I finished the book yesterday night in the wee hours. Didn't manage to summon the power to log in here and 5 blazing, infused with Stormlight stars
I finished the book yesterday night in the wee hours. Didn't manage to summon the power to log in here and mark my final updates because I was lying in bed, listening to the last 3 hours on audio. Fell asleep and dreamed of blazing fireball of light and motion crashing into the ground, sending out a ring of Stormlight like white smoke! It was glorious and epic just like this entire book! I finally had to quit copying/highlighting every sentence that gave me a thrill - there are just so many. I really don't think I can give this book justice with any review. It's so vast, you can hardly imagine the scale of all things in. But I'll try. Full review to come shortly....more
The investigation and search for a stolen corpse in an alternate present-day USA is the focus in this sequel to Legion. Yol Chay, who owns Innovation Information Incorporated, sends Stephen Leeds, our beloved protagonist and genius extraordinaire, in search of Panos Maheras, a researcher and supporter of open source technology ideas, whose body may hold the key to stopping a well-intentioned but disastrous project to store computing data in human cells(biotechnology nerds, GO!). Leeds gathers his multitude of personalities or aspects(all 47 of them) to investigate amid pursuit by Zen Rigby, a hired assassin working for rival high-tech company Exeltec.
Continuing the theme of Legion, Sanderson explores Leeds’s efforts to understand his independent-minded aspects and his need for them. We got introduced to more and new hallucinatory men and women to help Leeds crack this new case. The interactions between them are more then hilarious especially the ones involving the unquestionable star of this instalment, the Interdimensional Time Ranger(self promoted), J.C.! :) It's a real treat to witness events unfold through Leeds'e eyes which allows readers to get better acquainted with the various hallucinatory personae. I hoped to learn more about Sandra, the person(real person) who taught Stephen to control his mind. We got nothing of that but thinking about it now it's probably a good thing to know there will be more Legion novellas turning the whole thing into entertaining series.
The novella has a moving briskly pace and even if it's more than twice as long as its predecessor, we reach the end all too quickly. There is a lot more depth than meets the eye with discussion of quantum physics and the infinity of time which brings Sanderson's favorite writing pattern to tie faith and science and God's place in all this, into view.
I 'read' this book exclusively using the audiobook edition narrated by Oliver Wyman who ones again did an excellent job with the variety of voices and accents(my personal favorite of his performance is Tobias's voice).
While undoubtedly I enjoyed this novella a lot, I'm not sure whether I liked it more or less then its predecessor. I blame real life(the bitch) who tried and succeeded to majorly interfere in every which one of the 4 hours of this audiobook. The whole process was one serious case of multitasking. If I had the opportunity to listen to the book in more relaxed times, I probably would have rated it higher. Hence, now, I'm giving it the exact same rating I gave the first novella.
I'm very conflicted how to rate this. I want to give it the highest rating because I almost finished it 24 hours ago(I read the final two c 4 STARS
I'm very conflicted how to rate this. I want to give it the highest rating because I almost finished it 24 hours ago(I read the final two chapters now) and I was thinking about it and about this goddamn twist the entire day and night. Thinking and rewinding and reliving ... . So it moved me, right?! It is so devilishly good and so plain bad at the same time. Not the cliffhanger/twist itself but the way Otto's personality was made so black and white at once. It doesn't feel right to me. I guess it depends on how do you perceive Otto till this moment. Don’t get me wrong, I'm Team Packard from the very beginning and there are some scenes in here that I adore. Like:
"There’s something so sweet about him dozing, as though all his pricklers are gone."
And the quote is not about what you're thinking. ;) I can give you more but I won't because I don't want to spoil you. And yet I was seeing Otto as a more complex character. I'm still not sure how I feel about it.
All in all although the story build up a little slowly - Justine doesn't know what she wants and at times we have too much internal dialog and less action - the book still has great suspenseful scenes, superb sexual tension, more backstory, more depth and it's as entertaining as the first.
I might rate it differently some other time. Straight to book #3 now! And yes - read this series ASAP!...more
Buddy reading book #2: Legion: Skin Deep tomorrow November 25th with the usual suspects. :) If you still haven't read this one, now is the time!
4.5 Buddy reading book #2: Legion: Skin Deep tomorrow November 25th with the usual suspects. :) If you still haven't read this one, now is the time!
4.5 STARS
One of the best opening lines ever: "My name is Stephen Leeds, and I'm perfectly sane. My hallucinations, however, are all quite mad."
This was a hilarious read not less amusing than Steelheart hence the rating I'm giving it.
Stephen Leeds, a.k.a. "Legion", is a genius whose unique mental condition allows him to generate a multitude of personalities or aspects as he calls them: hallucinatory entities with a wide variety of personal characteristics and a vast array of highly specialized skills(we have an ex-Navy seal /not a marine!:)/ who gives him military action, weapons and strategy advice; a scholar who knows more than any (net) encyclopedia; an Indian linguist and several others no less fascinating ones). As the story begins, Leeds and his 'aspects' are drawn into the search for the missing Balubal Razon, inventor of a camera whose astonishing properties could alter our understanding of human history and change the very structure of society.
I very much loved the concept behind this story. I'm always fascinated by the way Sanderson ties religion, or rather faith with science into his books. And this means a lot coming from an atheist like me.
I highly recommend the audio. Oliver Wyman did a fantastic job with the different voices and accents for all the characters....more
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell by Brandon Sanderson
Actual rating 3.5
It was a nice surprise to find a Sanderson novella in this anthology. Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell by Brandon Sanderson
Actual rating 3.5
It was a nice surprise to find a Sanderson novella in this anthology. Our MC is a dangerous woman who plays an inn-keeper through the day and a bounty hunter through the night. One of the things I very much like in Sanderson books is that there is always at least one very strong female character around and this story doesn't make an exception. The plot though was nothing special and there were some quite vividly cruel scenes which I didn't like so much. The world building is marvelous(I'm always game for a nasty Shades) and I'm giving the half star exactly because of the setting and the audio narration by Claudia Black. ...more
Great action-packed short story which can be read before the main series. It's only 20 minutes in audio but I was hooked from the start. I li3.5 stars
Great action-packed short story which can be read before the main series. It's only 20 minutes in audio but I was hooked from the start. I like the style and more important - I like the MC's voice. He's calm, tough and hardly hesitates before shooting ;). I definitely want more of him and more of this story so book #1 is already in my TBR soon.
Audio Note: I'm giving half a star up because of the fantastic audio performance. This was my first listening to Ray Porter and he was great! Half of my enjoyment comes from him. Huge bonus points!...more
I started reading this novella in August and finished it an hour ago. Strange, eh? It’s 3 hours in audio. Does this mean it’s bad, you would say? Nope, it’s not bad. It’s nothing special either. It’s the kind of read which you could drop at any time and return back to it months later(obviously). The story still has the ability to keep your interest but on the other hand you won’t loose anything if you do not read it.
I started reading it kinda unintentionally. I needed a read for a Saturday afternoon (between buddy reads; I’m a buddy read addict!) and picked it because of its length and we had just finished reading Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander back then in August and liked it well enough. And this novella is like a prequel to the Outlander series. I managed to listen to the first 2 hours. Then something in RL happened and I had to postpone finishing the story. The next day was the start date of the next big buddy read and I never managed to finish Virgins. I only decided to finish it now because I hate to have unfinished business when the New Year is on the doorstep!
The novella, indeed, is a prequel to Outlander and you could read it rest assured there aren’t any spoilers for the main series. It has the engaging Gabaldon’s writing style, the humour, the richness of the language(s) but the story itself is not so interesting. Still I would recommend reading it after Outlander. This way you will understand the characters much better!
You definitely want to read it if you are a Jamie Fraiser(the male protagonist) fan because the story gives good perspective and details on some unpleasant and important events happening to him in Outlander. Also it shows how strong is the bond between Jamie and Ian. The story is about a little ... adventure/work of theirs and in time frame terms it’s happening way before Jaime meets Claire. I like the way Gabaldon treated the “virgins” theme throughout the story.
23/01/2014
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell by Brandon Sanderson
3.5 STARS
It was a nice surprise to find a Sanderson novella in this anthology. Our MC is a dangerous woman who plays an inn-keeper through the day and a bounty hunter through the night. One of the things I very much like in Sanderson books is that there is always at least one very strong female character around and this story doesn't make an exception.
The plot though was nothing special and there were some quite vividly cruel scenes which I didn't like so much. The world building is marvelous(I'm always game for a nasty Shades) and I'm giving the half star exactly because of the setting and the audio narration by Claudia Black....more
I really wanted to like this more. I'm so conflicted, feeling like I have a split personality, on how I want to st Buddy read with Gavin
3 STARS
I really wanted to like this more. I'm so conflicted, feeling like I have a split personality, on how I want to star the book. But I can't give it more than 3 stars. Some things were just ..... ugh!
And I don't feel like writing a full review at all. Reviews for 3 stars books are the hardest one to write, at least for me. I'm browsing through some reviews now and I'll probably make a compilation of the ones which hit close to my own thoughts and feelings about the book. I've already seen 2 such reviews.
All in all, please, do notice that 3 stars means I liked it!...more
My faith and my love for this read has been tested. It didn't WOW me from the beginning and I had my doubts and suspicions. There are fla 4.5 STARS
My faith and my love for this read has been tested. It didn't WOW me from the beginning and I had my doubts and suspicions. There are flaws of course but the read never failed me! And I'm so grateful for that. There is so much more behind the ideas and the concepts in this book. You need a keen eye to see and to feel its depth. You can only start to grasp the whole scale of the read towards the end when you realize there is so much more ahead of our beloved three protagonists, behind the interesting magic and along with the revealing plots. And the final third part of the book was EPIC! I'm looking forward to the next books in this series. Great debut for Brian Staveley. ...more
What a fabulous book this is! Lynch didn’t fail to deliver a piece of work for the second time. Another gem in the Gentlemen Bastard series. More of myWhat a fabulous book this is! Lynch didn’t fail to deliver a piece of work for the second time. Another gem in the Gentlemen Bastard series. More of my thoughts to come soon! ...more
4 not so solid stars. Feels more like 3.5 stars but because I do love the series, I'm rounding up to 4!
A Perfect Blood started out slow with an old-sc4 not so solid stars. Feels more like 3.5 stars but because I do love the series, I'm rounding up to 4!
A Perfect Blood started out slow with an old-school Hollows investigation and Rachel being very introspective about the events of the last book attempting to live her life without ley line magic. There was a lot of running around and actually not much happening. Unfortunately this part emphasizes Rachel's tendency to be whiny and miserable about whatever circumstances she's in.
Somewhere along the way Trent became an active participant in the story and these parts I like a lot! I loved the Trent and Rachel interaction during the story. Their relationship has reached a whole new level and that's the thing that saves the book for me! I loved all Trent scenes, the scenes with Al too. Damn, I love all the demons and they were almost nonexistent in this book! Hopefully the title of the next book Ever After promises a lot in the demon department!...more
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