User Profile

Avarla

Avarla@bookwyrm.social

Joined 2 years, 1 month ago

I'm reading mostly Fantasy and Thrillers, Memoirs and scientific Non-Fiction. I'm reading wherever my current mood takes me, so I'm really bad at sticking to lists I set myself. Still I try to fulfill several to-read challenges every year.

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Avarla's books

Currently Reading

Samantha Shannon: The Priory of the Orange Tree (Hardcover, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC)

A world divided. A queendom without an heir. An ancient enemy awakens.

The House …

Review of 'The Priory of the Orange Tree' on 'Goodreads'

Full disclaimer: I started reading The Priory of the Orange Tree without knowing what it was about, so I didn't have high expectations for the sapphic love story, since I didn't know there was one.

On the contrary, I enjoyed a fantasy novel with a love story, which at the same time didn't make it the be all end all of the novel, but instead based decisions on somewhat realistic political needs. I'm probably either a cynic or just sated on all the love is all you need type of stories.

I didn't fully get the magic system, and I would appreciate if the sequel delved into that a bit more. I'll probably also look at the prequel for more world buildung on that front.

Although high fantasy isn't really among my favourite genres anymore, I really enjoyed the global viewpoint and all the different cultures in Shannon's novel. I …

reviewed The Long Earth by Stephen Baxter (The Long Earth, #1)

Stephen Baxter, Terry Pratchett, Terry Pratchett: The Long Earth (Hardcover, 2012, HarperCollins Harper)

1916: the Western Front. Private Percy Blakeney wakes up. He is lying on fresh spring …

Review of 'The Long Earth' on 'Goodreads'

It's not a discworld novel, and it seems this is obvious but essential knowledge for appreciating this book.

Still it's a cool idea for an alternative world - and mainly it feels like that's what it is. An exploration of an idea much more than a fully plotted tale. It's a writing style which leaves much to the own imagination - what would you do, were you able to step? What stories could be happening on stepwise worlds?

I understand this sort of book isn't for everyone and also not for every reading mood. Sometimes a properly bound and finished story is what you need, sometimes a more or less loose collection of stories around a certain topic is more to your liking.

If you feel open for adventure, here you should certainly take a step or a million.

Lucy Foley: The Guest List (2020, William Morrow)

Review of 'The Guest List' on 'Goodreads'

Nice, this was a very exciting spin on the traditional closed room mystery. I want to read more of Foley's work now.

reviewed The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik (Scholomance, #3)

Naomi Novik: The Golden Enclaves (EBook, 2022, Random House Publishing Group)

The one thing you never talk about while you’re in the Scholomance is what you’ll …

Review of 'The Golden Enclaves' on 'Goodreads'

The ending felt very rushed and like a fourth book would have been needed to resolve the story.
The rest of the story was quite good and managed the step from the Scholomance to the outside world very nicely.

Richard P. Feynman: "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" (2018, W. W. Norton & Company)

Review of '"Surely You\'re Joking, Mr. Feynman!"' on 'Goodreads'

This memoir has a weirdly incomplete feeling and some of the chapters really didn't age well. Since I'm not really familiar with Feynman's life, I was confused about most of the timeline and who was who.
I take it this was written based on some recordings - I suspect this would have worked better for me as an audio book narrated by Feynman himself.