Jai Sedai
4.50/5.00 “When I see what life does to people, you know, you don't seem so bad”.
Reaper Man will be the most ridiculously creative story you've read, a tale of bringing life to death, a story that builds a character most beloved to the discworld. Terry Pratchett's wisdom and incredible prose weaves a tale that spins so out of control and winds back elegantly to present the beautiful message of this story. Life is worth living, life has meaning because death cares, something cares.
“Good grief, you must walk like a cat!” she said. I MUST ?“I mean I didn't hear you”.
ROFL!!!
Emotional Impact -> Ah the archchanceller and the warriors of the unseen university are an infinite amount of fun! Omg the comedy is wonderful. I was laughing for quite a bit of this book. The romance between Bill Door and Renata is a precious gem, one of the best fantasy romances I have read. And Schlapall, wow, just amazing. I loved the wonderful journey of windle poons. Great read! Fav discworld book so far.Characters -> Death grows in predictable ways, but it's satisfying. I love Ridcully and the wizards, Renata, Schlapall and the death of rats! Windle my dear windle. Solid characters!Plot -> I didn't see the confrontation between death and Bill Door coming. Renata giving up her life time to save Death is a so awesome. The crazy living city, the first timers club, the auditors and Arazel! What a crazy ride. Great plot!Prose -> so funny. So witty. So poetic. So Terry Pratchett. Excellent.World Building -> In Reaper Man, Discworld takes more a solid shape. While still insane and absurdist in the best way, it also gets better defined. I'm loving it! The auditors and the way they speak, the life timers, the living city, the life force, the death of rats lol... Extraordinary!!
5.00/5.00 “Dream on my behalf, Nynaeve. Dream for things I no longer can.”“Do not think we will ignore this insult, Corana. Vengeance will come. Once this war is done, the Seanchan will feel the storm of our arrows and the tip of our spears.”
The Gathering Storm is a miraculous achievement from Brandon Sanderson, building on Jordan's legacy, creating a Wheel of Time book that is marginally better than the best of Robert Jordan's books. However, the world and the story does not exist without Jordan, so I lay most of the praise to the late RJ. Brandon's unmatched competency in writing complex characters, mixed with Jordan's unparalleled story telling and worldbuilding makes one explosion of a book. Brandon has handled Fantasy's greatest character, Rand al'Thor with such grace, I should not be surprised at all, after reading the Stormlight Archive. This book takes a small step back from worldbuilding, making use of mostly existing worldbuilding. I hope this is not because we lost some of the ideas in RJ's mind. I hope the next two books will deliver.
This book is the beginning of the end, the last battle looms, the dark one twists the pattern. In spite of this looming doom, our champions prevail, and they hold the pattern together.
At the end of time, when the many become one, the last storm shall gather its angry winds to destroy a land already dying. And at its center, the blind man shall stand upon his own grave. There he shall see again, and weep for what has been wrought.
Emotional Impact -> Rand's character development in this book is shocking, terrifying and amazing. Egwene's victory is so satisfying to watch. That moment when she burns the Seanchan! Awesome! Amazing! My favorite WoT book so far. Even more enjoyable than the Great Hunt. Characters -> Rand Rand, the perfection. Fantasy's greatest character. The raging madness, the rampant paranoia, the PTSD all weaving together to a massive crescendo in this book! And the helplessness of the people around. The helplessness of Nynaeve, and when she finally bows to Cadsuane because, because!! there is no other way to help Rand. OMG! Duty. Duty was like a mountain. Well, Rand felt as if he was trapped between a good dozen different mountains, all moving to destroy him. Among those forces, his emotions seem to boil under pressure. Was it any wonder when they burst free? Plot -> Pure Madness, Madness I say! So much intricacy. So many things weaving together. Wheel of Time is the GOAT. That last moment when Rand questions the point of everything!Prose -> Pretty good. Not as good as book 11. Worldbuilding -> This book mostly makes use of existing worldbuilding. There are some great moments, with some really interesting reveals. But this book seems more plot and character focused than other top WoT books.
2.50/5.00 “The male and female halves of the True Source were alike and unlike, attracting and repelling, fighting against each other, as they worked together to drive the Wheel of Time.”
Winter's Heart is disappointing on so many levels. Most of this book is made up of nothing. The four main plot lines in this book are all boring and are all mostly side plots, with the exception of Rand's plot. Most importantly, none of the plot lines were interesting. This book is a sub-standard entry into the WoT.
Some good parts include significant progress in the Rand-3 women romance plot line (although it is so cringe and I am just happy its over, but it was still funny), end of the major plot line with Rand and WoT in general and some fun times with Mat. Perrin's story in this book is just completely unreadable. I did actually enjoy my time with Mat in this book and the whole Seanchan world building, even though the strory moved so slowly and felt repetitive of book 7. Elayne's plot line is slightly better than Perrin but is completely uninteresting.
The end of this book is surprising but feels so badly executed. The villains are turned into clowns in struggle with a predictable outcome.
Emotional Impact -> I enjoyed Mat's part of this book, but the plot there is bad. Otherwise this book was bad. The first 200 pages are unreadable. I am not interested in the Perrin-Faile-Massima plot. Please end this torture. Rand's plot is boring and ends with some progress but the Shadar Logoth battle was not as good as I had hoped. There were so many good things that happened in this book, like male-female bonding.... but the book is so boring. Characters -> Rand goes in reverse. His character development has been so good so far, but this book spoils it. Nynaeve and Mat was probably the best part. There are so many things the characters just don't talk about, and it looks like it's just to save the melodrama for future books. This is getting annoying. What a cringe moment for Mat, feeling sad to leave the woman who has been raping him! I hope they acknowledge this at some point as Stockholm Syndrome. Cadsuane as a main character is a hard pill to swallow. Dollar-store Moiraine here is another terrible angry and violent female character in this book series. At this point, the sheer number of badly written female characters are outnumbering the good ones...Plot -> Oh god.. please this was so bad. And why did they resurrect Lanfear! I liked her as a villain and now she is a joke. I fucking hate the Perrin plot, just die!!!! The cleansing was a huge step and I wanted this to happen so I am a bit happy it is over, but I did not like how this was executed. Oh god, that moment when Elayne was like please fuck me too.... so cringe. Prose -> On the border of bad. I had to search the book for a single line that sounds quotable. Nothing really stood out to me. The persistent problems of WoT prose are all hitting their highs in this book (so far as I have readWorldbuilding -> Least impressive of WoT so far. So much of this book was melodrama. There is some good Sea Folk, Seanchan and Far Madding world building. I hate the Sea Folk, Seriously the most annoying set of characters I have read.
4.50/5.00
This is one of the most creative books I have come across. With its numerous quotable lines, beautiful and highly efficient prose, and yes some good humor, small gods is an excellent read. It is also my first entry into Discworld.
SPOLIERS!
Story/Plot
I cannot imagine a creative, inventive story as this one. The idea of a story of a god having a redemption arc and learning to be a better god is endlessly fascinating. The ending where a sort of Magna Carta is created with a God, not a King is just brilliant.
Worldbuilding/Magic System
This is an easy one. The concept of the discworld, the astronomy, the powers of gods and small gods.. so many great examples. I will say that the focus of this book is not Worldbuilding, but the satire, the social commentary and messaging and the story. But small gods did a fantastic job of what it needed to do.
Character Dev
I just loved the Om character, just loved him. He is funny AF. I didn't quite resonate with Brutha as much as I did with Om, but I appreciated him and the wonderful representation of an Autistic character, and he goes through a brilliant story arc.
Dialogue/Prose
Efficient, amazing, quotable, witty, humorous! no need to explain. Here is my fav line -> “like an atheist in a thunderstorm” lol.
Emotional Impact
I enjoyed the book, I did. I read through the second half in one sitting and it was a page turner. But, I was hoping for more humor that what I got, and I think this genre is not my most favorite.. but certainly enjoyable.
5.00/5.00
Speak again the ancient oaths! Life before death, Strength before Weakness, Journey before Destination!
The Way of Kings is a cornerstone of modern epic fantasy, a new chapter in the fantasy genre, an exemplar of storytelling excellence. At its core, the way of kings is a character driver story, that is deep , intricate and emotional. This book tells such a complete story, with astounding worldbuilding that feels so fresh, such rootable characters and an intricate plotlines.
Plot -> the shattered plains and the bridges are enough by itself to make this a brilliant plot. Dalinar's plot is intricate and delves into political intrigue and has a wonderful twist at the end! I loved kaladin's stories more than anything happening in real time, except for the final battle where he speaks the ancient oaths to become a Knight Radiant! Shallan's storyline is fun but not as interesting as Kaladin's, but I think it is a necessary break from the shattered plains.Worldbuilding/Magic System -> Its all about the spren, in this magnus opus of Brandon Sanderson's world. Flame spren and wave function collapse ? wow. The magic system is probably one of the most innovative I have ever read, referring to surgebinding and the shards. Soulcasting seems a bit mundane. However, the biology and the geology of Roshar is second to none. I am so impressed by the idea of the shattered plains, the ancient oaths, the eye-colors and so much more. However, the worldbuilding is not the perfect 10. For example, I think the Wheel of Time does worldbuilding better in some books (like book 4 and 5). Maybe I'll be wrong when I read more of The Stromlight Archive.Character Development -> Best I have read. Kaladin's story is so gripping. I am a 100% on board on the Kaladin train. Dalinar's morality and his regret, his wonderful relationship with his son Adolin, Adolin's respect and loyalty to his father, OMG. Such rootable, wonderfully complex and flawed characters. They learn and change through the book. Dalinar learns that the book's ideas are not suited for the world as it is today. Adolin's path to trusting his father, his regret over doubting his father, Kaladin's despair, his honor, his leadership and his hatred and distrust of lighteyes! OMG!Prose -> Super competent prose. However, I think the prose could have done a better job of bringing out the grandness of this story. It is brilliant storytelling, and for this reason Brandon Sanderson is one of my favorite authors, but why not have a little of poetic and quotable work? At least during the high points of the book.. It leaves me wanting. I also did not enjoy how the book kept jumping from POV to POV in every other chapter. Why not have 2-3 kaladin chapters together, and then move on to 2-3 chapters of Dalinar and Adolin? I found the POV hopping a bit irritating. You can have multiple POV (i would argue that it is necessary in epic fantasy), without having to jump in every other chapter. Think Wheel of Time, which has so much more POV than Stormlight, but it handles it more gracefully. Its not that I don't enjoy Shallan, I do, I loved her story, but stop jumping back and forth! It adds no value to the book. Emotional Impact -> Absolutely loved the book. I didn't mind the slower pace, I actually enjoyed taking my time with Kaladin and Dalinar. What an ending! Dayum! Dalinar slamming the shardblade in the rock to buy Kaladin's freedom! Kaladin speaking the second oath! My favorite moment of the book is when Kaladin promises to being Tien back home to his father. I teared up! Teft asking Kaladin not to give up.. beautiful. "You will not lift these hanging men from their noose for a breath and then let them fall back!"
4.50/5.00
Burn me, light burn me. After reading the eye of the world, I expected something simple and familiar from the wheel of time. Wrong, very much I am. The Great Hunt is a sprawling, massively world building, glorious beginning of the epic fantasy that is the Wheel of Time. I absolutely love Robert Jordan's writing, the words are so poetic and classy. I can't focus enough to write down any criticism.
The Wheel Weaves as the Wheel Wills. The Dragon is Reborn. The Lord of the Dawn will be our salvation.
That ending though!
WorldbuildingThe use of the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics in fantasy is the highest point of this book for me. The concept of a multiverse is admittedly a common trope, but I have never read this in epic fantasy before, and more importantly it was DONE SO WELL. It was complex, closer to science than many superhero-versions of this trope. There was a moment where Rand seems to be stuck in a time loop? Not sure what that was. Story/PlotThe best part of the story is the Seanchan and the Sud' Dam Damane elements with Egwene. So intriguing and unpredictable. There was so much story here, I just loved it. I didn't rate this higher because I thought some parts of the story were kind of unflushed. I did not like the children of light arc... it seemed underdeveloped. And did we just kill Ba'alzamon again ? Character Dev Okay this is a tough scoring category for the wheel of time books since character development is so spread out over the 14 books. Taking this into account, I think the character development was very well done. Nynaeve and Eqwane win this easily. Rand's progress is also pretty good, although not as good as the women. I still don't get Ba'alzamon.. he seems so bland.. Dialogue/ProseThe prose was absolute killer. So poetic sometimes. Here are two examples of my fav lines:"By ship and horse the stories spread, by merchant wagon and man on foot, told and retold, changing yet always alike at the heart, to Arad Doman and Tarabon and beyond, of signs and portents in the sky above Falme. And men proclaimed themselves for the Dragon, and other men struck them down and were struck down in turn." "Yet one shall be born to face the Shadow, born once more as he was born before and shall be born again, time without end. The Dragon shall be Reborn, and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth at his rebirth. In sackcloth and ashes shall he clothe the people, and he shall break the world again by his coming, tearing apart all ties that bind. Like the unfettered dawn shall he blind us, and burn us, yet shall the Dragon Reborn confront the Shadow at the Last Battle, and his blood shall give us the Light. Let tears flow, O ye people of the world. Weep for your salvation."Emotional impactThis is a very satisfying read for me. I loved the worldbuilding, the lore, the epic EPIC final scene! Wowza.... I am stopping myself from giving a higher score cause I think WoT can do better, grander! We'll see.
4.50/5.00
I don't know what to say. This book tells me why Brandon Sanderson represents a new age in fantasy. He is unmatched in word building, his stories layered and wound in mystery, unwound in this final of Mistborn Era 1, with much satisfaction.
I still think he can do better with characters. With the exception of chapter 1, the first 40-50% of this book is hard to read as the story very slowly. TBH, I was never able to invest in the characters significantly, with some notable exceptions [TenSoon, Tindywl].
SPOILERS!
I was hoping that the Lord Ruler might return somehow.. and talk !! He is one of the most referenced characters in the book, yet he had the lowest page time. I think he is fav character! Would have loved to see his perspective.
The ending is great, but a little too reminiscent of Christian Mythology. I guess that is to be expected from authors who are of faith.
4.50/5.00“Journey before Destination, you bastard!”
These words sum up the message of this book perfectly. Rhythm of War, is surprisingly, an underrated entry in The Stromlight Archive. This book focuses on Woldbuilding in such an intricate way, that I can finally place the magic system in SA in the same pedestal as the WoT. I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, the character development and the amazing sanderlanche ending. Although, I will repeat my criticism of how the “sanderlanche” is not always needed. Some of the plotlines could have reached the end before part 5, without taking anything away from this book. The weakest part of this book is the backstory, which is very uninteresting and did not add much to the plot, and failed spectacularly to develop the character that it was trying to. But Sanderson makes up with other plotlines and worldbuilding which is as excellent as I expect SA to be.
Life before death!
"I accept that there will be those I cannot protect"!Plot -> Kaladin, yes! Navani, hell yes! Raboniel, hell fucking yaas! Taravangian yay! Adolin and Shallan, okayyyyy. Venli, duh. The flashbacks hurt this book more than anything. The plot is excellent otherwise. i enjoyed Kaladin's journey, Navani and Raboniel's plotline is nothing short of the best of fantasy worldbuilding. Worldbuilding -> Amazing! Voidlight, lifelight, Warlight, Towerlight.. what else do I need to say? Its freaking amazing 10/10 rare.Characters -> Raboniel! NAVANIIIIIII! YAAASS. I love it. Kaladin is excellent as usual. Shallan is okay, but Venli was just boring. Prose -> Same as before, my complaints about the POV jumping is not as bad as book 3. I still don't like how all plotlines were delayed until the end, but it is better than book 3. Emotional Impact -> I absolutely loved this book. It has some boring moments with Venli flashback, and Shallan's story was resolved too quickly after wasting so much time with nonsense in Shadesmar. And all the cosmere connections is so fun!
3.00/5.00
uhhh.. what the hell was that ? As a final book of a Mistborn series, it is very underwhelming. Wayne is good. Everything else is mediocre. Why even write this ? Why is Harmony so boring comparing to other shards like Honor, cultivation or Odium! Even Preservation was so fun, and he was there in cosmere text for like 5 minutes. Sazed needs more charcter development. There needs to be more “Shardian Influence” on this vessel.
I think I am just dissapointed. The book introduces a bunch of new characters, and there isn't enough time to enjoy the new characters. The book also chooses a brand new villian for some reason, breaking the fun of the final villian showdown.
Some great ideas in the book, but this second Mistborn series is a far cry from SA or Mistborn Era 1
Plot is complicated, just as expected, but boring.
Overall an average read.
5.00/5.00“You have a chip on shoulder the size of a boulder”.
I think reading Words of Radiance should give us a chip on our shoulder. This chapter of the Stormlight Archives is already a part of fantasy's greatest works, a masterpiece of storytelling, featuring fantasy's greatest characters, bringing the cosmere to reality. Kaladin will go down as the most beloved characters in fantasy history. He is superman, while being a serious and interesting character. Dalinar's wisdom evokes the weight of leadership in ways no other story has done before for me.
"The Knights Radiant, have Returned""I choose him, he's mine","I promise to protect even those I hate""Honor is dead, but I'll see what I can do".Plot -> Words of Radiance is one large book plus several short stories woven together in one giant novel. The story weaves into the characters in the most satisfying ways, in ways only the Lord Ruler can do. Its similar to how the plot weaves into the worldbuilding in The Wheel of Time books. The best parts, in the order of decreasing awesomeness -> Kaladin protecting Elhokar and speaking the third oath after realizing that Elhokar is Dalinar's Tien, Sadeas's death, Kaladin jumping in to the arena to protect Adolin, Shallan killing Tyn, the Listener's POV, Dalinar demanding surgebinding from the stromfather, Dalinar asking Wit if he is a Herald! OMG. And Adolin-Kaladin Bromance yay!Worldbuilding -> The listeners society is the crowing jewel of worldbuilding in this book. It makes them such interesting bad guys, who are forced to become so when cornered. Roshar's flora and fauna impresses in this book as well. Windrunner and Lightweaver magic system is probably the most interesting magic systems in all of fantasy, although I think WoT worldbuilding is better. I still throw a perfect 10 here, cause I think it is done so well. Shardblades being dead spren, wow, I did not see that coming. And who are these Cosmere gods! Charaters -> Kaladin, Kaladin, Kaladin, enough said. The lessons he learns in this book, the growth he goes through in this book are second to none. Shallan comes in with her complex layered personality the part with Kaladin-Shallan in the chasms is gold. (budding romance?, not sure how I feel about a love triangle)Prose -> Not much to say here, better than the way of kings, but still no where close to the best. I think the book needs more poignant and quotable lines. The story is so impactful, but the writing is so forgettable that the book suffers a disadvantage when compared to other fantasy prose. Emotional Impact -> Screaming, cheering, roaring and crying. Words of Radiance is an emotional ocean. Plot twists, satisfying magic systems, satisfying character arcs, satisfying character deaths and the unmistakable awesomeness of a sanderlanche. Perfect and rare 10 for me.
2.50/5.00
The Alloy of Law kicks off Mistborn Era 2 with a mellow start. The book does a reasonable job of what it wanted to do. There was some reasonable action, some good humor and generally likable characters. The worldbuilding is fun, with all the references to Era 1 is so fun. But this book seemed to be of a different tone. Reads more like a mystery-action novel with a basic kidnapping plot, which seems kind of a let compared what we have come to expect with Cosmere books.
SPOILERS!
I really liked Wayne, he is endearing and goofy! Looks like Marsh still lives. And who is Lord Mistborn ? lol. I got excited with Steris but then she exits the book immediately. Funny. Great action though!
4.50/5.00“Now I am free”.
What a beautiful conclusion to the story of Paul Atreides. This is the ending we deserved for Paul. At 80% of this book, I feared that I was pulling away with disinterest, but then I was hit with one of the most emotional endings that I have read. The imagery, the metohpor of Paul's life, and ultimate tradegy is re-writing all my feelings about Dune. I don't even want to read more. This is perfect.
I did struggle to read this book much more that the first. Why not have a glossary like the first book? The prose is meandering and gets very metphorical and a bit hard to follow. The first book was certainly more easy to read. If Frank Herbert had taken it a little bit easier, made the book a little bit easier to follow, Dune Messiah would have been a greater success. Prose departed from its lyrical approach to the metaphorical puzzle, which I am not a big fan of.
“What is before ?”
Emotional Impact -> The book starts out great, the later mid part gets a bit hard to follow. The ending is spectacular and worthy of a Dune book. The ending is even better than Dune. "A planet for a tomb"!! Beautiful. Characters -> Paul stole my heart. His journey, his terrible purpose, his tragic life, his helplessness, his loss of free will. What a terrible life! Plot -> Incredible plot. I didn't see any of it coming. Praise be to Frank Herbert. LOL when his son Leto II calls Paul father! wow. The plot left a lot of loose strands that somehow made the book more interesting. I did not like the Alia-Duncan romance.. where did that come from ? so random. Prose -> This is where I struggled. My non-spoiler thoughts cover it already. Worldbuilding -> This story is not focused on worldbuilding. It is plot and character focused. It makes use of the existing Dune worldbuilding and it almost feels like the ending of the first book.
2.50/5.00
As a first book of Brandon Sanderson, Elantris is impressive. Evaluated on its own, Elantris is a disappointment. The book started great, setting up a predictable outcome, but failed to deliver on most of the promises. Raoden's character started out interesting, but became very predictable and one dimensional. Sarene was very strong-women tropy.. The worldbuilding was interesting, but when the mystery was releaved, I was kind of disappointed.
5.00/5.00 “I am Lews Therin Telemon, the Dragon. I ruled these lands, unified, during the Age of Legends. I was the leader of the all the armies of the Light, I wore the Ring of Tamyrlin. I stood first among the Servants, highest of the Aes Sedai, and I could summon the Nine Rods of Dominion.”“Duty is heavier than a mountain, Dai Shan”
The Wheel of Time is a wonderful journey, the end of an Age, a story that was woven with worldbuilding, with wonderful characters and epic battles. The last battle is the greatest battle that I have ever read. The ending is satisfying, bringing so many character arcs to beautiful conclusions. A worthy read, I highly recommend all to read this series.
The mind boggling thing about this book, is that there are innumerable open threads in this ending. This is consistent with the tone of this book. A bittersweet ending delivered perfectly. The confusion, the plethora of questions of what happens next! The worldbuilding around what is Rand ? This is an astounding story. A story that will leave you thinking for years. This is not a sweet satisfying conclusion, but a complex and mysterious conclusion which is the perfect choice for this series. How will I move on? I miss these characters so much.
So many twists, deaths, moments of tension that persisted throughout the book. This is a spectacular ending. It is amazing how real this world is. The author maintained realism in every moment of the last book, including the ending.
What happens after ? Will the horror of Aviendha's vision come true? Probably not.
The Wheel weaves as the Wheel Wills. As the wheel turns and the next age comes around, the Lord of the Dawn will be our salvation. Born once more as he was born before and shall be born again, time without end! The Dragon shall be Reborn, and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth at his rebirth. He shall break the world again by his coming, tearing apart all ties that bind. In pride he conquers, forcing the proud to yield. He calls upon on the mountains to kneel and the seas to give way and the very skies to bow. Pray that the heart of stone remembers tears and the soul of fire, love. Like the unfettered dawn shall he bind us, and burn us, yet shall the Dragon Reborn confront the Shadow at the Last Battle, and his blood shall give us the Light. Let tears flow, O ye people of the world. Weep for your salvation!Let the Prince of the Morning sing to the land that green things will grow and the valleys give forth lambs. Let the arm of the Lord of the Dawn shelter us from the Dark, and the great sword of justice defend us. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.
Emotional Impact -> I couldn't believe Egwene died. I really thought she will be the last person to die. Man! what an unexpected twist. What a battle! This is one of the best books I've read, with the sheer amount of battles. Were there some ideas lost with Robert Jordan's death ? Yes, we lost something. Something important.... I am so emotional about this book. The end of all the WoT. It is done so well. Egwene, no no Egwene. The Flame of Tar Valon! Lan's story is just the best story of a king ever. Rand story is incredible. The journey of this chosen one is the greatest of fantasy. Never again will we see this trope done better.
"Aviendha is right", Amys said. "The Aiel will not fight the Seanchan.""Oh? Shall we test it, Fortuona? You said you trained them yourself. You are a sul'dam, I presume? Put the a'dam on your neck. I dare you. If I am wrong, it will do nothing to you. If I am right, you will be subject to its power, and will prove to be marath'damane.""Three thousand years ago the Lord Dragon created Dragonmount to hide his shame. His rage still burns hot. Today . . . I bring it to you, Your Majesty."The Power left her in a quiet, beautiful explosion, washing across the Sharans and sealing the cracks created by her fight with M'Hael. Egwene's soul separated from her collapsing body and rested upon that wave, riding it into the Light.
Characters -> Great, nothing more to be said. Absolute perfection and masterful. Best ever. The new ones, such as Androl are also great. Lan's arc, Egwene's arc, Mat's arc and most importantly, Rand's arc all ends so well. I miss these characters so much. The journey of these characters is amazing. The length of these arcs, the complexity, binging these people to where they needed to be, and do what they needed to do. Wow.
Plot -> Perfection. I loved the future of the Aiel. Mat's battle strategy is good. The ending comes together beautifully. I give a very high score here because of the sheer number of plotlines coming together. But I think this book could have been more clearly written if Sanderson had canonized some of his ideas. What crazy moment which is the death of Egwene, was her death really foreshadowed in Eye of the World? The death of the Queen of Manetheren was the same as Egwene's death! OMG! The way all the people came together to fight this battle is absolute perfection. wow wow wow.
Prose -> Nothing new here, well written.
Worldbuilding -> Very well done, spectacular. I was really hoping for more worldbuilding with the Dark One, the purpose of the Wheel, what is the wheel ? what is the one power ? What is the World Serpent ? But that is not perfection. Perfection is mystery. There are so many questions raised in so few words in the last few chapters. We wonder... this is amazing. I will think about these questions for years to come. I will wonder what the future of this world would be? This amazing hyper-realistic world that feels like it exists by itself. Who cares if they adapt this story properly to a TV show. I will be selfish and say that people who don't read these books do not deserve the spectacular world that I have experienced. Even in the last book, the world still keeps developing. It leaves us with more questions than before.
4.00/5.00 “Al dival al kiserai, al mashi!”, For light, glory and love! “Tai'daishar!” True Blood of Battle! “Carai manshimaya Tylin. Carai an manshimaya Nalesean. Carai an manshimaya ayend'an!” Honor of my blade for Tylin. Honor of my blade for Nalesean. Honor of my blade for the fallen.
Towers of Midnight, the penultimate volume of the Wheel of Time. This book reveals the mind bending, earth-shattering secret of this story. The horror of the Wheel of Time surfaces in one unholy scene. I will never forget reading this scene. It will forever remain one of the greatest worldbuilding moments of all time, in all of fantasy.
I wish I could declare this book as a masterpiece, but it is very far from it. Rand's plot is glory, shocking and amazing. Nynaeve's plot is very good and results in spectacular character development, wowza!
While Perrin's character development is good, consistent and does finally come to an end, the plot is not as engaging as the other stories in this book. I found myself hoping it will come to an end and I can move on to Rand, Mat and Nynaeve. So much of the Perrin plot lines are low quality compared to other plot lines in the Wheel of Time. Perrin's story started so well, with the Shadow Rising, but his character got stuck at the same place for a dozen books. Perrin's abilities were not developed in these books. And suddenly, his ability just rockets forward beyond others. This is a missed opportunity.
Overall a great read.
Emotional Impact -> Rand, Nynaeve great. Aviendha's Aiel scene is beyond awesome. Elayne sucks, Perrin is boring, predictable and stupidly out of place for a penultimate book. Egwene's anti-Mesaana plot is not good. Mixed, so mixed.... Still throwing a higher score for the good parts of the book. That prologue short story of Borderlander boy coming of age was fire!Characters -> Perrin's character arc concludes well. Gawyn-Egwene's arc is not bad. Rand's journey delights. Nynaeve's arc is great. Nynaeve is shaping up as my second fav to Rand. Egwene and mat follow. Nynaeve is so unique, so real, so interesting. I love her. You show them how to be Aes Sedai girl.Plot -> So weak here. I do not care about Elayne. I didn't care much for Moiraine's return, since the rescue was done very poorly. Lost opportunity on the Finn worldbuilding. Egwene is not good. Perrin is okay at best. I am going with a slightly higher score, as I am looping in the greatness of the worldbuilding moments (marginally) into the plot score. And because all these side-quests are over. Prose -> Its okay. No great standout lines. Well written dialogue for Rand and NynaeveWorldbuilding -> I was shaking in this revelation. The Aiel! The Seanchan! I want to burn all the Seanchan to the dust of history. The wheel has damned the Aiel to this horrible fate!! Save us Aviendha! Save us Lord Dragon! There will be no peace with the slavers! There will be no peace to those who commit genocide. NO NO NO NO NO this cannot be the fate of the Aiel! Great Rand moments! Rand Sedai! Great Egwene meeting with the women channelers! Perfect worldbuilding.
3.50/5.00
Yumi and the Nightmare Painter is an enjoyable story. To me, this marks a dangereous turn for stories set in the cosmere. I see this as experiementation from Sanderson. He is clearly writing YA novels set in the cosmere, which does not have the same impact that his adult fantasy book did. I like romance, I liked YA romance, but YA romantacy is not my thing. I recoginze that many enjoyed this book, and it does have its good qualities. Plot & character work is decent.
I will put this down as an average read, that I would not have read if it was not for the cosmere. I hope that the return of the Stromlight Archive will help me forget this phase of Sanderson.
Emotional Impact -> I liked the romance to a certain extent. The imagery of the world, the absurdity of the frozen narrator and the ending was very good, just as expected. I loved Painter's background story, and the interseting dynamic between him and his friends. While world changing events happen in the story, I found it less engaging than it should be. I just wanna get back to SA. LOL. Characters -> Painter, yes. Yumi, good. Others, okay. Desgin, nicely done.Plot -> This is the best part of the book. Sanderson manages to subvert the plot for a while using the "daystar" which kept me unfocused. The twists and revelations were very good. Respectable Sanderson Plot. Prose -> Similar to Tress. Better writing, I liked this tone more than Tress. I still am not vibing with Sanderson's Hoid voice. He should go back to regular third person POV. Mistborn and SA please. Worldbuilding -> Good. Not as good as Tress, but good. Great subversions. What the heck are Hion lines ? These are still unexplained in the book. How does the awakened machine create energy ? If you can destroy an awakened machine by starving it of Investiture, then why does Nightblood have the same issue ? Maybe it does! I don't know.
4.00/5.00
“I am Unity”
Oathbringer is a beautiful rendition of Dalinar Kholin's character development. The book packs an explosive plot with with some big reveals. The exploration of severe mental health issues is done masterfully. As promised, the book delivers on the famous Sanderlanche of a conclusion. The worldbuilding takes a big step in this book, bringing the Stromlight Archive to the grand scale epic that it is. However, Oathbringer suffers from a lack of a solid structure. The book tried to do too many things, develop too many characters, opened too many unexplored boxes, making it seem like a half a story that is way too long. Pacing also takes a major in the middle of the book, but I enjoyed slower pacing as much as the rest of the book.
SPOILERS!!
“The most important step a man can take, is the next one”, “The most important words a man can say is “I will do better””.
Plot-> Dalinar's history is my favorite part of the book. It had some jaw dropping moments ending with the great conclusion of Dalinar meeting Cultivation. Taravangian-Dalinar-Fen plot was also very interesting. I thought Shallan plotline was very good, but seemed boring at times. Kaladin seemed to take a back seat in this book, with really no significant plot line around him, which is fine, but dissapointing. I don't know what was going on with Odium.. his plot line is interesting. The ending was good but the shifting PoVs irritated me.
Worldbuilding -> Very impressive here, with the exploration of the Cognitive Realm and the history of the recreance. Lightweaving develops in the book, Dalinar's powers are developed and we an explosive ending, but it seems poorly executed compared to Windrunning. I am giving the worldbuilding a perfect score, even if I didn't enjoy the book as much as WoR. The history of Roshar, the political intricacy of the Diagram, the Cognitive relam and the perpendicularity! The cosmere easter eggs sprout more in this book more than other books... lots of connections to Warbreaker...
Character Development -> Dalinar's character development is done with perfection. The man faces so many challenges! Very satisfying. Kaladin takes a back seat, and Shallan's character turns into a stunning representation of multiple-personality disorder... just wow.
Prose -> Nothing new to say here, good as usual, not great. I though the stromfather's voice was done really well. The last three chapters were jumping from POV to POV so much! why! why! it was so irritating.
Emotional Impact -> I loved Dalinar's character development. I really liked the overall plot. I LOVED the beginning with Kaladin's homecoming and his friendship with the singers. I think the pacing and the book trying to do too many things spoiled Dalinar's glory moment at the end. The worldbuilding takes a better role in the book, but the book is too long! Several characters and plot lines could have been cut to make the book more enjoyable.. seriously! Still a really good book. I never thought I would tire of a long book, but I was tired here! There was just too many POV shifting.. which is the problem.
5.00/5.00 “My name is Nynaeve ti al'Meara Mandragoran. Lan told me once that Malkier lives so long as one man wears the hadori in pledge that he will fight the Shadow, so long as one woman wears the ki'sain in pledge that she will send her sons to fight the Shadow. I wear the ki'sain, Master Aldragoran. My husband wears the hadori. So do you. Will Lan Mandragoran ride to the Last Battle alone?”
Knife of Dreams is a testament to Robert Jordan's legacy. The Wheel of Time is weaving closer, some threads nearing the end, some ending to bring us to Tarmon Gai'don. The most perfect way to bring Lan's story to the end was exceuted in this book. Plot threads laid in the early books, world building done in early books and characters from earlier books all come together at various points to weave this story. How wonderful. Never again will we see a story as grand as the Wheel of Time.
This book is one of fantasy's finest. One of the longest and most complex story in fantasy is finally maturing some characters and is bringing character development close to the end, which is so satisfying to see.
This book is not perfect. One of the storylines (we know who this is) is not good as the other and takes away from this book.
“My name is Rand al'Thor. I'm the Dragon Reborn.” And they wailed at hearing his name.
Emotional Impact -> Egwene's story, rebel aes sedai story, Mat's battles, Perrin's battle, Rand's battle, Rand's loss, Lan's legacy. Knife of Dreams is a dream come true. While the book is packed with so many good stories. We have to suffer through Elayne's nonsense. This takes away from this book being perfection. As you command, Mother. Characters -> Egwene!!! "She comes! She comes! The Watcher of the Seals, The Flame of Tar Valon, the Amyrlin Seat."The Amyrlin Seat indeed. When Egwene was made Amyrlin seat back in book 6, I was unconvinced. Now I understand. 11 books of character development has led to this. Chained by the Seanchan, Trained by the Aiel, Flamed by the Rebels, Egwene al'Vere will lead the Aes Sedai to the Last Battle. Matrim Cauthon!!! A man of many layers ? Matrim Cauthon made an onion look like an apple!" Robert Jordan is right. Mat is a complicated man. Brave but not too brave, rapscallion and an unwilling hero. Mat's reactions to some things infuriate me. But I get it. He is the flawed human that he is. He smiles at Tuon's beauty while condemning her desire to enslave. A wife for an enemy, and enemy for a wife. It's time to toss the dice. I hate Tuon. I hope she dies a slow painful death. But I care.. that says a lot. I don't like Mat's relationship with Tuon. I think all of Mat's relationships are bad. I hate Elayne. I hope she dies a slow painful death. And I don't care. This is a problem. Elayne is the weakest character in the Wheel of Time. She is a blunder, a walking talking channeling and pregnant catastrophe. She got hundreds of people killed and shamelessly claimed that it wasn't her fault. It is totally her fault!!! Vandene died because of Elayne's stupidity. I really hope we acknowledge how useless she is, but I don't think that is going to happen. I think RJ wrote Elayne as a severely flawed character who managed to luck into things with the help of more competent friends. Egwene, then Nynaeve, then Rand, and now Dyelin and Birgitte. Rand and Logain are great, but not much development. Lan and Nynaeve almost do a guest appearance in this book but they rock the few pages they feature in. If it wasn't for Elayne, I would give a better score here. Still pretty high. Plot -> To say the wheel of time has great plot is a gross understatement. The wheel weaves so well . So complex, intricate and beautiful. Lan takes the gold, followed closely by Egwene. So many battles, such an unpredictable story. Where is it going ? Elayne sucks but everything else is amazing. That moment when lewis therin unleashes on the Shadowspawn, that moment when Nicola calls Egwene "Mother". All those battles! Moiraine's Letter ! Seanchan and Rand!Prose -> So much better. Some poetic writing, some beautiful lines, some amazingly immersive chapters, some crazy battle visuals! Second only to the Great Hunt!Worldbuilding -> Burn me, Light burn me! AelFinn and EelFinn, the colors, Lewis Therin, Tinker-Seanchan, Aes Sedai Ajah heads, Malkier, Aviendha's Talent, the signs of Tarmon Gai'don! The crazy horror style touch of darkness, Aes Sedai-Ashman interaction, so much so much. Please gimme more.
4.00/5.00 “The Oaths are what make us more than a group of women meddling in the affairs of the world. The oaths hold us together, a stated set of beliefs that bind us all, a single thread running through every sister, living or dead, back to the first to lay her hands on the Oath Rod. They are what makes us Aei Sedai, not saidar.”
Let me start by stating that this book is wildly underrated. Widely regarded as one of the “slog” books, The Path of Daggers defies this expectation smoothly. While the slower pace of this story is undeniable, the plot stands up to the quality of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, with Rand's character developing with such grace and satisfaction. The world building makes some progress, and is certainly not the best of this series, but it is solid. A surprisingly good read, The Path of Daggers is not a slog by any means. It is certainly better than ACoS.
For those who hated this book, I do sympathize. The explosion of named characters seems exponential and unnecessary. It has become entirely impossible to remember which character is who and what the hell is the history of that character. However, Jordan does remind us of the important characters repeatedly, so the plot is still coherent. Jordan has also completely given up on writing lyrical prose. The quality of prose in general seems to be dropping off. Hopefully it will get better.
Emotional Impact -> Its hard not to see the deep and rich worldbuilding theme of WoT when Siuan Sanche tells Egwene why the Oaths make Aes Sedai, not saidar. Rand's loneliness is a beautiful theme of this story, the burden of being the Dragon Reborn, the weight of entire world on one shoulder. And finally, he looks to share the burden. The chosen one trope is done so perfectly in WoT. Elayne's return to Camelyn is a poignant moment. Cadsuane-Rand relationship is interesting, but she feels like a bad place holder for Moiraine. I miss you Moiraine Sedai. However, we have to struggle through dozens of named characters which all blend together, so the character interaction is not so engaging. The writing is so bad that many important moments fail to land well. Characters -> Rand, Rand, Rand. the loneliness, the weight of this immense burden, the stubborn refusal to share this burden with anyone, to trust anyone, is a marvelous representation of his struggles in this story. Nynaeve finally changing and controlling her temper is great, but fails to land properly as I don't recall her development in the last book. Perrin-Faile is a shit show as usual. And is the next book going to be focused on Perrin rescuing Faile? KMN! Plot -> Here is where this book is better. The plot is unpredictable for most the most part and is pretty interesting. Returning characters shock and awe in their sudden arrivals such as Logain. There are so many twists in this book, it would take a genius to plan all of this. But there are some plotlines that are underwhelming and I just wanted it to be over. Perrin-Massema being the worst. Prose -> This is bad. Jordan's numerous characters and their similar character traits make things cheap and hard to follow. Every female name in this book sounds the same. Forget lyrical prose, Jordan is struggling to write anything quotable at all. Not to mention that every significant moment in this book felt like an unsignificant moment. The writing utterly fails to stand up to the story or the worldbuilding. World Building -> Another solid WoT worldbuilding book here -> Unweaving, travelling, strangeness in the one power, the bowl of the winds and the dark one, what makes aes sedai. It could still be so much better.
4.00/5.00
A solidly enjoyable read, with a few shocking twists and a couple of very satisfying moments, Warbreaker is an early version of a good Sanderson book. The story moves along with a fast pace, and some of the characters are very enjoyable. The writing is clearly a little wonky and repetitive. Not the best, but a good book.
SPOILERS!
Plot-> As I have come to expect from Brando Sando, the plot is intricate and interesting. Lightsong's plot was uninteresting until the very end, where it concluded explosively, making him a great character in the book. But there was so much nonsense that was not that useful. Some shocking moments where we find the God King without a tongue! that was my fav moment. Overall this is better than average.
Magic System/Worldbuilding -> Typical cosmere magic system, far above average, but certianly not the best. BioChromatic Breath is unfortunately not that interesting. It feels like the sad ugly cousin of Allomancy. Better than Elantris though. Worldbuilding is similar to Elantris in many ways, being underdeveloped for the most part.
Characters -> This one takes a slightly higher score just because I enjoyed the Siri-God King romance, and loved Vivenna's character development. However, none of the characters made a lasting impact, but it is still very good.
Prose -> Here is my biggest gripe. Barely average writing from Brandon Sanderson. I really do not like his early writing. I feel like 10% of the book was people raising their eyebrows, and the rest were undulating. LOL
Emotional Impact -> I enjoyed it. Not bad. Prose could have been better. Fav moment was when LightSong gave himself up! What a character arc!
3.50/5.00
Alright, now we are talking Mistborn. This books does a good job of worldbuilding we have come to expect from the cosmere. There are some interesting moments, some twists I didn't see coming, but final twist is quite obvious since I read Stromlight 5 prologue. Good book, but predictable plot. Not even close to Mistborn era 1.
Finally, finally we see the face of the character shadowing the Mistborn series. And all that feruchemy worldbuilding is quite good.
4.70/10.00
SPOLIER ALERT:
I will say that the answer to the riddle was quite obvious, not because I was able to solve it, but the answer to riddles in fantasy shows/books is always love. Its cliché and could have been better thought out. The romance between Tamlin and Feyre is not as sizzling as advertised. But Feyre's character makes up for it. The super-obvious and again cliché of hot girl torn between two hunky Fae is all but certain. Regardless, Feyre's time with Rhys is more emotional and meaningful than Feyre-Tamlin stroy.
2.50/5.00
The book has a good ending. I did enjoy some of the characters, with Wayne and MeLaan being my favorite. I also enjoyed the interaction between Harmony and Wax as well as the tension between. Buttttt, I was also a bit bored. I was like, is this book just another villian? Now Kandra ? The world building progresses a bit, and I do like how real the world of Scadriel feels. But that cannot be attributed to Era 2.
Overall a decent read.