Locklands - Robert Jackson Bennett
DNF
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Locklands - Robert Jackson Bennett
DNF
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil - V.E. Schwab
5/5 loved it
Warbreaker - Brandon Sanderson
1/5
I was really disappointed by this.
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
Shorefall - Robert Jackson Bennett [2 of 3]
3/5
This series is a little bit of a slog.
This book is a bit confusing.
Foundryside felt really nicely paced. The reveals were spread apart enough that I could comprehend everything.
In Shorefall, things are revealed left and right, no space, no time to properly absorb information and then build the pieces upon each other.
City of Miracles - Robert Jackson Bennett [3 of 3]
5/5
I cried, it was nice
Spoilers below
City of Blades - Robert Jackson Bennett [2 of 3]
5/5
Needs a map
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
i didn't like shallys
and shtanis is fine
City of Stairs - Robert Jackson Bennett [1 of 3]
This book needs a map.
This is a reluctant 4/5.
The shally thing is annoying.
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.
Foundryside - Robert Jackson Bennett
4/5
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
Servant of Earth - Sarah Hawley
5/5
It's predictable, but I enjoyed every bit of it
With one big caveat
I enjoyed the rest of it enough to overlook this one thing
Spoilers Below
A Werewolf's Guide to Seducing a Vampire - Sarah Hawley
5/5
Like a magical-creature, adult Richard Scarry's Busytown
So cozy
What a sweet little treat
Like a McFlurry, or cotton candy
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
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
Maze Runner: The Death Cure [Movie 3/3]
THIS IS ANOTHER GENRE SHIFT
But this was my favorite movie of the trilogy
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
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials [Movie 2/3]
ok wait so hold on
Spoilers Below
The Maze Runner [Movie 1/3]
lotta running
i love thomas brodie-sangster
A Sorceress Comes to Call - T. Kingfisher
3.5/5
Incredibly stressful to read, ngl
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
The Tainted Cup - Robert Jackson Bennett [1 of ?]
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