Matt

NO BOOK I've ever read was as hard to put down as this one, but I doubt I mean that the way you think.

I vaguely remember DNFing it a decade or more ago, and recently got the idea to try again thanks to numerous YouTube book reviewers. And it's got a huuuge fandom. And one of my favourite fantasy authors loves it, and even finished the series after Jordan's death. All good reasons to give it another go. I went in really wanting to like it.

I'm a quarter of the way through.

As a big Tolkien fan, it seems... quite familiar. Rural idyll. World ignorant bumpkins. Wise wizard. Gruff Ranger. Flight from dark riders. Companions with M and P names. A “city” where you can't trust anyone except the bumbling innkeep. I can only assume this continues.

After 200+ pages, I'm not particularly interested in any of the characters, and the heavy-handed exposition and foreshadowing has left me without a single question I'm excited to see answered. That many pages should be more than enough to sink at least one hook into my interest, but I'm frankly just bored.

And this goes on for 14 books, 4 of which are described by fans as “the slog”?

I read fantasy for fun. I don't want to spend my time on fantasy novels that are a “project” that requires “commitment” to get to a payoff ten thousand pages from now, (after “the slog”). I found the first quarter of the first book slog enough, and I WANTED to like it.

Hard to put down, because it seems so much like I should like it, but I just don't. DNF.

Like any technology book, it's become quickly dated, but if you know nothing about interface design, especially for mobile, this is a great summary of the basic concerns.

I've been designing interfaces for a while, so only 3 stars, as I found myself skipping large chunks, but it's a good introduction to the world of (mostly iOS) mobile design.

I was looking forward to this book. So many rave reviews, a very high score on Good Reads, positive reactions from some booktubers I respect.

I only finished it out of stubbornness, and perhaps some misplaced hope.

The first half reads like a lot of YA fare: challenging coming of age, childish rivalries, training to become something powerful, discovery of mysterious background. A mix of somewhat interesting and boring seen it 1,000 time before.

But halfway though, the protagonist, a girl named Rin, becomes a complete idiot. Basically everything that happens from then on – all the problems Rin encounters, the deaths of various people you'd care about if they'd been written with any depth, and some truly catastrophic world events – all come down to her remarkably stupid decisions. And by the end, she's become one of the worst people in the entire world, and is not only completely unrepentant, but has a plan to do even worse.

2 stars is generous, and I'll definitely be giving the rest of the trilogy a miss. Why would I want to spend any more time with someone like Rin?

Islam has become a subject no one anywhere can afford to ignore any longer. Although discussion of it has certainly increased in the West, all too often the debate is ruled by racism, ignorance or, most often, politically correct dogma.

As a woman who grew up under Islamic oppression, once a true believer and member of the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, who through rational thought and a desire for freedom and equality transcended the totalitarian ideology she was brought up with, Ayaan Hirsi Ali is uniquely qualified to make us aware of the threat that Islam poses to human rights everywhere. I cannot applaud her courage enough.

This book should be required reading for anyone who wishes to have an informed opinion about Islam.