Category: Epic Fantasy

10 Key Terms That Will Help You Appreciate Fantasy Literature

http://io9.com/10-key-terms-that-will-help-you-appreciate-fantasy-lite-1463800561

Brush up on your fantasy sub genres with this article from io9. Which one is your favorite? Which one will you try next?

Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon

Audiobook Review: The Knife of Dreams by Jordan (3 Stars)

The Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan

Read by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer

3 out of 5 stars

Listended/Read in February 2013

Loial and Mat tied the knot (but not with each other). Perrin and Faile end their two book separation. Nine months can’t come soon enough for Elayne (or me). Egwene and Eliada under the same roof but not speaking to each other. Nynaeve returned Lan to Malkier along the Borderland Scenic Byway. Someone please give Rand a hand!

Continue reading “Audiobook Review: The Knife of Dreams by Jordan (3 Stars)”

Audiobook Review: Crossroads of Twilight by Jordan (3 Stars)

The Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan

Read by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer

3 out of 5 Stars

Read in January 2013

I listened to the audiobook edition. Apparently unabridged doesn’t include the Glossary. It’s a good thing I own the hardcover for reference and for the maps.

Crossroads of Twilight is one of my least favorite books of the Wheel of Time series because of the turgid plot.  The train wreck that started ten books ago finally comes to a crashing halt, right before it teeters and ultimately falls off the cliff for the long slow-motion plummet to the end, four books later.

Using male and female readers helped especially with the switching viewpoints.

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17 Passages From “Lord Of The Rings” Beautifully Recreated In Stained Glass – BuzzFeed Mobile

http://www.buzzfeed.com/donnad/passages-from-lord-of-the-rings-beautifully-recreated-in?s=mobile

Perfect way to start off my day.  Gorgeous art inspired by scenes from Tolkien’s Middle Earth.

Book Review: Well of Ascension by Sanderson (4 Stars)

Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

4 out of 5 stars

Read in October 2008

I read Well of Ascension immediately on the heels of Mistborn The Final Empire, which was a relief and a race. I wanted to finish the second book since the third book was “in the mail” to me, signed by the author.

While not as riveting as the first book of the series, I enjoyed the continued struggles of Vin and Elend, as they pick up the pieces after shattering the Lord Ruler’s Empire. Most of the characters from the first book are present, except for Kelsier, of course, who sacrificed himself at the end of the first book to become a martyr and start a religion which would give hope to the skaa.

Vin barely sleeps as she guards Elend from assassination attempts. Elend has his hands full crafting a democratic government and a siege by two hostile armies. Sazed returns to his calling and strives to teach the skaa relevant religions but soon stumbles upon the returning horrors of the Mists. Vin, Elend, Sazed and others finally find the Well of Ascension, but with no time to spare, have they done the right thing?

Since this is the second book of the series, it carries on the story, but must leave us with something to hope for in the final installment. A very enjoyable work and I highly recommend it to all lovers of fantasy.

Book Review: Hero of Ages by Sanderson (4 Stars)

Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

4 out of 5 stars

Read in November 2008

Warning: Spoilers

Strangely, this third and final book of the Mistborn trilogy was more depressing and tragic to me than the middle one, The Well of Ascension. It was also disturbing on a theological front for me.

It’s been a year since Elend and Vin were married and they are still struggling to hold their new empire together. It’s becoming increasingly apparent that nothing they are doing will stop the inevitable – the world is dying, ending, destroying itself. Sazed has lost all faith. Where he used to preach and believe in all religions, he has spent the year studying and dismissing all the religions in his research as false.

Meanwhile, even in the face of Sazed’s crisis of faith, we actually meet and get confirmation of two deities locked in a futile struggle. They are Ruin and Preservation. I long suspected, even back in the first book, that the voices in people’s heads where not internal memories or insanity, but an external force pressuring them emotionally and psychologically into actions that met it’s ends.

The one pleasant surprise was learning the true origins of the kandra.

It was a compelling story and I read it almost non-stop for three days. I was very saddened by the fates of the main characters – nearly all of whom don’t make it to the end credits. Even though we lose so many, there is hope and a resurrection of sorts in the end.

Back to my theological concerns – I could see increasing influence of Mormonism throughout this book. It’s subtle, but the Mormon worldview fits.

In the end, Sazed was raised to godhood, but limited in his knowledge and by the laws of the universe. Even with his metalminds, he was not omniscient.

He was always one of my favorite characters and Feurchemy was the essence of Balance so he was the perfect mediator for the elemental forces of Ruin and Preservation.

Since there are still two Alomantic metals undiscovered and Spook has been left in charge with the blessing of Sazed, I imagine we will have more opportunities to visit the newly rejuvenated world of the Mistborn.

Book Review: Gardens of the Moon by Erikson (3.5 stars)

Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson

3.5 out of 5 stars

Read in April 2010

While reading this book, I attended a science fiction convention in Lincoln, Nebraska, where the author guest of honor, Brandon Sanderson, distracted me from finishing this first book of the epic fantasy series Malazon Book of the Fallen in a timely manner. In fact, I stopped reading at the midpoint and asked Brandon during a break between panels, if he had read the series. I explained I struggled to stay focused with the novel because the characters lacked depth and pull. He told me he recommends the series, but advises most readers to start with the second book. With this in mind, I pushed on to the end and enjoyed the last half of Gardens of the Moon.

Not only did the characters suffer from shallowness, but the world building paled to smoke and mirrors and rumors. For such a vast empire pushing for world conquest, I felt only smallness and emptiness, large chunks missing from the puzzle of history and geography. Thus, the motivations of key players revealed late in the game, made little sense and lacked punch.

The last ‘book’ (Book Seven – The Fete) redeemed the previous six by packing in action, duels, sorcerous fights, assassinations, and political maneuvering. Quite a climactic crescendo of discordant convergence.

Book Review: The Curse of the Mistwraith by Janny Wurts (5 stars)

The Curse of the Mistwraith by Janny Wurts

5 out of 5 stars

First Reading (June, 2009):

Great prose, good characters, intriguing plot twists.

In fact, I spent the first part of this book in total confusion. I love maps and Janny’s website has a great interactive map of Athera. Before I’d read forty pages, I had minutely scrutinized the online map in total frustration. I could not find the places Janny was referencing!

Eventually, my questions were answered (I should have had more patience).

I absolutely loved the first half of this book, riding along in the headlong rush to the first climax. I struggled a bit with the aftermath and could only watch in disgust and horror at the damage done to the characters I’d come to know and love. It made for great drama, sometimes almost melodrama, but boring it was not.

It’s one of the longest books I’ve read in quite some time – nearly seven hundred pages as a mass market paperback. After finishing it, I wondered if it wouldn’t have been better as two separate novels. I really should have taken a break after the first climax to let my mind and emotions come to grip with the consequences to the characters.

I don’t know how I missed this book when it was first released in the early nineties. I’ve been reading fantasy for over twenty-five years and this was too good to miss. I’ll have to chalk it up to having toddlers and no time to devote to reading.

I highly recommend this novel to fantastic fiction fans everywhere.

Second Reading (July/August, 2010):

Since I gave away my older Roc MMP edition to spread the ‘good news’ of Janny’s Wars of Light and Shadow series, I took the opportunity in mid-May to purchase the re-released MMP edition while at DemiCom, where I had the privilege of meeting and visiting with Janny Wurts. I felt compelled to complete my collection of the series so that I could re-read Curse of the Mistwraith repeatedly to refresh my memory of the unfolding layers and complexities that comprise Athera.

I highly recommend this book and this series for the devoted lovers and perspicacious readers of complex multifaceted myriad-layered epic fantasy brimming with inimitable characterizations and sublime universe craftsmanship.

March 2013 Update:  HarperCollins is still running a sale I referenced in a previous blog posting on the first three ebook editions for the Wars of Light and Shadow series.  For just under a buck, you can start on your journey to find the Paravians in The Curse of the Mistwraith.