Book Review: Emperor of Thorns (Broken Empire, #3) by Mark Lawrence)

2 stars

Emperor of Thorns is the last book in the Broken Empire trilogy and, as the name suggests, shows Jorg on his way to becoming Emperor. The book starts a little after the events of King of Thorns (to which I did not write a review) with Jorg traveling to Vyene to vote on the new emperor.

I gave 2 starts to the other two books in the trilogy and it is not different for this one. Many of my problems were repeated in this book as well and different problems appeared.

What I liked:

- Some of the side characters got interesting character development and they participated more in the story (with that I mean that they were more important to the narrative than in the previous ones, even though Jorg is still the one that does most of the things by himself). Katherine, for one, was a character that was more interesting and powerful. It was nice to see more female characters doing important things;

- Not only the secondary characters got more development but Jorg did as well. He still does things his way, he is still careless and always manages to get away with it, but he is a little more humane;

- We got more answers concerning the world of the narrative and more “scientific” explanations as well.

What I didn’t like:

- We may have gotten more answers but the world still does not make sense to me. Why did only some books (and only books that fit the medieval vibe of the story at that) survive and other did not? How can many of the technological devices still work with no power source to keep them running? And the explanation as to why there are ghosts, monsters, and the like did not work for me – even though it fits the story;

- The book drags on and on. There are too many scenes and descriptions that are completely unnecessary. This space could have been used for the final conflict;

- Many of the “scary things” were not scary at all and they have zero utility;

- I liked that we had some chapters showing Chella’s, the necromancer, side (3^rd person instead of 1^st as it is for Jorg), but they did not bring any new information;

- I really did not like the ending. Things were solved too easily and too quickly. The identity of the Dead King was too obvious. I thought the author took the “easiest way out” with this finale. He could have expanded the book a little more (or gotten rid of some useless parts) and created an ending that would actually fit the character’s personality and arc.

Over all, speaking of the trilogy as a whole, I liked the idea behind the story and even the world (had it been better explained), but I did not like the execution. I believe things improved from one book to the other and as the story progresses, but even so I could not get over my initial problems. 

Book Review: The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time, #1) by Robert Jordan

Rating: 3 stars

The Eye of the World is the first book in a 14-book series by Robert Jordan (and later on finished by Brandon Sanderson once Jordan passed away). We follow the battle between Light and Dark through numerous ages and see the Dragon, both hated and loved, trying to bring down darkness and stop the world’s ruination (or bring down the world’s ruination).

The first thing that needs to be said about The Eye of the World: this is a straight up Tolkien pastiche. Not because the use of mythology or because of resemblance, many other people have done things similar to Tolkien but original in their own ways (and I stand on the belief that high fantasy should move away from the path Tolkien took. There are so many other mythologies out there! Go do something different!), but because the usage of the same archetypes, the same type of characters and the same line of thought. This one even has its own Sauron (a being with flames bursting from his eyes, hiding in the darkness, invading dreams, following people’s journey to destroy him, does it get any more Sauron?).

Ok, ok. It is not original (what defines originality anyway? Tolkien’s world was not that original), but is it interesting? For me the answer is both yes and no. It took me forever to finish this book, both because of my book slump and because I could not find the story that gripping. There are elements that I found extremely interesting and the story does pick up more to the end of the book, but most time it was just somewhat interesting, and maybe not that important, fillers. Everybody and everything is described and not in the oh-my-god-what-wonderful-prose-and-world way. Sometimes I was like ‘yes, he is different, I got that, you don’t need to spend another 10 paragraphs describing him. Again.”

This leads me to talk about the characters. Rand, Perrin, and Mat are simple farmers. During the days preceding a celebration known as Bel Tine, they have their lives threatened by creatures they thought only existed in legends.  They soon find out that The Dark One (the Evil incarnated who is supposed to be locked away in prison) is after them for reasons yet unknown (unknown to the three characters because we all know the answer since the beginning). They are helped by Moiraine, an Aes Sedai (a group of female magic-wielders responsible for the safety of the world) and Lan, a Guardian. Together (and they are joined by Egwene and Ninaeve) they set foot to Tar Valon, the home of the Aes Sedai where they will get help. Of course, things do not go according to plan.

Anyway, the characters. Rand was boring and the caricature of many heroes from this kind of story: he is different from others from his village, he lives alone with his father –that later on may not be his real father – and has powers that he didn’t know he had. Now he must battle with himself and with the dark powers to somehow come up intact from a battle he know he will probably lose (and we know he won’t because there are other 13 books out there). His problem, to me, was not being a stereotype, was just not being anything else but a stereotype. He lacked personality and was completely two-dimensional. Mat was even worse and his only strength was being a reckless idiot. Perrin was the one I liked the most and the one I think sees more character development, even though is not much.

The plot could have filled a three-hundred page book. Instead we get a 800-page book. I sincerely do not know why. Not much happens, the twists are all predictable, and we have lots of explanations for things that do not need explaining and lack of explanations for things that most certainly need explaining.

Now, the creatures of evil. I’m sad to say that none of them were particularly scary to me. Creatures names Trollocs do not make me scared, I just think they are hilarious (my five-year-old brain immediately though, the first time I saw the name: ‘oh bollocks, here come the Trollocs”. How can you take seriously something with that name?). And the Dark One himself was not terrifying in the slightest, especially because I knew how the book would end.

Overall, it was a nice tale, even though I found it extremely predictable. There were some nice elements to it and the world is interesting, but I could not get hooked by the story or the characters. However, I’m interested in knowing what is going to happen. I might give the other books a chance.

Book Review: Untouchable by S. A. Starcevic

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Title: Untouchable
Author: S. A. Starcevic
Rating: 4 stars

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!

“Ethan Elliot is no stranger to secret identities. As an LGBT teen, he’s dealt with secrets all his life. Nevertheless, when his powers kick in and he’s whisked away to join a team of superheroes, he dons a mask of a different kind—one that sees him battling supervillains and testing his limits.

However, there’s more going on behind the scenes than capes and costumes. At the headquarters of the Protectorate, he makes unlikely friends with Gravity Girl and Element Boy. Except Element Boy might turn out to be more than just a friend, and Gravity Girl is battling demons of her own.

Ethan will discover what it means to be a hero, and must learn that even superheroes aren’t untouchable.”

“All kids dream of being superheroes.”

In a world where superheroes exist, that might be even truer. Except that our main character never wanted to be a hero. He was just in the wrong place, at the wrong time (or perhaps in the right place, at the right time). Now faced with superpowers, Ethan must learn to be a superhero and everything that comes with it.

Ethan is the sarcastic and funny narrator of his own story. His reactions to things were hilarious sometimes. Yes, there was the odd metaphor, but we can let it go seeing that he is very young and imaginative.

His backstory was interesting and so were his reasons for participating in everything. I am sure that I, given the opportunity to be a superhero, would take that on the spot as well, even if I was terrified brainless every time I’d have to face a super villain.

I liked the tidbits we have from Ethan’s and the other superheroes’ normal lives: their family stories, reactions, interests, etc. I thought some characters could have been better developed, especially the side characters, like the doctor. However, I think that, considering the length of the novella, we could gather a lot of information about the characters already.

The action scenes were nice and read like a superhero  story.  Ethan and his superhero boyfriend were so cute, but I wanted more on their relationship. This part felt a little rushed, but again I must say: the length does not contribute much exposure to their relationship. I hope to get more on that later!

I wanted some more world build. I mean, a world where superheroes and super villains exist and have names and a fanbase? Awesome. But, where did it all come from? How did that happen? Was it always like this? I know I will be repeating myself here, but  again the length of the novella did not help here. I wanted more and that is one of my biggest complains: I need more from this world and the characters. They managed to make me very curious and even to care about them in 54 pages!

Overall, I really liked the story and the characters and I would recommend it to anyone searching for a nice, short superhero story or a nice, short LGBT story. 

Book review: The Martian by Andy Weir

Isn't this cover great?

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The Martian

Andy Weir

5 stars

The Martian was most definitely a very exciting and funny read. Even though I had my issues with it, I thoroughly enjoyed the reading experience and the narrative.
Mark Watney was part of the Ares 3 mission to Mars. Everything was fine until the sixth day of the mission. A violent sand storm forced the mission to be cancelled. Unfortunately, as the astronauts were leaving the planet, Mark Watney died. Or so everybody thought. Watney was still alive and with no means to reach his peers or NASA. He was stranded in Mars, all alone, with no communication. His only hope was to wait for the Ares 4 mission. The problem: Ares 4 was 4 years away. Now, he must survive alone on a planet that wants to kill him and figure out a way to grow enough food to last 4 years.
I admit that what really made me read the book was the upcoming movie (and because Sebastian Stan is in it). I know, I know: bad bookworm behavior. But I’m really glad I did. It was awesome! I love books about space, space exploration, astronauts and the like. The Martian combined the science and the fiction aspects of sci-fi wonderfully. I have no idea if the science was correct or any inclination to check, but it definitely sounded good in the book and I guess that is all that matters. 
Our main character is creative, very intelligent, and possesses a never-ending supply of sass. It was nice to see how his personality influenced his decisions and his acts, and how it helped him to remain alive. 
Sometimes the book got a little repetitive but it was still interesting to see how Mark would react to a new situation and how he would get out of it. 
We have access to different perspectives throughout the book, which was nice. Mark tells what is going on with him through mission logs and we get to know what is happening at NASA and their attempts to rescue Watney. We also have access to the rest of the astronauts from Ares 3 and how they deal with the fact that Mark is still alive and alone in Mars. 
I have several things that annoyed me a little during the book, the main aspect was the amount of jokes like “I screamed like a girl” or the likes. His commander is a woman, we have several women in the mission, but “screaming like a girl” was still a cause to be embarrassed. I still cannot understand this. 
Over all, a nice read and I would definitely recommend it to people who like science fiction, space books, or sassy characters. 

Book review: Allegiant (Divergent, #3) by Veronica Roth

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Allegiant

Veronica Roth 

2 stars

What can I say about Allegiant? It was a disappointment. I was not expecting to love the book based on all the things I’d heard about it, but I was also not expecting to really dislike it. But I did. Not in the ‘I’m going throw this book in the fire’ dislike, but the ‘what the hell just happened?’ one. 
Allegiant is the last book in the Divergent trilogy and picks up the story some time after the events of Insurgent. Differently from the other ones, this book is told both by Tris and Four, with alternating chapters. 
Let me start with the things I liked: it was a fast paced book with lots of new information. We had an explanation about the world the characters lived in and the function of Chicago in it. We finally understood what Divergents are and their purpose and generally got to know what was wrong and what wasn’t. I liked that. I felt Divergent and Insurgent lacked world-building and while we have more tell than show in this one, at least we got answers.
That said, I did not like said explanation. It didn’t make much sense. And the beliefs that started it all were ridiculous and would be very easily proved wrong of people really wanted to do so. But maybe that was the point and I missed it? Anyway, I was expecting something much more elaborate and plausible. I didn’t feel like it fit the world we had gotten to know in the previous stories and it made the characters action in the two other books seem laughable because they were actually not that significant. 
I also did not like the way they decided to ‘solve’ things. And everything was too happily resolved in the end. It made no sense and I am sure things would not have ended the way they did. But maybe, again, that was the whole point and I missed it. 
I didn’t like the alternating chapters simply because I saw no difference between their voices. Tris and Four sounded exactly the same. Sometimes I had to get back to the beginning of the chapter to see who was narrating because I surely couldn’t tell them apart. 
And then “the thing” happened and I was done. Not because of “the thing” itself but because it made no sense. It could have easily been done some other way. Did it fit the character? Most definitely. Could it be avoided? It most certainly could have. It just made me angry and not sad like it was supposed to. 
Over all, not a nice read for me. And, again, this is all my opinion. I could not enjoy it.

Book review: Ripper by Stefan Petrucha

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Ripper 

Stefan Petrucha

3 stars

What can I say about this book? Actually not much. It was a nice, fast paced read, but it was so predictable that most of the times I just wanted to roll my eyes or slap the characters with the book. Or both. 
Ripper tells the story of Carver Young and orphan who suddenly discovers that he has to be adopted or he will have to live on the streets because he is too old to continue at the orphanage. At the same time, he also finds a letter from his father. Obsessed with being a detective (just like Sherlock Holmes) and to find his father, Carver is thrilled when he is adopted by a former private investigator, Hawking. 
However, not everything is well, Jack, the Ripper is attacking wealthy women in New York and leaving behind only chaos and fear. Carver is caught between his search for his father and the search for Ripper, and helping New Pinkerton –the agency Hawking kind of works for – not to be found by the police.
I loved the premise of the book. Jack, the Ripper is fascinating and having him change his patterns and attack in New York is a very nice concept, one that definitely calls my attention. However, I’m not certain having a 14-year-old as a protagonist seems wise. Much more could have been done with an older, wiser protagonist. Things sometimes sounded too silly to be true (I know, I know, suspension of disbelief and all that, but even so…) and too naïve. I really don’t believe things would have ended the way they did and even in the book, for me, the ending and some situations were a little forced. 
And everything was too predictable. I figured out the ending in the first pages and that was because I was trying not to jump to conclusions. You can guess the ending without even reading the book, actually. It is always the same thing. 
However, some things were nice. I really liked the detective agency and all things they used there. The characters were somewhat nice as well and some of them presented some pretty interesting character development.

Book review: Sherlock Holmes in Japan by Vasudev Murthy

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Sherlock Holmes in Japan
Vasudev Murthy
2 stars

It is not a surprise for anyone that I absolutely love Sherlock Holmes (and that I am not so secretly Moriarty) and that I love reading pastiches about the consulting detective. So it was with my heart bursting of joy that I started reading “Sherlock Holmes in Japan”. The book brings us the story of the “missing years” of the famous detective, presenting a possibility as to what he could possibly be doing during the years he was supposedly “dead”. 
I liked the concept of this book a lot. What happened to Sherlock Holmes between Reichenbach and his rather dramatic reencounter with Watson is something that I’ve always wished Conan Doyle would have written about. We don’t have Doyle, but now we have a pastiche. Good enough for me. 
The beginning of this book was very interesting. Watson receives a letter from his dead friend, urging him to go to Japan, where very important events were unfolding. Then, for me, things go downhill. The long explanations of boarding and disembarking were too much and could have been using to furthering the plot. Talking about plot, it was too uneven and, admittedly, rather boring. 
The big events that could change the whole world were not that exciting and the conclusion and the bad guys were very obvious. Besides, this cat and mouse game played by Holmes and Moriarty was not as amazing as it could have been. Their enmity has lots of potential and unfortunately, in my opinion, it was not very well utilized.