I think this would have worked MUCH better as a Romantasy.
I'm actually kind of upset that it's NOT a romantasy. rip. brandy sandy doesn't write romance. not that i'd want him to. if brandy sandy wrote romance it'd probably be boring af.
But I can just! See how perfectly it would play out as a romantasy!
This is the first piece by Sanderson that I had to force myself to finish. To me, it felt really slow and badly paced, and it felt prescriptive. Things were just happening for the sake of happening. It didn't feel like it had enough time to marinate and come out whole.
For a novel this size, I expected more.
More characters, more plot progression.
I expected more plot to be covered, given the length of the book.
Or, to have more POVs.
Switching POVs felt really prescriptive, like it was "oh, X pages in, let's swap over".
It should have felt more meaningful than that. "We saw X from Y's perspective, now let's see what Z's perspective on that is!"
It felt like the POVs were switching just for the sake of it. I could feel it coming. Oh boy, I haven't seen what Person A is up to in a bit. Here we go, just see what they're doing for the sake of it, and it's not really interesting.
Spoilers Below
I thought we should have had the POV of the King (Siri and Vivenna's dad).
I thought we should have had POV chapters from Bluefingers and the God King's priests. And his mother. NOT regular chapters, just a few chapters here and there.
Also, Vasher. Wow. Warbreaker. it wasn't much of a reveal. I was so annoyed by Vasher, that by the time we FINALLY learned how important he was, I was just OVER it. I was like. get OUT of here. god. you're so annoying. why are you here. you slunk around doing a whole lot of NOTHING.
AND THE VIVENNA SUBPLOT
GOD SHE TOOK FOREVER TO DO ANYTHING
WHAT'S THE POINT OF THAT
hoity toity proper princess, reduced to gutter scum
THAT'S IT? THAT'S THE REASON? NO. get that OVER with and then USE her in an EFFECTIVE MANNER
i don't know why she was included in this book at all
City of Miracles - Robert Jackson Bennett [3 of 3]
5/5
I cried, it was nice
Spoilers below
It does seem like Bennett had the GoT problem - killing off a character a little bit too quickly.
Shara should have stayed dead, not been in limbo. If you're going to give us the shock factor of losing such an important character, then we need to see the ripple effects.
Let us see how the group's plans fall apart, and what they need to do in order to make things happen.
Once Bennett can put aside his made-up words and fantasy racism, he's so good.
This book made me cry so many times.
The carousel fucking pisses me off though. It's a revolver. You didn't change anything about it. It's a revolver. Call it a revolver. jesus fucking christ. It's a revolver. It's not even, like "a revolver but it plays music!" no it's just a revolver STOP CALLING IT A CAROUSEL
I will always complain about "shallys" but I won't complain about "shtanis." It's a more palatable to me. oh, we shortened this word. also, due to political conflicts, the shortened word has become derogatory.
Oh, blah blah blah, should fantasy be palatable, is art not supposed to be provocative
not a conversation that can have a prescriptive answer
But there are pockets in this book where Bennett's strengths as an author really shine.
IMO he's always had strong prose.
The thing that gets refined over 10 years of him hammering away at variations on the same themes of godhoodXempireXtimeXhumanity is his balance or restraint with things like his insane insistence on made-up words, made-up slurs, and the ability to add a A GODDAMN MAP to things.
The OPENING EXCERPT. Not the chapter. The made-up bible.
THIS is where good ol' bobby thrives.
In a short burst, painting an incredibly rich and lived-in picture.
A goddess blessed a people, and those people used that blessing as a birthright to violence. And upon hearing their justification for violence, the goddess was silent. oh my GOD. that HITS.
On another note, the opening of this chapter. good lord. benny's obsession with describing fantasy races. i get it. we have russians and indians. but like. yeesh. i appreciate world-building, but this guy's emphasis on race is like. it's fun once. it's getting kinda weird that i see it in EVERY BOOK YOU WRITE
"these people have TINY EYES. did I MENTION THEY HAVE SMALL EYES????"
"these people have REALLY PALE SKIN. THE WHITE-SKINNED PEOPLE. THAT'S WHO I'M TALKING ABOUT HERE"
like, CALM DOWN BENNY. TURN THE VOLUME DOWN. I CAN'T TELL IF THIS IS RACIST OR NOT, BUT THE MORE YOU DO IT, THE MORE RACIST IT FEELS.
The conflict of a Continent who has literally dead gods, and an occupying colonizer who outlaws mention of these gods - THAT'S an interesting soup.
But stop ruining the soup with the UNNECESSARILY HEAVY SPRINKLING OF PARSLEY. IT'S ALMOST 25% PARSLEY.
Oh, look at all the layers of empire vs history vs conquest vs theology vs WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOUR DIVINITY DIES - this is a tasty looking lasagna! OH, DID YOU KNOW THAT THE TOMATOES ARE ITALIAN. YEAH. oh god, bobby benny, stop yelling at me about the italian tomatoes, let me APPRECIATE THE LASAGNA AS A LASAGNA. oh, this is a mozzarella? a MOZZARELLA DI BUFALA? god, jackson, stop shouting. cool, this is buffalo mozz. can we get back to the lasagna? IT'S FROM A BUFFALO, THAT ANIMAL IS BIGGER THAN A COW, AND IT HAS A HIGHER FAT PERCENTAGE IN THE MILK, SO THE CHEESE IS RICHER. cool, bob jackson ben, let's get back to the lasagna. tell me more about this lawsuit we find ourselves in the middle of, THE BUFFALO. IT'S BIG. BIGGER THAN A COW. cool, please. um, let's focus.
By the way, NONE of that is a spoiler because this is all my immediate thoughts after reading the first SIX pages.
the VERY VERY opening? HITS SO HARD. But. We hit lows that are underground when bob ben insists on going "hehe my fantasy indians are called shallys as a slur because my fantasy indians smell bad. because their food smells strong. haha. shallots shallys. hehe."
here's the opening paragraph, idk
And Olvos said to them: "Why have you done this, my children? Why is the sky wreathed in smoke? Why have you made war in far places, and shed blood in strange lands?"
And they said to Her: "You blessed us as Your people, and we rejoiced, and were happy. But we found those who were not Your people, and they would not become Your people, and they were willful and ignorant of You. They would not open their ears to Your songs, or lay Your words upon their tongues. So we dashed them upon the rocks and threw down their houses and shed their blood and scattered them to the winds, and we were right to do so. For we are Your people. We carry Your blessings. We are Yours, and so we are right. Is this not what You said?"
And Olvos was silent.
Book of the Red Lotus, Part IV, 13.51-13.59
LIKE. WOW. THAT HITS. AND OLVOS WAS SILENT. WHY. ALso, this reads like Old Testament. it's STRONG prose.
and then we get. fucking shallys. shut up. goddamnit.
Almost a 3, but it was enjoyable enough to read that it's a 4
I HATE that there's no map or glossary
So fucking dumb
If you're running me ALL OVER your MADE UP city, GIVE ME A FUCKING MAP
JESUS CHRIST
I KNOW YOU HAVE ONE
and if you DON'T, and you're WRITING ABOUT IT with A LOT OF TRAIPSING AROUND
you better MAKE a map
:/ Listen, some people only have one shtick they kinda stick to, and they re-do that over and over, and it's fine
Reading this and City of Blades - I was like, oh, this is another Max Ride from James Patterson situation.
This guy had ONE idea and just keeps writing about THAT.
This whole - all his books take place in a hot and humid climate - I almost was like "hey is this getting kinda weird" but apparently he grew up in Louisiana and Texas.
But the descriptions of the different races - there are some pretty consistent themes across his series - I'm like - is THAT racist? idk.
I've decided - it's fucking annoying that Robert decides to make up his own fucking words ALL the time. Making up your own words should be done with IMPACT. When it's MEANINGFUL. Not when you're like - "i wanna re-name a revolver and then describe exactly what a revolver is teehee" SHUT UP it's a FUCKING REVOLVER (that's a complaint about City of Blades, not Foundryside)
Making up your own word for an entire thing you make up, sure, I get that
But DONT REINVENT A REVOLVER it's really fucking annoying
Spoilers Below
So - Sancia and Berenice - what the FUCK. Where did THAT come from. That came from out of NOWHERE. It was WORSE than Din and the Captain. At least Din was like "hehe the captain is hot"
But??? Sancia never once goes "Berenice was the most beautiful/interesting person I've ever seen" or some shit like that
But yeah, I'm really seeing this theme in good ol' Bobby's books
a person encountered with a circumstance in which they can change/re-make their own identity and self
an ancient, older race that has died out that left behind mysterious technological advances that the current era is still trying to reclaim, but even SCRAPS from the past have made HUGE changes in the QOL
hot and humid
fantasy southeast asians
fantasy indians from india, not indians as in native americans
Really White People (literally the color white)
Robert doesn't know how romance works
Estelle Candiano is giving LOSERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
oh, boohoo, your stupid sexist father prevented you from doing the thing you enjoy the most, omg, i'm gonna make the WORST DECISION at EVERY TURN
i'm gonna marry this ABUSIVE, CHEATING motherfucker who SUCKS and is STUPID and POWER HUNGRY and has an ego BIGGER THAN HIS STUPIDITY and is CRUEL and then i'm gonna CRY ABOUT ITTTTT and ALL THE DECISIONS I'VE MADE ACTIVELY
god i hate characters and people like Estelle
YOU made your own fucking bed
and now WE all have to lay in it because YOU'RE stupid and greedy? FUCK OFF
A Drop of Corruption - Robert Jackson Bennett [2 of ?]
3/5
Not as fun as Book 1.
The plot is rich with potential, but the pacing is off.
To me, it feels like too much power was given to the meta reveals.
The focus should have been the mystery, the plot.
It's fun, I liked reading it. But it wasn't as good as Book 1.
But this really did cement my opinion that, should this get an adaptation with actors, Alex Ward should play Din. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5928076/
Spoilers Below
I think the whole Ana-is-gasp-reborn-ancient-race was pushed too far forward, and it detracted from the plot, distracted me, and yeah it was a fun reveal, but it's also kind of something that's been building for a book and a half, so
I would have been happy with a smaller confirmation
That allowed this plot to really breathe
idk, this one was just off
The special sauce wasn't there, the juice was missing.
It felt like it should have been refined more.
Like an expensive chocolate ruined by inadequate conching.
A Short Walk Through A Wide World - Douglas Westerbeke
1/5 I fucking hated this book
I finished it and I hate it
Yes, the prose is evocative and beautiful, and it's got a very exciting surreal quality
But it's SHIT
I get that it's fiction, but there's so much that's just - everything in it is presented in its most idealized, sanitized, precious form
Hey, Douglas Westerbeke, good job publishing a novel, I hate what you've written
It feels like all style and no substance
Like if someone said to me "Hey, I have this delicious cake!"
And I tried some, only to discover it's ALL FROSTING AND THERE'S NO CAKE
and they said "yeah, that's why it's delicious! the frosting! and look at my pretty designs!"
and i'd be like, "NO, you said this is delicious CAKE. there's no CAKE here. frosting is PART of a cake, but frosting alone does not a cake MAKE"
Who's the audience for this book? Maybe people who think Life of Pi is Peak Philosophy
Spoilers below
A solo traveler, on her own since she was NINE?
I get that there's a strong element of fantasy and magic - she takes goddamn magic portals
But she's on her own since she's 9 and she basically only encounters exactly the people she needs to, but she's chased from place to place by her own body?
Dear FUCKING GOD
Nobody has any ill intent for her?
They just wanna talk and help?
And the one time she encounters people who have malice in their eyes, she deals with them immediately?
She ALWAYS has a way out?
What's up with this being titled a SHORT walk? It's a long ass walk that lasts her entire fucking life
Yes, the surreal descriptions were fun.
But, really? It feels like every stereotype fucking taped together.
What time period are we in. I get it, it doesn't really matter. She's warming her feet over lava runs at one point, and she lives in a spiral loop of space time where she keeps hearing past and future version of herself, so fuck time continuity.
But, like. It felt like the author hasn't been to a single one of these places and went "Im gonna write science fiction but use Earth words hehehehehe"
i just hated it
it was NOT for me
i THINK it could have been redeemed if we got SOMETHING, literally ANYTHING about these fucking wells
the idea of objects from her past returning to her in her future
and connecting the dots there, closing that loop
MAYBE WOULD HAVE FELT LIKE something, like payoff, like cake underneath the frosting, ANYTHING
as it was, we got
"hehe wells" and tHAT WAS IT
are all the children in Vincent's village her babies? we'll never know
Which, I'm told, is pretty common for trilogies - for movie 1 to be good, movie 2 to feel lackluster because it doesn't have real payoff, just buildup, and movie 3 is great because it ties up all loose ends
Spoilers Below
Movie 3 is ALSO my favorite because it's A HEIST MOVIE and HEIST MOVIES are ONE OF MY FAVORITE KINDS OF MOVIES
and Movie 2 is at a big disadvantage for me because zombie movies are one of my least favorite kinds of movies
sad that newt died :(((((( because i like thomas brodie-sangster
but apparently, in the book, there is no cure, so newt dying, while still sad, isn't like - he died next to the person who could cure him
but also
thomas brodie-sangster playing newt turning into a crank was kinda hot
I enjoyed it - but I wish that more of what was in the end happened earlier on.
It - it was a bit slow
I get that the first half or so was necessary to set the scene
Spoilers Below
ok, so
cordelia
doesn't
like
do
anything
??
i thought the whole - quicksilver, alum, element that can become, something can stand in for wine, whatever
i thought that was like a
cordelia can stand in for wine
but in the end, it's PENELOPE who's wine?
I just wanted there to be more of a development, more payoff?
It really felt like there was something building up for Cordelia to either really begin to grow, or completely snap
and really, it felt like neither happened
Overall, it felt half-baked to me
I liked the idea and structure, but it felt incomplete
The puzzle pieces weren't all fitting together
OH, YOU KNOW WHAT
THIS KINDA REMINDED ME OF WHEN I READ SPINNING SILVER BY NAOMI NOVIK
AND I WENT
GODDAMNIT THIS IS RUMPLESTILTSKIN FANFIC
where the whole idea of being a fairytale re-telling took priority over being a good, standalone, well-encapsulated story
the benefit of retelling a story everyone knows is that everyone knows what'll happen
the downside of retelling a story everyone knows is that you can rely too heavily on people knowing the story and forget to actually make your own good story
5/5 *I return after reading more of his earlier trilogies to modify this as a reluctant 5/5. I won't reduce it to 4 because I truly enjoyed it so much while I was actively reading it. This, I think, is what he was working towards writing for 10 years. I can see the path he took in his 2 previous trilogies, and how pieces of that show up here in The Tainted Cup and A Drop of Corruption. good job benny. you got less racist. but you did keep your weird insistence on made-up words which have real-life words you could have just used.
It's SO delicious
The ONLY thing that could make this better is a glossary.
The book does a pretty good job of explaining its terms, and making sure not to over-explain. But I would have liked having a glossary to flip to, just to refresh on certain definitions.
The map and chart of hierarchy at the front gave me high expectations for the book, and it delivered.
It's a murder mystery in a fantasy world, and it walks the fine line between: flavorful, immersive worldbuilding that heavily uses made-up words, and annoyingly pedantic by using its made-up words
But I had so much fun reading this I've decided the made-up words are fun
I also think the mystery is so clever and so wonderfully pieced together that it would have been possible for me to solve the mystery before it was revealed to me, if I sat down and really tried to puzzle it out.
Not that the mystery was obvious - quite the opposite.
But just that the mystery was so cleverly created and based in human interactions and patterns in such a way that it seemed solvable, even without knowledge of this world.
Alex Ward is my fancast for Din https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5928076/
Spoilers Below
Now, if I didn't like this book - I'd say that the romance (?) attraction (?) between Din and Strovi came out of absolutely nowhere and was forced in just so that this book could claim to have a relationship in it.
But, since I like this book, their interactions at the end made me giggle and clap my hands.
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