Rupam Shyamal
In the 1930s, a man who is overwintering at a remote weather station of Svalbard, during the arctic nights, finds out that there's something very very wrong about that place.
This book is a slow-burning psychological horror that starts out as a simple journal log of the protagonist and then slowly turns into a tale of isolation and terror. Author Michelle Paver's utilisation of the isolated setting of the Arctic is absolutely brilliant and quite on par with meaty books like Dan Simon's Terror & Abominable. Overall, it's an excellent little horror novel that packs quite a punch and is highly recommended to any reader who likes spooky horror or survival stories.
Mistborn II : The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson
Lord Ruler ! The ending was one of the most satisfying “what the actual f***?” moments in recent memory. I didn't see the ending coming..not at all. Although I loved the political tension of the majority of the book, the final act was a true “Sander-lanche”in every possible way. I loved it more than the first book. I'll give it 5/5 ⭐ easily.
Even though I loved harry potter series, I never liked fantasy as a genre and always thought it lacked original ideas (without actually trying any of the famous serieses like cosmere, malazan, kingkiller etc). But seems like I was mistaken sorely. I finished The Final Empire today and I have to admit, It was incredible. The magic system is so well thought out and is unlike anything I've read before. I can't recommend this book/series enough. Utterly amazing, highly recommended.
Mistborn - The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson.
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson.
A story about a quarantined city, infected with a mysterious magical disease that once turned normal people into superhuman demigods, now suddenly turns people into rotting undeads
Brandon Sanderson writes in such a way that you just breeze through a 600-700 page book af it it were a movie. Elantris has its unique charm in it that reminded me of the wonderful times I read Harry Potter series for the first time.
5/5 ⭐ highly recommended.
I haven't watched the show, but if it is even half as brilliant as the comic book, it should definitely be a masterpiece. This is probably one of the most brutal and heart-wrenching comic experiences I've had recently. It's just the first Compendium and already it's looking to be one of those series you must read before you die. It's so unbelievably good.
Finished the series. Although it doesn't have the same build up or characters to root for as the walking dead (which I loved immensely) overall it's pretty good. Although the ending might seem a little rushed.
This should straight out be among the top of the nominees for the Hugo Award 2021. It's that good! Project Hail Mary is an emotionally stirring hard Sci-Fi adventure about an astronaut who is on the most critical mission to save mankind but has suffered severe amnesia. He is the sole survivor in a spaceship and has forgotten what he is supposed to do, what his name is, and even where in the solar system he is !! To summarise without giving any spoilers, if you took inspirations from Memento, Interstellar, Arrival, and The Martian, put it in a mixer and made a mind-bogglingly good novel out of it - Project Hail Mary would be exactly that!
Not only it turns out to be one of the best books I've read this year, but it will also definitely be among the best Sci-Fi novels I've ever read. This is the first Andy Weir novel I've read and I loved his writing style. I'll check out his other novels later. The Martian was adapted into a great sci-fi film; so, I can definitely expect some quality books from him. Great stuff! Highly recommended! <3
I had a very mixed feeling while reading this bram stoker award winner. On one hand, the plot seemed really interesting and unique, on the other hand the writing style made my brain hurt. Sometimes the writing felt brilliant, other times I had to reread sentences quite often to get a sense of the events happening, thus ending up in a quite choppy reading experience. That really dampened the enjoyment I could've got because I the plot and premise seemed really interesting.
Overall a ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 from me.
Blindsight by Peter Watts is probably the densest sci-fi book I've read in recent times. According to the author, despite being a hard sci-fi novel, this book gets suggested to many undergraduate neuroscience college students, as a recommended read. After reading the book, I can see why. This book is about mankind's first contact with an alien lifeform and humans try to understand whether the being they have encountered is hostile or not. This book dives deep into the topics of what it is to be sentient, conscious, and intelligent. This book is probably going to be very hard to digest even for native speakers. The story is told from the perspective of a protagonist whose brain is half machine half organic. Naturally, the plot is told in a very fractured, dry, and factual way which creates a difficult to understand yet “amazingly enjoyable when you get it” read; This is what I love about sci-fi books. Blindsight is going to stay for a very long time in my mind. It is a diamond cutter in terms of sci-fi hardness; I strongly recommended this book.
The hype behind The Walking Dead's immense fanfollowing is completely justified; not only it's one of the best comics, but also one of the best horror books to read out there. The sheer adversity and brutality the characters live through till the end are some experience to behold.
The world that Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard has created in these 4000+ pages, is a welcome getaway to any horror fans out there.
I hope the TV series concludes in such a high note as the comic series did.
The introduction of conspiracy thriller trope into the already amazing Pendergast series is refreshing and much more engaging than the 1st book in the Helen trilogy. To me, it felt like it had more tighter build up than the predecessor and the cliffhanger ending will definitely force you to read the next novel; which I'll be doing next.
Don't you love it when you come across an author's work which you thought you'll delve into but didn't for some reason; and after you finish it you wonder what took you so long?
The Terror by Dan Simmons is such a book for me.
Of course Dan Simmons is famous for his Hyperion series, but The Terror is the next big thing Mr. Simmons has written and boy is it so good !
This fictional retelling of the doomed Franklin expedition of the 1840s is so rich and vivid in detail and to the length this book delves into the horrors of arctic exploration is quite a feat.
This book is long; almost 800 pages long. However, this shouldn't dissuade you because this book would read pretty much as terrifying virtual tour of arctic in your mind.
“Applying twentieth-century solutions to seventeenth-century problems affords either absolute success or absolute chaos; there is no middle ground”
- This statement sums up the theme of Riptide perfectly. When a modern treasure hunting company, flexing its assortment of latest techs, ventures to recover the legendary Ragged Island treasure, which, for 300 years has successfully evaded recovery by countless treasure hunters, things go horribly wrong. Some say the treasure is cursed, some say that no human will ever be able to recover that treasure. But can a 300 years old, masterfully hidden treasure really stand a chance against cutting edge modern science? Preston & Child have woven a plot so gripping, it's unputdownable. A thunderous read! Brilliant.
Apart from the fact that every major characters in the book were feeling some kind of sexual tension all the time, it was a pretty well written, enjoyable horror novel. 4/5 ⭐
This book will make you sad.
The predicament in which the the members of the Donner Party found themselves in, is truly horrifying to read; and more so beacuse it's a true story. It's been while since I've read any nonfiction books. This one was an excellent book to read though.
✅ High octane thriller
✅ Doomed expedition
✅ Pre world war II era
✅ Terrific storytelling
✅ A story, set in one of the remotest parts of the world - the peak of Kanchenjunga.
Thin air has all of the ingredients of a good thriller and it delivers immaculately. Fans of Dark Matter, The Terror & The Abominable will love it. This short, chilling fictional tale of a 1935 British expedition to the Himalayas is highly recommended.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A famous reporter is gruesomely murdered by a zombie! As absurd as it sounds, NYPD homicide department is totally dumbfounded when evidence suggests that's exactly the case and the mystery deepens.
The 9th book in the Pendergast series puts it back on track after a disappointing 8th entry. It's gripping; it's fast paced and its wonderful characters with a plot full of twists and turns will keep you hooked till the last page. An absolute page turner. ❤️
Although this book keeps dragging on for quite some time toward the end, and the deus ex machina ending will most likely feel contrived; I would recommended reading it just because of the excellent portrayal of claustrophobic horror by this book. If you can look past the somewhat lackluster climax, it's honestly quite a well written atmospheric horror novel. It has a very similar vibe to Michael Crichton's Sphere. 3.5 ⭐ rounded off.
Although the first half of the book is quite monotonous, it picks up the pace really quickly after a while. An excellent conclusion to the sci-fi thriller trilogy.
When really hard Sci-Fi concepts get more attention than the actual plot, we get books like Echopraxia. It started out really good. The first half of the book was really interesting to read. But it went kind of downhill after that. Sometimes I find Peter Watt's writing style very frustrating at some places. His writing is very difficult to visualise. It was justified for the first book in the Firefall series - Blindsight, due to the protagonist's mental condition. But echopraxia succumbs to the same trope even though the protagonist is just a normal ”baseline” human. When every sentence is filled with poetic description and technical jargon with no explanation; it becomes really easy to lose focus. No matter how novel the concept is; if the storytelling has suffered severe portrayal issue, it hampers the enjoyment of the actual content.
3/5 stars.
What a great way to start the winter ; with a horror novel that is so disturbingly gory that reading it might make you physically recoil (quite literally).
Five children goes to a 3 day camping trip in an isolated island. The first night they encounter a mysterious man on a boat, coming from the sea and things go drastically and horribly wrong after that.
This is an example of old school horror done right. This book, being bleak, terrifying and utterly disturbing gets an easy recommendation from me.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is the second book I've read that is written by Dan Simmons. The previous one,The Terror had a similar documentary style storytelling that I really enjoyed. I love how both of these books blend history and fiction seamlessly, besides being excellent thrillers. While reading these books, you can see how cleverly Dan Simmons utilises the backdrop of the stories as the main driving force; as if it is a major character on its own. If you want to read a long thriller, rich with descriptive storytelling in a historical backdrop, The Abominable is highly recommended.
Two Graves ends by concluding the Helen trilogy beautifully and it was great. 12th book in the series and it's still going solid. Although I'll need a palate cleanser now. I've read way too many Pendergast novels in a row.