Defalt

The Classic Witcher

Starts off strong with a monster hunt and continues with nice, classic, witcher events — getting paid in a small town, interactions with royalty, Dandelion, talking with sorcerers, fighting unusual monsters and naive bandits, using a lot of signs and elixirs. And the overall setup feels pretty interesting and unique.

The ending—meaning the last two chapters—is really good and features a very unusual character and a reference to another book so a reader can understand the timeline of this story. And the epilogue tries to make the ending of The Lady of the Lake a bit more clear which works depending on your view of that ending.

So it could’ve been a good addition to The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny but there are too many unnecessary, boring and strange features. Like too much time is spent on a romance with another sorceress who is very clearly jealous about Yennefer and uses Geralt. And there are too many scene breaks, sometimes done for scenes consisting of just two or three lines and this just feels confusing to me.

And following The Lady of the Lake Sapkowski does it again but this time even bigger—a villain tells all his plans, history and problems for 8! straight pages. And then during an auction he wastes two pages to describe 7 lots with many details and how they're sold. This might be a personal nitpick but why do we need all this information?

I’ve rated this one a bit higher because of a few very nice moments—which I especially appreciate after The Lady of the Lake—but I’m probably not going to read the next one.

Three days battle in the North from Lord Grim Dark

So many various, interesting characters already in the first couple chapters and it’s so good to see how characters change as the story progresses. Also there's a very well made, kinda natural recap of the most important events from previous books. Although some characters have too many descriptions and inner monologues in their chapters.

Abercrombie captured the three days battle from every possible angle—young, scared men with no experience, generals, great swordsmen, strange and furious Northmen. You can feel the heavy atmosphere of war in the air with detailed and very helpful maps, fast, chaotic fights and, of course, fantastic chained points of view during battles. But there’s also a bit too much politics with too many names of various officers and their relationships.

It could've been a bit better, especially after the perfect Best Served Cold, but I still want to read all the spin offs.

Part four of “Geralt is actually not a witcher anymore”.

I feel that the series gets better with each book and here the story and events are the most solid and to the point. Until Dijkstra shows up (although this episode is pretty short). And as always there are a lot of points of view and time jumps, however this time around they have a little more sense, purpose and context and show the story from different angles which enriches it.

While some points of view are not too interesting or last a bit longer than needed, the episodes where Ciri tells the story from the future and first person narrative from Dandelion are the best, as we’re rarely shown their perspective. And the dialogues are really immersive most of the time—when characters don’t repeat the same thing.

Also there’s a lot of classic-witcher, visceral action moments, which also feel better than ever, but some episodes can be too brutal for some readers.

And that scene on a frozen lake is just insane.

However the ending is not satisfying, as it’s too open and there are no hints at what's happening with other characters.

So I will definitely finish the story and hope the last book is even better!

Detective Murderbot

Our beloved murderbot tries to blend in the society and struggles with new kinds of anxiety. There’s a lot of mystery and detective work here and just one action scene.

The simplicity of descriptions is kinda refreshing after most other books and reminds me of some classic sci-fi like Stainless Steel Rat. But there’s a bit too much recapping of the previous book, especially considering that they’re both pretty short.

Also it features some new, interesting sci-fi concepts like future forms of money and communication between bots. And the ending is fine, leading to the next adventure.

Wish it was a bit longer, but I'm still glad that it exists.

Epic return

Really epic intro with some well executed reminders about previous events and recaps of the past 10 years though it takes a bit of time to memorize all the character names and their relationships. Red Rising world is shown from new angles and with even more cool, unique sci-fi features while still presenting all the familiar events—betrayals. duels, heists, war, intrigues.

Features a few first person perspectives which feels unique and shows a lot of environments, situations and important characters outside of Darrow’s life. And the main characters are very different and have very different quests. Also they don't tell you their plans so you just wonder what is their mission and how they're going to do it. Although characters reflect a lot on their actions and a few chapters feel a bit too long because of that.

The ending feels like this is just the setup for the new trilogy and feels a bit sudden.

I hope I can finish the 6th book before the 7th releases.

The first entry in The Murderbot Diaries is a short sci-fi adventure with cool, unusual concepts.

The story is told from first person perspective by a kinda security robot which has some social issues and likes to watch a lot of tv series.

Also there is a bit of tense action and are some mysterious detective moments. And on top of that it has an open ending...

Can't wait to read the next one!

Part five of “Geralt is again the Witcher”

The intro has a lot of time jumps and involves a few new, secondary characters and the latter feels a bit unnecessary. Toussaint is an interesting change of environment with all the knights and vineyards but Fringilla is so cliche that I find it unbelievable that Geralt with all his experience has fallen for her trap. Fortunately there’s some monster hunting happening, so it’s fine.

There are a couple of pretty important places presented here like it’s not the last book in the series. And overall the amount of descriptions for the same kind of events is a bit weird—in one place it’s just one line and then a scene break, in another it’s a page or two. Most of the descriptions of Ciri's travels just waste time and it feels like even the author knows it because at some point he gives a few short descriptions of different places in a row and then says "there were even more places". And then there’s another one which wastes two pages on some random astronomer who can't say anything to Ciri—because of his shock?—and misses a very rare comet because of her, this is supposed to be funny, I guess. And then Sapkowski spends time to scientifically describe and prove The White Frost. Do we really need that in a fantasy world?

Some side characters from previous books, who haven’t appeared for a long time, return here, sometimes we're even shown their point of view. Like Jarre who has changed a lot and goes through some hard times, his story line is very interesting. And sometimes you have a hard time remembering who that character is because her previous appearance is in Blood of Elves.

Ciri and Vilgefortz interaction is just boring—he talks too much, she can't do anything. However that whole episode is one of the best parts of the book, it’s like the final point of the whole adventure, that’s what all characters have been going towards all this time. And we get a big battle where almost everybody is involved, it’s really nice.

The problem is that it’s only the middle of the book and it feels like the ending of the series, it's very confusing. But it just drags afterwards with a lot of politics and some random, unnecessary side quests. It feels like Sapkowski got tired of writing The Witcher and didn't know what to do with these characters.

The ending is ambiguous. Sex scene in the royal library is too much. The story moves forward just by pure coincidence more than once. The emperor suddenly tells us his life story for a few pages. The elves are just gone from the story after their big setup.

I just hope that Season of Storms is better.

Wyld adventure

Old fashioned fantasy with legends about giants, necromancers and, of course, dragons. The writing style is great especially for a debut—the dialogues feel pretty similar to how real people talk, smooth transitions from one event to another and really interesting legends. Also there are really well made descriptions, which I usually don't like in books, with awesome, funny comparisons.

A lot of very epic battles against very dangerous and awesome monsters. Cool bounty hunters and new bands. Some heartbreaking moments.

And the infamous Horde—and the forest where it came from—is insane featuring a lot of unusual, horrifying monsters.

And the ending is just beautiful.

Looking forward to reading Bloody Rose!

The final act of The Fade Out.

Here we have the same team that created Kill or Be Killed so the art is very similar, although there are too many close ups here. And to me the setting of early movie making studios still feels unique and very interesting.

Also the story is unpredictable and twisty and we get more character backstories. But the ending is a bit disappointing, I feel like there aren't enough hints at it in the plot and it's not too sudden or special like in Kill or Be Killed.

Overall it's a good detective in an unusual environment.

A bit more of Guts’ past

Feels like the writing gets a bit better, especially because here we have some chapters that are just about talking and that’s great. Also there’s a good pacing for setting new characters, dangerous situation and enemies, although one might think it’s done in a simple way. Casca finally has some character development and tells about her past.

All of a sudden stealth episodes…

Also the ending this time doesn't feel too abrupt. And, of course, the art is still great with very detailed faces, clothes and giant battle or countryside scenes.

But there’s still a bit too many reactions shots and “thinking” speech bubbles but I’m getting used to it, I guess.

So, it's better than the previous one, story progresses at a good pace. Waiting for the Eclipse, I guess...

One more episode of Guts and Griffith in the past.

Again we get giant, very detailed action panels that still look amazing. And one on one fights are brutal and insane as always. The plot has even more mysteries and hints for the future.

But I still don't like one particular character which shows no logic in what she does. And I guess, I'm not a fan of some manga features overall—some dialogue lines and too many reaction shots. And there's another abrupt ending here...

However, I'm really invested in the story and setting, so I will read on!

The second part of The Three-Body Problem.

For the most part the plot feels slow and mystical, very similar to some classic sci-fi—like Foundation and Childhood’s End—where you and some characters don’t know what’s going on or going to happen next. Or it’s just you and the author doesn’t reveal some character’s plans. Also there are some unique—to me—alien features, which has a big impact on their communication with humans and perception of the world.

The intro (the first third) is kinda slow and I’m like "where are the aliens or some cool sci-fi stuff?", cause mostly it’s just discovering how ordinary human lives may change in that kind of alien situation. And then, as always, after the intro the plot accelerates to the first cosmic velocity. We also get some time jumps here, the last of which for me is very captivating.

Then there’s that action episode on the 80% mark… It’s just shocking.

And then it’s very devastating and depressing because The Dark Forest finally gets explained to you. But the ending suddenly becomes hopeful during the last 5 pages. Which leaves you with a lot of questions about the next book’s potential story.

Overall it’s a realistic, grounded and even scary science fiction story. Can’t wait to read the conclusion!

Revenge tale in The First Law world? Say no more

The intro is just great, it’s really fascinating how Abercrombie can create a setup for a story in just 20 pages—I mean the whole setup for the 660 pages book is done in just 20 pages—and provide so many details about characters and places. And between main book parts we learn a bit about Monza's past and why she's so determined to reach the end of her revenge quest. South cities and culture feel new and fresh as a change from Union and the North after the first trilogy (and a part of the second). And the author once again creates a city under siege but in a bit different circumstances and for a shorter episode.

Nice band of characters with distinct points of view, high and low moments, laughs and quarrels. I really like Friendly with his OCD for whatever reason, maybe because he feels like a unique character. Also it’s interesting to see some side characters from the first trilogy and even more interesting to see some characters from the second trilogy here and how they become who they are after meeting them there. But sometimes characters recite events from the first trilogy where they participated and it feels a bit redundant cause a reader has probably already read about those events.

The action is very visceral—especially from a villain’s point of view—and realistic, a lot of really violent scenes like suffering from poisoning—which is a kinda new concept for The First Law—and torture. There’s even a very detailed description of someone falling through trees. A lot of stealth episodes here which also feels like a unique feature for the series.

Plot thickens with each chapter and each revenge kill is very different in everything. A few unexpected scenes and twists. A lot of betrayals, obviously. Some characters can't be trusted, undoubtedly. Innocent people die along the way, unfortunately. Many interesting thoughts and conversations about revenge. But overall it's just a bit too long.

Looking forward to reading all the spin-offs now, especially Sharp Ends.

So this volume pick up right after the ending of the previous one and for me it was a little hard to remember what happened at first.

There's a lot of time—too much for my liking—spent on backstories of the main characters. And I didn't really care about their past. maybe because it was too detailed or because I read the first volume a year ago. Also I always don't like when the villain spends most of the time just talking about their plan or issues or ways of vengeance. It's just boring.

The art is still good. So read it if you're a big fan of the first volume, I guess.

I'm sad that it's only volume 9 and this is what we got. The action and art are still good, but the jokes get repetitive.

The main story is forgotten until the last issue and almost nothing important happens anyway. And it's kinda underwhelming overall because it looks like the characters don't a have plan, so it doesn't feel like a dangerous situation. The Poyo part is quite cool and even has its own spin-off issue here.

So I think it's the last volume for me. If you're a very big fan, you'll probably still like it.

The last part of Luke, Leia and Han vs Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Overall it's a nice conclusion to the trilogy with some pretty interesting mysteries and dangers. Some story events are quite sudden and satisfying, while some of them happen "just cause" or can be easily predicted and don't lead anywhere. The Jedi action is still cool and—sometimes—impactful. However space battles are hard to understand.

And although there are the same characters here as in original Star Wars trilogy, in this book they feel too stable and not evolving at all—especially considering it's the third book. Luke is somehow still very naive and likes to surrender, but he should be a cool Jedi master. Han and Leia are too same. Also some character decisions, lines and reactions feel just too strange and unimaginable.

So if you've read the first two books, you'll most probably read this one as well.

The beginning of a long, epic sci-fi—The Expanse.

The story is set in the close future solar system where capitalism is still the main driver and the amount of explored space is similar to Red Rising but the society is much closer to modern. So there are some research stations on some of Saturn’s moons and that’s the farthest we get in this book.

There’s a very short intro—compared to most other books where it’s at least a third—after which we get one gripping event after another with very short breaks between them. And also there’s a lot of mystery about what’s happening for like half or two thirds of the story which gets even more mysterious and dangerous. But then it all slows down around 70% mark until almost the very end which feels a little strange and like the authors try to build tension through a lot of text instead of a lot of exciting stuff.

Also the story is told from two points of view: a detective on the asteroid belt and a captain of some transport ship who, at the moment, works for the belt. I think they’re pretty good in showing the story from different perspectives and telling a lot of interesting details about how the world works and how people live on the asteroids. And I mostly prefer the detective here as he shows some real dangers and unpleasant details of that future, while the captain has some good points and decisions in the beginning, he later becomes too naive or strict with his rules (at least he starts to realize this in the end).

So the epically open ending promises some big events and even bigger threats. Can’t wait for the second book.

One more adventure of the famous Geralt of Rivia in comic book format.

So here we have a nice art style with enough details and a classic witcher story with "monster" humans that Geralt doesn't want to kill. And of course classic witcher fights!

Also there's a new interesting concept for The Witcher universe, which to me still feels in place and canonical, involving some already familiar monsters.

If you like Geralt adventures, definitely read this one.

Part three of “Geralt not being a witcher”.

Although the story progresses very slowly and I don’t care about a couple sub plots, from the main saga I like this one the most (the next one may be better, reading it right now). There are some time jumps here, which sometimes feel all over the place (or time?), but to me they're not too distracting and provide some additional points of view.

The whole traveling through forests, meeting new people and making new friends, dealing with some tense situations, being on a frontline between the two armies… It feels like the author emphasizes the grimdark atmosphere more and more, as the series continues, by showing the consequences of medieval war and what scared and desperate people may do in that situation. (which also happens a lot in the next book, but I’m getting ahead of myself)

Yeah, also, Regis is just the best! And Geralt receives some upgrades in both gear and character. And the ending is really nice and even satisfying.

So it feels like the series is getting better with each book and worth continuing if you're on the fence about it. (the first half of The Tower of the Swallow is very good)

Classic, military, first person sci-fi

There are a lot of nasty and brutal details about military training in a made up future where a man doesn’t have to go to the army, so it must be even worse when a man must do it. But in addition to those we have chapters where the main character wants to leave the army and where he describes too many technical details about his super high-tech infantry suit—both feel too slow and boring. Well I guess a third of the military training part isn't necessary here.

The bugs action starts only at 50% mark and very quickly ends switching to an officer school and after a long time we get a bit more action. But literally 30-40% of the book—probably even more—is military philosophy discussions, talking about duty, describing some regular soldier’s tasks. And all of this is written in a not very interesting way and goes for too long. So mostly it’s a military lecture.

Also there’s almost no description of the enemies, some unusual military slang that can be hard to understand and chapters don’t have any breaks in them while they can last for 30-60 pages.

So the movie is so much better.

Good Ol’ Fantasy Continues

Cool action right from the beginning featuring various, nasty monsters which just keep getting more interesting as the story progresses. But characters also talk a lot about their past or present problems and we gradually learn—because it’s a sad story—their reasons for this revenge quest.

The art is great—detailed enough, especially the faces, with nice two-page scenes and stylised colours. And the ending feels intriguing.

I really hope this series continues and stays this good for a very long time.

Should've read it with a cup of latte

The first chapter is nice, kinda anti cliche or anti adventure, but then it feels like a quest log to upgrade a coffee shop. And overall it’s written in a simpler style compared to other fantasy books, maybe similar to young adult books, but it’s not for that age, so there’s some dissonance for me.

A few cute moments here—drinking the first latte, adding cold drinks and baked goods to the menu, various, unique customers. But sometimes it's just too sweet, and they actually literally invent things from our world without any fantasy features except calling it a “gnome technology”. Also the romantic relationship feels like it was added in the last moment, maybe because there are almost no hints about it.

When describing most of the dialogues the author doesn’t specify emotions or a way of speaking which can be a little confusing sometimes. And the stakes are really low as stated on the cover and that’s the point, but the villain feels very simple and not threatening at all.

Super light read overall, the ending is fine but the epilogue isn’t interesting at all.

Maybe the prequel is a bit more interesting.

Abercrombie turns grim dark dial to eleven

Starts off very strong and intriguing right after the ending of The Trouble with Peace, but then slows down after a few chapters to create a setup in a new situation. And for a long time you just wonder what will the characters do, how will they survive?

Say one thing for Joe Abercrombie, say he knows how to write chaos…

The plot takes so many twists and turns and we get a couple of very epic battles with stakes higher than ever before. And it’s really surprising and amazing that characters continue to change even after a half of the book which is almost the end of the whole trilogy.

Also that open ending is so much more intriguing than The Last Argument of Kings.

Can’t wait for the next First Law book!

Starring bloody Keanu Reeves

Not much to say about this one. There’s a story about remembering main hero’s past and a lot of very brutal action. The art is fine enough for portraying that violence but not detailed at all. Of course Keanu looks good even in this format.

I think I won’t continue this series unless I hear some very good reviews.

Part five (or nine, depending on how many spin-offs you’ve read) of “Same old, same old Abercrombie”

It’s hard to describe all features of Abercrombie’s writing especially when it’s the second book in the second trilogy and you probably already know what’s going on. And unfortunately I haven't read any spin offs yet because I was very tempted by A Little Hatred’s rating and reviews, so I'm getting more and more spoilers for those here.

The book starts a little slow to remind where the previous one has ended and spends a lot of time to build up the stage for something very big and epic, but to me it somehow—I rarely like long setups, especially when it’s the second part—still feels very interesting, probably because of the writing. And I think because of the pacing and some hints from the first book you sometimes have a feeling that you know where some storylines are going like “she will do this and it will be so epic”.

Also I really like the chapters where main characters get together in one place and we get different points of view in one chapter. For example, there’s one where two characters arrive at an “entertainment” house at the same time but they’re the worst enemies and everyone there is wearing a mask, it’s awesome. Overall I find a couple of characters not very likeable, though it’s still interesting to follow their path and see how they change. To me Leo is the most boring and has almost no development, when in A Little Hatred he seems very similar to Jezal from the first trilogy.

Although there’s almost no action until the last 100 pages, it’s fine because we get a big, mad, impersonal, pointless battle which is shown from many very different points of view—pikeman, crossbowman, canon guy, messenger—that are chained together, which is a great way to show this kind of action scene.

The ending has three plot twists, one of which is shocking and devastating where a character is crushed completely. But for some characters it feels like a long awaited redemption. Also the endings in the first and the second books in both trilogies are filled with so many gripping events that you want to grab the next book.

So I really can’t wait to read The Wisdom of Crowds!