Tag: book-blogger

March in Books

~ Veselin ~ Leave a comment

I finished 13 books in March. The only big one was White Sand Omnibus (which can count as 3).

The best ones were Thraxas and the Sorcerers, White Sand, and Avenger!

3 out of these books were written by writers I met in person.

I feel like I will slow down reading given that I have two difficult ones lined up and I’d like to finish them.

Thraxas and the Sorcerers

~ Veselin ~ Leave a comment

Thraxas, an oversized former “battle mage” with dubious magic skills and incredibly powerful liver, has to lobby for his friend to become the global chief magician. Makri will be the bodyguard.

There are a few tiny issues. A murder. It’s cold. Makri seems to be unable to fight when under the influence and she uses whatever is available all the time. She’s in love with an elf who doesn’t write back.

There will be no sword fights and the battle axe is going to be soft and sad. They’ll have to use their foggy brains this time.

5/5

White Sand Omnibus by Brandon Sanderson

~ Veselin ~ Leave a comment

I blogged about this book because it’s heavy and impressive due to its size. I read it today. It was quite an adventure.

I only had rough memories from White Sand part 1, and the Omnibus contains parts 1, 2, and 3, so it’s technically 3 books. Reading the first part didn’t mess up with my experience, and I wouldn’t even count it as a re-read. It had additions to part one, and the visuals were significantly changed so it felt like a different book.

The second and the third parts had different artists. Part three was the simplest and I liked the most.

Story-wise, I’m surprised by the low 3.5 rating on Goodreads. The story is good. A typical Sanderson with a clever magical system, an attempt to explain it but not too much so that there’s room for 2-3 follow-ups. There’s a hint of a romance but nothing more. It’s good vs evil, however the evil is biting from the shadows.

Worth the time and money. 5/5.

PS. not sure how I was supposed to read it, I left prints on the book. I’ve never noticed leaving prints on books. This one was prone to prints. Go figure.

Stephanie Plum – books 7 to 10

~ Veselin ~ 1 Comment

I achieved my goal of reading the first 10 books in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. The series is about a hot formerly unemployed bounty hunter who chases evil folks and loses them 10 times per book to only capture them on the 11th attempt. This is usually funny and low-risk, with no drama.

The story evolved over the last 4 books.

  • Criminals are no longer inviting themselves to Stephanie’s apartment at the same rate. The ability to break 3 of the top 10 locks out there is not that common and people breaking in at a whim started getting annoying. I’m glad this part is gone, hopefully, to never be seen again
  • Characters who were captured in previous books reappeared either as allies or as adversaries
  • Janet Evanovich started developing some wicked love for donuts and cakes. All female characters eat sugar like their life depend on it. Truckloads of donuts, chips, and cake. On one occasion, truckloads of bacon.
  • Stephanie’s sidekick Lula developed the sit-jitsu battle skill where she would sit on a criminal and squash them as a bug
  • Stephanie’s two love interests Joe Morelli and Ranger are no longer translucent. Morelli is the cop and Ranger is the mysterious millionaire in love with the clumsy nerd. Both didn’t add anything to the story over the last 4 books and I wish they get assignments in Venezuela. They were better when they were translucent.

All in all, books 7 to 10 are all in the 4/5 territory. They’re fine and I may read a few more because reading about Stephanie Plum is comforting. I just hope she stops eating donuts. It’s bad for her and unpleasant for me. We don’t want the main characters to die from sugar poisoning.