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Picture of a book: Sojourn
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Books
Sojourn
R.A. Salvatore
Drizzt the Dark Elf comes to the surface world and tries to find his place in there. Nobody wants a dark elf living among people (wood elves, dwarves, etc.) due to firm belief dark elves are up to no good. There, I just gave you away the plot of the whole book, all 300 pages of it. Does it sound boring? If it does it is because the book is boring; the most boring one of the trilogy. When I started on this one I was excited. I hoped to see interesting interactions between Drizzt and the surface dwellers. I hoped to see how Drizzt would fit in the new society. Well, he did not fit and all the interactions I saw was people - I am using this term in a broad sense - sending him away from yet another city gates. This was not-so-subtle message about racial prejudice (Drizzt is a dark elf, get it?). I also thought about the following while reading: It did not help any that Drizzt was on practically non-stop guilt trip for something which was not his fault in the least: Somehow I missed the moment where a badass guy who survived all the double-crossings of the Drow society became Mary Sue, or Gary Stu if you wish. His character became one-dimensional in his goodness and misery. It is shame as the beginning of the book was quite good. Imagine one of the best - if not the best - fighters of the society where practically all males are raised to be ones. This guy is accompanied by his pet panther, the grown-up version of the guy below:These are very efficient predators, by the way. So which non-magical force in the Universe can make these two run away? Simple:This particular episode was hilarious and made me laugh out loud. Unfortunately the book could not keep up with the fairly exciting beginning. It was still a decent read, 3-star decent which did not kill my interest in further Drizzt's adventures in the least. So as I already mentioned this is good enough but not great novel and the conclusion of the Drizzt origin trilogy.
Picture of a book: The Crystal Shard
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Books
The Crystal Shard
R.A. Salvatore
Review of the audiobook narrated by Victor Bevine.Between 10 and 20 years ago, back when I only read a handful of books each year, I read through most of this series (up to book 17 of The Legend of Drizzt). With my recent re-introduction to reading thanks to audiobooks I've had the opportunity to get to know a few of the more contemporary fantasy writers. With this, my first re-read in many years, I wanted to compare the old and the new with more than just faded memories.The best part of this book, and the series as a whole, is Drizzt. While he's sometimes obnoxiously virtuous, his thoughts and motivations bring some real depth to a narrative which is sorely lacking in just that. Other that him what this book does well are the action sequences and being a faithful adaptation of D&D. The latter has meaning for me mostly due to my love of the Baldur's Gate I & II (which Drizzt appears in) and Icewind Dale (the setting for this book) PC games in the late 90's. I can now see that the D&D connection can be negative as well, as the general abilities and motivations (or lack thereof) of the various races have already been established. There isn't a real reason why orcs, goblins or trolls are evil - it's just because they are of that race. There is also an overall lack of depth and a cast of one dimensional characters, making this a book I wouldn't recommend to start with. Certainly, you would want to start with Homeland, which I'm pretty sure is better without needing a re-read, then take a step back with the Icewind Dale trilogy, before moving forward with Salvatore.Victor Bevine does an OK job. He's good with different race/character voices, but I didn't care for his regular narration voice. I'm hoping he gets better with the other books in the series.Final verdict: 3.5 star story, 3.5 star narration, 3.5 stars overall (I'm rounding mostly up for posterity to keep this at a 4 star book, but if I was reading it for the first time this would more likely be a 3)UPDATE 6/18/18 (2 days after writing the above review): I cannot in good conscience keep this rating at 4 stars so I have rounded down to 3 stars.
Picture of a book: The Lies of Locke Lamora
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Books
The Lies of Locke Lamora
Scott Lynch
In this stunning debut, author Scott Lynch delivers the wonderfully thrilling tale of an audacious criminal and his band of confidence tricksters. Set in a fantastic city pulsing with the lives of decadent nobles and daring thieves, here is a story of adventure, loyalty, and survival that is one part "Robin Hood", one part Ocean's Eleven, and entirely enthralling... An orphan's life is harsh — and often short — in the island city of Camorr, built on the ruins of a mysterious alien race. But born with a quick wit and a gift for thieving, Locke Lamora has dodged both death and slavery, only to fall into the hands of an eyeless priest known as Chains — a man who is neither blind nor a priest.A con artist of extraordinary talent, Chains passes his skills on to his carefully selected "family" of orphans — a group known as the Gentlemen Bastards. Under his tutelage, Locke grows to lead the Bastards, delightedly pulling off one outrageous confidence game after another. Soon he is infamous as the Thorn of Camorr, and no wealthy noble is safe from his sting.Passing themselves off as petty thieves, the brilliant Locke and his tightly knit band of light-fingered brothers have fooled even the criminal underworld's most feared ruler, Capa Barsavi. But there is someone in the shadows more powerful — and more ambitious — than Locke has yet imagined. Known as the Gray King, he is slowly killing Capa Barsavi's most trusted men — and using Locke as a pawn in his plot to take control of Camorr's underworld. With a bloody coup under way threatening to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the Gray King at his own brutal game — or die trying...
Picture of a book: Small Favor
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Books
Small Favor
Jim Butcher
Hell’s bells, this series just keeps on getting better and better!!During a blizzard in Chicago, yellow page advertising wizard Harry Dresden is summoned by the queen of Winter, Mab, who calls in a favour she is owed. The Denarians are back and they are the main foes in this story. The book also features Gruffs (as in the brothers Gruff, referred to by Harry as “were-goats”), the Archive, Marcone and the Knights of the cross. This book is one of the deeper books in the series. It asks some questions about right and wrong. I was welling up when Harry starts shouting at God in the church.FormatBook format: Audiobook narrated by James MarstersLength: 13hrs 46minsDifficulty: EasyPOV characters: One – Harry DresdenPerson: FirstChronology: LinearButcher’s writing makes the book easy to digest and the fact that it’s told through Harry’s point of view makes it really easy to follow. CharactersButcher has created a bunch of characters that I’ve grown very fond of. They have all developed through the course of the series and I love the fact that there isn’t a reset at the end of these books. The characters and the world is always different which gives each book a sense of purpose and they all add to the larger storyline. Dresden’s abilities are really growing and he always learns something new. In book one, his magic is still being worked on but they are almost epic here at book ten. Dresden has to be one of the coolest, and yet most human characters out there. WritingThe writing does its job, it takes you through the action, explains the magic and the world very clearly and transports you from A to B. Its very humorous, there are tonnes of laugh out loud moments that fans of the series have come to expect. Likeith thou jelly within thy donut?Sanity invited shame over for tea and biscuitsYou rush a miracle worker, you get lousy miraclesWe’re ostriches and the whole world is sandFinal thought I’d say this series is a great place for anyone who’s looking to start reading. It’s simply the coolest, most fun, kick ass, character driven series there is. Butcher does a great job of explaining and recapping things so you don’t really need to read it in order, but I’d recommend you pick it up from the start. This is one of my favourite series ever and the audiobooks are just fantastic. Can’t recommend it highly enough.
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