book reviews
Since I've read a few books recently, I thought I'd post up reviews of sorts . . . HP is the only one with spoilers, so I put it at the end.
Kushiel's Avatar by Jacqueline Carey
Awesome! A wonderful conclusion toa wonderful trilogy. I especially was intrigued by the use of Jewish folklore. Some of the sex was kind of gratuitous (in particular between Phedre and her consort -- duh, we all know they have sex), but I loved the entire section in the harem. This book was definitely a bit different from the others, in particular because the enemy Phedre destroys is actually a twisted evil being and there's a purely evil god behind him, while in the other books it's just people trying to get more political power. I personally thought that the greedy, power-hungry part of humanity shown in the other books was a little more believable than the evil god possessing an evil king. It's hard to have a villain who doesn't have *some* good in him.
At the same time, the atrocities were . . . okay, I was going to say "fascinating" but that makes it sound like I approve of some of the stuff people did in this book. The fact is that I find it fascinating and intriguing to read about them, the same way I find Phedre's "alternative" sexuality fascinating. I do wish that there had been a little bit more of Melisande in this one though. It was interesting to see her played out in Imriel in a sort of "what if" type thing.
Overall, I highly recommend this book. I can't imagine the ages that Jacqueline Carey must have spent researching history and cultures all over the world in order to put this epic trilogy together.
Hidden Warrior by Lynn Flewelling
Lynn Flewelling does it again! Hidden Warrior isn't quite as macabre as The Bone Doll's Twin was, but it's still a great book. I think the stuff with Tobin and Ki was a bit heavy-handed, but Korin was very well done, as were Lady Una and Niryn. Lynx and Tharin are also awesome. I have a feeling I'm forgetting something important I wanted to say, but oh well. The xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (spoiler, deleted) scene was also amazing and was much more creative and dramatic than I had expected it to be. I was a little disappointed in how Korin turned out -- he seemed better than that.
Tobin and Ki growing up was very well done. Lhel was, as always, intriguing. Tharin is such a sweetie, but Arkoniel gets on my nerves a little bit.
Anyway, overall an excellent middle book to the Tamir trilogy. Can't wait for the next one -- especially since this one kind of ended on a cliffhanger!
Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
I came into this one a little wary because the last few times I read things that people at school highly recommended, I didn't like them. I was pleasantly surprised, though! Some aspects of this one were a little off to me so it took me a while to get into it. I think maybe it was a little to . . . like, everyone was bitter about something. I can't really explain it. There was something about the characters that made me not like them as much as I like characters in other books. However, it was still awesome, and I've been looking all over for the second book (found like ten copies of the first and third in bookstores, but not the second).
Overall -- a pleasant surprise. I'm really on this kick of books about assassins and spies.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
Okay. I liked it. I didn't like it as much as I liked the other ones, though. Harry was a whiny little bitch far too often, and while I'll accept that that's just him being a teenager, well, I hated being a whiny teenager when I was 15. Hermione didn't have as much to do as I would have liked. It kind of seemed like this one, more than the others, was Harry Harry Harry ("they come as a pair! it's a double date or no date!" extra credit if you can identify that quote). I think the stuff with Percy was an interesting development, and the twins were great, as usual. Fudge was kind of weird because he did such a turnaround from the previous books (at least, it seemed that way). Neville is awesome. Cho was . . . well . . . hmm . . . I can't say I liked her that much. Actually, it's more that the stuff with her made me dislike Harry even more. What a jerkface. I mean, really, a 12-year-old I could forgive not understanding some of the stuff she does, but he's old enough to be able to tell what a girl is trying to say to him.
Ginny = awesome. We need more Ginny. I'm going to go with
Kushiel's Avatar by Jacqueline Carey
Awesome! A wonderful conclusion toa wonderful trilogy. I especially was intrigued by the use of Jewish folklore. Some of the sex was kind of gratuitous (in particular between Phedre and her consort -- duh, we all know they have sex), but I loved the entire section in the harem. This book was definitely a bit different from the others, in particular because the enemy Phedre destroys is actually a twisted evil being and there's a purely evil god behind him, while in the other books it's just people trying to get more political power. I personally thought that the greedy, power-hungry part of humanity shown in the other books was a little more believable than the evil god possessing an evil king. It's hard to have a villain who doesn't have *some* good in him.
At the same time, the atrocities were . . . okay, I was going to say "fascinating" but that makes it sound like I approve of some of the stuff people did in this book. The fact is that I find it fascinating and intriguing to read about them, the same way I find Phedre's "alternative" sexuality fascinating. I do wish that there had been a little bit more of Melisande in this one though. It was interesting to see her played out in Imriel in a sort of "what if" type thing.
Overall, I highly recommend this book. I can't imagine the ages that Jacqueline Carey must have spent researching history and cultures all over the world in order to put this epic trilogy together.
Hidden Warrior by Lynn Flewelling
Lynn Flewelling does it again! Hidden Warrior isn't quite as macabre as The Bone Doll's Twin was, but it's still a great book. I think the stuff with Tobin and Ki was a bit heavy-handed, but Korin was very well done, as were Lady Una and Niryn. Lynx and Tharin are also awesome. I have a feeling I'm forgetting something important I wanted to say, but oh well. The xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (spoiler, deleted) scene was also amazing and was much more creative and dramatic than I had expected it to be. I was a little disappointed in how Korin turned out -- he seemed better than that.
Tobin and Ki growing up was very well done. Lhel was, as always, intriguing. Tharin is such a sweetie, but Arkoniel gets on my nerves a little bit.
Anyway, overall an excellent middle book to the Tamir trilogy. Can't wait for the next one -- especially since this one kind of ended on a cliffhanger!
Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
I came into this one a little wary because the last few times I read things that people at school highly recommended, I didn't like them. I was pleasantly surprised, though! Some aspects of this one were a little off to me so it took me a while to get into it. I think maybe it was a little to . . . like, everyone was bitter about something. I can't really explain it. There was something about the characters that made me not like them as much as I like characters in other books. However, it was still awesome, and I've been looking all over for the second book (found like ten copies of the first and third in bookstores, but not the second).
Overall -- a pleasant surprise. I'm really on this kick of books about assassins and spies.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
Okay. I liked it. I didn't like it as much as I liked the other ones, though. Harry was a whiny little bitch far too often, and while I'll accept that that's just him being a teenager, well, I hated being a whiny teenager when I was 15. Hermione didn't have as much to do as I would have liked. It kind of seemed like this one, more than the others, was Harry Harry Harry ("they come as a pair! it's a double date or no date!" extra credit if you can identify that quote). I think the stuff with Percy was an interesting development, and the twins were great, as usual. Fudge was kind of weird because he did such a turnaround from the previous books (at least, it seemed that way). Neville is awesome. Cho was . . . well . . . hmm . . . I can't say I liked her that much. Actually, it's more that the stuff with her made me dislike Harry even more. What a jerkface. I mean, really, a 12-year-old I could forgive not understanding some of the stuff she does, but he's old enough to be able to tell what a girl is trying to say to him.
Ginny = awesome. We need more Ginny. I'm going to go with