@lijadora please hide spoilers using "include spoiler alert" feature.
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56% complete! jonn has read 30 of 53 books.
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Now I knew that it had been Dad, wanting to know my feelings. He had judged. He had made his decision.
And I was backing out. Whether it was arrested development, the desire to be free of such an encumbrance, or a matter of sudden enlightenment based on all that I had experienced in recent years growing slowly within me, granting me a more mature view of the onerous role of monarch apart from its moments of glory, I do not know.
— The Courts of Chaos (The Chronicles of Amber Series, Book 5) by Roger Zelazny
jonn replied to Daniel Andrlik's status
@lijadora TL;DR: Your review contains a spoiler, please edit or use "spoiler alert" button.
I don't think it's fair to spoil the "worn trope", to those who didn't read a thousand books with that trope.
I remember reading it for the first time and how bored I was for the first 50 pages, but as the chase scene was unfolding, I got transfixed and kept reading till I got the first five books done with.
Then I had a similar hump while getting into the next five books, but now they're actually my favorite five.
Wizard's First Rule, written by Terry Goodkind, is the first book in the epic fantasy …
Florida Man's Lord of the Rings.
4 stars
Unintentionally cool. But no 4 stars because the author was actually serious.
Let's start with the positive stuff.
This is a very nice blend of Star Wars, LotR and Dune. It's a very smartly shaped book, which one can think of as a collection of short-stories with an overarching theme.
There are no plot holes, but—as a reviewer suggests—there is one instance of plot-induced stupidity. That said, part of the reason why I'm tempted to rate this 4 stars is how brilliant the foreshadowing and plot twists were.
The book is full of cute moral relativism, but the author treats it as if it's a bit deeper than it is. The author is very keen to spread moral relativism and Anya Rand libertarianism bullshit to the readers. What reads as humourous / parody fantasy is, according to Goodkind himself was written as stone-faced serious piece of fiction. That said, one …
Unintentionally cool. But no 4 stars because the author was actually serious.
Let's start with the positive stuff.
This is a very nice blend of Star Wars, LotR and Dune. It's a very smartly shaped book, which one can think of as a collection of short-stories with an overarching theme.
There are no plot holes, but—as a reviewer suggests—there is one instance of plot-induced stupidity. That said, part of the reason why I'm tempted to rate this 4 stars is how brilliant the foreshadowing and plot twists were.
The book is full of cute moral relativism, but the author treats it as if it's a bit deeper than it is. The author is very keen to spread moral relativism and Anya Rand libertarianism bullshit to the readers. What reads as humourous / parody fantasy is, according to Goodkind himself was written as stone-faced serious piece of fiction. That said, one can't really argue with the truth of the wizard's first rule, no matter what one's beliefs are about the organisation of the society.
Other reviewers talk about "wooden dialogues", and yes, the writing at large leaves things to be desired, but I want to be a devil's advocate here. Sometimes you read dialogues and they straight up feel like it's the same character talking to themselves and this character is... ...the writer. Goodkind has managed to avoid at least this level of cringe. His tell-don't-show is at least in character, which is ok. And he sprinkles it with fun mental experiments. So yeah. Could be worse!
TW: sexual abuse, gore, mass murder.
P.S.
I've read it as a kid and somehow I'm not into BDSM as an adult. Check-mate, christians.
jonn rated Lord of Light: 5 stars
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
A colony of humankind is subjugated by the First Colonists, the crew of the starship that brought them to their …
jonn finished reading Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
A colony of humankind is subjugated by the First Colonists, the crew of the starship …
Creative af.
jonn finished reading Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny
Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny
First in the "Chronicles of Amber" series of fantasy books. The story begins in the hospital when the protagonist wakes …
jonn rated Nine Princes in Amber: 5 stars
Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny
First in the "Chronicles of Amber" series of fantasy books. The story begins in the hospital when the protagonist wakes …
@silentrequiem holy shit, I see you enjoy swearing in book reviews, so here's my response:
- imagine needing to side with the main character. If Michael is part of your book club, I don't want to know how harsh are you on Martian Chronicles :)
- anyone can make a shadow. Then, anyone else can pass by this shadow and nuke the fuck out of it. In the shadows, the amberites are somewhere between the forces of nature and the gods.
- regarding "casuality" of style: have Michael heard of etiquette, perhaps? Yes? Couldn't tell.
- Michael probably wants to read something like the second edition of the book? It's popular enough to have multiple.
@chadkoh the irony: bookwyrm.social/user/kibrika/review/917278#anchor-917278
P.S. you absolutely should, the first five books is basically one piece :)
jonn commented on Wizard's First Rule (Sword of Truth, #1) by Terry Goodkind
Wizard's First Rule, written by Terry Goodkind, is the first book in the epic fantasy …
I've read an amazing review at kara.reviews/.
The reviewer is being quite upset about the Cypher suffering from plot stupidity.
Although I'm yet to see an instance of plot stupidity, I'd like to say that in a weird way, Goodkind's fantasy is very realistic. All of us mess up some stuff and fluke some other stuff. Asking the characters for universally correct deductions is as unrealistic as "plot-induced stupidity".
Which, yet again, 38-ish chapters in is yet to be found (by me).
jonn replied to Daniel Andrlik's status
My review is somewhat of a response to this one: ramblingreaders.org/user/TallPaul/review/20447/s/rambling-and-disappointing