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Book Review: Age of Swords (Legends of the First Empire, #2) by Michael J. Sullivan

Book Review: Age of Swords (Legends of the First Empire, #2) by Michael J. Sullivan

Cover art illustrated by Marc Simonetti

Age of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Legends of the First Empire (Book #2 of 6)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy

Pages: 528 pages (Mass Market Paperback)

Published: 25th July 2017 by Del Rey


Age of Swords is another win (with one issue) from Michael J. Sullivan.

“There always seemed to be a better way, except when it came to people. Once broken, people couldn’t be repaired.”

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Book Review: Kingdom of Bones (The Echoes Saga, #5) by Philip C. Quaintrell

Book Review: Kingdom of Bones (The Echoes Saga, #5) by Philip C. Quaintrell

Cover art illustrated by: Chris McGrath

Kingdom of Bones by Philip C. Quaintrell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Echoes Saga (Book #5 of 9)

Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy

Pages: 592 pages (Kindle Edition)

Published: 6th May 2019 by Quaintrell Publishing (Self-Published)


With Kingdom of Bones, I am halfway through the super underhyped series: The Echoes Saga.

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Book Review: Shadows of Self (Mistborn: Wax and Wayne, #2) by Brandon Sanderson

Book Review: Shadows of Self (Mistborn: Wax and Wayne, #2) by Brandon Sanderson

Cover art illustrated by: Chris McGrath

Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Mistborn: Wax and Wayne (Book #2 of 4), Mistborn Saga (Book #5 of 7)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Steampunk

Pages: 383 pages (International Paperback Edition)

Published: 6th October 2015 by Tor Books (US) & 8th October 2015 by Gollancz (UK)

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TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : Aug 2022

TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : Aug 2022

Hi everyone!  The month of August had been incredible, and not only from the perspective of the great reads that I had as you will see from the ratings of the books below.

What made this month phenomenal for me was The Sandman TV adaptation on Netflix, which is now one of my all favourite adaptations of all-time.  It’s been almost a full month since its release on 5th August, and I’m still obsessed with the show ( and especially with Morpheus, Dream of the Endless, King of Dreams and Nightmares, etc etc).  I loved the audiobook which came out a couple of years ago, but I’ve to say TV show was better.   It was as faithful an adaptation as it could be to fit the medium, and I personally found that the changes that were made served the story better in current times.  I also couldn’t believe that I would ever say I found a better Morpheus than James McAvoy, but Tom Sturridge was simply sublime and beyond perfect for this role.  I’ve rewatched the entire show at least once, and Morpheus’ scenes countless times.

I could keep rambling on and on about The Sandman, and perhaps I might write a post about it later this year.  For now, let’s get back to my bookish monthly wrap-up shall we?

NB. Books are rated within its genre.  For avoidance of doubt, rereads are not considered for Book of the Month.

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TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : July 2022

TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : July 2022

Hi everyone, can’t believe that I’m back for another monthly wrap-up so soon.  I’ve been getting back in the groove with some high/epic fantasy books in July, although I did feel a need to switch gears a bit after reading a pretty darn big one, which was none other than the massive sixth book in the Wheel of Time series.

NB. Books are rated within its genre.  For avoidance of doubt, rereads are not considered for Book of the Month.

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Book Review: The Alloy of Law (Mistborn: Wax and Wayne, #1) by Brandon Sanderson

Book Review: The Alloy of Law (Mistborn: Wax and Wayne, #1) by Brandon Sanderson

Cover art illustrated by: Chris McGrath

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Mistborn: Wax and Wayne (Book #1 of 4), Mistborn Saga (Book #4 of 7)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Steampunk

Pages: 392 pages (Mass Market Paperback Edition)

Published: 8th November 2011 by Tor Books (US) & 10th November 2011 by Gollancz (UK)


The Alloy of Law is an immensely enjoyable start to the second era of Mistborn Saga by Brandon Sanderson.

“The measure of a person is not how much they have lived. It’s in how they make use of what life has shown them.”

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Book Review: Lord of Chaos (The Wheel of Time, #6) by Robert Jordan

Book Review: Lord of Chaos (The Wheel of Time, #6) by Robert Jordan

Cover art illustrated by: Gregory Manchess

Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Wheel of Time (Book #6 of 14)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Classic Fantasy

Pages: 1056 pages (Kindle Edition)

Published: 15th October 1994 by Tor Books


Lord of Chaos could potentially become the best book by Robert Jordan for me. Let the Lord of Chaos rule, and rule it did.

“Asha’man, kill!”

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Book Review: Age of Myth (The Legends of the First Empire, #1) by Michael J. Sullivan

Book Review: Age of Myth (The Legends of the First Empire, #1) by Michael J. Sullivan

Cover art illustrated by Marc Simonetti

Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Legends of the First Empire (Book #1 of 6)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy

Pages: 432 pages (Mass Market Paperback)

Published: 28th June 2016 by Del Rey


It’s always a great feeling when you start a new series from an author whose work you loved and find out their storytelling skill in their first installment of a series has improved. Well done, Michael J. Sullivan.

On my first read of Age of Myth, I gave it a 3.5/5 stars rating. Five years later, today, I finished my reread of the book. Similar to my experience of rereading The Riyria Revelations, I loved Age of Myth more on my second read. Let me enlighten you a bit on why this reread worked so well. And to do this, I will have to compare my experience of reading Age of Myth and The Crown Conspiracy, the first book in The Riyria Revelations series, and also my reread experience of them both.

“If given a choice between a potentially great hardship and doing nothing, people gravitated toward what was most familiar and comfortable. That was why leadership was needed. To do what was necessary rather than what was easy.”

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TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : June 2022

TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : June 2022

Hello everyone!   I did wonder if I should keep up with my monthly wrap-up for June or do a half-year recap of best books read so far.   I decided with stick with the wrap-up in the end as I thought my Books of the Month will end up being on the half-year list anyway.

I can’t believe half of 2022 had passed by already.  Hope that all of you have been reading great books so far this year.    Before I start, can I just say that Stranger Things Season 4 was absolutely phenomenal!  I still can’t stop thinking about it, and that ending.

NB. Books are rated within its genre.  For avoidance of doubt, rereads are not considered for Book of the Month.

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Petrik’s Top 10 Books of the Year So Far (1st January-27th June 2022)

Petrik’s Top 10 Books of the Year So Far (1st January-27th June 2022)

 

Click here if you want to see the list of all the books I’ve read so far this year: Petrik’s Year in Books (2022)

Between 1st January 2021 and 27th June 2022, I’ve read 39 novels + 55 manga/manhwa volumes (31k pages).

Please read this first. There will be three rules I set in this list in order for me to give appreciation to more authors rather than having only a few authors hoarding this list. These rules allow me to highlight more authors, and at the same time, I’ll also be able to include both new and older books (many of them still need attention) that I read within this year.

  • Rereads aren’t included.
  • One book per author.
  • The books listed here are not all exclusively published this year; the list consists of the top books I read for the first time within this year. Non-2022 published books on this list will have their first date of publication included.

Do note that although there’s a rank to this list, I HIGHLY recommend every book/series listed below because I loved all of them immensely, and they received a rating of 4.5 or 5 out of 5 stars from me. Without further ado, here are the top 10 books I’ve read this year so far! (All full reviews of the books listed can be found on Novel Notions and my Goodreads page.)

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