Tag Archives: books

Feb 24 2016
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DNF Q&A: The Omen Machine by Terry Goodkind

The Omen Machine by Terry Goodkind

Title: The Omen Machine

Author: Terry Goodkind

Series: Richard and Kahlan #1

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: DNF

The Overview: #1 New York Times-bestselling author Terry Goodkind returns to the lives of Richard Rahl and Kahlan Amnell—in a compelling tale of a new and sinister threat to their world. In addition to concluding the Sword of Truth series, The Omen Machine also launches the new series of “Richard and Kahlan.

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The Q&A:

This is a reviewing feature I’ve been eyeballing on one of my favorite book blogs There Were Books Involved for a couple years now because I think it’s an excellent way to talk about an unfinished book fairly. I’m incredibly grateful because Nikki (the brains behind the blog, who has a most excellent name)  kindly allowed me to steal the idea and questions for my own blog. As my list of “amazing books to read” continues to grow, I find I have less and less time and patience to devote to the books I’m just not enjoying. I never would have considered DNFing a book ten years ago, but then I came across a quote, “Read the best books first, for you might not have the chance to read them all,” and have since made it my personal mantra. So let the Q&A begin!

I’m a Richard and Kahlan fan to the point where my unborn child would’ve been named “Kaylen” had he been a girl, thereby representing my all-time favorite female character from anything I’ve ever read. If that’s not fangirl enough to show my passion for elements of this series, I don’t know what is. I was willing to overlook the Pillars of Creation because I thought the Chainfire trilogy really redeemed the ending of the saga. Heck, I was even willing to overlook the uninspiring prequel The First Confessor, but finally have to admit that this series is no longer doing anything for me. Omen Machine lacked everything that once made the series special. I’ll elaborate:

Did you really give the Omen Machine a chance?

I think so – I read at least half of the book, if not more, before deciding to put it down.

Have you enjoyed other books in the same genre before?

Emphatically, YES! Fantasy is my favorite genre and I still consider the Sword of Truth series a must-read for fellow fanatics.

What ultimately made you stop reading?

I mentioned above that I feel the series has reached a point where it no longer contains the elements that made it special, and unfortunately it also exacerbated all the things I’ve criticized it for. For examples, Omen Machine lacked a sense of adventure and discovery (not to mention world building), didn’t have a clear purpose to the story (or villain, as far as I read), had zero romantic tension/love story, and really didn’t give the characters much to do other than stand around and argue over magical theory. And argue they did… holy shit.

Goodkind has always been accused of needlessly beating his readers over the head with concepts that are fairly simple to grasp. In Omen Machine, there was essentially nothing other than theory and concept driving the plot, and the resulting tirade of repetitive dialogue was enough to make me pull my hair out (and don’t even get me started on the ten page argument the characters had over how to implement a card catalog system in the palace library). It’s like Richard had to say everything four different ways before he was completely satisfied, then a talking-head character would step in and say “what you mean?” and he’d proceed to explain it four more ways. Then, another character would jump in and add one more tiny nuance of a fact and the whole cycle would start all over again. After one such scene went on for over twenty pages, I decided they had about ten more to finish the conversation and continue the plot before I got fed up. After another dozen more had passed with no end in sight, I’d had enough! I put the book down. For all I know the characters beat each other into bloody pulps with all the explanations. I just knew I didn’t want to risk joining them.

This is harsh, but I’m really disappointed in Goodkind. Omen Machine came across as self-indulgent and lazy – it always takes more effort to edit your work down to something concise (which this book desperately needed) than it does to add more detail. But then, cutting out all of the needless repetition would mean he wouldn’t have been anywhere near his word count and would’ve had to replace the vacancies with things like, I don’t know, storytelling and plot advancement. That’s a scathing as you’ll probably ever hear me get, but I just expected so much more at this point and he really let me down.

Was there anything you liked about Omen Machine?

Frankly, no.

Would you read anything else by this author?

Yeah, I actually would if he started a new fantasy series with fresh concepts and characters. I feel like part of his problem with this novel was trying to extrapolate more from the story that had nothing else left to give.

So you DNF’d the book – would you still recommend it?

I definitely still recommend the Sword of Truth series, but unless you just can’t stand not having a new book with Richard and Kahlen’s names in the text, I’d say skip this one. Honestly, I thought the ending to the SoT series was really satisfying, so I’m going to continue pretending like the saga actually ended there.

Other books you might like better:

by Niki Hawkes

Feb 22 2016
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Series Review [So Far]: Mistborn 4-6 (Wax and Wayne) by Brandon Sanderson

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson
Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson
Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson

The Wax and Wayne Series [So Far]
(Mistborn 4-6)
by Brandon Sanderson
4.75/5 stars

I’m a huge Sanderson fan, and these latest books in the Mistborn saga are just three more very compelling reasons why he’s one of my favorite authors.

If you aren’t familiar with the Mistborn series, here’s a little more about it: Sanderson originally meant to tell the story across three trilogies (a high fantasy, a contemporary, and a science fiction). The first set (Mistborn 1-3) was published between 2006 & 2008. Somewhere along the way, while working on a plethora of other projects, Sanderson got a wild hair and decided to add what I’m calling a “bonus” series – a set of four books that focus on the characters Wax and Wayne. This bonus series, set a few hundred years after the first Mistborn trilogy, is a fantasy/mystery hybrid set in an era resembling the 1920s. While these books are strong enough to stand on their own, readers would benefit from exploring the entire series in order of publication (starting with Mistborn: The Final Empire) to fully enjoy the rich history and nuances of character this saga has to offer.

This spoiler-free review will focus on the Wax and Wayne series (thus far) as follows:

The Alloy of Law:

I really enjoyed this novel and thought it was a great introduction to both the new era and characters within the Mistborn saga. The characters all caught my attention right away with their interesting backstories, but Sanderson really only scratched the surface of their depth in this first book. The mystery was also engaging, but it’s not until the next few books where you see how it ties in to the arc of the saga as a whole. Overall, The Alloy of Law was a light first read that’s entertaining and worth your time… but you ain’t seen nothing yet!

4/5 stars

Shadows of Self:

After finishing Shadows of Self, I was certain it would be my favorite of the series, it was that good (and yet IT GETS EVEN BETTER in the final book). It not only brought in a fresh mystery that clearly tied into the overall arc of the series, but also offered a glimpse into a few characters’ pasts. Strength of character is easily one of the trilogy’s best elements, and I particularly appreciated the chance to learn more about each person’s quirks and inner motives. This book is when I knew for certain that Wayne, the loyal sidekick of the story, was my favorite character because a) he’s hysterical and b) it was fun to see him in his element (incognito, doing very serious detective stuff… wink wink). Also, as hinted at earlier, there’s a point in this novel where things start to tie back to the original trilogy in a way that had all of my nostalgic meters beeping off the charts. But the tiebacks were subtle, which made them accessible to new readers of the saga. Overall, Shadows of Self was a very strong work filled with mystery, action, humor, and a few surprises that might just knock your socks off (I’m still looking for mine, they flew so far).

4.75/5 stars

Bands of Mourning:

I could barely put Bands of Mourning down. Every single last page was engaging and exciting, culminating towards an ending that had me stalking the author for news on the next one (which is on hold for a couple years while the author finishes up Oathbringer, the third book in the Stormlight Archive series, and incidentally the only series I’d be okay with postponing this one for – can you say amazing?!). What stood out to me about Bands of Mourning, aside from the obvious aforementioned character depth, world building, excellent action scenes, and spot-on pacing, was that it felt like Sanderson had an absolute blast while writing it. It maintained its serious base plotlines while at the same time managing to be positively hilarious. I laughed out loud for what felt like most of the book while still reveling at all the twists and turns. Sanderson gets yet another A++ for execution on this one, landing it not only as my favorite book of the series so far, but one of my favorite books of all time!

5/5 stars!

Overall, is this bonus Mistborn trilogy worth your time? Definitely. Fans of the series will enjoy the continuation and delight in the new characters while newcomers will (hopefully) be intrigued enough to go back and see where the saga started. I consider Sanderson a must-read for any fan of the fantasy genre, and this latest set of books are no exception!

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Feb 18 2016
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Book Review: The Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher

furies of calderonTitle: The Furies of Calderon

Author: Jim Butcher

Series: that The Codex Alera #1

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 3/5 stars

The Overview: For a thousand years, the people of Alera have united against the aggressive and threatening races that inhabit the world, using their unique bond with the furies – elementals of earth, air, fire, water, and metal. But now, Gaius Sextus, First Lord of Alera, grows old and lacks an heir. Ambitious High Lords plot and maneuver to place their Houses in positions of power, and a war of succession looms on the horizon.” “Far from city politics in the Calderon Valley, the boy Tavi struggles with his lack of furycrafting. At fifteen, he has no wind fury to help him fly, no fire fury to light his lamps. Yet as the Alerans’ most savage enemy – the Marat – return to the Valley, he will discover that his destiny is much greater than he could ever imagine.” Caught in a storm of deadly wind furies, Tavi saves the life of a runaway slave named Amara. But she is actually a spy for Gaius Sextus, sent to the Valley to gather intelligence on traitors to the Crown, who may be in league with the barbaric Marat horde. And when the Valley erupts in chaos – when rebels war with loyalists and furies clash with furies – Amara will find Tavi’s courage and resourcefulness to be a power greater than any fury – one that could turn the tides of war.

The Review:

I am a huge Dresden fan and loved the unconventional means by which this series came into existence –

It’s basically a series of half a dozen books set two thousand years after a lost Roman legion travelled through a rift to a world where pokemon exist, and now the legionnaires live and work with pokemon, except they’re called “furies” (I’m not even making this up, he did it as a dare after being called on one of his assertions by a crowd at a convention: He said everything in writing is about execution. They said prove it. He said give me three crazy horrible topics and he would make something out of it. They said lost Roman Legion, Pokemon, and the Zerg. A year later he released Furies of Calderon).

-D.R. Sylvester at www.drsylvesterfiction.com (who was kind enough to clue me in with this comment on one of my posts. You should check out his blog – it’s one of my favorites).

Needless to say, I knew I had to at least give it a try. And I liked it!

It’s probably not the strongest series starter I’ve ever read, but it was at least consistently entertaining from start to finish. And the characters were fantastic – so many great POVs, and each brought something special to the story. I liked all of them pretty equally and am most excited to see where their paths lead next. Great characterization is definitely one of Butcher’s storytelling strengths, and Furies of Calderon was no exception.

It’s a good thing the characters were good because their minor, interpersonal conflicts are what got me through the story when I found the overall arc a bit too narrow. Butcher kept this first book on a fairly minor scope, which I didn’t like, but I have a lot of hope that its potential will be realized in the next few installments. There just wasn’t enough focus on the handful of things that initially drew me in. For one, the furies (Butcher’s interpretation of Pokémon) didn’t play as big of a role as they could have, to the point where it felt almost as if the wielders were controlling elements rather than elemental beings. Also, there were strong references at the beginning of the book about an academy for these fury-wielders, which wasn’t expanded on it all throughout the rest of the story. There’s plenty of time for these things to become the focus in a six book series, so I’m not too stressed, but they’re definitely the things I will be specifically looking for going forward. How well they are brought to life will ultimately determine my overall satisfaction with the series.

At the end of the day, Furies of Calderon had great characters, good writing, a somewhat narrow focus, and some excellent ideas that were a bit under-realized (but with colossal potential). Incidentally, this is almost identical to how I felt about the Aeronaut’s Windlass – the first book in his newest fantasy series. I’m very hopeful that both will dazzle me in books to come. After all, even the magic that is Harry Dresden took a couple of books to really get going.

Other books you might like:

 by Niki Hawkes

Feb 8 2016
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Mini Book Review: Night Broken by Patricia Briggs

Night Broken by Patricia Briggs

Title: Night Broken

Author: Patricia Briggs

Series: Mercy Thompson #8

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Rating: 5/5 stars!

The Overview: An unexpected phone call heralds a new challenge for Mercy. Her mate Adam’s ex-wife is in trouble, on the run from her new boyfriend. Adam isn’t the kind of man to turn away a person in need—and Mercy knows it. But with Christy holed up in Adam’s house, Mercy can’t shake the feeling that something about the situation isn’t right. Soon, her suspicions are confirmed when she learns that Christy has the farthest thing from good intentions. She wants Adam back and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen, including turning Adam’s pack against Mercy. Mercy isn’t about to step down without a fight, but there’s a more dangerous threat circling. Christy’s ex is more than a bad man—in fact, he may not be human at all. As the bodies start piling up, Mercy must put her personal troubles aside to face a creature with the power to tear her whole world apart.

The Mini Review:

I figured since I just started reading the next book in the series [Fire Touched out March 8, 2016] that I should probably get it together and post a review for Night Broken – one of my favorites so far. There seems to be a running theme in this series of the characters having one giant problem to solve (the external conflict) while also dealing with a handful of lesser problems (usually internal conflicts). This novel in particular had a beautiful combination of both, but my favorites were the internals. I love reading about family dynamics and how people build and maintain relationships with one another. In Night Broken, Mercy is tasked with handling Adam’s passive-aggressive ex-wife. There were times that I wanted to strangle the ever loving crap out of her, and I honestly don’t know how Mercy kept her cool. But watching one of my favorite main character figure out a way to handle the situation in a way that was both satisfying and classy made my day. All in all, it really is a minor conflict in the whole scheme of the series, but one of the most satisfying to watch the characters overcome. And really, it’s often those little, interpersonal conflicts that determine whether or not I remember a book. After all, who cares if the big monster is defeated if you don’t have a solid emotional support system to come home to?

Anyway, I realize the focus of this review was a bit odd, so if you take anything away, take away the fact that Night Broken was every bit as good as the books before it and the upcoming Fire Touched is shaping up to be just as spectacular!

Other books you like:

 by Niki Hawkes

Feb 7 2016
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Book Review: City of Light by Keri Arthur

City of Light by Keri Arthur

Title: City of Light

Author: Keri Arthur

Series: Outcast #1

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Rating: 4/5 stars

The Overview: When the bombs that stopped the species war tore holes in the veil between this world and the next, they allowed entry to the Others—demons, wraiths, and death spirits who turned the shadows into their hunting grounds. Now, a hundred years later, humans and shifters alike live in artificially lit cities designed to keep the darkness at bay…. As a déchet—a breed of humanoid super-soldiers almost eradicated by the war—Tiger has spent her life in hiding. But when she risks her life to save a little girl on the outskirts of Central City, she discovers that the child is one of many abducted in broad daylight by a wraith-like being—an impossibility with dangerous implications for everyone on earth. Because if the light is no longer enough to protect them, nowhere is safe…

The Review:

Keri Arthur has been a staple in my urban fantasy/paranormal romance arsenal for many years now, and I’m convinced she gets better and better with each new series. City of Light was the fantastic combination of unique setting, great characters, and good storytelling that I’ve come to expect from her, and I think it a strong start to what promises to be a great series.

The basic plotlines surrounding the paranormal creatures and their proclivity for mischief was very similar to that in Arthur’s Riley Jensen series (my favorite of hers to date). It can be risky recycling old ideas, but Arthur presented it in such a different way that it made me nostalgic rather than disappointed. She has a way of weaving complex supernatural cultures into giant hodgepodge societies that somehow work. It made for an atmosphere that was fresh, exciting, and easily one of the best elements of the story.

But, by far, the best element were the characters. Tig was a strong female lead, which is to be expected, but my favorite thing about her was her rich back history and experiences that shaped her motives and decisions throughout the entire novel. She was such a well developed character that it made the novel special rather than just good. All of that praise is in addition to the cool aspect of how she came into being (lab-grown) and the cooler combination of DNA that made her unique (white tiger shifter with a hint of vampire… plus some other genetically superior upgrades). I was yet again reminded of Riley, but in a way that made me appreciate how well each heroine stands on their own despite their similarities. All of the characters surrounding Tig were equally interesting, and I have the feeling we’ve only just scratched the surface of their potential in this first book.

Overall, City of Light was a strong first novel in a series I can’t wait to devour more from. Fans of Keri will definitely appreciate it, and urban fantasy lovers in general will hopefully like the paranormal/futuristic infusion is much as I did. Fair warning though: sexual content and language.

I’d like to thank Penguin Group Berkley, NAL / Signet Romance, DAW, Keri Arthur, and NetGalley for the chance to read and review a reviewer copy of City of Light.

Other books you might like:

 by Niki Hawkes

Feb 3 2016
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Coming Soon: The Crown by Kiera Cass

The Crown by Kiera Cass

Title: The Crown

Author: Kiera Cass

Series: The Selection #5

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Release Date: May 3, 2016

The Overview: Twenty years have passed since the events of The One, and America and Maxon’s daughter is the first princess to hold a Selection of her own. Princess Eadlyn didn’t think she would find a real partner among the Selection’s thirty-five suitors, let alone true love. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you…and now Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more difficult—and more important—than she ever expected.

Waiting on Wednesday
Hosted by Breaking the Spine

I love this series… so much. There are a few key elements to these books that Cass presents brilliantly (relationships, fun characters, and engaging competitions) that it honestly doesn’t matter to me if other things are neglected (world-building and societal dynamics). And the covers… I LOVE the covers. Anyway, I’ll probably drop everything to read this one when it comes out!

What book are you waiting on?

 by Niki Hawkes