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Welcome to Charon's Crossing. The tea is hot, the scones are fresh, and the dead …
This book loses a star because the protagonist is such a jerk to begin with that the obligatory transformation doesn't feel plausible.
That said, it's another extremely heartwarming tale with a bit of deus ex machina to wrap things up with a nice tidy bow.
Fourteen year old Mona is a baker but she is also a not-very-powerful wizard - …
I had no idea what I was walking into with this book - what even is defensive baking??
It. Was. AMAZING!
The personal growth and just willingness to experiment and keep fighting was just. So. I loved it all!
Linus is an uptight caseworker with a heart of gold working for the department in …
Content warning Spoilers about themes and character development.
Huzzah! There's actually a specific listing for the audiobook edition!
As reviewer SpiderKitten pointed out, yes, there's an echo of historical policies regarding the removal of indigenous children from their homes to be placed with people who "know better" how to raise them. And the struggle to understand, and perhaps fight those policies, is a part of the character growth that the protagonist goes through.
But it's also about the protagonist's realization that there's more to life than his job. That he's allowed to make personal connections. That he's allowed to care.
I really want to see what happens after the book ended! Which is always a good sign (even if the author didn't continue on from that point).
Equal Rites is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett. Published in 1987, it is …
Review based on 2022 audiobook.
The fact that even the title is a pun should warn you what you're in for. Even so, this is the trademark Pratchett blend of humor with very serious social commentary, excellently performed by the narrators. It even shows the internalized misogyny of Granny not wanting Esk to become a wizard because it simply is not done.
The Light Fantastic is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, the second of the …
Setting aside the fact that I really want Twoflower's luggage, this was a good conclusion to the story set up in the Color of Magic.
Listening to the 2022 audiobook, I do like how they set off the footnotes and Death with different voices/special signals. That said, I'm not a fan of Twoflower's stereotypical nerd speech impediment.
We round out our trio of Paladin romances with a pair who have.. issues... with touch.
And a seriously messed up situation to throw them in.
He’s a paladin of a dead god, tracking a supernatural killer across a continent. She’s …
If you've made it this far, you know the formula. This one is interesting because there is no damsel in distress - Clara is perfectly capable of fighting off bandits too!
Stephen's god died on the longest day of the year…
Three years later, Stephen is …
Everyone loves a Paladin, right? Especially in this world, where they're god-touched and have amazing abilities?
Well, what happens when their god dies? What does that do to all of their relationships?
Continuing on in the world of Clocktaur War and Swordheart, we have some more (formulaic, yes) romance, between a Paladin without a god and a perfume-maker who got pulled into a plot.
Halla is a housekeeper who has suddenly inherited her great-uncle's estate... and, unfortunately, his relatives. …
Something that needs to be gotten out of the way: There's very clearly a formula at work here. You're going to see the same pattern of how the relationships shake out in all of the books set in this world.
But.
Each one is still a unique story, and absolutely worth reading. The personalities at play, and the specifics of how things shake out are still compelling when you know basically what is going to happen.
This is a fun story (with some angsty bits - part of the formula) and descends into utter ridiculousness at points, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Highly recommend.
Pull three people out of prison--a disgraced paladin, a convicted forger, and a heartless assassin. …
The story set up in the first book comes to a satisfying conclusion in this part. Naturally, it's not entirely happy, but a satisfying conclusion, nonetheless.
A paladin, an assassin, a forger, and a scholar ride out of town. It’s not …
Thus begins our adventures in a world where being god-touched is quite literal, being possessed by demons is a real risk, and you're at war with a city who can apparently muster GIANT FREAKING CLOCKWORK SOLDIERS.
Naturally, the best people for the job are the most expendable: prisoners.
Overall fun story, with some angst, but you'll have to wait until part 2 for the resolution.
After touring the rural areas of Panga, Sibling Dex (a Tea Monk of some renown) …
If you enjoyed Psalm for the Wild-Built, this is more of the same. Cozy and thought-provoking and just so gosh darn hopeful!
It’s been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; …
This hit my radar when I asked for some relatively cozy reading. And did this ever deliver! It's not a full novel, audiobook only about 4 hours, but it's a wonderful possible future full of people who genuinely care about the world. It's really more of a character study than a story, but still left me really eager to see what the characters get up to next.
Nesta und Cassian: Das neue Traumpaar am Fantasyhimmel
Feyres Schwester Nesta war schon immer stolz, …
1: I have no idea why the description is only showing up in German. I listed to the English language version. 2: For my audiobook peeps: different narrator from the first few books in the series, which makes sense, since we're focusing on a different couple. Unfortunately, this means there are some significant changes to how some of the characters are voices (in ways that I personally don't like for e.g., Rhys) 3: I absolutely adored how this is a very different relationship dynamic than Rhys/Feyre. It's an exemplar of the fact that different people react to trauma, well, differently. And they need a different sort of touch to be pulled back into the world from it.
The one thing you never talk about while you’re in the Scholomance is what you’ll …
An overall satisfying conclusion to the series, but wow is it a wild ride (including the obligatory civil war) to get there. And the big secrets about how the enclaves were built? WOW
I’ll admit to getting somewhat frustrated at the “so here’s the really simple solution that just came to me at the last minute” that is just shy of deis ex machina, but it works out.