roadtripreader's Reviews (357)

 I devoured this book like a Kai eating a scarpatine or a Gauri eating a potato.

On a serious note and on behalf of all delicious spuds - we have heard a great dishonor toward the baked potatoes in both the Haradis Kingdom and Guar. As a fan of the humble potato "boil, mash em, stick em in a stew" I take offence I say, great offence to the slanderous accusations of the potato-thing at the wedding banquet. Slanderous I say! Have some lightly salted fries dear Kai-folk and then get back to us on that.

I had heard whispers of this book out there yonder in the Romancebooks / CozyFantasy subreddits and the consensus there was it was a book with minimal conflict and a rather endearing love story. Out in the wider Fantasy community, it was trashed as having no action and rather boring. Listen; I'm all for great quests and Armageddon and fighting dragons and flying on dragons into the heart of a war using magnificent fine magery skills and - you get it. That's my jam right there. But this book was all kinds of sweet, gentle, and about overcoming differences without the hullabaloo world-ending drama. There was sufficient conflict to satisfy those who want to see the world burn. And the setup for the next few books promises all that fantasy flaming rivers of blood good stuff.

Some excellent world building in just a few pages: In a world where a few surviving (slowly fading) Elder Races coexist with the Human Race and it is clear that the former are in no way human except for perhaps being bipeds and humanoid (in accordance with the monstrous humanoid fantasy trope) it was refreshing to see how each race perceived the "otherness" of the opposite through a tender love story. One of my favorite moments in the opening chapter:

"She turned to face him, her parasite gaze scrutinizing every part of his booted feet to his hands resting on his knees to his eyes he knew glowed back at her from the hoods shadow."
Brishen, describing human eyes as parasites because of the difference in color or and the white sclera which Kai do not have, was both hysterical and maybe aliens haven't made contact with us because we look "perpetually hysterical with fear" like horses.

And just like that, a loveable character is born. I loved both Brishen and Ildiko.

I rarely add new authors to my list of favorites but Grace Draven just barreled deep down to my barely beating romantic heart and ignited a flame and so she gets a seat next to my greats. 

 In the words of that Lady General Faora-Ul during her beat downs of many including Kal-Al:
If History has proven anything, it is that evolution always wins.
A Good Death is its own reward

In the next 3-5 billion years when our lonely sun becomes a Red Giant while or as a result of the Milk Way crashing Slowly into the Andromeda - I would hope to at least have one descendent safely stowed away in a space pod floating in a not-so-far away galaxy watching as our galaxy and Andromeda create a new one with their leftovers from theirs.

It would probably look very epic. The ultimate Space Opera

Jillian Scudder wanted to make this as relatable to YA readers and maybe even people who were tired of picking up "Astronomy for Dummies" books. For me, I'd have loved to have this as my suggested reading in my first year - it would have put the real and sciency books into a bite-sizeable chunks.

This is chock full of relatable connections to theories that no one can hold in their hands and prove thanks to the vastness and impossibility of phasing into any part of the universe all willy nilly to conduct experiments. What I enjoyed is that the majority of the empirical data gathered and reviewed via a method called "wait....and watch". Point to a telescope there and WATCH. Thankfully, robotic telescopes have nothing better to do.

I felt like I was actually back at university and attending my favorite lecture - the Professor was engaging, provided anecdotes, bite sized morsels of context, just short of anthropomorphizing the object of focus yet creating this bond between the students and the material. I enjoyed getting to know some new things I had no clue about, like how about those Necromancer Supermassive Black Holes just reviving some faded star for no good reason. Or that enigma that is the Perseus Supermassive Back Hole humming away on a b flat tone. or the Fermi Bubbles and how about a good hum. How musical.

To recap, these Blackholes can be Necromancing Muscians with gravity as their grave diggers - and there are at centers of galaxies, I oversimplify it ...but how cool is that. 

 The Himalayan Chapter alone is enough to sell this book. For anyone who is looking for a short read, witty, relatable and reflective of some potential travel drama anyone could experience, this is the book. I loved every minute of it and it reminded me of my own adventures and upsets from around the world. 

 He has a chapter about a flight from hell. I was on multiple flights from hell...or one of the circles of hell. Missed a connecting flight to Konya, Turkiye and had a flight cancelled from Istanbul to Korea just as the pandemic was starting. I had no clue what was going on, got to the check-in desk and the amazing folks at Turkish Airlines explained that the flight was cancelled. I was distraught - I had booked that flight because it landed about 4 hours before I had to go into work that day (yes, I used to play fast and loose with my return flights after vacations). I was then placed on a Vietnam Airlines flight at no cost to me after explaining my situation and it landed about an hour later than the Turkish Airlines flight would have. I made it to the office and found everyone wearing masks like it was the end of the world and I had missed the beginning of the chaos. Luckily, my manager had placed a mask kit and sanitizer on my desk and I promptly got into the habit as did everyone in Korea because hey, they were already accustomed to mask wearing before the pandemic.

Back to Luke Edwards book - you know what, no spoilers. It's a 4 or 5 hour read if you want to chew on each chapter slowly.

Definitely recommend this. 

 A very unexpected revelation. I had never read a Charlaine Harris book but her name sounded so familiar when I saw this book I couldn't quite place it. Sure enough at around midday three days later, in the middle of a meeting, "Soookieee" rang in my ears and I burst out laughing remembering. Aha! HBO's True Blood. To be blunt, I had gotten bored by season 3 and abandoned the tv show altogether - no amount of Viking hotness in the form of Alexander Skarsgard could keep me tuned in.

This book did not disappoint, in fact it was a welcome surprise.

I am totally taken by Twyla Burnside/Anne Dewitt and I am a new Harris fan without a doubt (not enough to watch True Blood but enough to read the Stackhouse books in the future). The character of Anne is so steadfast, firm and postured that I enjoyed the "campaign against Anne Dewitt" because I really wanted to see her reaction and ultimate resolution of the situation. Underneath the veneer of calm is another layer of ruthless calm - and I dig that.

So, what's in the book?

1.Clandestine agents
2.Assassinlike skills
3.Tinge of Personal Drama
4.Old worlds and New Worlds colliding
5. High School and Watercooler Gossip
6. Manipulators and Manipulations

what's not to like?

This has been an utterly enjoyable read!