Alif the Unseen by G.Willow Wilson (Review)

Title: Alif the Unseen
Author: G.Willow Wilson
First published:  2012
Add it: Goodreads, Amazon, Book Depository
Rating: ★★★★☆

Since I started learning Arabic in summer, I'm trying to also learn more about the Middle East, because frankly speaking, my ignorance is vast and unpardonable. Alif the Unseen combines all the stuff that I love so much in books - computer sci-fi and urban fantasy - set on a backdrop of one of the rich oil cities in the Middle East. And the setting is not just a prop - the background defines the characters and the storyline, and the reader learns so much while not being explicitly lectured.

Alif is a young and poor computer genius who earns money by providing online anonymity to everyone who needs it. As social unrest breaks into Arab Spring revolutions across the region, the government becomes less and less happy with Alif, and BIG PROBLEMS are looming in front of him. Alif, of course, is more concerned about his girl issue, because, well, hormones. When shit hits the fan, he has to make some tough decisions and seek help in unimaginable places. But I won't tell you more of the plot, do yourself a favor and read the book :)

I loved how Alif the Unseen tackles the social and religious aspects of life in the nameless City - without any kind of judgment, very matter-of-factly. The wild mix of characters lets the reader observe a lot of facets of life in a Muslim police state and make her own opinions on them. There is also a very powerful message that however different people are, they can work together if they respect each other, and this is the only way to get things changed for the best.

My only problem with the book was how programming issues are tackled (professional deformation, you know :)) and that sometimes the action just stops so that the characters have time to philosophize about IMPORTANT STUFF. But, you know, these are minor problems in an overall great book.

In my book: An exciting sci-fi + fantasy read that also gives you tons of interesting insights of the Middle East life.

The Tolkien Tag 2016

Let's get the PARTY started!! A Tolkien Blog Party, no less! And although there's no "of special magnificence" tagline this year, it's still mighty exciting! Thanks for hosting, Hamlette!

So here's to Bilbo and Frodo, and here are my answers to the tag questions:

1. How many books by J.R.R. Tolkien have you read?

Ummm... all of them? Well, maybe except the latest Arthur translation. But I will, you'll see!

2. Have you seen any movies based on them?

And again - all of them. Although, as you can probably guess, I was not a big fan of the latest two.

3. Are there any scenes/moments that make you cry?

I'm an easy crier, so LotR gets me every time, especially with the ending and all of the deaths. Having a drink and some napkins for a LotR movie night is a must! Don't remember if I cried while reading, though, I haven't done it in a while.

4. Are there any scenes/moments that make you laugh?

Oh well all of them with Merry and Pippin. They are just so cute! Gandalf is also one for an occasional good joke.

5. Have you ever chosen a Middle Earth name for yourself? If so, what is it?

Well, it's still with me on every web page that requires a login. It's Arenel - a slightly modified version of Aredhel Ar-Feiniel, who has a breathtaking story in Silmarillion.

6. Who would you want to party with/marry/fight to the death? (pick three characters)

I want to party with the hobbits, obviously! They are the best at the business! For marrying none other than Aragorn is an option, I love him deeply! <3 I wouldn't want to fight anybody to death there, they are all so tough! I'm pretty sure it is my death we'll be fighting to, so what's the difference?)

7. When was the last time you visited Middle Earth, via books or movies?

I bought a beautiful illustrated version of LotR a couple of years ago, and I read maybe half of the first book then. 

8. Do you consider Gollum to be a villain? Why or why not?

It was obviously Tolkien's intention to convince the reader that he's not evil. So I trust the Professor on that one.

9. How would you sum up what Tolkien's stories mean to you in one word?

A safe place that's always there when I need it.

10. List up to ten of your favorite lines/quotes from the books or movies.

I'm the worst at remembering quotes, but I did learn some poetry from LotR by heart. Here's my favorite one:

I sit beside the fire and think
of all that I have seen
of meadow-flowers and butterflies
in summers that have been;
 
Of yellow leaves and gossamer
in autumns that there were,
with morning mist and silver sun
and wind upon my hair.
 
I sit beside the fire and think
of how the world will be
when winter comes without a spring
that I shall ever see.
 
For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood in every spring
there is a different green.
 
I sit beside the fire and think
of people long ago
and people who will see a world
that I shall never know.
 
But all the while I sit and think
of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet
and voices at the door

(Already Traditional) Mini-Reviews, Part 2

Looking at these two bunches of mini-reviews, you can probably tell that I have not been much into serious lit this spring and summer :D But come on, sometimes mind-blowing Sci-Fi is just a better choice than those daunting 19-century chunksters :) 

Title: The Name of the Wind 

Author: Patrick Rothfuss

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I should listen to Riv more. She read it last year and wrote that the book is not as good as Goodreads and other reviews would you believe. It’s not that I don’t trust her opinion (I’m yet to discover a book on which our opinions differ significantly), but I still felt I have to read a book which gets so much hype. And well… I can see why people love it so much, but as for Riv, it also fell flat for me. I loved the magic system and the part at the university, but then the love story began and it was just so adolescent and ridiculous… And don’t even get me started on the pointless 200-page hang out in the forests with the draccus or whatever this thing is called. I also expected the book to have an ENDING, but apparently it cannot be read as a standalone novel. If the author thinks that would make me read the rest of the series… Um, no. Good writing and gripping plotline would do that, not failing to round-up a story even a little bit before the end of the first volume.

Title: The Night Circus 

Author: Erin Morgenstern

Rating: ★★★★☆

This novel should be made into a movie immediately! It screams for big screen special effects. Although the writing does an amazing job creating all this effects in your own head. Very atmospheric! Plotline… well, it exists, but it’s not the main point of the book. I feel that the characters and their relationships could have been written better, but as I’ve said, the book is amazing as it is!

Title: The Passage 

Author: Justin Cronin

Rating: ★★★★☆

The book reminds me a lot of The Girl with all the Gifts, although it should be vice versa, as The Passage was written before The Girl. That makes it two zombie apocalypse books that I’ve read and liked during this year, so I guess never say never? I don’t know what I expected from The Passage, but it was gripping and beautifully written and I spent more than one night not being able to put it down instead of getting some healthy sleep.

Title: L'amour dure trois ans (Love Lasts Three Years) 

Author: Frederic Beigbeder

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I’ve never read the guy before and most probably will never read him again. There is no literary merit in the book, the characters are just papier-mashe masks without any depth and the ideas are questionable in the least. It reads fast and there are some catchy phrases and aphorisms in it, but the novel gives you a feeling it was written to provide facebook status updates to people who like to put quotes there.

Title: The Universe Versus Alex Woods 

Author: Gavin Extence

Rating: ★★★★★

I loved this book!! It’s so poignantly sincere and kind… But not in a way SPECIFICALLY designed to jerk tears out of you. Everything is described very matter-of-factly and that’s why it’s so relatable and realistic. Alex is the best, really. The way he thinks is precious and I guess our world would be a much better place if everybody followed the same logic.

Title: Lexicon 

Author: Max Barry

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I think my biggest problem with this book was that I had unrealistically high expectations. I’ve always been intrigued by NLP techniques and I thought this novel would be about it. Instead, it’s much more fantastic and hard to believe. Also, I did not understand what was happening until I reached the middle of the book. In some cases it can be intriguing, but here it was rather irritating. Also, the ending was just… Meh. I don’t get it, really.

Title: Ancillary Justice
Author: Ann Leckie

Rating: ★★★☆☆

This novel is like a riddle: at first you don’t understand what is happening and get lost in a lot of new words and alien references, but then without any explicit explanation it all kinda starts making sense, and you feel the world taking shape around you, gradually and imperceptibly. It is a beautifully written book, and the idea is awesome, but somehow this time I do not appreciate not understanding what’s happening for such a long time. Have I mentioned my attention span tend to be really short lately? So I don’t have enough patience for this kind of story

So what so do you think about these books? Do you agree or disagree with my opinions? I'd like to hear both :-P

I'm preparing some longer reviews next, as my reading is getting back to normal pretty fast. Stay tuned and have a nice weekend!

(Already Traditional) Mini-Reviews, Part 1

As promised, here's the first batch of long-due mini-reviews :)

Title: The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Is it me or has Sir Arthur lost some of his flair for awesomeness after the first three short story collections? I guess he’s not to blame, as *spoiler alert* he honestly tried to kill Sherlock and not write about him anymore, and had only caved to extreme public pressure to resurrect him. Anyway, I don’t even remember any of the stories that stand out in this particular book… And some are repetitive of the ones in the earlier collections. Still, Sherlock is adorable, and anything about him is a great comfort read.

Title: Zoo City
Author: Lauren Beukes
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

This was January choice for Coursera Fantasy and Sci-Fi Book Club, and it was the first book we read together that I didn’t like. Maybe Southern African English and excessive use of slang words are to blame, but I never understood what was really happening in the book and WHY it was happening. You see, when you commit a crime there, they give you an animal mascot(?) that you can’t be separated from. “Animalled” people are considered lower class and live in some kind of slums. They are despised and also feared, as animals sometimes give them supernatural powers. Now I could have told you more, but as I’ve said, I’m clueless as to what the plot is and why this imaginary world functions like it does.

Title: The Handmaid’s Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
Rating: ★★★★★ 

Oh, this book! If you think of it, the society structure is rather ridiculous and it’s hard to imagine how people can end up living like this, but the writing is so brilliant that the story totally makes sense and you don’t want to see any plot holes. Not much HAPPENS in the book per se, because things are not supposed to happen to a handmaid, but the descriptions and musings of the protagonist are so engrossing that you literally can’t put the book down. And the ending… Oh, I just love the ending!

Title: Changing Places
Author: David Lodge
Rating: ★★★★★

This is a very funny novel that just GETS academia life! Two professors, one from US and one from UK are on an international exchange program and have to spend half a year in each other’s shoes. Hilarity ensues as they battle cultural differences and discover their new selves. Ah, there’s nothing like a funny book about professors :)

Title: Station Eleven
Author: Emily St. John Mandel
Rating: ★★★★☆ 

An award winning hit, and yet I don’t wait a couple of years before reading it? Weird! But everybody in my feed was praising this novel, and besides the premise is awesome! There has been an epidemic, and 10 years after it the few people that are left alive are reduced to scavenging, hunting and primitive lifestyle in general. However, for some “survival is insufficient”, so a theater on wheels is travelling across Canada, performing what do you think? Shakespeare! Who apparently never goes out of fashion. The writing is beautiful, magical even, but the plot, although converging satisfactory in the end, is not without lapses. Like what about that menacing and pointless Prophet? I just don’t buy it.

Title: The Rosie Project
Author: Graeme Simsion
Rating: ★★★★★

Ah, what a sweet book! Apart from being hilarious, it’s also very optimistic and good-humored. It just makes you feel good, especially if you are partial to weird scientists and happen to know a lot of them, even though such grave cases of social awkwardness are unlikely to exist in real life.

Title: The Lives of Tao
Author: Wesley Chu
Rating: ★★★★☆

This is a very enjoyable and fun read. A tad bit too much pathos in the end to my taste, but the dialogues! They are awesome. Also, I can’t help wishing for an all-knowing and wise alien sitting in my head and pushing me to greatness. Maybe then I’d actually run in the mornings!!

Title: Москва - Петушки (Moscow to the End of the Line)
Author: Venedict Erofeev
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

I just wish it was possible to format the part of my brain that remembers this book. It’s really postmodernist and unusual… for the first 5 pages. Then it gets repetitive, boring and straight mad.











So that's it! A really mixed bag of books, some being awesome 5-star ones and some ending up on my hate list... Part 2, covering my reading adventures from the end of April to current time is coming soon :)

My Precioussss...

Hi sweeties! It has just arrived, and I want to share with you the best birthday present ever! I bought it myself, because if you don't treat yourself to awesome things, who would? :)

This is the 60th anniversary edition of The Lord of the Rings in hardcover with illustrations by Alan Lee!! It weighs 2.5 kilos and is breathtakingly beautiful!

And here's how happy I am about it!

Happy birthday to me from me, hehe :)

Never Let Anyone Recommend You A Book...

...even if you like the person very much. I've always followed the rule, and recently I've been reminded, WHY exactly. The guy that recommended me Wizard's First Rule is smart and funny and educated and generally great and I have zero idea how is he able to read and re-read (for sanity's sake!) this series and find it interesting and elaborate and philosophical. Should I be worried? :D

Title: Wizard's First Rule
Author: Terry Goodkind
First published: 1994
Add it: Goodreads, Book Depository
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Let's go through why it was bed with the help of bullets, OK?

• It's long. Soooo long. When I saw that the book is over 800 pages, I braced myself. I reasoned that I've raced through much bigger books in several days, and this one is fantasy so it should be fine. It was not fine. It was slow from the beginning. What made things worse, I could see through everything which was going to happen, so there was no reason for me to be anxious about reading further. 

• Usually I'm OK with some cliches. The (ignorant but very smart and super-tough and good-looking) chosen one - fine. A weird wizard - fine. A girl with a secret with which the main hero falls in love but can never be together because of reasons - fine. Nothing is new under the sun anyway. But OMG, can there be at least SOMETHING original? The bad guys were so cartoon it was impossible to take them seriously. And of course they can't delegate tasks and need to kill everybody themselves. While riding a dragon. And with no reason whatsoever. 

• There's so much unnecessary sickening detail! I'm OK with it if it's really necessary. I read and enjoy Martin, after all. But I saw no reason for introducing anybody like Mord-Sith to the story for example. Especially because what follows is 50 pages of torture description. It's as if the author enjoys it and wants to shock public, is all. No benefit for the plot...

• And here we come to the plot. It's a mess. There is magic in the book, and it works interestingly. It is all explained and you expect that you know the rules. But then you suddenly discover that everybody can be saved by something that JUST HAVEN'T BEEN MENTIONED BEFORE and it changes everything. It doesn't happen once, it happens always. It's cheating and it's not fair. I will not even mention the good timing of everybody, who appear exactly in the right moment to save somebody in grave need

• It's repetitive. The dialogues are good and funny and clever, but every dialogue eventually comes to discussing the Machiavellian notion of the end justifying the means and reminding everybody around that they can't hesitate to kill, even the closest friends, if they may pose a danger to their objective of killing the Bad Guy. Seriously, I can get how tragic it is just from a couple of repetitions.

As I've mentioned, I liked the dialogues, and political games were very believable, but this was not enough to redeem the time I spent facepalming the plot and the characters.

Catching Up On 2014 Reviews

Hi everybody and congratulations on the New Year! :) I hope your holiday season was as fun as mine and you had a good rest and quality family time!

Today I've come back from my trip to Sofia to see a very good friend and fellow fantasy geek. It was awesome! We cooked, made cocktails, discussed everything in the world and binge-watched the director's cut of LOTR. What can be better? :)

Yes, there's Balrog on the screen :)

Now I finally have some time to wrap up year 2014, and I'll start with mini-reviews of the rest of the books I managed to read in the end of the year. Then I'll probably try to catch up on over-500 posts in my RSS feed... Oh well, maybe not :)

Title: Amsterdam
Author: Ian McEwan
First published: 1998
Add it: Goodreads, Book Depository
Rating: ★★★★☆

I started to read Amsterdam on my way to Amsterdam, but didn't finish it until a week after the trip. And it's OK, because it's not about the city at all :) I have always been curious about Ian McEwan, and I can say I've enjoyed his writing a lot. He is a great psychologist, and his descriptions of thoughts and feelings of the two main characters felt so real it was hard to believe it's only fiction. But as if to mock a reader who by this point already trusts McEwan as a great expert in human nature, there is such an unbelievable twist in the end of the novel that it left me embarrassed.  

In my book:
Great writing and character study.

Title: The Way of Kings
Author: Brandon Sanderson
First published: 2010
Add it: Goodreads, Book Depository
Rating: ★★★★☆

For the first 100-200 pages of this huge novel, which is part of even huger series, I had no idea what was happening and wanted to stop reading. I survived, though, and it appeared it was worth the time and struggle, as by the end of the book I was quite unable to put it down. The greatest thing about the book is the world-building. There's a totally different biology, physics and social structure, and it's all very fitting and works well together... but not before you really get into it. And this doesn't happen very soon. Strictly speaking, it wouldn't hurt if the book was shorter, but as I've said, in the end I came to appreciate it anyway :)

In my book:
Worth the time, but make sure you have a lot of it at hand before starting this mammoth :))

Title: High Fidelity
Author: Nick Hornby
First published: 1995
Add it: Goodreads, Book Depository
Rating: ★★★★☆

The intro, where the main character recaps his past heartbreaks is awesome! I've even read it twice. Then, however, some music records nerdiness starts (as the narrator is a fan and owns a record shop), which I can't appreciate due to my utter lack of knowledge or interest on the subject. Overall, the writing is great, and at times the novel is very funny, but when you think of it, the main character is really very sad and unlikable, and the ending is kinda... meh.

In my book:
Fun and entertaining, but makes you think nevertheless. Just skip the music parts :)

Title: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
Author: Alan Bradley
First published: 2009
Add it: Goodreads, Book Depository
Rating: ★★★☆☆

I think I might have loved this book if I read it at the age of 12 or so (I loved children's detective novels!), but for a grown-up there's not enough of mystery or character depth or humor. It's a sweet little novel, and the main heroine is pretty bad-ass, but it's not very gripping overall.

In my book:
Pick up for a total brain relax or as a present to your kid.

My Autumn of Silent Escapist Reading

Hi everybody! :) As you've probably noticed, I haven't been in the mood to post for the whole autumn. I've also sucked at commenting and participating in events, and I'm truly sorry for this. I'm not sure what's happening to my reading habits, but my attention span is still very short, and now I shun from classics and big books and often pick books on a whim. I don't like it, as I usually enjoy being organized (and it's a pity I'm not finishing any of my challenges, the year has started so well!), but I can't do anything about it. Also, I'm reading much less now and am much more likely to play a game or watch a movie/series instead. Well, I hope it's just a short period...

Nevertheless, I HAVE been reading and I have missed blogging in the short moments of activeness. So it feels good to finally write a post :)

For starters, I've decided to make a small recap of what I read this autumn in the format of mini-reviews. These are really good books, and most of them are, I guess, unknown to many readers, so let me tell you more about them! :)

Title: Y: The Last Man
Author: Brian K. Vaughan
First published: 2003-2008
Add it: Goodreads, Book Depository
Rating: ★★★★★

This 10-volume comics was October's book of choice for Coursera Fantasy and Sci Fi book club, and I loved it so much! It tells about a sudden epidemic of unknown origin which results in wiping out all the male population on Earth. All except Yorick and his monkey Ampersand. See? How can one NOT love a story with a plot like this? :) Add some great humor, kick-ass characters, amazing plot, beautiful pictures and an oh-so-great finale - and you get Y: The Last Man.

In my book: An awesome, awesome story. Read it.

Title: Spectrum
Author: Sergei Lukyanenko
First published: 2002
Add it: Goodreads
Rating: ★★★★★

This is my favorite Lukyanenko book, and I've read them all! :) It is also a standalone novel rather than a part of the series, which I also appreciate. Unfortunately, it is not translated into English yet, although it is very popular in some European countries. US publishers are just soooo bad at seeing further than the ends of their noses. As nearly every Lukyanenko book, Spectrum features a very likable hero stumble over some mystery of the universe and forced to make difficult decisions. The book is very clever and philosophical and yet packed with action and suspense and great world-building. I'm very glad I've re-read it!

In my book: This novel is like an old friend which, when you meet after a long time apart, never fails to keep you up all night while discussing philosophical problems and drinking wine :)

Title: Hard to Be a God
Author: Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky
First published: 1964
Add it: Goodreads, Book Depository
Rating: ★★★★☆

Another great Russian Sci-Fi novel, Hard to Be a God is also an old favourite. It tells about a historian from Earth doing research on a "medieval" planet. He poses as a noble and has to observe and cautiously encourage progress without getting too involved and unnaturally changing the course of history. But pretending to be someone else for so long is not easy, and with obtaining more relations it's hard to stay impassive during a shocking twist in the planet's historical course. Re-reading the novel as an adult dimmed my initial impression of it a bit, as the moral became much more obvious. But it's a great book nevertheless!

In my book: Still very relevant and makes you think a lot. And the main character is great.

Title: Night Watch
Author: Sergei Lukyanenko
First published: 1998
Add it: Goodreads, Book Depository
Rating: ★★★★☆

As I've already mentioned, Lukyanenko is great, and luckily this book is translated into English, so it is an introduction to his writing for many readers. Which is a pity, because in my opinion it is not his best book, and the continuation of the series gets worse. I've read three out of (already) six books and don't intend to continue. The first one is still good though, if only a bit simplistic. The idea is that there are magicians between us, and they have two guilds: the Light and the Dark (I know, so obvious!) and they have some kind of a pact which ensures that they don't destroy each other. So it's "battles for souls" mixed with political plots to get round the pact.

In my book: Rather fun if you don't get sick of this whole Light/Dark opposition stuff.

Title: The Last Wish
Author: Andrzej Sapkowski
First published: 1992
Add it: Goodreads, Book Depository
Rating: ★★★★☆

You can already tell this autumn was full of Eastern European fantasy/sci-fi, right? :D Well, here's a super-popular polish fantasy saga, which inspired a computer game, dozens of spin-offs, fanfics, etc. I even have two friends who participated in role-playing games based on The Witcher world. The book is a collection of short stories telling about separate adventures of a Witcher - a guy specifically trained to kill different evil supernatural beings. I loved how Sapkowski took different Slavic fairy tale tropes and turned them into an entertaining and sometimes funny heroic saga.

In my book: An iconic novel, Slavic fantasy at its best. Recommended!

Title: The Master and Margarita
Author: Mikhail Bulgakov
First published: 1967
Add it: Goodreads, Book Depository
Rating: ★★★★★

This is a classic of Russian lit, which is unlike any other book. For most of high school students in Russia this is the only book they like from the school program, even though I bet none of them understand much of it. To tell you the truth I can't say I understood everything even after this re-reading, and I hope I can say that I'm now a more experienced reader then I was in the 11th grade :) Anyway, the novel is a satire about early Soviet era, and is set in Moscow in the 1930s. But it also has a plot line which tells about Pontius Pilate and the two intertwine through Master - a writer with a difficult fate, who wrote a story about ancient Jerusalem. The architecture of the novel, the beautiful language, the characters, the scaring hilarity of the dialogues, the macabre mood of it all - Bulgakov IS the real Master, and I can't possibly over-recommend this book :)

In my book: Just read it, OK? Nothing more that I can say :)

That's it! I have a couple of stand-alone reviews coming (hopefully soon) and I'm thinking about doing some year overview. We'll see if I have time and enthusiasm for that :)

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (Review)

Title: The Graveyard Book
Author: Neil Gaiman
First published: 2007
Add it: Goodreads, Book Depository
Rating: ★★★☆☆

This short novel tells a story of a boy growing up on a cemetery after the murder of his parents. He is brought up by ghosts and has adopted some of their ways, but he still craves for a company of the living kids. However, it is not safe for him to leave the cemetery, as the murderer is still out there.

Gaiman's supernatural stuff is still not my cup of tea. Although the ghosts were cute and Silas mysterious and impressive, the Jacks were weird and vague. I also didn't dig ghouls and the gate and everything inside. But Gaiman CAN write kids, there's no doubt of that. Bod's thoughts and feelings are so real! This feeling of not being told anything, however capable of understanding you think yourself... It's familiar to everybody who remembers being a kid, I guess. Learning responsibility is also a major aspect of Bod's growing up, which is indeed very important.

Plot-wise the book seems to be for children, but there are certain graphic scenes of bloodshed that hint that the target audience is grown-ups. It's a bit confusing, but not new for me, as it's the same with Stardust.

In my book:
More suitable for kids which are not afraid of a bit of killing :)

Long-(over)due Mini-reviews

Title: Watership Down
Author: Richard Adams
First published: 1972
Add it: Goodreads, The Book Depository
Rating: ★★★☆☆

I've heard so many great things about this book, that I was more than a bit disappointed with it. It just didn't grip me. Adams can write adventure all right, but I didn't get why it had to be rabbits? They behave exactly like people anyway, so what's the point? For me it didn't work, as I couldn't care much for just a pack of rabbits, however well-elaborated their characters might be. I know, I'm a monster :) But I've hated tear-inducing books about "poor animals" since my childhood :) The rabbit language was also not very well-developed or necessary. What I did like was the rabbit mythology. The parts when they tell stories were my favorite!

The biggest problem of the book is the lack of any female characters. The whole plot is about "getting some does", but even when they appear, they don't play any role at all and are very passive. OK, OK, maybe it's supposed to be so with the rabbits, but they behave like humans, so it still irritates me. Also, all the philosophy is just... meh!

In my book: Maybe more suitable for children than adults. Or for much less cynical than me adult animal lovers :)

Title: The Warden
Author: Anthony Trollope
First published: 1855
Add it: Goodreads, The Book Depository
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I read it for Chronicles of Barsetshire Readalong, and it was due in March, but I couldn't finish it until May, although it's a fairly thin book. What can I say? It was just so dull! I didn't care a twopence about moral dilemmas of a countryside priest and all the ecclesiastical politics around it. Trollope is really witty in some small scenes, for example his commentary on family life made me giggle a couple of times, but the plot is just so long-drawn and anti-climactic, that most of the time I used the book to fall asleep fast.

In my book: A classic soporific.

Title: The Republic of Thieves
Author: Scott Lynch
First published: 2013
Add it: Goodreads, The Book Depository
Rating: ★★★★☆

I picked this book out of despair - no story could hold my attention this horrible May, and I thought if this one couldn't, I was doomed. Well, Lynch haven't disappointed me: I was involved in the book, as much as it was possible at the time. However, I do think it had some problems. First, both plots (there's a flashback, as usual) are far from being original. Election and theater, really? They DO work, because both are amazing sources of plot devices, but I kinda thought Lynch was above it... Also, I didn't get the whole thing about the bondsmagi, including the last cataclysm and Locke's "secret". WTF????

I was most excited to finally see Sabetha, but I was a bit disappointed here too. No, she IS every inch as cool as I've imagined her, but her and Locke's relationship is so fucked up it becomes tiresome. Also, I'm glad there are always enough of great female characters in the series, but her "female in a male world" problems are a bit exaggerated here, I think.

In my book: Still great, but a bit less amazing and a bit darker than the previous books.

A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin (Review)

Title: A Dance with Dragons
Author: George R.R. Martin
First published: 2011
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Rating: ★★★★★

This book was an experience, and it left me wondering how I'm supposed to survive until the next one - so many cliffhangers! Am I normal that my favourite volumes in the series are the ones where things get REALLY bad for someone? Not that it doesn't happen in every book, but to a different extent, lol :) Although I had so many diverse feeling on finishing the tome (and it IS a tome, believe me! I soooo appreciate my thin and light e-reader when I read books like that :)) and though I enjoyed it immensely, I now find it difficult to say something coherent. Commenting on the plot is useless without recapping all the prehistory, and there's a lot to recap! So I've decided to go with short reactions on each story line, and if you've read the book you'll hopefully understand what I'm talking about. And if you haven't, you really should!

Jon
He's doing the right thing, I think. He may be changing the whole world structure there. Such a pity this doesn't make him any more popular, and well... he should have seen it coming...

Tyrion
I'm not impressed with him in this volume so much... He feels out of character a bit... Or maybe I was thinking wrongly about him, I don't know. But things like those that he's done do change people, don't they?

Davos
Never liked this guy. But now he might finally be up to something interesting... I wonder WHERE exactly he was sent...

Daenerys
Unlike Jon, she seems to be doing everything wrong. But I'm not sure there is really a right course of actions in her situation, and who am I to judge, anyway? It makes me sad to think about what has become with her relationships with her dragons, but I guess they couldn't stay cute forever. Her chapters made me sad all the time, because I didn't see the way out. But apparently, she has found one! I'm excited to know what'll happen next.

Bran
Weird, as usual. I don't see where his plot line is going and never have seen. I don't think that what he is pursuing is a good thing, even if you are a cripple with no family. I'd choose begging in the streets to THIS anytime.

Arya
Also getting weird. I don't like her training at all, and I'm not a bit worried about her. Although she might think that's what she wants, I am pretty sure it will not make her happy. She doesn't seem to have any other options, though :(

Asha
I really like her, and I think she is one of the few characters who really can lead people and she would be a great Iron Queen. Well, I guess I'm wishing for too much. I'm really wondering what has happened to all of them at the crofters' village... Nothing good, I guess.

Quentyn
I actually quite liked him. He is a good boy who tries to do everything right, but he's not a bit naive, and we all know how it ends in this world. I really enjoy his father's conspiracies. He might be another guy with brains, and maybe the only one left since what's happened to Tywin.

Theon
Oh, horrible, horrible chapters! They gave me quite a few nightmares. However, I love how psychologically deep they are. Death is not the worst thing that can happen to you in this world, that's no news....

Barristan
He reminds me of Davos a lot. Now they even share an office! Well, not really, but you know what I mean :) But somehow his chapters are not dull because of all the thing happening in Meereen. I have a problem with all the courtiers there, by the way, I never know what side are they at, and they all have queer names.

Victarion
Some religious stuff happening here... I'm not a fan of religion at all, and as in real world, religiousness in these books irritate me a lot! But that's what I like so much about the series - everything is so real! Victarion will not end well though, you don't need to look in the flames to see it.

Cersei
I'm not a fan of her, I think she is really a bitch. But what's happening to her is too much. I bet she's not subdued though! We'll see...

Jaime
Hot much happening here either, but I guess he's in a lot of trouble, considering WHO he left with and how the previous book ended.

Areo
He is not much of a character for me yet, just a pair of eyes at Doran's court. But YAY Sand sisters in action!!! They are awesome!!

Melisandre
I was so excited to see her in the POV list, but she is not so exciting as she seems from the outside. Well, that the essence of her cult - to seem cool! Although the Red God seems to be the only one working out of all the gods of the world, which kinda sets him apart. He and Melisardre are up to a serious test though!

Griff
Oh, this new story line is so exciting! The appearance of young Griff seems like cheating, but it adds one more party to the Game, and it's awesome! The greyscale scares the bejeezus out of me... You neeed a proper cure, you damn fool! To the fuck with your image!

In my book:
A very gripping continuation of the series which makes me want Martin to write faster. Much faster.

Four Mini Reviews

As you have probably noticed I have close to zero time lately. I still manage to read, but posting and sleeping are not so lucky :) So I've decided to do as everybody seem do in such case: write mini-reviews! They are small books anyway :)

Title: Harry Potter y el Prisionero de Azkaban
Author: J.K. Rowling
First published: 1999
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Rating: ★★★★★

Yes, this one was in Spanish! We read it together with Hillary from ahorseandacarrot and it was fun! Books in foreign languages are perfect for read-a-longs. Without being accountable I just kept putting it off to read something more relaxing, but with our read-a-long I swished through it in less than two months at a pace of one chapter in three days. Wonderful! I'm a bit afraid to tackle the fourth book yet though. It's bigger and more "adult" and the chapters are longer... Well, maybe in summer, when I have more time :) Also, I'll announce the second Language Freak Summer Challenge next month, so I hope it'll give me a push :)

Title: The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
Author: Neil Gaiman
First published: 1988
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Rating: ★★★★★

It was the first comic book I've ever read! Can you believe it? After the disappointment of Gaiman's American Gods and because of my inner snobbishness (comic books? They are for children!) I wasn't expecting much of it, but guess what? It was amazing! Dark and creepy sometimes, but totally amazing! I loved the art and how the story is told in short snippets, and how the parts of the puzzle fit together as you read and you get to know more about the awesome, awesome, awesome Morpheus. I love Morpheus. That's all there is to know about my feelings towards Sandman :)

Title: Yvain, or The Knight With the Lion
Author: Chrétien de Troyes
First published: 1176
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Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Unlike Erec and Enide and Cligès, I didn't enjoy Yvain at all, and so I don't have much to say about it. The plot devices never looked so artificial in Chrétien's works as here (pour water on stone to summon a horrible knight? Really?) and the main character never was such an asshole. Yvain leaves the love of his life a couple of days after the marriage and promises to come in a year... and OF COURSE he just forgets about it at all and therefore has to go seek some adventures instead of asking for forgiveness... I will not even go into his treatment of the lion. The lion is the only decent character in the story, really.

Title: The Train (orig. Sputniki)
Author: Vera Panova
First published: 1946
Add it: Goodreads
Rating: ★★★★★

My mom has recommended me this classical Russian war novel, and as usual, her recommendation was brilliant! This short book tells a story of a hospital train during the horrible years of WWII, from its first bombing until the last war spring. Very different people work on this train - doctors, nurses, war officers, engineers... Each one has his/her own story, his/her own dreams and fears, but they all must live together and work endless shifts to make the passage of the patients from the front to the hospitals more comfortable. There's everything in this book: tragedy, loss, love, friendship, true selflessness and cunning self-advancement... Because people are different, and war makes these differences even more obvious.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman (Review)

Title: American Gods
Author: Neil Gaiman
First published: 2001
Add it: Goodreads, Book Depository
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Oh, this book... I can't put off writing this review any longer, so to make it easier let's make a deal here, OK? If you love American Gods so much that you can't stand any critic, don't read what I have to say about it, and if you do read it, don't hate me afterwards, please? :) It's just that I know many people feel very protective about this particular book, so I'm a bit afraid of their rage, because yes, unfortunately, I didn't like it at all...

I had high expectations of this book, and it went fairly well in the beginning, but then weird shit started to happen, and I was thinking "Why am I doing it to myself??" all the following 450 pages. OK, maybe the ending (that revelation of what's going on, you know what I'm talking about) was also not bad, but I was already bored to death by the time I reached it. Why was it so? Let me try to explain.

The main problem for me was the overly depressing mood of the story. I felt the pressure of the despair oozing from the pages all the time, and there was no comical or other relief. Is it surprising then that my favourite character in the book is the "Fuck off" raven? I know that if the book affects me so, it means the writing is good. Well, it is good, but I didn't like what it was doing with me anyway. And don't forget the corpses! Sooo many of them... I've had enough of corpses for a year of reading.

As for the characters, well, they are another problem. Shadow is awful. He is resigned, passive and incurious, and I don't understand him at all. The gods are also rather dull. I mean, come on, they could have been really outstanding, but instead they are very meh... I realize that it's kind of ideologically fitting, because they are dying out, but still... I wanted something more exciting. Wednesday came fairly near to being exciting, but not quite. 

In my book:
I didn't enjoy American Gods at all, and I would especially NOT recommend it as a rainy day reading. Seriously, it may draw you in a long-lasting depression.

A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin (Review)

Title: A Feast for Crows
Author: George R.R. Martin
First published: 2005
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Rating: ★★★☆☆

This is so far the most disappointing book in the series. Just for the reference - I had read the first one before I started this blog (and I really don't need to say that it was amazing), and I posted about book 2 HERE and about book 3 HERE. The second book felt like an in-between for me when I was reading it, but now I know better. The real in-between in the series is this book four. Well, unless all the next books will be the same quality, in which case I'll quit. If I can, of course :)

Now, don't get me wrong, it is still very well-written, it still has some wonderful world-building, as we get introduced to new places and new characters, BUT! Speaking of characters, I think everyone will agree that they are the most important thing in the book. I don't know about you, but I really CARE for some of them, and unfortunately those were the ones that didn't make it to book 4. Martin wrote so much that no edition could hold it, so he decided to split the book, but regionally and thematically rather than chronologically. This particular novel focuses on King's Landing, Dorne, Iron Islands, Oldtown and Braavos, where nothing really exciting happens, and the only POV I care for in this book is Arya, who is also not in the middle of any important events.

Moreover, there are many new or even one-time POVs, which means there is a lot of prehistory for each of them, and most of it is for nothing, because some of them are in the book just to show what is happening in a particular place. I was very excited to discover that Cersei is a new POV, as I LOVED how Jaime was transformed from a bad guy to a good guy after he became a POV character. But nothing like this happened with Cersei. Seeing everything with her eyes didn't make me sympathize with her actions at all. On the bright side, I do like Arianne, and I hope she will continue to be an important POV character in the series.

Some plot lines seemed to be just fillers or were plain ridiculous. For example, Martin makes Brienne tour the most far away and insignificant corners of Westeros for QUITE SOME pages, but it doesn't serve the plot at all. She could have equally well spent her time lying somewhere being ill, for all I care. The Iron Islands plot line is more lively, but is utterly unbelievable. I mean, HOW could people with a medieval thinking make such a decision on a kingsmoot? As Stanislavsky used to say, "I don't believe".

OK, that was more of a rant than of a review, but I was really disappointed. When I take an Ice and Fire book I expect to be thrilled, enraged, surprised... Well, INVOLVED! I was not. I even put it aside for some time to read something else. That would not be possible with the earlier books. I only hope that book five which tells about all my favourite characters will be awesome enough to atone for this one.

In my book:
It was not good enough for me. The weakest book in the series so far.

The Princess Bride by William Goldman (Review)

Title: The Princess Bride
Author: William Goldman
First published: 1973
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Rating: ★★★★★

Another choice for Coursera Fantasy and Sci Fi book club has quite unexpectedly become a huge success with me. It's rather surprising, because really, if you read the premise it sounds like a typical Disney story. Don't let it mislead you! Even though “Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest ladies. Snakes. Spiders. Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles.” are all present, as promised, it's also very, very funny.

The book is subtitled as "S. Morgenstern's classic tale of true love and high adventure. The "good parts" version abridged  by William Goldman", and it starts with an introduction in which the fictionalized Goldman explains how he came to love this book and why it needs abridging. The problem with the "original Morgenstern" is that he was writing a satire, and some satirical parts are better left out if the reader is not particularly interested in Florinese history and politics. So Goldman is doing what his father was doing when he read his son from the book - skipping the boring stuff. He actually substitutes it with his own commentary, justifying his omissions and commenting on their content. Sometimes the commentary also tells the reader about Goldman's experience when he was first read the book by his father. So, this way, with the additional awesomeness of Morgenstern's and Goldman's commentary, the story is told.

And the story itself is rather potent: not only does it have all the elements of a great narrative (fencing and true love, dudes!), it is also very ironic, with some twists of the plot rather unthinkable and some purely ridiculous. Yet, all of them pertaining to the style.

With all this complexity, the story holds together surprisingly well and is read in one breath. It took me only two nights, and that with all the impending exams. That says something about it!

In my book:
A great story: engaging, humorous, comforting. An unusual format adds to the appeal and doesn't distract :)