Tag: fantasy

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

~ Veselin ~ Leave a comment

I finished this monumental work by Rebecca Yarros and have mixed feelings. I considered not writing a review but at the same time the book is is divisive and engaging. So here are my thoughts. Let’s start with the good. It’s readable and I read it!

The magic system is not good and it doesn’t get better in this part of the series. The nagging feeling that the system was borrowed by Naomi Novik remained, even though it’s likely unfair.

Naomi Novik develops a Mana/Malia magic system in the Scholomance series, which I recently reviewed and appreciated highly. The Mana is a magical energy that’s earned by work and owned by life. The Malia is mana stolen from others, often by draining their life. Rebecca Yaros uses the same system but doesn’t use the names Mana and Malia. Good energy comes through Dragons and bad energy – from Earth directly, no Dragons. This becomes a critical problem in book 2 as the main conflict in the book is between the magicians who use dragons and those who don’t. But why are the dragon-users good? They don’t strike to be particularly kind or merciful. What generates the Dragon mana? Is it dead sheep?

Naomi Novik develops a dragon rider university in the series Temreire and chases the history of dragons, how they fly, how they fight, how they eat, what they eat, numbers, shepherds, fields, cows, and so on. Rebecca Yarros drops “I’ll eat a flock of sheep” in book 1, and “he moved a flock of sheep to the valley” in book 2. What we get instead is the description of how baby dragons sleep for months and grow while sleeping. I wish those baby dragons at least ate some food like baby birds.

I still found it interesting despite these serious flaws. The book is engaging in the way Matthew Reilly writes. Yeah, there are dragons, which make no sense. They are connected to humans for no reason, generate unlimited energy with no source, and the love story exists despite the constant lies and intolerable deception by the main male protagonist. But it is still a page-turner. I might even consider reading the third part, although it won’t be high on the list.

4*/5

The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

~ Veselin ~ 2 Comments

Naomi Novik is one of my favorite authors, and The Scholomance Series is hands down the best thing I’ve read from her so far.

El is a murderous evil witch by birth who can destroy cities with minimal effort but has trouble doing basic spells. She’s trying to help and not be wicked despite her rare talent. Orion is her male counterpart, an evil of historical proportions who does good but has his monstrous nature slips. There’s something between them but the book is not a love story. It is an epic urban fantasy. The joy comes from discovering the world, the magical systems, and of course, from El getting stronger. The Golden Enclaves also highlights Liesel, whose talent is to organize people. It’s cool to have a superhuman witch but I find it even cooler to see a regular human channel the change with her brain.

5*/5

Thraxas and the Dance of Death

~ Veselin ~ 1 Comment

It’s not common to read a book that’s not on Goodreads but this particular edition is unknown to it. It’s tiny and hard to hold. You have the feeling it will break if you press it too hard. It’s a fragile jewel, worth the read. The first page-turner for me in over a month.

Thraxas and a bunch of powerful wizards are after a green jewel that makes people kill each other and slip away. The story is good and has no villains, which is quite impressive given the large number of dead people.

Makri is accused of theft and wants to resolve the accusations her way by rolling heads. She’s surprisingly civil for a gladiator champion with ork blood this time.

Both cases somehow manage to connect. I couldn’t predict most of the stuff that happened. The only guarantee is that it’s a good read.

5/5

Celestial Hit List by Charles Ingrid book review

~ Veselin ~ 3 Comments

The elite battlesuit carrier and a walking tank Jack Storm goes to a new planet. He’ll face prophecies, miracles, magic, and a human nemesis. Or at least the nemesis he thinks he has. I’m sure there will be no shortage of future nemeses to Jack and his sentient suit. One of the major opponents is a civilization of cruel and clever cockroaches that’s unlikely to go away.

The series is still interesting to me. I’m captivated by books with complex worlds and simple plots. The enemies are clear, and the solution to the problems they create is also clear. There will be battles with lasers, jets, and spaceships. What is not clear is who will endure all the challenges and who will be sacrificed by the writer.

I think the score for this one is 4/5.

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