Tag: Thraxas

What I Read in November 2024

~ Veselin ~ 1 Comment

I read 7 books, 1 gamebook, and 1 comics in November.

Best books for the month:

  1. Thraxas 11 and 12 – The march to free Turai is over, and the series didn’t end. Some serious questions are left for the unwritten book 13, like why are Thraxas and Makri glued together? Both books were 5/5s, and also short and easy to finish.
  2. Shadow of the Fox #1 – a human with fox features starts a journey to secure a world-dominating scroll. LOTR in a magical ancient Japan. Book 2 relied on superheroes and deux ex machina, and is closer to the bottom of this post than the top but was still interesting.

Worst books for the month:

  1. Claw of the Dragon – a gamebook where the choices don’t matter and you just read a few pages in a non-linear order to reach the final. Probably targets 7-8-year-olds from the pre-computer age.
  2. Monk and Robot – clever and thought-provoking but not as interesting as the other books I read in November.

Legends & Lattes

~ Veselin ~ 6 Comments

Viv is a lady orc, giant and strong. She wants to retire from the bounty-hunting business and open a coffee shop. There will be challenges, mainly from doors to the past that are not closed.

This book is written with the intent of being sweet. The author got tired of Epic Fantasy and wrote an un-epic Fantasy. There’s nothing dramatic in opening a coffee shop. It’s like the first Thraxas, just that the city of Thule is far more ordered than Turai. It feels like an American suburban area.

5*/5

June in Books

~ Veselin ~ 4 Comments

Best books for the month

Thraxas Under Siege. It’s 5/5 and overall great. “Thraxas and the Ice Dragon” and “Thraxas and the Oracle” are not far behind. Turai is about to fall and Thraxas will have to help Lisutaris any way he can, which varies between failing miserably and saving the day. Makri is not far as well.

Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich and The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik were also good reads and 5/5s. The Golden Enclaves concluded the Scholomanse series and explained the Maw-Mouths. Notorious Nineteen was a nice bubblegum. Stephanie Plum doesn’t age.

Worst books for the month

  • Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians – a parody where the author talks to the reader from the author’s position. It wasn’t fun in the way “The Carpet People” was. The only reason to complete it was my respect for Brandon Sanderson and the hope that Book 2 would be better. Brandon Sanderson is known to have some flops. I gave it a fair 3/5 because it was readable.
  • Iron Flame – the sequel to The Fourth Wing had 760 pages of people talking and moving around in a world that makes no sense but closely resembles other fantasy worlds that do. I gave it 4/5 because it was still interesting, but objectively, it was worse than Alcatraz. Brandon Sanderson built a unique steampunk magical system that could sustain excellent sequels, which isn’t the case with Iron Flame.

Honorable Mentions

I read one standalone gamebook and one collection of 3 gamebooks. The local community keeps printing these, and the artwork inside is above and beyond. Some adults are having fun and publishing stuff because they can. None of the writing is Brandon Sanderson’s quality but it carries the spirit of the 80s and 90s.

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

Thraxas and the Elvish Isles by Martin Scott

~ Veselin ~ Leave a comment

This is the 4th book of the series for the round former battle mage Thraxas and his fierce friend Makri. I reviewed the first one here and then read and . Part 4 felt like the best and most balanced of all. It is the best mystery and the one with the least battles. Still zero drama.

Thraxas is invited to an Elven island to help with a murder case. Elves have no crime and no detectives. Murder on their island is a big thing. Asking questions, on the other hand, is not appreciated. On top of it, it looks like people are under some kind of spell, the murderess is inadequate, and the high elves do not drink beer.

From a character development point of view, have a chance to learn about Makri’s Orkish kendoka origins. She will wield some wooden swords this time.

5/5. The book on Goodreads.