Roadtrip to Germany!

Posted on by
Reply

The alarm went off at 2am this morning. Does that even count as morning? I had, for the first time in a very long time, extremely hard to fall asleep, so I only got 2,5 hours of sleep. Good thing we decided to get a room on the ferry from Trelleborg to Rostock so we could get some sleep. It was so well needed. Mikael drove all the way from Gothenburg to Trelleborg and I drove all the way from Rostock to Berlin. It was fun driving on the Autobahn, I managed to get up to 160 kmh before the traffic hit. It was so slow for more than an hour. Completely still at times. It was hard, even with our automatic car.

We booked the hotel on Stena Line before we fell asleep. We decided to go with Maritim proArte in central Berlin. Everything seems to be within walking distance. We checked in, parked the car in the garage and got ready to leave. We had no idea where to go. City centre/downtown Berlin seems to be everywhere. We ended up looking at some old buildings and walking along Spree where we found a restaurant. Had dinner, walked along the river the other way around back to the hotel where a night of longed-for sleep awaits. It hasn’t been too bad today, but I do feel exhausted now. 15 hours traveling, only 5,5 hours of sleep divided into two sessions. Tomorrow will be fun in the sun! 🙂 Sweden has really bad weather now, haha.

The cabin at Stena Line.

Rostock from the 9th floor on Stena Line while going in to the harbor.

Just another hotel room.

We both overdressed. We thought it looked shadow-y outside, that it was probably a little cooler. But no. 28C is still 28C, haha!

Humboldt Universität.

Berliner Dom.

Spree.

Schnitzel and currywurst dinner by the Spree.

Museuminsel (museum island).

Review of “The Path of Daggers” by Robert Jordan

Posted on by
Reply

Title: The Path of Daggers
Author: Robert Jordan
Series: Wheel of Time #8
Narrator: Michael Kramer and Kate Reading
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 23 hours 25 minutes
Published: 2008, MacMillan Audio (originally published 1998)
My Grade: 2.5 out of 5

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

The Seanchan invasion force is in possession of Ebou Dar. Nynaeve, Elayne, and Aviendha head for Caemlyn and Elayne’s rightful throne, but on the way they discover an enemy much worse than the Seanchan.

In Illian, Rand vows to throw the Seanchan back as he did once before. But signs of madness are appearing among the Asha’man.

In Ghealdan, Perrin faces the intrigues of Whitecloaks, Seanchan invaders, the scattered Shaido Aiel, and the Prophet himself. Perrin’s beloved wife, Faile, may pay with her life, and Perrin himself may have to destroy his soul to save her.

Meanwhile the rebel Aes Sedai under their young Amyrlin, Egwene al’Vere, face an army that intends to keep them away from the White Tower. But Egwene is determined to unseat the usurper Elaida and reunite the Aes Sedai. She does not yet understand the price that others—and she herself—will pay.

 

MY REVIEW

23 hours must be his shortest book, isn’t it? It didn’t feel short though.

I must admit that I am starting to lose some faith in this series now, eight books in. It’s slow. Like really slow. There are so many characters, new ones introduced all the time. And even if they have small roles, they mix up with the main characters and it’s really hard to follow and understand the interactions between characters. Which of course makes it impossible to follow the story as well as I might have wanted to.

Did things really happen except in the last 6 chapters? It sure doesn’t feel like it. Some scenes are memorable, but they are few. For example when the Asha’man start to feel the taint on saidin, or when Elayne is back at the throne room in Caemlyn. Or just all the story in the White Tower. I am not starting to symphatize with Elaida, the Amyrlin Seat of the White Tower, but I realize as I’m trudging along that I want to know what will happen to her and Tar Valon in general.

The last 6 chapters were memorable. Things happened. There was a war, many plot twists that were a little bit hard to follow along with.

This middle part of the series is slower but I will make it through to the end. But this one gets 2.5 out of 5. The lowest of the series so far. I hope it will turn upward now.

Review of “A Crown of Swords” by Robert Jordan

Posted on by
Reply

Title: A Crown of Swords
Author: Robert Jordan
Series: Wheel of Time #7
Narrator: Michael Kramer and Kate Reading
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 30 hours 24 minutes
Published: 2006, MacMillan Audio (originally published 1996)
My Grade: 3.5 out of 5

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

Now ruling Tear, Andor, and Caemlyn, among other nations, Rand is recruiting all men capable of channeling to be trained as his Asha’man soldiers. The warrior Aiel clans have pledged loyalty to Rand, acknowledging him as their chief of chiefs, even though the Shaido Aiel remain a threat.

Split into two factions, the Aes Sedai of the White Tower and their rebel counterparts both seek to ally themselves with the Dragon Reborn. Rand knows all too well the manipulative nature of the Aes Sedai, no matter which side of their internal war they stand upon. But even he cannot predict just how desperate, cruel, and treacherous they can be.

And in the shadows, the Forsaken and the Dark One are conjuring even more chaos…

 

MY REVIEW

Thirty hours is on the “shorter” end for Jordan, for sure. But I’m still impressed that he manages to write that many pages on a storyline that takes place in basically just one place. Of course it doesn’t. But this book’s main focus lies with Nynaeve and Elayne and their quest of finding the bowl of winds in Ebou Dar. There are so many new characters introduced that I find it very hard to follow honestly. And it’s impossible to know whether a character is going to be of great importance or no. At this point, seven books into it, it’s starting to become a little confusing and overwhelming.

This book focused on fewer storylines than previous, at least it felt like it. And I’m not sure whether that is a good thing or if it’s better to jump between several characters all the time. With long sections at a time, there are so many details crammed into the story which makes it a little bit harder to focus sometimes. But at the same time, it’s better to really get into the story.

Another thing that is starting to bug me is the descriptions of people. They are always the same. I have lost count on how many times a new female character is described as slender…

It’s still a good listen. But I really want it to move forward now. The story is progressing way too slow. But I’m not gonna give up, I’ve heard that it will end epically!

3.5 out of 5 for this instalment in Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan.

Review of “Elantris” by Brandon Sanderson

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Elantris
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 638
Published: 2005, Tor Fantasy
My Grade: 5 out of 5

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION 

Elantris was the capital of Arelon: gigantic, beautiful, literally radiant, filled with benevolent beings who used their powerful magical abilities for the benefit of all. Yet each of these demigods was once an ordinary person until touched by the mysterious transforming power of the Shaod. Ten years ago, without warning, the magic failed. Elantrians became wizened, leper-like, powerless creatures, and Elantris itself dark, filthy, and crumbling.

MY REVIEW

Why haven’t I read anything by Sanderson before this? I’ve heard so many great things about Sanderson in general. “Mistborn is supposed to be amazing”, “Stormlight Archive is the best ever”. Elantris I’ve been told has been incredible as well, but definitely his weakest novel. Which is understandable since it was his very first published book. I haven’t read anything by him until now. And all I can say is, if this is his weakest writing, I can’t wait to get into his other works!

At first, I had a hard time getting into the worldbuilding. So many new words were used like I was supposed to know them. If it is correctly written, you should know by context, but that wasn’t quite the case here. Of course, you got there eventually and forgot how much you didn’t understand at first.

Usually when there are multiple storylines and characters to follow, I pick favorites and there are some chapters I almost kind of want to skip, but of course don’t. But not with Elantris. I truly loved all three of the characters: Raoden, Sarene and Hrathen. I was as excited to read about Roaden’s experience inside Elantris, as of Sarene’s political plots outside in Kae as I was reading about Hrathen’s religious invasion and insecurities.

The absolute best part of Elantris was the worldbuilding though. Everytime I picked up the book, I was there. Every scene played up in my mind like it was right in front of me and that was so amazing! Many authors are great at that, but I think this was the best that I can remember ever reading.

Brandon Sanderson’s debut was fantastic and I’m sad I didn’t pick it up sooner. But I now know that I am in for a treat. This easily gets the highest grade, 5 out of 5!

Rejlers in Alicante day 3

Posted on by
Reply

The last day in Spain with Rejlers was a very surprising one. Since this was a conference, we had to have some kind of organized activity together and the plan was for a few suppliers to hold product presentations. They introduced themselves and they all said things like: “During my hour of presentation, I will go over a detailed history, statistics, and an overview of all our products”, “We will take short breaks inbetween”, and so on. One slide said: “Does this seem like an okay agenda?” Everyone just nodded solemnly, because we did after all get a lot of free time and this was “the price to pay”, haha! The next slide said: “OR, we could go and do something fun instead?”

Haha, wow, they had us all fooled. Or at least some of us, me and Lisa didn’t really understand at first, maybe we were tired. They will have the product viewings back in Sweden and this day we focused on team building instead which I felt was very neccessary since I never work together with the other groups in Buildings Gothenburg. We were divided into 4 teams and first we had four stations with activities to solve together as a group. Then there was a very thorough scavenger hunt throughout Albir. They had done an amazing job of putting it together. It involved tasks such as dressing one person up as a pirate, doing a self portrait of one of the team members made out of toilet paper and the referees had to guess who it was. We built a tower out of the rocks on the beach. It was a really fun activity together. The self portrait of me made by toilet paper. I was the only one with long hair in our group so it was easy. Our beautiful rock tower.

It was much more windy than the day before so the rest of the day was spent by the pool except for two hours when we went for a walk to a lunch restaurant where I had the best grilled goatcheese sourdough sandwich ever.

The trip home started with our alarms going off at 3:50. Transfer to the airport at 4:20. Take off at 7:00 and then bus and tram all the way home. It sucked coming back to 8C and rain, but it also is very nice to be home. being around coworkers 24/7 (even if I didn’t join them at bars and nightclubs in the evenings) was exhausting for me as an introvert. Lisa was an amazing roomie though 🙂

I understand  why they booked the trip mostly on a weekend, but it was hard coming back home and going straight back to work and an overfull email inbox. Great trip though! 🙂

Rejlers in Alicante day 2

Posted on by
Reply

The second day of RejTrip was spent on the beach. And yes, a Swede’s first real day in the sun definitely resulted in sunburns. Even if I had sunscreen on! But it was so great. Laying on the beach. Reading. Going in the water. Talking to coworkers. A full day on the beach was what I needed today. My original plan was to go to Alicante (we’re staying in Albir, 40min northeast of Alicante) and play beach volleyball with the local club. I was so excited, but last night I learned that the taxi would be 100 Euro. One way. No thank you. A small break could be good again.

Breakfast at the hotel was better than the dinner buffet. They had all the usual stuff. Nothing super extraordinary. Many people were hungover and Farid and Andreas didn’t even make it to breakfast because they felt so bad, haha! I’m glad I went to bed early because I’ve been feeling amazing all day. Lisa and Farid used electric scooters and went around the city. Andreas joined a big group of us at the beach at lunch time and people came and went through the day. Stefan and I were the two who stayed the longest, until 6pm.

The weather wasn’t great today though. The day started with amazing weather. Completely blue sky and 23C perhaps? Many people went in the water early on but I wanted to get a little bit warmer first. But I waited too long and when I should have felt ready, the sea smoke rolled in and it got cold. It lasted for so long, that fog usually clears pretty fast, but this didn’t. It was a while after lunch that it cleared and it got super nice again. By that time, Lisa and Farid had joined us and all of us from Project Management (except Annika, our boss), went into the ice cold water. It couldn’t have been more than 16C. It was cold. But I’m proud of myself for calming down and actually staying in for a bit. It didn’t take long after that when the fog rolled in again and it got cold once more. But the sun came out pretty quickly for the third time and the rest of the day was perfect.

 

The fog rolled in over the plateau.

It’s been like a typical Swedish summer day. The wind is kinda chilly, but the sun warms you up. I definitely wouldn’t mind 8C warmer though. I missed Gili T today, haha! 30C both on land and in the water, haha!

Dinner today was better than yesterday and Lisa and I decided to spend the evening in the room instead of going out and doing exactly what they did yesterday. We went for a walk in Albir, looking for a supermarket to buy some chips and snacks. Both of our bodies screamed after salt.

Tomorrow morning we will go for a run and do a workout at the beach before breakfast and at 9 we will start the conference part of this trip. So our alarms will ring at 6:30am, woho!

Rejlers in Alicante day 1

Posted on by
Reply

I have now worked at Rejlers for a little bit more than a year. I can’t believe how fast time has flown. One year at my new workplace is celebrated in Spain with my coworkers on our RejTrip with the Buildings Divisions in Gothenburg (because we made such a great result last year).

The day started with me waking up next to Mikael and him playing Aretha Franklin’s “Freedom” on his phone. He has been excited to have the apartment all to himself for a few days, haha! Then Lisa and Johan came over to my place and mom picking us up to drive us to the airport.

40 or so people in RejTrip shirts at the airport was fun to see!

We checked in. Lisa and I got seats next to each other on the airplane. She slept for the most time and I read a lot in Elantris. Wow! So much happening that it was hard to stop. It’s incredible and I can’t wait until I’m done writing this so I can get back to reading it.

We landed at 14:30 in Alicante, took a shuttle bus to Albir Playa Hotel & Spa, 40 min northeast of Alicante where we will spend the next few days. The hotel is nice. It’s 1km walk to the beach, not too bad. The pool area is really nice.

After we checked in, Lisa, Andreas, Farid and I walked to the beach and hung out at a bar until it was time for dinner at the hotel. The beach was rocky, but beautiful. The water was so blue and there was a really nice beach walk.

The buffet at the hotel was large and I’m sure many things were delicious. But my stomach has been acting really badly lately (I actually was afraid last night that I would have to cancel my trip), so I went up to the room while everyone else went to the beach and some bars. I really don’t mind the alone time. These days will be tough for an introvert like me, social battery-wise.

It’s around 23C and according to weather apps it will be sunny for the duration of our whole trip. So nice!

Review of “Lord of Chaos” by Robert Jordan

Posted on by
1

Title: Lord of Chaos
Author: Robert Jordan
Series: Wheel of Time #6
Narrator: Michael Kramer and Kate Reading
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 41 hours 32 minutes
Published: 2004, MacMillan Audio (originally published 1994)
My Grade: 4 out of 5

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

Now ruling Tear, Andor, and Caemlyn, among other nations, Rand is recruiting all men capable of channeling to be trained as his Asha’man soldiers. The warrior Aiel clans have pledged loyalty to Rand, acknowledging him as their chief of chiefs, even though the Shaido Aiel remain a threat.

Split into two factions, the Aes Sedai of the White Tower and their rebel counterparts both seek to ally themselves with the Dragon Reborn. Rand knows all too well the manipulative nature of the Aes Sedai, no matter which side of their internal war they stand upon. But even he cannot predict just how desperate, cruel, and treacherous they can be.

And in the shadows, the Forsaken and the Dark One are conjuring even more chaos…

 

MY REVIEW

I guess there are two reasons why it took me 6 months to finish this audiobook, the sixth in the order. One of the reasons is that if was over 40 hours long, the other because it was kinda dull. I was prepared that the middle part of this series would be dragged out and that not much would happen. That statement is both correct and untrue. Things are happening, it’s just not things that I find interesting. Don’t get me wrong, I love world building and leaving this world behind for a while when reading/listening to a book. But when the world building mostly consists of political situations, dialogues and intrigues, I can’t really say that I follow.

But when things are happening, they really are happening! About halfway through this book I got so surprised at the turn of events that I was almost speechless. I had to really bite my tongue not to spoil anything to my boyfriend (who only saw the first season of the tv series but enjoyed it a lot). And from there, it just kept going. It was exciting and the last 15 hours or so went by really fast.

This 6th instalment of the series came with a great introduction of previous events and you as a listener was right on track from the start. And something that annoyed me was Kate Reading pronouncing Moghadien’s name differently from previous books. Oh well. I got used to it in the end.

Even if the series has slowed down a bit, it is super eventful at times and I generally really like this story and am very curious as to where it will continue. I have heard great things of the ending and can’t wait until I get there. It is a great story, and overall, it is a 4. I honestly have some trouble keeping the books apart since I’m listening to all of them back to back and have been for the past almost 2 years.

Review of “The House in the Cerulean Sea” by T.J. Klune

Posted on by
Reply

Title: The House in the Cerulean Sea
Author: T.J. Klune
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 394
Published: 2020, Tor Books
My Grade: 5 out of 5

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION 

A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.

Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he’s given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.

MY REVIEW

This book was a change of pace and kind of reminds me of Rick Riordan’s books. It was a long time ago I read anything of his, but the type of writing and the wittiness reminded me of him.

It was fast paced, many things happened, nothing too extreme, but there was always something just about to happen so it was hard to put down.

In the beginning I felt like all the characters were to witty and sometimes also mean. They always had snarky remarks to everything but that eventually toned down but I guess that makes sense. As the story progresses, they get to know each other and relax in each other’s companies and the dialogue gets more clever rather than witty.

Like I just mentioned, there was always something happening, not too many setbacks and I have to admit that the bad turns of this story were a bit lame. The story built up intensely and you kept wondering why that was so, and they made a big deal out of something that then turned out to be nothing at all basically. Which leads me to the conclusion that this was just a feel-good book. It was cozy, super well-written, it was funny, and cute as well as inclusive. It was an easy read with a happy ending and honestly, not a very surprising one either.

I feel like I have to write something about this Sixties Scoop thing as well. Honestly, I’ve read reviews of this book where they say they loved the book, until they heard about the Sixties Scoop in Canada and then they rated the book on the minus scale. These children are orphanages and are being taken care of in an orphanage. Sure, they are regulated, but that’s just the harsh reality of this FANTASY novel where “normal” people are afraid of the supernatural. So should all books about orphanages be boycotted? This is hardly the first or the last. Super silly to even make this comparison in my opinion. It was a great book, and you definitely didn’t get a “glorified version of the Sixties Scoop”. It was a cute fantasy novel about including everyone and finding family.

I give it a full rating of 5. No questions there!

Review of “Dune” by Frank Herbert

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Dune
Author: Frank Herbert
Series: Dune #1
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 507
Published: 1965, Chilton
My Grade: 4 out of 5

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION 

Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, heir to a noble family tasked with ruling an inhospitable world where the only thing of value is the “spice” melange, a drug capable of extending life and enhancing consciousness. Coveted across the known universe, melange is a prize worth killing for….

When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul’s family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined. And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad’Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.

A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction.

MY REVIEW

Dune has been on my TBR list for so many years now and it wasn’t until I saw the new movie that came out in 2021 that I moved the book up on the list. Back in the day, I would say that that was the wrong order. I would wait to watch a new movie or series until I had read the book or books. But as my life priorities have changed with work and working out, reading has been pushed down. It saddens me. But since this work is considered the forefather of all modern science fiction, and the move was only half the book, I would say that it didn’t really matter because the book was something else.

It is embarrassing that it took me almost a year to finish it, but the second half of it in just three days (thank you, New Year’s flu). When I had the time to read more than just a couple of pages in bed before I would fall asleep with the book in my hand, it was so easy to get sucked into the story.

I would say that the book is divided in two. When things happen, and political dialogues. When things happen, it’s easy to follow along, the dialogue makes sense, there is action and you just want to continue to read. Then there are those chapters which are focused on the politics of the story. And I don’t know if I’m just not used to this kind of language and prose, but I honestly couldn’t understand what they were talking about. It was hard to understand how they reasoned, and what underlying thoughts came to the conclusions they drew. It was like a lot of thinking and internal dialogue was missing and my mind wasn’t imaginative enough to tag along. I’m sure it was brilliant, because everyone says it is. But I just didn’t get it.

Another thing that bothered me before I got a hang of it, was that Dune did not follow just one character in each chapter. What I usually read, follows only one character per chapter, or at least very separated so it’s super clear which person’s point of view you’re following. But here, you could in one sentence be inside Paul Atreides mind, hearing what he’s thinking while talking to Gurney Halleck for example. And the next sentece, you’re inside Jessica’s head, analyzing Paul’s and Gurney’s dialogue. It took some time getting used to, and I probably got several thoughts connected with the wrong character. Oh well.

It was a book of many levels. You could tell the massive background investigation that went into this book. It’s a complicated piece discussing ecology, politics, religion with a hint of fantasy set in the far far future after an AI-war which destroyed the world as we know it. It was impressive and I did truly enjoy it, although it was a bit complicated. I will give it a 4 out of 5.It was an incredible and timeless science-fiction novel.

I have to admit though, that I am not sure if I want to continue with Herbert’s world. Dune ended on an incredible cliffhanger and I know myself enough that that alone will probably make me pick up Dune Messiah right after I finish this post. But I’ve also, unfortunately, read that the sequels are not as good and finishing with this cliffhanger leaves the planet of Arrakis’ future up for your own imagination.