Bryan Stevenson > Recent Status Updates

Whimsically beautiful.

I'm enjoying the style and perspective. A refreshing, light-hearted change of pace compared to Stormlight.

I discovered Martha Wells through the Murderbot series. This is the first series she wrote, and it is more of a flintlock fantasy. The writing style is completely different. It's got a large cast of characters that I've just grown accustomed to. From the opening, the story feels out of control for the protagonist, and by extension the reader. I like it.

How I feel about politics:

"All of it, the words, the posturing. It's pointless."

"But I am not pointless. My life. People's lives. The meaning comes from us."

The fantasy elements are fantastic. The world-building, action, magic, religion, etc. The inner dialog of every ... single ... character, is getting old.

It's a grand epic told over 10 days. I was excited when Sanderson introduced mental health earlier in the series, but now it's stifling the plot as every character deals with inner demons.

I've prepared myself for the journey this book and series requires. Here we go!

So far, this is the best Jim Butcher book I've read. Loving it!

Love it.

I'm skeptical of so-called "epic" fantasy because it tends to be bloated and overwrought. Not so for this one. I'm loving it.

Maybe it's because I've read some things I didn't love recently, but this journey has been amazing so far. The world is interesting. The characters are flawed and real. I'm invested.

It's good, but it hasn't gripped me yet.

I don't care how historically perfect this novel is. There is truth here. And the fact that human beings were treated this way is nearly incomprehensible.

I love the way this book started. Things are very dire in Alera.

They say a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. They made no mention of the heart.

Yes, it is derivative. A young person faces much violence and many trials as they fight tyranny and come of age in a dystopian world. I like it.

I'm reading the paperback and I realized I may have finally converted to enjoying the Kindle more.

It was neat how she described getting the first line for the first story. It was a good story, but the ending was a little unsatisfactory to me.

"They all die. Everyone dies. That means it doesn't matter."

"See, that's the wrong way of looking at it." Tien held him tighter. "Since we all go to the same place in the end, the moments we spent with each other are the only things that DO matter."

Now we're cooking. It helped that things picked up about 350 pages in. I don't often talk while reading, but I did give a little fist pump and a "Let's go!" as one of the characters battled, not some magically infused beast, but instead the stigmas associated with mental health problems. That's pretty neat.

My son started book 2 about the same time I started this. He's already 100 pages into book 3! I need to pick up the pace. I'm enjoying it. It's just soooo dense.