Reading
You can view all the books I’ve read on StoryGraph. Below are the books that I’ve completed and written something about.
A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking ★★★★☆: I stumbled upon this “I should read that some day” book and enjoyed it. He does a phenomenal job explaining concepts from the ground up. The updates from years later were inspiring about humanity’s progress.
Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me by Django Wexler ★★★★☆: This felt right as a duology. The world-building really ratcheted up to a new level and completely sold me on the story.
Written on the Dark by Guy Gavriel Kay ★★★★★: I actually finished this shortly after it was released, but sat with it in my head for a while, not sure how I felt about my time with it. Incredibly compelling story, I couldn’t stop for a moment. The characters were just so fun!
How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying (Dark Lord Davi #1) by Django Wexler ★★★★☆: What a surprise! I went in somewhat blind expecting something softer like his Forbidden Library series and it is quite not. It’s a funny, violent, isekai-meets-Groundhog Day adventure with just the right amount of world building. I normally shy away from fantasy intersecting with our world but it worked well.
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett ★★★★★: Phenomenal fantasy murder mystery. My mental checklist was satisfyingly fully resolved in the last 10%.
When Wizards Follow Fools by Andrew Rowe ★★★★☆: More depth to the LitRPG aspects is fun; definitely enjoying the increased understanding of the magic systems.
All the Seas of the World by Guy Gavriel Kay ★★★★★ (Spoilers): Inverted my expectations of lost siblings: strongly heart-warming rather than heart-breaking like Tigana. Loved the depth of lived religious experiences and how certain characters receiving an epilogue comfortably filled in the story.
A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay ★★★★★: Every Kay novel can be summed up as: thorough. This fills in the background of stories past–and works better knowing them–while feeling individually compelling. What rich characters, even the “villain” is once again somehow lovable.
Disquiet Gods (Sun Eater #6) by Christopher Ruocchio ★★★★☆: Informative, interesting and often inconsequential but the world building keeps me going. I really enjoy the universe but again I’m torn by narrator hints of future calamities; this plot device isn’t my favorite.
Ashes of Man (Sun Eater #5) by Christopher Ruocchio ★★★★☆: This series has not shied away from killing off major characters, to say the least, but off-screen at the end was a bit weak; the common failing with this series is the endings feeling like brief sudden pauses. Still captivating world-building action with solid forward momentum. Hard to believe I’m nearly caught up.
Kingdoms of Death (Sun Eater #4) by Christopher Ruocchio ★★★★☆: I couldn’t stop. There’s something about the story line and the gradual reveals that makes me really captivated. This was a much harder book to read, probably owing to Hadrian’s experiences. I’m a little confused about the contrast between going down a path with no foresight past this point and earlier books narrator proclaiming some of the visions after this point had happened. I’m guessing it’s a continuity problem, a retcon, or something that’ll be settled in the books in the future. This one ended at a weird point and really did not feel like a conclusion: both unsatisfying and immediate.
Demon in White (Sun Eater #3) by Christopher Ruocchio ★★★★☆: I’m appreciating more the time-skips and forward references but I’m still not entirely convinced it’s going to continue to work. I feel like the end of this book came quickly, predictably and uninterestingly. The plot overall was still fun, and the world-building definitely kicked up a notch. I’m not sure I’ll be reading the rest of the series, given I’m halfway through what’s released so far, but I think I’m happy to have read to this point too.
Howling Dark (Sun Eater #2) by Christopher Ruocchio ★★★★☆: The deus ex machina was a little much here, but also clearly not necessary from a plot perspective, so I can overlook it at least a little bit. I guess I can see how it paves the road ahead, but I am really stuck on it. I think the plot expansion was useful and enjoyable and I’m looking forward to the next book as we expand more into the Empire itself.
Empire of Silence (Sun Eater #1) by Christopher Ruocchio ★★★★☆: There’s something interesting here, at least at the core. The world building is unique and I think can best be described as cribbing some good tropes and combining them together well. I feel like it’s probably 30% longer than needed, but at least reasonably unpredictable. The thing I dislike the most is the constant discussion of the long-future-from-this-novel state of the narrator. It’s good that it’s wrapping up loose ends (“and I never saw them again” after a chapter, e.g.) but it’s hard that it’s projecting some weird future state (look how awful I made the galaxy). I’m torn, really, but erring on the side of liking it more than I expected from the beginning.
Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay ★★★★★: This was an interesting one. A lot of disconnected and reconnected plot lines that danced around each other but never quite melded. Still a solid Kay novel and really quite interesting to see the post-Sarantine world affairs
River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay ★★★★★: I loved the hints throughout of the impact of the actions as perceived a few hundred years later; really a fun way to contextualize the actions in the novel. Great amount of foreshadowing, and a very satisfying array of opinions of characters. Another killer Kay novel.
Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay ★★★★★: I was a bit disappointed by the last Kay novel, but this one is a return to form. I love how well we marinate in the culture; not a lot happens, but a lot happens. The political machinations were a fun departure from the normal Kay experience of a character out of their element, though of course the protagonist here can mostly claim that to be the case.
The Will of the Many (Hierarchy #1) by James Islington ★★★★★: Solid, unpredictable, interesting world building and plot. An absolute joy of a novel and a great introduction to a new series.
Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay ★★★☆☆: A fun but minor side story in the Fionavar Tapestry world. Happy to enjoy it, but a little outside of the things I find most satisfying in a Kay novel: a plot that lasts longer than a few days. Felt a lot more stretched out than it needed to be, and I never really doubted where the ending was going to be.
Empire of the Damned (Empire of the Vampire #2) by Jay Kristoff ★★★★☆: The world is so rich and interesting, and the added viewpoint really helps sell the expanded world. I wish I could say I was surprised by the ending, but it was projected from the beginning and without it the next book wouldn’t be possible.