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The Ruin of Kings (A Chorus of Dragons, #1)

The Ruin of Kings (A Chorus of Dragons, #1)

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ARC provided by the publisher—Tor Books—in exchange for an honest review.

The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Convoluted and complex are probably understatements, but I don’t have any other words to describe the main attributes of this debut.

For those of you who don’t know, The Ruin of Kings have been the fantasy debut that Tor has been promoting heavily for several months now. This novel has been advertised as the debut of the year that’s targeted “For fans of George R. R. Martin, Robin Hobb, Joe Abercrombie, Brent Weeks, Brandon Sanderson, and Patrick Rothfuss”. I’ll be completely honest here, if any publisher or author decides to put all of these giant, super high profile fantasy authors’ references into a debut work by an unknown author, it seriously better be a masterpiece. I’m one of those readers who had their interest for this book sparked by that bold claim, and I jumped at the chance of reading and reviewing it early; expecting it to be a debut that will go down into my ‘best of all time’ lists. Unfortunately, it didn’t.

“A hero who has never had a bad thing happen to him isn’t a hero—he’s just spoiled.”

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Minimum Wage Magic (DFZ, #1)

Minimum Wage Magic (DFZ, #1)

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Minimum Wage Magic by Rachel Aaron
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rachel Aaron has become one of my go-to authors when I need a pick-me-up.  She has such an uncanny knack of writing stories that are just so effortlessly engaging, immensely enjoyable and just plain fun.

Minimum Wage Magic is the start of a new series taking place in the DFZ, a huge metropolis setting first introduced in her self-published Heartstrikers series – my current favourite urban fantasy of all-time. In Heartstrikers, the author’s characterisation was possibly the best part of the storytelling.  Couple that with the most interesting worldbuilding in urban fantasy that I’ve come across, and you will get an addictively fun ride with great characters that you either want to root for.  Or alternately, strangle with your bare hands.
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Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor, #1)

Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor, #1)

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Red Sister by Mark Lawrence
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“It’s not until you’re broken that you find your sharpest edge.”

Upon rereading both the novel and my review of it, I stand beside every word written below. This is a phenomenal story that has catapulted itself into the company of my very favorite books.

I was late to the Mark Lawrence game. And I was missing out. Red Sister is Lawrence’s seventh full-length novel, and the first in a new series entitled “Book of the Ancestor.” Reading his other trilogies has definitely made its way onto my agenda, because this book was fantastic. I am so insanely excited to continue reading Nona’s story. …

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Oathbringer (The Stormlight Archive, #3)

Oathbringer (The Stormlight Archive, #3)

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Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My review probably won’t be able to do this book justice. Well, justice is dead but I’ll see what I can do.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that my expectations regarding Oathbringer were extremely hard to contain. I had heard a lot of fantastic things about this series the first time I went through The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance last year, but I read through them many years after their original release dates. Oathbringer is a different experience in terms of environment and surrounding hype; this time I’m actually in the midst of all the hype, praises, and excitement everywhere. Because of this my expectations were Skybreaking high; especially after reading one of my favorite books of all time: Words of Radiance. Despite my irrational expectations, I’m gratified to say that Sanderson managed to meet my expectations because Oathbringer ended up being another masterwork installment in The Stormlight Archive series.

“This book, the third in the Stormlight Archive, is the most intimate, most tightly woven, and most eclectic book I’ve ever written—all wrapped up into one… I like this book. I really, really like this book.” –Brandon Sanderson

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Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, #2)

Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, #2)

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Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay, this is finally happening. I’m ranking The Stormlight Archive as my number one favorite book series of all time, overtaking the throne previously held by Mistborn trilogy, and I don’t think this will change anytime soon. The Gods of the Cosmere knows how much I love the original Mistborn trilogy but Brandon Sanderson really raised the bar for the epic fantasy genre sky high with this series. …

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The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1)

The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1)

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The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Incredible, impressive or fantastic, all these words are an understatement to the quality this book holds. The Way of Kings is the beginning of a masterpiece series in epic fantasy. It is now my life goal and a new addition to my bucket list to obtain and read the entire series of The Stormlight Archive, which will probably take at least another 20 years from now to complete. …

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I Hate Fairyland: Book One

I Hate Fairyland: Book One

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I Hate Fairyland: Book One by Skottie Young
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

I laughed so hard while reading this. And grimaced. And laughed some more.

Imagine that, as a six-year-old girl (work with me here, guys), you stumble into a portal leading to a magical realm called Fairyland. It’s a marvelous world of cuteness and candy, and the residents are pleased to share it for a little while as you complete your quest. What quest, you ask? A quest for a key, the only way to unlock the door back to your world. There’s only one problem:

You really suck at quests.

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Of Blood and Bone (Chronicles of the One, #2)

Of Blood and Bone (Chronicles of the One, #2)

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Of Blood and Bone by Nora Roberts
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am completely blown away by Nora’s newest venture. Chronicles of the One is a perfect blending of post-apocalyptic dystopia and epic fantasy. The fact that Nora, after decades of writing romance laced with tendrils of the supernatural, would take such a giant leap into writing a radically different story, is commendable. The fact that she not only pulled it off by absolutely nailed it commands respect. She has mine.

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A Ladder to the Sky

A Ladder to the Sky

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A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

A brutally dark and realistically gripping book about stories, writing, publishing, and ambition.

I wouldn’t have stumbled upon this book if it weren’t for my Goodreads friend—Manju—who recommended it to me saying: “I know this is farthest from what you usually read but do give this a try. You won’t regret it. :)” And word by word she’s right. I haven’t heard of the name John Boyne until a month ago, I’m not a reader of contemporary or literary fiction; I usually end up putting them in my DNF pile or rating them lower than 3 stars but this book was an exception, it was simply brilliant and it worked really well for me. The next two paragraphs isn’t a spoiler from the book but an unfortunate event that happened to me years ago. In my opinion, this will give you a general idea of the kind of story you’re getting in this book. …

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The Silmarillion (Middle-Earth Universe)

The Silmarillion (Middle-Earth Universe)

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The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

With a new interest and determination, I have finally finished reading The Silmarillion.

I have failed this book twice and I was so sure that I won’t attempt reading it again. However, I have just finished re-watching The Lord of the Rings trilogy extended editions and reading the Three Great Tales of Middle-Earth that’s edited by Christopher Tolkien. I know this is not the recommended reading order but it’s only because of doing these two activities that I found a new interest, knowledge, and motivation to actually persevere and finish this book. …

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