Tag Archives: 2.5 out of 5

Review of “Winter’s Heart” by Robert Jordan

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Title: Winter’s Heart
Author: Robert Jordan
Series: Wheel of Time #9
Narrator: Michael Kramer and Kate Reading
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 24 hours 12 minutes
Published: 20011, MacMillan Audio (originally published 2000)
My Grade: 2.5 out of 5

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

Rand is on the run with Min, and in Cairhein, Cadsuane is trying to figure out where he is headed. Rand’s destination is, in fact, one she has never considered.

Mazrim Taim, leader of the Black Tower, is revealed to be a liar. But what is he up to?

Faile, with the Aiel Maidens, Bain and Chiad, and her companions, Queen Alliandre and Morgase, is prisoner of Savanna’s sept.

Perrin is desperately searching for Faile. With Elyas Machera, Berelain, the Prophet and a very mixed “army” of disparate forces, he is moving through country rife with bandits and roving Seanchan. The Forsaken are ever more present, and united, and the man called Slayer stalks Tel’aran’rhiod and the wolfdream.

In Ebou Dar, the Seanchan princess known as Daughter of the Nine Moons arrives–and Mat, who had been recuperating in the Tarasin Palace, is introduced to her. Will the marriage that has been foretold come about?

There are neither beginnings or endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it is a beginning….

 

MY REVIEW

Taking a break from Wheel of Time didn’t really help me get my motivation back. When will this flat story get some action going? It feels like it’s not going anywhere and Jordan gets so little done in so many words. Time-wise, I’m not sure during how long this full book takes place. It felt like years, but probably weren’t more than a few weeks or so.

What is good though, is that Winter’s Heart only follows a few characters so it’s much easier to get into the story. Although, when there is one chapter or one part of a chapter that has a brand new character and we don’t know who that is, it’s impossible to guess. The world just feels too big.

I’m keeping my hopes up though, it will get better! And even if it is flat and very easy to zone out, the 10% at the end are super eventful! It also does feel very real. The writing is amazing. I just have a hard time with this dragged out story. Does it really have to be 15 books? Oh well. It did end on a very very exciting note though. That’s basically what all of them did so far. 2.5 out of 5. Not bad, not amazing.

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 “The Path of Daggers” by Robert Jordan

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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 “Monster Blood” by R. L. Stine

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Title: Monster Blood
Author: R. L. Stine
Series: Goosebumps #3
Genre: Horror
Pages: 144
Published: 1992, Scholastic
My Grade: 2.5 out of 5

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

While staying with his weird great-aunt Kathryn, Evan visits a funky old store and buys a dusty can of monster blood. It’s fun to play with at first, and Evan’s dog, Trigger, likes it so much, he eats some!
But then Evan notices something weird about the green, slimy stuff. It seems to be growing.
And growing.
And growing.
And all that growing has given the monster blood a monstrous appetite…

MY REVIEW

This Goosebumps story was not as good as the previous ones. Might be because I wasn’t really in the mood to read this type of book now? Or maybe because the plot was not as intriguing as the other ones?

After 3 read books, I can now state that Stine is clearly a dog person. There is a dog in almost every story so far. And horrible things always seem to happen to them. Sad.

Short review today (might be because I have already finished 60% in the next Goosebumps book, or because I have worked non-stop for the past week). But not much else is needed. These books are becoming more and more predictable the more of them you read.

Review of “Metro 2034” by Dmitry Glukhovsky

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metro-02-metro-2034-dmitry-glukhovskyTitle: Metro 2034
Author: Dmitry Glukhovsky
Translator (English): Andrew Bromfield
Series: Metro #2
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopia, Post Apocalyptic
Pages: 320
Published: 2009, Gollancz (translated 2014)
My Grade: 2.5 out of 5 flutes

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

It’s the year 2034. After a devastating war much of the world lies in ruins. Moscow is a ghost town. A few survivors retreated into the depths of the underground network to build a new civilization. They found only darkness…

At the Sevastopol station, cut off from the Metro, a man appears. Colonel Hunter. He fights a lonely war against the dark, journeying deep into the monster haunted depths of the tunnels. At his side is Homer, an old man who knows the legends of the Metro like no other and will write its history. When the two meet the 17-year-old Sasha, Homer believes he has found the found the perfect pair for his epic poem. But will they live to write the tale?

These are the voyages of Hunter.

 

MY REVIEW

I kind of want to say: finally! It took forever to read this book and I am honestly disappointed. Metro 2033 was soooo good, and this one fell flat in comparison. The first two thirds were weird. There were strange descriptions that didn’t really lead anywhere, a strange language that was gone in the last third. The story didn’t really move forward in that first section either. I just wanted it to end. I was excited to read about the mysterious Hunter, and sure he went through some stuff, but he is a totally different person in a bad way. He is not intriguing nor mysterious anymore. And I don’t feel like this is the voyages of Hunter, this is a book about Homer and his stupid imaginations that he will become like the old real Homeros. That old man is annoying and has a strange point of view in life. He is however a man with an interesting past, and I enjoyed reading about what happened to him before life in the Metro began.

Then there is the side story about Sasha, the exiled girl who finally gets to see the Metro. I don’t really know what I think of her. In some passages I found her very annoying, sometimes pretty cool.

The last third of the book was good though and it was gone in two days. Stuff happened and it was written in a whole other way which made it easier to read. Even if the ending was good, I still don’t feel like I can give it a 3. A 2 is too litte, but I did feel like some time was wasted while reading it. So a 2.5 feels reasonable.

I think this is a book I will reread one day, but the Swedish translation. I have heard that the Swedish ones are better than the English when it comes to this series (and maybe Russian books in general?).