple of months ago. Whenever a new book draws my attention, I’m always nervous it won’t live up to my expectations. In this case, however, The Jewel was even better than I expected it to be!

It had most of the same elements as the Selection, but in my opinion took all of them to a higher level. The world-building was robust – maybe not quite on the level of adult genres, but interesting just the same. The conflicts were excellent – driving the story forward and keeping my attention the entire time. Even though the specific conflicts Violet dealt with weren’t totally relatable (as many women probably haven’t been forced to carry someone else’s child), her emotional reactions to them certainly were, making parts of this book downright heart-wrenching.

But great world-building and conflicts wouldn’t mean a thing without the interesting characters within them. Even though I never felt Ewing was withholding information unnecessarily (a huge pet peeve of mine), I still don’t know everything about the characters that I’d like to. They all had such depth and complexity that I feel we’ve only just scratched the surface of their potential in this first book. The desire to learn more about them all is the main reason why I’m chomping at the bit for the sequel (which is over a year away…fml).

I found everything about The Jewel a mite unexpected. The love interest was fantastically unconventional, all of the characters showed duality, the subject matter was slightly more serious than a typical YA, and the plot never followed the route I thought it would. All of these elements were delightful twists that made the book stand out that much more.

As you can tell, I really enjoyed the The Jewel and would strongly recommended to fans of the Selection. Only, I think the novels in this one are only going to get stronger going forward rather than weaker. Add this one to your TBR – you won’t regret it!

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes