Monday, July 4, 2016

Book Review: Don't Look Back by Karin Fossum

Don't Look Back (Inspector Konrad Sejer, #2)Don't Look Back by Karin Fossum
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Murder mystery with a disturbing conclusion. The book goes along at its own pace without bothering to take the reader along, no rush. Just a calm walk. Nowhere in the book did I feel concerned for any of the characters. The intro chapters were good, but after the murder, it's all cool and calm and unbothered pace of finding the killer.

Needless to say, i am not that big a fan of murder mysteries, more like a fan of murder stories, where the murders keep happening. Give me any of that any day. April 28th and this is the first book I've finished this year!

Back to Malazan then!


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Book Review :: Half A War by Joe Abercrombie

Half a War (Shattered Sea, #3)Half a War by Joe Abercrombie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Slightly less entertaining than the second book in the series, half a world, which, I think, is the most entertaining book of the trilogy.

What I liked about this trilogy was that it looked into a new direction with YA fiction, and what I didn't like was that an author like Joe Abercrombie had to hold back his hand in terms of sex, violence, and general fuckery that is a part of his books. I guess the man needed a change of pace so that whatever is coming from him next is amped to 11.

All said and done, one of the tropes in this book was better done by mark lawrence in his broken empire trilogy. I mean, come the fuck on :D, you'll know it when you read it. Perhaps it has to do something with the fact that lawrence is more of a science guy in real life, so he is better able to describe those things.

I'd really like to see an author death match between joe's characters and some of lawrence's. Because Jorg is one evil motherfucker and only Glokta can reach that kind of evil fuckedupness from abercrombie's work. But this review isn't about Broken Empire, it's about Shattered Sea books.

Yeah, you can give these a shot if you're looking for filler reading material between something like, say, Malazan series. Cuz, fuck, damn, Malazan is a heavyweight, and that would be a sheer understatement.

I don't know what I want to read next. Suggestions welcome.


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Book Review :: Midnight Tides (Malazan #5)

Midnight Tides (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, #5)Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oh god, i am still 5% to go in this book, but I'll read it when I pick up my tablet in next few hours.

Other than Tehol and Bugg, this book was a drag. But even through the drag, there were parts that were good, I liked the gold coin studded emperor and his visits to the crippled god's island. There was no Karsa in this, that made me sad. I have a legit hard-on for Karsa's antics. Guy is my spirit animal.

Also, I liked Iron Bars, the guy is a badass in his own way. There was some mention of the Crimson Guard in Gardens of the Moon, I think. One of these guys saved the thief from getting killed by a tiste andii. God, that was so long ago. I am half forgetting what happened in that book. This book was a ride in a way, even though it had slow parts. I fucking hated Udinaas. What the fuck is up with that guy? I have no idea. I couldn't give two shits about the feather witch or any of the secondary Edur characters. Fillers, all of them.

I could not make myself care about the other storylines, but the banter between T & B was amazing. That made the book worth reading for me. The jokes were funny, I can't remember how to write most of the names and right now I am too lazy to look em up. But yeah, it's an important book in the series.

Right now, I am just left with a sense of unease after reading this, but maybe that has to do with something else, something personal. But fuck that. I am not sure if I want to dive into the next book right after this one. Maybe I'll read something else to lighten the mood. This was almost 950 pages. More like 2-3 books. Phew. The new jack reacher book was out some time back, I got that, maybe I'll dig into that.

Bottom line, read this for Tehol and Bugg.


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Book Review :: House of Chains (Malazan #4)

Book Review :: Memories of Ice (Malazan #3)

Memories of Ice (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, #3)Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I cried when I finished this book.


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Book Review: Half The World

Half the World (Shattered Sea, #2)Half the World by Joe Abercrombie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is a good read even if you've not read the first book. Some old characters are there, lot of new characters are there, the battles are there, the fast talking, sharp-tongued father yarvi is there, but what's really missing is the world-weary point of view of Abercrombie that's all over in everything else he writes.

Yes, this YA, it can't have all the glorious sex and violence but this is also Joe holding back all the good stuff that makes his books the gut-punches that they are. Despite that, the undercurrents of classic Abercrombie are there. The pitched battles, the violence (albeit held back), the word wrangling, the situations, the accidents, the moments when you go fuck yeah!, this book is quite a ride.

What else, really looking forward to Half A War now just so Joe can get back to writing about the first law world.

What I'd find really interesting if Abercrombie did a Richard K. Morgan and wrote some balls out cyberpunk Sci-Fi.

Now THAT'S something I'd put my money on.


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Book Review :: Deadhouse Gates (Malazan #2)

Deadhouse Gates (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, #2)Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Anything less than five stars for a book with such immense scope would be a travesty.

That said, it's not a book for everyone. It's a difficult book to read, and even more difficult to understand in the greater scheme of things. And anyway, the first three books in this particular series are not as well written as the seven others. I have one more so-so book to go through.

Maybe it will get better after that. I hope so.

Reading such a book is a tiring experience. Your brain gets so tired that you're unable to think anything else. When you think about the events in the book and their timelines, your whole sense of time gets warped, and even if it's fiction, you can't help but think in those massive timeframes.

It can get painful. There is absolutely zero hand-holding in Malazan books and you're mostly thrown in the middle of things to figure them out on your own.

So, if you like your fiction easy, pain-free, and light, give Malazan a skip, but if you like to torture yourself a bit, dig in.


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Book Review :: Nemesis Games (Expanse #5)

Nemesis Games (Expanse, #5)Nemesis Games by James S.A. Corey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Holden and gang are amazing as always, and personally, i feel this is the strongest Expanse series book so far. The last one was okay, readable, but this one opens up a lot of further avenues for storytelling and awesomness in the Expanse universe. I really loved that we got to see the viewpoint chapters of the whole team and for that alone it was a much tighter book than Cibola Burn.

When you read a book like this, you can't help falling a little bit in love with the characters, who are not perfect, they all have their flaws and they're all very very HUMAN. This is what sets this book series apart from a wide range of space opera, the human element is strong here, it makes the books fun, it makes the characters super-relatable and it sparks hope in your heart that no matter how bad things get, you can always count on friends and family, and it'll all work out when we work together.

Right now, really looking forward to the next book and I hope they explore the threads they've unwounded in this book. Specially, a view point of Filip, because there is much more to that character than the book explored.

Over all, five star book. If you've read the previous Expanse series books, don't miss this one.


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Book Review: Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Red Rising (Red Rising, #1)Red Rising by Pierce Brown
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I've not read the hunger games or any of its sequels or any of the derivative works that have spun from the concept of the everyman taking on the high and mighty. The books got better somewhere in the middle, but on the whole it was the same tired concept of fighting the powers that be by becoming one of them.

I hated that the author was holding back on the violence and there was so much telling in the book. "X stabbed Y in the stomach" why not, "the sword made a sick, squelchy sound as it entered X's stomach and the tip of the blade exited from his back like an angry demon's talon." (Yeah, now you know why I can't be a writer.)

All said and done, books like this one give me hope that I can do better.

I feel like I wasted my time in reading this book. Should have read half a war instead. Why are there so many books with teenagers fighting adults and higher powers. Why? Why can't YA be anything different? Why do oppressed teenagers have to fight everything in sight. Same ol' song and dance.

Fuck it.


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Book Review: Liar's Key by Mark Lawrence

The Liar's Key (The Red Queen's War, #2)The Liar's Key by Mark  Lawrence
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Can we give six stars to a book?

Or ten?

I wish goodreads added that feature for certain books. Like, once a year, a book so amazing comes along that you want to spend your once a year ten stars on that book. We're only half way through the year, but i don't think I'll read any rollercoaster ride better than Liar's Key.

The book is long. And delicious to read. The wit, the violence, the fun, the quips, the poetry of words, the backstabbing, the bravery, the friendship, the hatred, it's all there. And then there is some more.

I won't go into the plot and story of the book, but Jalan and Snorri are out on an adventure again, looking to open gate to death's domain! And they have the key to do it! It's a ride, this book and i am definitely looking forward to the next one.

There is nothing that I didn't love about this book. Everything was in the right place, in the right amount, it was scary, it was beautiful, it was funny, and it was just perfect.

Also, quotes like this one
>>

The best time to kick a man is when he is down

-- Prince Jalan of the Red March


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