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Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Phasma in Books
Jan 11, 2018
STAR WARS (1 more)
Interesting framework
A fascinating look at the beginning of a villain
So far, all we've seen of Phasma was the enigmatic Storm Trooper Captain, in chrome armor, powering down the shields when forced to in The Force Awakens. We never even saw her face.
So in the novel, we learn Phasma's true origins. The story is told via a framework - a Resistance spy, Vi Moradi, is captured by Captain Cardinal, Phasma's chief rival within the First Order. He forces her to tell him all she knows about Phasma, which she does, because it's not info directly about The Resistance, and she's hoping to turn him to her side. Phasma's life began on a once thriving planet that had been decimated about 150 years before her birth by some force. (I don't want to reveal too many surprises, and this book is full of them!) One of her old tribemates told the entire story of Phasma's youth, rise to power in the tribe, and eventual escape from the planet to Moradi. It's a story of survival at all costs, and illustrates just how good Phasma is at it.
I rather hope we see Captain Cardinal in The Last Jedi, as he grew on me even as he was interrogating Moradi. He goes from loyal First Order soldier with a grudge against Phasma to a conflicted man who's beginning to see how much he's been brainwashed. It's intriguing to read. The revelation that The First Order rewards the ruthless while overlooking those who play by its own rules also breaks him a little bit.
I really enjoyed this book, and I will definitely be picking up Bloodline and Princess of Alderaan, because I can never get enough Leia. If you're not a Star Wars fan, I'd definitely take a pass on this book, because it won't really mean anything. But as a fan, it's a fascinating look at the beginnings of a villain.
You can read all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
So in the novel, we learn Phasma's true origins. The story is told via a framework - a Resistance spy, Vi Moradi, is captured by Captain Cardinal, Phasma's chief rival within the First Order. He forces her to tell him all she knows about Phasma, which she does, because it's not info directly about The Resistance, and she's hoping to turn him to her side. Phasma's life began on a once thriving planet that had been decimated about 150 years before her birth by some force. (I don't want to reveal too many surprises, and this book is full of them!) One of her old tribemates told the entire story of Phasma's youth, rise to power in the tribe, and eventual escape from the planet to Moradi. It's a story of survival at all costs, and illustrates just how good Phasma is at it.
I rather hope we see Captain Cardinal in The Last Jedi, as he grew on me even as he was interrogating Moradi. He goes from loyal First Order soldier with a grudge against Phasma to a conflicted man who's beginning to see how much he's been brainwashed. It's intriguing to read. The revelation that The First Order rewards the ruthless while overlooking those who play by its own rules also breaks him a little bit.
I really enjoyed this book, and I will definitely be picking up Bloodline and Princess of Alderaan, because I can never get enough Leia. If you're not a Star Wars fan, I'd definitely take a pass on this book, because it won't really mean anything. But as a fan, it's a fascinating look at the beginnings of a villain.
You can read all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated The Lost Heir (The Dragonath Chronicles, #1) in Books
May 16, 2018
One glance at The Lost Heir‘s cover is enough to excite any fantasy loving bookwyrm. Add in it’s synopsis? Well, let’s put it this way: I buckled in for the ride and went nowhere. It’s not often that I choose to drop a book. In the year since I began book blogging, only one of my reviews was a DNF. This book marks my second.
A quick perusal of The Lost Heir on Goodreads shows the book to have some rather stellar reviews since its publish date in 2013. This leaves me baffled and wondering whether or not I was reading the same book. Andi O’Connor is great when it comes to descriptions, but beyond that her voice seems largely passive. Additionally, there is so much exposition that it is distracting.
If that alone isn’t a letdown, then the characters we meet in the first several chapters certainly are. When I review a book, I usually spend a paragraph or two on its characters. This is where I praise or ridicule the roles within the book. Only, O’Connor introduces so many characters so early in the book that I cannot recall half of their names, let alone their purposes. Those that merit mention seem unsure of themselves. For instance, Princess Mionee appears as a young, adept sorceress. While seemingly random elements of the early pages receive plenty of backstory, she appears to simply exist. And she’s a villain… apparently? Whereas our presumed hero, Darrak Hunter, is a whiney, college wimp. And the other characters we meet early on? They fail to impress.
My first attempt at reading this book saw me through the five percent of it. The second attempt netted another six percent before I came to the conclusion that, no matter what the reviews say, this book isn’t for me. The premise of The Lost Heir is stellar; it’s a shame the book isn’t.
A special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing with a copy of this book for the purpose of review.
A quick perusal of The Lost Heir on Goodreads shows the book to have some rather stellar reviews since its publish date in 2013. This leaves me baffled and wondering whether or not I was reading the same book. Andi O’Connor is great when it comes to descriptions, but beyond that her voice seems largely passive. Additionally, there is so much exposition that it is distracting.
If that alone isn’t a letdown, then the characters we meet in the first several chapters certainly are. When I review a book, I usually spend a paragraph or two on its characters. This is where I praise or ridicule the roles within the book. Only, O’Connor introduces so many characters so early in the book that I cannot recall half of their names, let alone their purposes. Those that merit mention seem unsure of themselves. For instance, Princess Mionee appears as a young, adept sorceress. While seemingly random elements of the early pages receive plenty of backstory, she appears to simply exist. And she’s a villain… apparently? Whereas our presumed hero, Darrak Hunter, is a whiney, college wimp. And the other characters we meet early on? They fail to impress.
My first attempt at reading this book saw me through the five percent of it. The second attempt netted another six percent before I came to the conclusion that, no matter what the reviews say, this book isn’t for me. The premise of The Lost Heir is stellar; it’s a shame the book isn’t.
A special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing with a copy of this book for the purpose of review.
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Empress of All Seasons in Books
Mar 20, 2019
Characters (2 more)
World-building
Japanese mythology
I am so torn on this book. I'm really tired of the trope of "batch of girls competing to win a dude" that seems to be so popular lately. But this is an Asian take on the trope, so I don't want to come down too hard on it for that. I attended a panel at the last Baltimore Book Festival about old tropes being resurrected by minority authors, and I agree that just because a trope might seem old and played out, putting a new spin on it with minority characters and themes deserves its own time. That is definitely valid. But they were talking about tropes like vampires and zombies and retold classics like Pride and Prejudice and Alice in Wonderland. I'm not sure the trope of "girls competing to win a dude" deserves more time in any form. (To be fair, I kind of equally hate guys competing to win the hand of the princess. No one should be obligated to marry someone just because they won an arbitrary competition. There are all kinds of consent issues there.)
Despite that, I really enjoyed this book. I loved the characters, the variety of yõkai, the bits of myth interspersed throughout the book. I do question Akira being trained to be a master of shuriken in a matter of days - like, really? And I wish instead of summarizing a ton in the epilogue, she'd just written a sequel, because I think there's enough material to do it. You'd think, with so much I didn't like about the book, that my overall opinion would be negative - but it's not. Even with all of those bad points, this book was enthralling and kept me reading right to the end.
Empress of all Seasons is a great Japanese-inspired fantasy that relies a little too much on old tropes. Set your inner critic to the side and just enjoy the ride, because the story is fantastic.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
Despite that, I really enjoyed this book. I loved the characters, the variety of yõkai, the bits of myth interspersed throughout the book. I do question Akira being trained to be a master of shuriken in a matter of days - like, really? And I wish instead of summarizing a ton in the epilogue, she'd just written a sequel, because I think there's enough material to do it. You'd think, with so much I didn't like about the book, that my overall opinion would be negative - but it's not. Even with all of those bad points, this book was enthralling and kept me reading right to the end.
Empress of all Seasons is a great Japanese-inspired fantasy that relies a little too much on old tropes. Set your inner critic to the side and just enjoy the ride, because the story is fantastic.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
Dana (24 KP) rated The World of Ice and Fire: The Untold History of the World of A Game of Thrones in Books
Mar 23, 2018
I will be the first to admit that I have not read all of the Song of Ice and Fire books. I just haven't done it. I have, however, watched all the episodes multiple times. So this book was still relevant to me.
I really really enjoyed this book. I love getting to see into the minds of the author's for the worlds they create. This is no different. Martin and his co authors did a fantastic job creating this world and giving real depth to it. I loved all the history of the seven kingdoms and all of Essos. It was phenomenal to see how far back they were willing to write. I think by having read this, I can understand the characters and their reasons for doing what they do by knowing their house backgrounds. We even get to know some of the history of Robert's Rebellion we don't get to see in the show.
I love the history of the Targaryens. They are my house, because dragons. I think my favorite member of the house is Danae (not only because she has the same name as me, I promise). She is a badass warrior princess who rode her dragon into battle and defied her brother husband because she wanted to be free. She is a force to be reckoned with and I would love to be her. Well, minus the brother husband thing because that is gross.
The art work in this book is gorgeous. I cannot get enough of it. I am definitely going to look to see if I can possibly buy some prints of the art because my walls are severely lacking Game of Thrones right now.
Overall, I thought this was a cool, in depth experience of the World of Ice and Fire. If you are a fan of the series (either book or television) you should check this out.
I really really enjoyed this book. I love getting to see into the minds of the author's for the worlds they create. This is no different. Martin and his co authors did a fantastic job creating this world and giving real depth to it. I loved all the history of the seven kingdoms and all of Essos. It was phenomenal to see how far back they were willing to write. I think by having read this, I can understand the characters and their reasons for doing what they do by knowing their house backgrounds. We even get to know some of the history of Robert's Rebellion we don't get to see in the show.
I love the history of the Targaryens. They are my house, because dragons. I think my favorite member of the house is Danae (not only because she has the same name as me, I promise). She is a badass warrior princess who rode her dragon into battle and defied her brother husband because she wanted to be free. She is a force to be reckoned with and I would love to be her. Well, minus the brother husband thing because that is gross.
The art work in this book is gorgeous. I cannot get enough of it. I am definitely going to look to see if I can possibly buy some prints of the art because my walls are severely lacking Game of Thrones right now.
Overall, I thought this was a cool, in depth experience of the World of Ice and Fire. If you are a fan of the series (either book or television) you should check this out.
Nick Smallwood (0 KP) rated Black Panther (2018) in Movies
Mar 10, 2018
Black Panther was a great movie with very few negatives to it. Marvel movies being what they are, there are definitely similarities to be drawn between BP and other recent MCU entries, mostly along the lines of Spider-Man: Homecoming and Thor: Ragnarok.
Ryan Coogler very adeptly introduces a brand new culture, a brand new nation, to the Marvel Universe, finally pulling back the veil on Wakanda itself after many hints and Easter eggs.
Fresh from his appearance in Captain America: Civil War, which is recapped very briefly in the beginning of the film, Black Panther comes home to be declared King after a quick action scene that shows Black Panther in action, shot VERY well while maintaining the Marvel humor shown in Ragnarok. "Don't freeze."
As the movie progresses and we're introduced to Michael B. Jordan's villain of the film, we are given an empathetic villain we can eventually sympathize with, albeit knowing full and well that he is still the bad guy who needs to be foiled.
Some character highlights of the film include Princess Shuri, a welcome addition to the MCU, the return of Ulysses Claue from Avengers: Age of Ultron and Everett Ross from Captain America: Civil War, and newcomer M'Baku, who was very tastefully adapted for the film without calling him Man-Ape.
The action scenes were well done, Wakanda showed cultural depth, the plot was well-developed and every scene that wasn't self-explained was eventually paid off later on.
This being a comic book film, it translated Wakanda well, and shows Marvel has found their groove. The distractions I have are few and far between, mostly just stemming from Killmonger's use of a Black Panther suit (Iron Monger, The Abomination, The Red Skull, and Kaecillius all come to mind as mirrored versions of the heroes) and some spotty pacing between some scenes.
Also.
Didn't expect it, didn't see it in trailers, so mild spoilers, but.
Battle Rhinos.
Awesome.
Ryan Coogler very adeptly introduces a brand new culture, a brand new nation, to the Marvel Universe, finally pulling back the veil on Wakanda itself after many hints and Easter eggs.
Fresh from his appearance in Captain America: Civil War, which is recapped very briefly in the beginning of the film, Black Panther comes home to be declared King after a quick action scene that shows Black Panther in action, shot VERY well while maintaining the Marvel humor shown in Ragnarok. "Don't freeze."
As the movie progresses and we're introduced to Michael B. Jordan's villain of the film, we are given an empathetic villain we can eventually sympathize with, albeit knowing full and well that he is still the bad guy who needs to be foiled.
Some character highlights of the film include Princess Shuri, a welcome addition to the MCU, the return of Ulysses Claue from Avengers: Age of Ultron and Everett Ross from Captain America: Civil War, and newcomer M'Baku, who was very tastefully adapted for the film without calling him Man-Ape.
The action scenes were well done, Wakanda showed cultural depth, the plot was well-developed and every scene that wasn't self-explained was eventually paid off later on.
This being a comic book film, it translated Wakanda well, and shows Marvel has found their groove. The distractions I have are few and far between, mostly just stemming from Killmonger's use of a Black Panther suit (Iron Monger, The Abomination, The Red Skull, and Kaecillius all come to mind as mirrored versions of the heroes) and some spotty pacing between some scenes.
Also.
Didn't expect it, didn't see it in trailers, so mild spoilers, but.
Battle Rhinos.
Awesome.
Hazel (1853 KP) rated The Elite (The Selection, #2) in Books
Dec 17, 2018
<i>This eBook was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review</i>
In <i>The Selection</i> Kiera Cass introduced young adult readers to a dystopian society where people are sorted into different castes which dictate how rich or poor they are. America Singer (a five) was selected amongst many other girls to live at the palace where eventually one will be chosen to marry Prince Maxon. With only six girls remaining, the story continues in <i>The Elite</i>.
America and the girls are faced with more challenges to prove they have what it takes to become a princess and eventually a queen, however is this something America wants? It is clear to America and the reader that she has strong feelings for Maxon but she cannot easily forget her childhood sweetheart, Aspen. Things become more confusing for America as she begins to question Maxon’s intentions. She can love him but can she trust him? America needs to decide whether she still wants a place in this competition as she faces rebel attacks and discovers information about the history of Illéa.
The will they, won’t they aspect of America and Maxon’s relationship keeps us engaged in the story, and the love triangle adds even more tension. Cass writes so well that readers will find themselves so engrossed in the novel that they may even become frustrated when things do not go they way they wished they had.
Although America recaps on the major events of book one, this is for the benefit of refreshing readers’ minds and not to ease new readers into the story. Without prior knowledge things may be confusing so make sure to read <i>The Selection</i> first.
Overall, <i>The Elite</i> is a great sequel and it will be exciting to find out where the story goes next. <i>The Selection</i> in general is a great series for teenage girls who love a bit of romance.
In <i>The Selection</i> Kiera Cass introduced young adult readers to a dystopian society where people are sorted into different castes which dictate how rich or poor they are. America Singer (a five) was selected amongst many other girls to live at the palace where eventually one will be chosen to marry Prince Maxon. With only six girls remaining, the story continues in <i>The Elite</i>.
America and the girls are faced with more challenges to prove they have what it takes to become a princess and eventually a queen, however is this something America wants? It is clear to America and the reader that she has strong feelings for Maxon but she cannot easily forget her childhood sweetheart, Aspen. Things become more confusing for America as she begins to question Maxon’s intentions. She can love him but can she trust him? America needs to decide whether she still wants a place in this competition as she faces rebel attacks and discovers information about the history of Illéa.
The will they, won’t they aspect of America and Maxon’s relationship keeps us engaged in the story, and the love triangle adds even more tension. Cass writes so well that readers will find themselves so engrossed in the novel that they may even become frustrated when things do not go they way they wished they had.
Although America recaps on the major events of book one, this is for the benefit of refreshing readers’ minds and not to ease new readers into the story. Without prior knowledge things may be confusing so make sure to read <i>The Selection</i> first.
Overall, <i>The Elite</i> is a great sequel and it will be exciting to find out where the story goes next. <i>The Selection</i> in general is a great series for teenage girls who love a bit of romance.
David McK (3547 KP) rated Star Wars: Bloodline in Books
Jan 30, 2019
By and large, most of the Star Wars books to date (including in the old EU), have pretty much belonged to the 'boys club', dfocusing more on the male characters (Han, Luke, the X-Wing pilots, etc) than on their female contemporaries.
I think that's to be expected, given the predominantly male targer audience of the film series - an expectation that Disney themselves are trying to shake up, both in the new films (both of which - The Force Awakens and Rogue One - , so far, have female leads), and in the wider media, as can be shown by their 'Princess Leia' series of comics.
This follows(?) (or did it come first?) in the latter footsteps, with nary a sign of Luke and Han only popping in to give Leia a hand towards the climax of the novel.
Set in the period between the end of 'Return of the Jedi' and the start of 'The Force Awakens', this also seeks to bridge the gap between those two films, providing a bit of background to the history of The First Order and explaining why, if Leia was part of the Rebellion which toppled the Empire, just why she is now a key member in The Resistance - the Resistance to what, I hear you ask? This answers that question.
It's not a bad read by any strecth of the imagination - according to Goodreads own rating system, 2 stars is a 'I liked it'; I just personally found this a slower, somewhat heavier read than [a:Claudia Gray|1192311|Claudia Gray|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1234643683p2/1192311.jpg]'s other Star Wars title: '[b:Lost Stars|25067046|Lost Stars (Star Wars Journey to the Force Awakens)|Claudia Gray|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1462731623s/25067046.jpg|44751860]';. And yes, I'm aware that this is aimed at a different audience.
How best to put it? I didn't find myself reading this quite so much in my spare time on the bus on the way to work!
I think that's to be expected, given the predominantly male targer audience of the film series - an expectation that Disney themselves are trying to shake up, both in the new films (both of which - The Force Awakens and Rogue One - , so far, have female leads), and in the wider media, as can be shown by their 'Princess Leia' series of comics.
This follows(?) (or did it come first?) in the latter footsteps, with nary a sign of Luke and Han only popping in to give Leia a hand towards the climax of the novel.
Set in the period between the end of 'Return of the Jedi' and the start of 'The Force Awakens', this also seeks to bridge the gap between those two films, providing a bit of background to the history of The First Order and explaining why, if Leia was part of the Rebellion which toppled the Empire, just why she is now a key member in The Resistance - the Resistance to what, I hear you ask? This answers that question.
It's not a bad read by any strecth of the imagination - according to Goodreads own rating system, 2 stars is a 'I liked it'; I just personally found this a slower, somewhat heavier read than [a:Claudia Gray|1192311|Claudia Gray|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1234643683p2/1192311.jpg]'s other Star Wars title: '[b:Lost Stars|25067046|Lost Stars (Star Wars Journey to the Force Awakens)|Claudia Gray|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1462731623s/25067046.jpg|44751860]';. And yes, I'm aware that this is aimed at a different audience.
How best to put it? I didn't find myself reading this quite so much in my spare time on the bus on the way to work!
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