Author Archives: Alexandra

Review of “The Final Empire” by Brandon Sanderson

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Title: The Final Empire
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Series: Mistborn #1
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 537
Published: 2006, Tor Books
My Grade: 5 out of 5

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the “Sliver of Infinity,” reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler’s most hellish prison. Kelsier “snapped” and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.

Kelsier recruited the underworld’s elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. Then Kelsier reveals his ultimate dream, not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot.

But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel’s plan looks more like the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she’s a half-Skaa orphan, but she’s lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets. She will have to learn trust if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed.

 

MY REVIEW

I think I said this in my review of Elantris, but Sanderson is definitely one of my favorite authors! The main reason being his ability to come up with amazing and captivating stories that you really become a part of.

The Final Empire has: a great story arc, a new imaginative magic system, and a world you really find yourself in. I at least see very clearly everything that is happening. Even the fighting scenes which I usually only see blurs.

I wouldn’t say that Sanderson is using an easier way of writing, but his writing is easier to follow. I don’t miss details like I can do in other author’s style of writing (I will leave a small comparison to Robert Jordan here for example).

This book doesn’t leave you as the reader to think for yourself, which I think is a good thing. When I am really engulfed in a story, I don’t want to end up having to put the book aside to think about what certain things mean or not. I want a flow where I can continue to read and still be surprised when plot twists arise for example. And that’s how The Final Empire is. You can just continue to read in that flow and be completely inside the story.

The story is amazing. Something is always happening. Something good in the right direction, some setbacks, some more setbacks until you are questioning if things really are going to work out, which makes you understand why there are two more books in this trilogy. But then comes the ending. And you understand why there are two more books, but for other reasons than you previously thought.

Brandon Sanderson does it so well! The last part was so intensive that I couldn’t put the book down! I started The Well of Ascension straight after. 5 out of 5!

Review of “The Fellowship of the Ring” by J.R.R. Tolkien

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Title: The Fellowship of the Ring
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Series: The Lord of the Rings #1
Narrator: Andy Serkis
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 22 hours 38 minutes
Published: 2021, HarperCollins (originally published 1954)
My Grade: 5 out of 5

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell into the hands of Bilbo Baggins, as told in The Hobbit.

In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.

 

MY REVIEW

Wow! Is that enough for a review? I feel like it kind of is. But at the same time, no of course not. It has been years and years since I read the Sweidsh translation of The Fellowship of the Ring. I think I was 12 years old. Still not too bad to even try to read these ones at that age. But I was too young to truly appreciate them. I’m not sure how I would appreciate them now if I had read them properly, but I can say that I am the complete opposite of dissappointed after listening to them. I did the right choice in waiting until the Andy Serkis versions came out on audiobook platforms in Sweden. Because just wow!

I remember the long prologue and backstory of the hobbits. Serkis made it swoosh by. The history of hobbits was so interesting and it was impossible to zone out. Great start and the whole book was over in a flash!

As one who have seen the movies countless times, I can’t help but compare of course. They are so similar and Peter Jackson truly got the spirit of the story and did such an amazing job. And I see the brilliance of the movies even clearer now. He used the dialogue, quotes straight from the books and scenes that were exactly the same. But, there differences as well. I think every Lord of the Ring fan out there, no matter if they read the books or not, have heard of Tom Bombadill. What a weird character. And such a long part of the story. Another major difference is that in the book, everyone knows what’s going on from the very start. Information is not withheld from any characters for the sake of suspense which it does in the movie. Or newer books for that matter. It felt refreshing, even if the book was 70 years old.

Do I even need to say anything about the worldbuilding? It’s extraordinary. The world comes alive through thorough dialogue and extensive descriptions. Some parts are too long, like the council of Elrond. I think that one scene might have been four hours long? And I also think that Andy Serkis is a great reason for bringing all the characters even more alive than the storytelling itself. He reads all the characters with different voices and they sound so much alike to the actors in the movies. You can really tell when it’s Pippin who’s talking. I don’t have any memories of him reading Gollum as the movie voice though. Strange? Gollum is not a big part of this story though.

There are several scenes which are not really contributing to the story and I do understand why Jackson kept them out of the movie. But they do add some more worldbuilding. Not that it is actually needed, but it fills out.

Listening to The Fellowship of the Ring narrated by Andy Serkis was the best decision I could have made. Just wow! You should do it as well! 5 out of 5, easily!!

Nordic Ink Festival Day 2

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A full day in Arena Nord has come to its end and I have to say that it was a pretty great day. Mostly because I could see how much Mikael was shining when he walked around tinkering with his camera, finding the right angles and talking to people. He met two established photographers with whom he talked to a lot. One from New Zealand but lives in Gothenburg and the other from Finland.

My part of this trip was just to be a cute sidekick. I sat by the podium, playing Pokemon GO and reading my book. Every now and then talking to Mikael or walking around a bit. The Brew Festival didn’t open until 14:00. But when it did, we had Bao bun street food. They never go wrong! We got beer glasses and pollettes to buy beer but we bought anything but beer. Hot shots and drinks, hehe.

We saw some amazing tattoos getting rewards and we both of course got inspired. Mikael got one just a week ago, but I hadn’t gotten a new one in 3,5 years. It’s just that my idea will take me off the beach court for a bit, so I haven’t really wanted to actualize this yet. But there is a natural gap during Christmas?

The ferry home left at 20:00. We walked quickly from the fair with a stop at the hotel on the way to pick up a bag. We weren’t really stressed but we walked quickly and also managed to keep warm in the chilly October night air.

As soon as we got onboard, I started to feel real funky. I thought I was drunk at first, but I couldn’t have been after just one drink (the shot was much earlier in the day). Then my brain slowed down, I couldn’t process words and definitely not connect names to actual people. If I didn’t recognize the symptoms, I probably would have been scared that I had a stroke. But just a mild version of the aura migraine I got the first (and only) time in 2018 after a work week of hell. I was “out” for only 2 hours. But I was sad that I couldn’t spend that dead time reading. Trust me, I tried, but I couldn’t for the life of me understand what I was reading. So weird. I hope migraines won’t be a recurring event for me now.

All in all, a very nice weekend with my other half in our neighboring country on a super spontaneous trip to a tattoo fair.

Nordic Ink Festival Day 1

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So, Mikael and I did something super spontaneous. His new photography hobby took us all the way to Fredrikshamn in Denmark for a tattoo festival where he will do some photoshooting.

The plan was for us to get here today at noon so we could have some time to tourist around this town. But late yesterday we received an email from Stena Line telling us they rebooked our ticket to the 15:45 ferry. They sent us the email too late so we couldn’t call them and ask why. Apparently, we could have gotten tickets if we rebooked with a vehicle. Like what? So weird!

Anyway, we had already taken time off work for today, so we spent it eating brunch in Gothenburg which was nice as well a random Friday in October.

On the ferry, we got great seats right next to the bar. I played a bunch of Pokemon, but then people around us started to get too drunk so Mikael listened to a book and I listened to music while reading. Not too bad.

We checked in at Best Western at 19:30 and walked over to Arena Nord where the Ink, Beer and Dart festival was held. We got our wrist bands, started walking around for a bit and eventually found Think, where Mikael got his second tattoo a week ago. We had talked to them about going to this festival to practice a bit before doing a job for them at their studio so they can get some cool shots and video footage to promote their studio.

So tomorrow, we will be there at 10am when Sanna, one of the artists there has a full day client. I will be there for support 🙂

We also took a tour in the beer hall where we ended up talking to one of the organizers who offered us a “hot shot” but not exactly a hot shot. More spices and a break from all the beer there. It was good. He said it was thanks for us giving him tips on what to do for a student field trip to Gothenburg in March. Super nice!

We walked back to the hotel, I already got blisters on my feet from my several years old winter boots. But since it’s the beginning of the season, the blisters are there…

Review of “The Color of Magic” by Terry Pratchett

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Title: The Colour of Magic
Author: Terry Pratchett
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 287
Published: 1985, Corgi Books (first published 1983)
My Grade: 2.5 out of 5

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION 

In a world supported on the back of a giant turtle (sex unknown), a gleeful, explosive, wickedly eccentric expedition sets out. There’s an avaricious but inept wizard, a naive tourist whose luggage moves on hundreds of dear little legs, dragons who only exist if you believe in them, and of course THE EDGE of the planet…

MY REVIEW

I’ve heard so many good things about Discworld. That it was supposed to be easy-going and witty fantasy. Maybe I started with the wrong book (I’ve heard so many different theories on where to start, but I always like to start in the beginning), but I am not impressed. I even had to re-read the first 80 or so pages because I couldn’t understand what was going on. Maybe it was just so different from anything else I’ve read. But I couldn’t really get into it.

It wasn’t necessarily bad, but the story didn’t really feel like it had a purpose. Things happened but the different sections of the book didn’t really lead anywhere and didn’t feel connected. But maybe that’s the idea? Rincewind is not supposed to be a hero and the story is not a hero-story. It might make sense. But I didn’t quite get it. For me, it just felt incoherent and just a straight line. No definite ending, the story just rolled along.

It is funny and the world-building is cool. And I think I should give Discworld another chance one day. But not right now. The first book of Discworld gets a 2.5 out of 5.

Review of “Depphjärnan” by Anders Hansen

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Title: Skärmhjärnan (The Happiness Cure)
Author: Anders Hansen
Narrator: Anders Hansen
Series: –
Genre: Nonfiction
Length: 5 hours 26 minutes
Published: 2021, Bonnier Fakta
My Grade: 5 out of 5

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

As a species, we’ve never had it so good. We’re living longer and healthier lives than ever before; the sum of human knowledge and endless entertainment are only ever a few clicks away.

So why are we in the midst of a mental health crisis?

The Happiness Cure offers a radical new way to think about fulfilment. Blending neuroscientific research and empirical breakthroughs with stories of ordinary individuals, leading psychiatrist and viral TedX speaker Dr Anders Hansen reveals that by adopting an evolutionary take on life, we can re-set our perspective on happiness to find longer-term meaning and lasting contentment.

MY REVIEW

This was good! I kind of feel like I am already going in the right direction here (wisdom that has come with age), but it was so necessary to hear it. Five and a half hour read by the enthusiastic Anders Hansen himself while driving through Europe was exactly what my boyfriend and I needed.

This is the third book by Hansen that I’m reading and I love that even if they are supposed to be three individual pieces, it feels like they follow each other and intertwine.

So, what makes this book of his so great? He explains everything very thorough and several times in different ways so his words really stick with you. He also uses great analogies and explains our history in such a logical way that makes you say: Of course! That makes so much sense!

I won’t spoil anything, but the general idea of his meaning is that we are not programmed to be happy all the time, we are not programmed to be happy at all, because all our brain wants is to survive. And most importantly, evolution is SLOW, our society and technological advances are WAY TOO FAST for our evolution. We are not made to live in this world. And all of our anxiety, panic attacks and depressions are normal. Those are signs that our brain is functioning as it should. It still sucks! But that’s just how we as a species work. I will also try to remember that our memories are not something written in stones. They are meant to change to ensure our survival. Which justifies me taking photos of things I know I will eventually forget the details of, haha!

I’ve always thought that I was cynical and more and more carefree the older I got. But it is reassuring to know that my inexplicable downs that happen every now and then are completely normal. My depressions are normal, and it is okay! It is okay to not be happy. I mostly am happy and feel happiness which probably means that I unconsciously have accepted this. And it feels even more reassuring having heard this from a doctor. Anders Hansen is great and I did not take this read as something depressing which I think some people can interpret it as. It’s just the way it is.

It was a great short listen! I highly recommend it! Five out of five!

Review of “Fractal Noise” by Christopher Paolini

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Title: Fractal Noise
Author: Christopher Paolini
Narrator: Jennifer Hale
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 9 hours 57 minutes
Published: 2023, Tor
My Grade: 4 out of 5

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

July 25th, 2234: The crew of the Adamura discovers the Anomaly.On the seemingly uninhabited planet Talos VII:a circular pit, 50 kilometers wide.
Its curve not of nature, but design.
Now, a small team must land and journey on foot across the surface to learn who built the hole and why.
But they all carry the burdens of lives carved out on disparate colonies in the cruel cold of space.
For some the mission is the dream of the lifetime, for others a risk not worth taking, and for one it is a desperate attempt to find meaning in an uncaring universe.
Each step they take toward the mysterious abyss is more punishing than the last.
And the ghosts of their past follow.

 

MY REVIEW

This is a prequel to To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, only in the sense that it takes place in the same universe (literally) 23 years earlier. There are no connections with the much longer book that was released three years ago, except the mention of the discovery of the “Anomaly” which this book cover the events of. Although, since this one is much shorter, there are less descriptions of the science-fiction things than the other one. So I might suggest reading that one just to understand a bit better. Not that it is complicated, and there is a dictionary at the end.

Fractal Noise feels very similar to To Sleep story-wise since it is about first contact but two different kinds. They find something out of the ordinary, discuss whether or not they should explore, decide to explore and then things happen. When the book was finished and I sat down and reflected on what I had just listened to, I realized that this 10 hour long book consisted of one event, more or less. It is impressive that Paolini (and Jennifer Hale) manages to captivate the reader (listener) so they kind of forget that it revolves around just one event.

And on that note: Jennifer Hale as a narrator is incredible! I’ve only listened to Paolini’s works narrated by her, but she is something else. Maybe she is the one making me love these two books?

There is much dialogue in this book, it’s strong, it’s believable, and it is what makes this story feel alive. The characters are real. There are deep conversations about religion and general views on life and it feels like you’re a part of their exploration.

I can’t say what this book would have been like if I read it, but listening to it was amazing. I wouldn’t put it right at the top amongst my very favorites, but a strong 4 for sure.

Four countries in one day

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The end of our roadtrip is here and we are finally back home with our two cats where we belong. Mom has taken such gold care of them while we’ve been away, they were so soft and well-brushed! It has been a truly amazing trip, we have seen so much, been spoiled by Mikael’s family and tried world-class adventure golf at Die Rheinpiraten! But all adventures come to an end eventually, and this one ended now. I really do want to go on another roadtrip now though!

We had a long day ahead of us and left Amsterdam at around 9 in the morning and we touched down at home at 22:30. Several breaks and four countries (Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden) later we are finally greeted by two cuties at home! The sunset on the way was so beautiful amongst fluffy clouds. And it was sad when we left Autobahn and were restricted with speed limits again, haha!

I’m sure we’ll meet again, Germany! I want to improve my German more. Surprisingly much came back after so many days there :).

Today’s numbers, excluding approx 1h of breaks.
The total numbers for this trip. Not too bad. I am not sure about the average speed though. It feels like we should have driven much longer stretches at much higher speeds. But there have been lots of city driving as well I guess

Amsterdam

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You can see a lot in Amsterdam in one day. Our butts still hurt, and we’ve walked a lot (20k steps), so I am almost excited to sit in the car all day tomorrow when we are driving home, haha!

 

RIJKSMUSEUM

The first stop of the day was at the Rijksmuseum which contains history and art related to the Dutch history. It was massive and I think we were there for almost 2 hours. It was expensive, 22,5 Euro per person, but it was a great museum! Each half floor was an era and it ranged from the Middle Ages to 2000. We skipped the 20th century and spent most time in the earlier days.

 
The Battle of Waterloo by William Sadler II (1815). How do you even paint something this big?
    
Rembrandt.

The Night’s Watch by Rembrandt.

 

FLOATING FLOWER MARKET

After the museum visit, we were hungry since we skipped breakfast and walked straight to the museum. Amsterdam is famous for pancakes so we found a place by the Floating Flower Market called the Pancake Company where we both had Poffertjes, a Dutch specialty. Basically small pancakes with topping. Really good!


Poffertjes, a dutch small pancake with nutella, whipped cream and strawberries. Yummy!

 

BEGIJNHOF

In the middle of it all, there is a preserved neighborhood which is super old, Het Beijnhof. The place had some old history relating to religion and the last standing wooden house from the 16th century still stands here. People live here, so we had to be quiet when walking around. Super pretty buildings.

 

CANALS AND SIGHTSEEING

After the quiet residential neighborhood we just walked around. Saw lots of canals, and honestly: they all look the same basically. At first,  the canals were built to be a part of the military defense system, but when the city grew, the more inner canals military function was lost and they were instead used for transportation. I have to admit though, that even if I have traveled a lot through the years, I’ve never seen a city like this. So much water, easy to navigate, old and preserved architecture. it’s really quite something. We thought we would get a lot of rain today, but we didn’t and actually even got some sun every now and then.


To visit Anne Frank House, you need to make an online reservation six weeks in advance. No tickets are sold at the entrance. We didn’t even know we were going to Amsterdam six weeks ago.
 
We had lunch at New Dutch and it was delicious! Right by the canal.

Damrak, the most photographed place in Amsterdam.

The central station was pretty pompous.

Dam Square, right next to our hotel.
Royal Palace (Koninklijk Paleis op de Dam) and De Nieuwe Kerk at Dam Square.

 

RED LIGHT DISTRICT

We took a short nap back at the hotel before heading out again. Mikael found a restaurant called CAU Steakhouse, just around the corner from our hotel. It was a bit pricey, but it was really tasty. We then walked a little bit further and ended up in the Red Light District. Well, it was interesting to see. But it honestly felt like a lot of tourists (and couples and families) walked there just to see it. Which is exactly what we did. Interesting, but kind of depressing as well. Also, something I haven’t written about yet, is the smell of this city. Wow, it smells bad. People smoking everywhere. When we drove into the city last night, the car started to smell already. Ugh!

 

Duisburg

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Ouch, our butts! They have withstood so much today, but what a super sweet day. It was our last day in Germany with Ina and Burki and we spent it in Duisburg where Burki’s mother lives, who celebrated her 85th birthday. The four siblings had arranged for a surprise party, including breakfast at her house, then a bike ride and dinner at a restaurant. Such a sweet family. We all had a great day, and Käthe was so happy that we had come all the way to Sweden and joined in on the birthday celebrations. Mikael have met her before and I got the introduction to the whole family. Lots of names and dogs to keep track of.


The pimped tricicle bike that Ina and Burki had rented for the day. Käthe rode in this one and everyone else had their own bikes.


Molly got her own cart and joined in. Ina had a really nice electric mountainbike, but had forgotten her battery. It must have been heavy.


We took a break at Egelsberger Mülhl and had peach cake and cherry cake bought in the Netherlands. Apparently, when Burki was young, they bought fancy cakes like this and took long bike rides. While we were resting here, Molly was picking blackberries off a nearby bush. Adorable!


We were told we were going on a bike ride. But we were not told it would be 22km and 2,5 hours. Haha! It was a beautiful ride along fields and lakes. My saddle was kind of soft, but it still made my butt sore, haha! Mikael had a very hard saddle and is also in a lot of pain. He also had troubles with his bike that he loaned from Burki. For the first 25 minutes after the windmill break, his rear tire got crooked somehow, it sounded and was grinding against the metal frame. Which made it so much tougher. Poor guy! It was supposed to be a leisure ride, but he was sweating like crazy when the rest of us were beginning to tire a little bit.

After the bike ride, most of us drove to a restaurant called Landgasthaus Sellner. It was not super special, and several people were not very happy with their food, but I really liked min. Pork filet with fried potatoes and mushroom sauce. Molly was adorable here as well. She picked up the bag of candies that is attached to the leash and tried to hand it to us, telling us that she wanted candies. She also came up to me and Mikael and tried to shake hands and pushed her head against our thighs. She is so sweet!

We didn’t stay too long, the tricycle bike had to be returned and we said goodbye to everyone and headed in the opposite direction to the border to the Netherlands.


It was POURING down some of the way. Like scary much! But after the clouds cleared a bit, the sunset was really pretty.


We reached the hotel, finally, but not without trouble. We came into the city very late and we are staying in the complete city center at Dam Square. There was a small road leading in to the hotel and the parking, but there was a taxi blocking the way when we arrived so we weren’t sure it was the correct way. So we drove on, put in the address again and called the hotel and they confirmed we were supposed to make a turn there. Oh well. 20 minutes later, because the city is full of tiny streets and one way roads, we arrived and the taxi was still there. We blinked, the taxi gestured for us to drive past. We insisted and he got mad at us and drove out eventually. Stupid!

We are here finally, super tired but will hopefully have energy for tomorrow’s sightseeing.