samtherat17's Reviews (162)

I found The Lesser Devil to be an entertaining novella, and the plot and battle scenes were engaging. Crispin’s character arc was also pretty good, but I felt like there were some clichés such as the

big battle speech

which sees the character come into his own. Apart from that though, it was really cool to see

Kyra

make a return and it was also nice to see how Crispin talked about Hadrian. The Catholic stuff was alright, I guess. I didn’t really care for it. The final act

on the ship

was epic, though.

So yeah, that’s about it I guess. This wasn’t at the level of the main Sun Eater series, and the prose was noticeably less flowery, but I think that it was still quality and definitely worth a read.

A pretty great Poirot mystery. Agatha Christie somehow made 5 people telling the same story after 16 years seem really interesting, and the trademark 'final meeting' was absolutely riveting. 

A fairly decent Poirot whodunnit, but a little underwhelming considering the amount of praise it seems to have got. The first half or so was a bit hard to get through because it’s mainly just very slow paced character introduction and development, and to be honest I don’t think the slow burn really paid off, because I felt that while the final reveal was supposed to be shocking, it didn’t really land for me. Still though, a very cleverly concocted mystery by Agatha Christie—I guess that reading some of the most highly regarded Poirot novels first set my expectations too high.

A masterpiece in every sense of the word. It takes a lot to think about a genius concept such as this, and it takes even more to execute it in such a moving manner. One of best classics I have ever read, would genuinely recommend everyone who hasn't read it yet to give it a try. This is a type of book which can change your entire view of life, and leave you sobbing uncontrollably in the process.

How do you even begin reviewing a book such as this? I mean, in terms of scope, if you thought Empire of Silence was ambitious, this book dials that up to 11 and doesn't look back. The worldbuilding is fascinating just like the first book, and we explore many more parts of the galaxy. I especially loved the exploration of Vorgossos

(and the Undying too)

and found it to be a really cool and menacing setting, and some of those scenes in which our main characters investigate Vorgossos are quite chilling and give off some serious horror vibes.

This is not a very easy book to read, firstly because of the prose, which almost everyone who reads this series gushes about (including me!). Seriously though, I adore Christopher Ruocchio's writing style, even though it makes reading his books take twice as much time as any other novel😅. Anyway, this book is also quite hard to read because of its slow-burn style, which I personally enjoy because it allows for more worldbuilding and character interactions, but may put off some readers. Howling Dark also begins after a pretty big time jump, which is a bit disorienting at first, but isn't really a problem later on.

Perhaps the biggest reason for me loving this book (and series too!) is Hadrian Marlowe. Ruocchio writes him in such a way that he seems real to the reader, and you never know if the decisions he takes will prove to be right or wrong, which is what makes him such a flawed, but amazing character. His relationships with people like Jinan, Valka and Switch are also complex and Ruocchio really makes them feel nuanced and not one-dimensional.

Really my only issue with this book is that apart from vital side characters such as Valka, Bassander and Switch, none of Hadrian's other counterparts have much development. Hey, maybe it's just a me thing, but I have a hard time distinguishing them from one another, apart from a couple of them like Pallino and Crim.

I would be remiss if I didn't talk about that last act. Ruocchio must be taking some notes from Brandon Sanderson, because whoa. I can't say much about it, but suffice it to say that the story finally explodes, everything goes wild, and it's amazing. If you're having trouble getting through that first half, hang in there, because there's a lot more in store for you.

So yeah, I guess that's it. This book may have taken a while to get through, but every second was worth it. Can't wait to read further into the series!

Hadrian died???? And came back?? And the Gibson which spoke to him in his dreams was actually the Quiet? And what's up with that white stone? I have so many questions.

The Ramayana as a story is obviously unmatched and on a completely different pedestal, however this edition leaves a fair bit to be desired as in some parts there is too much time spent on some pretty irrelevant details, which leads to lesser description of some of the more important parts. Still though, this wasn't bad, but I just expected more after how awesome these guys' Mahabharata adaptation was.

Tress of the Emerald Sea was a big departure from Brandon Sanderson's usual epic fantasy stories, as this time he attempted to try out writing a cozy and whimsical book, and I have to say that I found it to be quite enjoyable, entertaining and fun.

The book revolves around our titular character: Tress, and her journey to save her love, Charlie. It's not a very unique concept, except for the fact that Sanderson reverses the trope of the knight in shining armour saving the maiden.

However, the meat of the story obviously lies in Tress's journey, both literally and as a character. Her character arc throughout the book is phenomenal--the Tress with which you end the book is almost a fully different person from the Tress at the beginning. The side characters were also quite endearing. 
I'm conflicted about the villains of the story, because I really loved/loved to hate Captain Crow, but the Sorceress was just alright.

Now, coming to the Sanderlanche. I did not see that plot twist coming at all. In hindsight, I feel that I should have seen it coming, but things do always seem that way when you look back on them. Anyways, the only thing I didn't really like about the climax was that there was a little bit of deus ex machina, and I get that the whole thing makes sense, but I guess that I just have general dislike of it. Still though, an excellent climax.

Of course, there is still a big elephant in the room, which we have to talk about: the story's narrator. He is well-known to Cosmere fans, and let's just say that the ending seems to be confirming that he will be playing a larger role in future Cosmere material, which I'm very stoked for. Also, I really loved how Sanderson wrote in his voice, because there were a lot of times where I laughed out loud just at how he phrased things.

Additionally, Sanderson's writing style was more flowery in this book, which was quite an unexpected surprise. Some of the passages in this book were truly beautiful. We also need to talk about the story's setting--the world Lumar. It was really cool that Sanderson used real-life science to craft one of his most intriguing and creative worlds to date.

I guess that brings us to the end of this review. Sorry if it got a bit rambly at the end, but there were a lot of small tidbits which I needed to talk about. So yeah, Tress was a very different book from Sanderson, but one which I definitely enjoyed.

I was really debating between a 4.5 and 5 star rating for this book, but I think I'm gonna lowball it and go for a 4.5. Hey, you never know, I might rate it higher if I reread it in the future!

Alright, I know almost anyone who reviews this book says this, but Ruocchio's writing is simply magnificent. I'm not really a prose snob, the only time I really care about the writing is when it is either really bad or really good, and in this case it is definitely the latter. It feels like this book has a quotable line every other sentence. It took me almost a month to read this book, partly due to some real life stuff, but also because of the writing and how I had to ponder on almost every sentence. (In a good way)

Also, the scope of this book/series is absolutely massive, which is even crazier when you realise that this is the author's debut novel! Spanning multiple planets, species and a whole glossary in the back of the book, this series is definitely ambitious. This really makes me excited about the future books in the series, because the world(s) was already really intriguing in this one, and there seems to be a lot more to explore.

Finally, coming to the general plot and characters. Hadrian Marlowe is our main man in this one, and he pretty much tells us the ending of this series on the first page. Yeah. Somehow though, that just makes this series even more interesting. I really liked Hadrian's journey throughout this book, and found it to be the main highlight, but apart from him, I didn't really care for many other characters, except Valka. However, I do think that the ending of the book suggests a lot more to come in the character department, especially from some of the tidbits dropped about Bassander Lin.

To be honest, I don't really have any criticisms for Empire of Silence, apart from a couple of things which seemed really similar to Dune. The restriction of thinking machines; hmm...where have I seen that before?

Anyways though, an amazing start to the Sun Eater series! I will definitely be reading the sequels soon.

The Chalice Of The Gods has much lower stakes than any other books in the PJO universe. I mean, procuring a college recommendation letter sounds pretty relaxing compared to saving the world from Ancient Greek Titans. But to be honest, that's what makes this book great. It almost gives me chill fantasy vibes, because even though there are a ton of life-threatening moments in this book, the writing truly shines when Percy, Annabeth and Grover are just talking and bantering with each other. 

I'm really glad that I reread PJO and HoO, because reading those series before reading this just makes the nostalgia hit a lot harder. Maybe I'm overrating this book just based off of nostalgia, but to me it feels like the main aim of this book was to take us back to 'the old times', with the main three just adventuring together, and well, there's a fantastic story paired along with it as well. I would describe this book as nostalgia bait, but nostalgia bait of the finest kind. Rick really outdid himself on this one.

A really cool crossover which was executed pretty well by Rick. I have to say the Annabeth/Sadie story was probably my favourite, just because I love how they instantly became such good friends. The other two were decent as well, but I feel like the final confrontation in the last story could have been longer.