#this book so so cosmere heavy

[redemptiionss]

Oh and I just finished reading Yumi and the Nightmare Painter and I'm going insane, it was so good. This was my first Sanderson book lol I'm going to have to read his other books too for sure

[gafurtle]

I’m not sure how to phrase this exactly: but I like that Sanderson is getting to write the books he wants to write.

Like I see people complaining about the end of Mistborn Era 2 having too many crossovers, like you suddenly need to know the whole Cosmere to understand it. But that’s been Sanderson’s goal since he started writing! To have an interconnected universe of planets! I think it’s so cool that he’s gotten there finally!

Or Wind and Truth being so lore/investiture heavy. Yes, it requires a big reader investment but it’s cool that he’s been able to build such an intricate universe and magic system and now he’s getting to play with it in-narrative! That’s cool!

In conclusion: I just think it’s neat.

[supreme-leader-stoat]

Hello! I've been trying to get into Brandon Sandersons books but I haven't known where to start. Is there any specific book or series that you'd recommend? :)

I've actually got a suggested reading order that I put together!

Mistborn Era 1 (The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, The Hero of Ages)

Elantris

White Sand if you can find it. It's a comic book and not a novel or short story.

Warbreaker

Stormlight Archive Era 1 (The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, Edgedancer novella, Oathbringer, Dawnshard novella, The Rhythm of War, Wind and Truth)

Mistborn: Secret History (you can read this any time after Elantris if you want, but its basic premise spoils parts of the Stormlight books)

Emperor's Soul short story

Mistborn Era 2 (The Alloy of Law, Shadows of Self, The Bands of Mourning, The Lost Metal). At the very least, do not read W&W book 4 until you read everything above this on the list. It's a very Cosmere-heavy book.

Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell short story

Sixth of Dusk short story

Tress of the Emerald Sea

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter

The Sunlit Man

Sunlit Man's kind of an odd duck because it takes place long after Wind and Truth (and pretty much everything else on this list) but was published before it, almost as a sort of teaser. If you want more "Oh, so that's what that meant!" moments, move Sunlit up and read it just before Wind and Truth. If you want more "Hey, it's that guy!" moments, save Sunlit for last.

[onlycosmere]

Least Favorite Novel of the Cosmere 

GodsShoeShine23 :  I'd say Alloy of Law. I just honestly didn't really care about Wax and Wayne until they were more fleshed out in Shadows of Self and Bands of Mourning. For Once, Brandon kind of just threw us right into the action from the get-go, but did so in a way where I had no real motivation to root for the main characters of the book other than them being the main characters of the book.

Brandon Sanderson: I wonder sometimes if I should do a full-on rewrite of Alloy. It would also be my vote for weakest Cosmere novel. (I think it's probably my weakest novel overall.) The big problem came from it being a short story, that became a novella, that became a fun little novel not meant to do any heavy lifting. But the series went from there to get some of my strongest books, as I fell in love with world and characters, and became a full-blown era rather than a pit stop between tow large eras.

So you have something weaker, meant as a kind of "Secret History" novella, to a load-bearing pillar of the Mistborn series. And it's the place where already (coming off the main trilogy) where people were the most likely to abandon Mistborn as a larger mega-series. So I have my weakest cosmere book in a pivotal place in the sequence.

The solution could be to just take it and give it a ground-up rewrite with more depth of characterization and narrative rigor. But then, we have the problem of their being two significantly different versions of a book, which causes other logistical problems.

GodsShoeShine23: I find it hilarious that the one time I’m not praising your novels, you end up stumbling upon my comment, lol.

In all seriousness, I thought Alloy of Law was still a pretty fun read. I like the expansion on the magic system that was built up in Era 1, and Wayne honestly ends up being one of my all time favorite characters in the cosmere. I always thought to myself that Alloy of Law read like a novella, so it’s actually interesting to see that it was originally based on a short story idea essentially.

I will say this though; I expected to see most people vote Elantris as the weakest book as seen in the comments, but I honestly found it to be much more entertaining than people lead me to believe. Hrathen may be my favorite antagonist you’ve written, and I’m wondering if more will be revealed about his charcater in the sequels.

[mybookhaven]

The Stormlight Archive - Brandon Sanderson

High fantasy - Detailed world building - mental health

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)

I will not be the first person to be completely taken in by the depth of the worlds created by Sanderson, but I couldn’t just ignore the huge crater they have left in my mind. I have grown to care deeply about all the characters of this series (MINOR and major), and would consider these books to be amongst my favorite reads ever. The scope of the plot is absolutely enormous yet very easily understood thanks to Sanderson's magical abilities (yes magical abilities because goodness he CAN WRITE), and i cannot wait till i've consumed every single book ever in the Cosmere.

The series follows a group of humans that come from very different backgrounds as they try to save their people, and the planet they call home from "invasion" by what is known as voidbringers. Sanderson introduces us to Kaladin (the sad wet cat baby boi we all love) as the first narrator of the books and how he struggled for years with high-borns, war, and slavery events that were responsible in part for shredding his mental health to pieces. We then meet Shallan (THE CHARACTER for me) who has evidently been through a lot (also shredded mental health) that we will slowly figure out as events unfold. Jasnah, sister to the king, scholar royalty, with most probably a mixture of some kind of shredded mental health, autism, and "aro" something that is not very clear relationship with romance. I will limit myself to these three characters because i could go on forever with every single person in this series (i am not exaggerating).

The writing style is very much accessible. I'm used to fantasy having all kinds of complicated narratives that get in the way of grasping the progress of the plot, but this series is anything but that. Every character's point of view is written in their unique sound (fascinatingly so with Shallan and her ehem buddies) and interestingly we get to experience two sides of every character, their own pov and the way other people perceive them which was very beautiful to read (and incredibly obvious with Jasnah).

These books deal with so much heavy and morally ambiguous topics in surprising detail that i felt i was reading actual events about a place that exists somewhere in our universe. Metal health, slavery, colonialism, war, religion and so so much more that i really cannot understand the power behind the creation of these books.

Most importantly, as it's something i struggled with when i first decided i wanted to read Sanderson's work, these books are very easily understood without having to read the other books in th Cosmere, but people who do will experience a much bigger world with more connections to other events, worlds and "gods" that actually reflects the scope of THE STORY Brandon Sanderson is writing.

I am definitely going to read the rest of the cosmere and will attach a youtube link to anyone interested in starting that suggests the best way to get into the Cosmere that will put events chronologically in a sense.

[loaf-of-wren]

So I've been reading The Alloy of Law, because part of me needed a break from the slow and flowery pace of The Lord of the Rings (which I do also love), and I'd read the first three books in the Mistborn series a while ago and was told that somehow, the sequel series gets even better. I tend to agree with that assessment so far.

But that's not what I'm here to write about.

I'm here mostly to talk about Deltarune.

(And I'm also going to discuss a magic system and several metals not initially explained or used in the Mistborn series, as well as the vague general concept of Deltarune's world and story, so spoilers if you're worried about spoilers.)

There's a magic system in this book series called feruchemy, which allows you to use objects made of different metals to store physical or mental attributes, with said attribute being unique to each specific metal, and use these attributes later. With iron, for example, you can store your weight. Be half as heavy for an hour, storing weight in the iron metalmind, and you can use that weight later to be 50% more heavy for an hour, or twice as heavy for 30 minutes, etc. Very handy.

I happened to be looking into the feruchemical properties of the metals we never see extensively used for feruchemy. And do you know what I found out? I found out that feruchemical electrum stores Determination. And of course, my first thought was "hehe Undertale, hehehe Determination like from Undertale."

And then I found out that you can store Connection by using duralumin, and thought of the beginning of Deltarune where Gaster (probably) is all "Are we... Connected?"

And at that point, it was time for a brief lesson on the nature of connection in the cosmere, the conclusion of which led me to learn, most notably, that if you used aluminum to store your whole Identity (because feruchemical aluminum can do that), you could become nobody with no connections to anyone, which would mean storing Connection in a duralumin metalmind would at that point create a reserve of generic connection. And later, you could tap that connection and direct it towards anyone or anything.

And then, it all fell into place.

I don't know much about W. D. Gaster, but my current headcannon theory now is that he is a feruchemist. The creation left him more intact than we previously assumed, perhaps it's what gave him the feruchemical powers, but he's mostly in one piece somewhere.

He doesn't know how to get out, or in what direction reality even is, but he's already tried tapping over double his connection to the Underground and every individual down there, on at a time, and has concluded that wherever he is, he is too far from "the Undertale reality" to hope that he might return there. So he starts to look in other directions, for other realities.

Trouble is, he doesn't know a single thing about any of the other realities out there. So he starts storing his identity. Like, a lot. He's never not storing his identity away, specifically so he can also be storing generic connection. He spends years doing that, trying to get enough connection stored that he can use a lot of it at once it to search for something to connect to, something he can't see, without worrying that he'll run out once he finds that something.

But he stores his identity far too much, for far too long. Somehow, he begins to forget who he is himself, begins to forget he's storing away his identity in the first place. Eventually, he just drops his aluminum metalmind, and all of his stored self, and that's the end of that. He could remember, eventually, but for the most part he's gone.

Eventually, Gaster will start reaching out with his stored connection, and he will search, and he will search, and he will eventually find you. Through Deltarune, somehow, he tries to communicate. He's created all of Deltarune, somehow an impossible manifestation of your shared connection, as a blueprint to guide you to where he is.

But he can only piece together fragments of where he actually came from, and where he was won't tell you where he is now. So the reality of Deltarune is full of inconsistencies and holes and the Dark World, which is Gaster trying very very hard to tell you where he's been trapped (which then I suppose makes Gaster the knight, because the Dark Worlds are "his creation" in that scenario, a metaphor for the place in which he fell and is now very stuck).

So that would be why reality is weird and different here, what the separation is between Kris and Soul (Gaster never intended for you to take control of any part of his detailed PowerPoint Presentation) and also why your actions can't change the story (because it's simply not your story, Gaster is telling it to you and you don't have a choice).

And, amusingly enough, it also explains the wait between chapter releases in-game, because despite everything, all the connection he's saved up, he still manages to run out of connection after only 1 chapters. And then again, after only one (1) more chapters. But while he's storing more of his connection to you, he has no connection to you. So you get nothing. Just let the man do his feruchemy, and he'll be back as soon as possible.

[aesa]

writeblr intro

𓆩⟡𓆪

hello, everyone! I'm njsa (she/her), a 22 year old university student from australia, currently studying a bachelor's degree in space science. I'm returning to writeblr with more inspiration and dedication to sharing my writing projects. A bit more about me can be found here. On this blog, I'll be posting anything to do with writing, including worldbuilding and inspo boards, as well as other writeblrs and writing projects! I won't be participating in tag games, so please don't tag me in them. Feel free to ask me questions, I'll try to respond as soon as I can. I would prefer it if only those who are 18+ follow my blog, as some of my works may contain mature themes. None of my posts will contain explicit content. All of my novels will be labelled as adult fiction.

about my writing

𓆩⟡𓆪

All of my writing projects (at this point in time) are contained within a single fictional universe, VESSEL. Majority of my works are high fantasy, with a dash of science fiction, (space) western and southern (australian) gothic. My goal is to publish my novels as serials. Eventually, I'd like to turn these into physical books once completed, though I'll aim to always have the serials available on my website (to be released) for free ✧

my writing projects

𓆩⟡𓆪

Vessel is the story that started it all - my magnum opus. This is a high fantasy series that expands across the galaxy. It is a progression fantasy with extensive worldbuilding, political intrigue, magic, other-world species and so much more. It is the origin and main focus of my writing; all of my other novels surround it. This epic follows Brynas, a girl born on Earth, and her path to becoming a legend known throughout the galaxy as she discovers her true calling. Inspirations and similar stories: game of thrones, cosmere, dune, star wars and heavy inspiration from retro-futuristic, space-surrealist aesthetics.

𓆩⟡𓆪

Snake Oil is a prequel story to the Vessel series, and the first novel I intend on publishing. It is set on Earth in the late 19th century and is an Australian gothic, mystery novel. At the moment, it contains three POVs. An elite academy in the Irish countryside discovers, once closure procedures commence, that three of their students have been missing for over a decade. Reinforcements are called to investigate. ~ A constable stationed in the Australian high country is tasked with transcribing police reports. People grow restless over the lack of action taken by law enforcement on the mysterious disappearances of fellow townsfolk. When a group of locals decide to take matters into their own hands, he volunteers. ~ Deep within the Australian mountain ranges is a village unknown to the outside world. A girl with peculiar abilities begins to question her faith when strange visions plague her mind, and the comforting security she felt as a child begins to unravel as she enters adulthood. Inspirations and similar stories: picnic at hanging rock, ethel cain (music), immaculate (movie), sour switchblade - elita (song).

𓆩⟡𓆪

Rogue Frontier is a story that runs alongside Vessel. It is a space western that is, at the moment, only an idea with a few scenes, though the main cast is well established. Genuinely only came up with this idea because I crave found family stories. A comedic space western that follows the adventures of a bounty crew that are begrudgingly forced to work together under an anonymous boss. Over time, they learn that the promise of riches isn't the only thing keeping the crew from falling apart. Inspirations and similar stories: guardians of the galaxy, cowboy bebop, wayfarers series, rogue one, oingo boingo's music (the entire dead man's party album) and 80's music in general.

If you'd like to be added to the tag list of any of these stories, let me know!

other blogs

𓆩⟡𓆪

I have a side blog dedicated to my writing projects, @vesselserial Here, you can read more information about VESSEL and keep up with my progress. I also have a general blog / studyblr @dunedreamr, where I'll be posting my progress in completing my bachelor's degree (and future career pathways) as well as other interests that I have, like books, movies e.t.c.

star divider made by saradika on tumblr (linked)

last updated: July 16, 2024

[peterrsthomas]

Book Review: Tress of the Emerald Sea 

Tress of the Emerald Sea is a wonderful, layered adventure that evolves as the priorities of Tress, our main character, ebb and shift. Tress is a young girl from a barely habitable rock, surrounded by a sea of spores that turn into vines when they touch water. Her friend and love interest, Charlie, the son of the island’s Duke, is sent to the island of the King to be married. When he makes himself completely undesirable, the King sends him to the Midnight Sea (another of several spore seas, each with their own distinct properties) where he is captured by the fearsome Sorceress. 

Tress, when she finds out, sets off on a grand adventure to save him. On the way, she becomes part of a pirate crew, driven by the fearsome Captain Crow, and meets Fort, Ann, and Salay, as well as Hoid, a world-hopping character of the wider Cosmere who is cursed by the Sorceress. As Tress seeks Charlie, she becomes embroiled in a conflict between the crew and their captain. This multi-tiered adventure keeps the story fresh and engaging. Of the people Tress meets, Ulaam in particular stands out as a delightful character whose presence brings fun and unpredictability to his scenes. An ear on your arm, anyone?

One of the key strengths of the novel is how its conflicts are solved through different means. Some through combat, sure, but also through wit and quick-thinking. These keep the tension high in the right places, and show Sanderson’s skill in crafting a variety of situations and solutions for his characters. I am a massive fan of different ways of solving problems beyond force—the scene with Xixis the dragon was my favourite—so this scratched a real itch for me.

The world building, as one would expect of Sanderson, is top-tier. The spores and how they function are cool and varied, and the way they are built into the story is very satisfying. Likewise, the narrative voice, provided by the cursed Hoid (who is rendered to something of a ‘village idiot’ with no fashion sense), connects the novel to the broader Cosmere. Hoid is witty and fun, and this keeps the narrative light. It is also refreshing to have the story told by a third party who is able to comment personally on what is happening without being the centre of the story. I did find some of Hoid’s observations to disrupt the immersion in places—e.g., the reference to ‘laptops’ being a key one. I get that this is supposed to broaden out the links to the world beyond, but, as someone unfamiliar with the rest of the universe, I found it a little jarring.

Also, Tress’s character development, while clearly central to the story, does sometimes suffer from exposition that I found a little heavy-handed. There are moments when the narrative explicitly states that Tress is changing or growing, even when I think readers can see these changes organically. It’s a little unnecessary and on-the-nose. And, lastly—SPOILERS—certain plot elements create minor inconsistencies that detract from the otherwise cohesive world. For example, the Sorceress has inhabited the planet for years and possesses advanced knowledge of technology that Tress is only beginning to develop. When Tress offers to trade this technology, the Sorceress dismisses it—yet later, her guards are defeated by this very same technology. This inconsistency feels like an oversight that somewhat weakens the internal logic of the story.

Regardless of some minor flaws, Tress of the Emerald Sea is an easygoing, refreshing sci-fi/fantasy adventure with a cast of loveable characters. The story is accessible and easy to follow, is told with humour, and sits against a well-fleshed-out and intriguing world. It gets a big ‘recommend’ from me!

[abalidoth]

Do you have a fun cosmere fandom memory from this year? Could be art you saw or fic you read, a funny interaction on tumblr or reddit, something that happened at Dragonsteel Nexus if you happened to be able to go... Whatever comes to you!

Personally I think my favorite memory was listening to Yumi in the car with my wife (they're not a heavy Cosmere reader but they've read some, and Yumi is my absolute favorite Cosmere book, so) and biting my tongue at all the foreshadowing.

But the fandom going insane with every WaT update (and then the final book) was absolutely lovely to watch.

[turnipshepard]

Wind and Truth thoughts and spoilers

About 40% of the way through Wind and Truth and mixed feelings so far though mostly positive. My heart was racing when I thought Shallan was going to catch sight of Chanarach and have The Revelation we think is coming. I like Adolin’s story. I wasn’t super excited going in about Szeth’s flashbacks but I’ve enjoyed them more than I thought, mostly because Shinover itself is really interesting. But man Kaladin… I don’t know where this is going, but the “Roshar’s first therapist” stuff is pretty heavy handed and if he ends up having romantic feelings for Syl I’m gonna be disappointed. Kaladin is my favorite character so that is bringing the book down a bit for me. I like Rlain/ Renarin… some interesting stuff happening with Odium and Wit and I’m all for the cosmere stuff… at least mostly. Sigzil is fine to good. Just hoping for something more epic for Kaladin I guess. DO NOT SAY ANYTHING IF YOU’RE FARTHER THAN ME… no cryptic comments (heh heh)

[theinquisitxor]

July Reading Wrap Up

July was a good reading month quality wise, but I wish I got through a couple more books than I did. I read 7 books in July-- six fantasy and one nonfiction. I completed one duology, and I overall enjoyed everything I read in July.

1.Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim 4/5 stars. This is a delightful young adult fairy tale. It was exactly the type of fantasy I was looking for after reading the Poppy War in June. This is a retelling of the fairy tale of the Wild Swans, and I thought it was very well done. However, I thought this should have just been a standalone, not stretched into a second book. I'm not planning on reading the second book, and I'm just going to treat this like a standalone. YA east asian fairy tale retelling.

2.A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians (The Shadow Histories 1) by H.G. Parry. 4.5/5 stars. This is the first in an adult historical fantasy duology. This takes place from ~1780-90s and follows four perspectives across the world (characters in England, France, and Haiti). This book is very much a political fantasy, and one of the most political heavy books I've ever read. The story follows characters as they navigate and cause the geopolitical turmoil of this time period. My favorite book of July. Adult historical fantasy.

3.A Radical Act of Free Magic (The Shadow Histories 2) by H. G. Parry 4/5 stars. The conclusion to this duology was just as good as book 1, and follows many of our same characters through the Napoleonic wars. Slightly less politics and a little more action in this one, but still very good. The way magic fits into the historical narrative of this story is just so clever. Adult historical fantasy.

4.The Isles of the Gods (The Isles of the Gods 1) by Amie Kaufman 3/5 stars. This is a new young adult fantasy book that I've been looking forward to for a while. It was a fun, seafaring fantasy story, but I found it lacking in the characters and some aspects of the world-building. I did really enjoy the early 1900s industrial revolution setting-- I thought that was unique. While I found aspects of this book weak, I'll still probably read the next book (whenever it comes out). YA high fantasy.

5.The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia 4/5 stars. Whenever I pick up a new Silvia Moreno-Garcia I know that it's going to be quite different from the previous SGM book, but I know I'm most likely going to enjoy it. That was exactly the case with The Beautiful Ones. The beginning of this book took me a little while to get into, but once I was invested, I didn't want to put it down. The second half of this book was by far the strongest, and I really enjoyed the romance. Adult Historical Fantasy.

6.The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson. This was my nonfiction, for the month and I wanted a literal beach read while at the beach. This is a foundational piece of nature literature by the prolific writer and conservationist Rachel Carson. This was published in 1950, so I'm not sure how much of the scientific detail is actually still accurate but I read this for the writing and the legacy of the work (there are so many good quotes and passages from this book too). Nonfiction.

7.Elantris by Brandon Sanderson 4/5 stars. In my slow attempt to read the Cosmere, I picked up this. I read this half on audio, half physical book. I ended up enjoying this much more than I thought I would. This may be one of my favorite Sanderson works that I've read. There were a lot of tropes and characters that I enjoyed. Adult high fantasy.

That's all for July! I'm looking forward to the books I'm planning on reading in August, included under the cut!

August books?

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Skyhunter duology by Marie Lu

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E Harrow

11/22/63 by Stephen King

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The Fifth Season by NK Jemison

[wolfreader]

november 2024 wrap-up - adult fiction

this month i read three (3) adult novels and one (1) adult novella.

the frugal wizard's handbook for surviving medieval engalnd by brandon sanderson 📖 🌟🌟🌟🌟

brandon sanderson has got to stop writing protagonists who are sad pathetic little losers with no friends. i end up relating to them way too heavily and i'm starting to feel personally called out.

i think this is a contender for "best first brandon sanderson book", because it's not connected to the cosmere but it still carries all of the hallmarks of sanderson's writing and worldbuilding style. especially his penchant for blending scifi and fantasy - that's something that will show up in most of his works, so if you want to get into sanderson this might be a great place to start to see if you vibe with it.

mistress of lies by k. m. enright 📖 🌟🌟🌟🌟

i don't know what i expected from this book. i first heard about it from the cait corrain scandal, and put it on my "24 books to read in 2024" list because the description interested me. then as it got close to release i started seeing it described as a romantasy (rather than a fantasy), which is a genre i really don't enjoy, and seeing it compared to books i hate or blurbed by authors i dislike. so that kind of put me off. but it was on my list and it was on sale at my b&n, so i picked it up.

and i quite liked it!! i think it was maybe a little too long - it started to drag a bit at the end - but i found all three main characters really compelling. usually with multi-pov book i end up liking one character way, way more, and while i definitely still have a favorite the gap between them and the second favorite isn't nearly as wide as it normally is for me. really excited to see where this series goes.

i will say, the back of the book says that this is a book about vampires. the goodreads page lists it as a book about vampires. my initial interest was because it was advertized as a book about vampires. there are no vampires in this book. i don't even think they use the term "vampire" once. so don't pick this up if you're wanting a vampire book, regardless of what the marketing says.

the last of dragon the east by katrina kwan 📚 🌟🌟🌟

i have never read a book that felt more like fanfiction in my life. even books that i know were literally once fanfiction, or books that draw obvious heavy inspiration from things i have watched / read, have felt less like fanfiction.

unlike those books, it's not that it feels like it can be tied to a specific other piece of media. like, i couldn't tell you for certain what this is fanfiction of (though i have a guess, based off the author's previous work and the other authors that appear to be in her circle), but it reads like fanfiction even more than those other books.

the short pagecount, the length of the chapters, the oddly juvenile writing style and light tone that clash with the scale of the story, the odd pacing that swaps between breakneck in some areas but painfully slow in others, the soulmates, the insta love, the circular plot, the flat villain. this reads like dozens of completed multi-chapter fics i read on ao3 when i was 15. if you had put this in a shitty self-published-esque cover, handed it to me, and told me it was printed and bound fanfiction of show or book series i'd never heard of, i'd believe you.

a fine read i guess, but completely forgettable.

the way home: two novellas from the world of the last unicorn by peter s. beagle 📚 🌟🌟🌟

another item knocked off of my "24 books to read in 2024" list!

less vague than the last unicorn was, to be sure. it's more clear exactly what's happening (at least in the first novella). there was a weird and, in my opinion, tasteless sexual assault plot point that added nothing adn didn't seem to have any reason for being there... but other than that it was fine.

[lunaticbookblog]

Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

This is just turning into a year of Sanderson while I try to catch up on the entire Cosmere before Stormlight 5 is released.

Mistborn book 1 is basically Oceans Eleven meets My Fair Lady but with magic via heavy metal poisoning.

Generally I don’t like to compare books to each other outside of a series, but I’m sort of making a slight exception in this case because the Stormlight Archive is set in the same general universe/Cosmere.

Overall, it was a struggle to get into this book. I likely wouldn’t have continued the series after reading this one, except I’m curious about the magic systems, and it dropped enough hints that the rest of the series has greater-Cosmere lore information. The pacing of this book felt odd. And I had gotten used to the character building style of Stormlight Archive - where I was invested in each character as a person very early, so much so that even during the slow portions, the characters themselves were dragging me through because I need to know what happens to them. Here, while I liked the characters well enough, I never felt hugely invested in either Kelsier or Vin’s stories as individuals. The characters I was most curious about or who I enjoyed the most were characters that felt somewhat under utilized (such as Ham & Breeze). However, Sazed did feel like he was getting a decent set up for more development in the series.

On positive notes, the mystery built up around the Lord Ruler was well done, the character Reen was very effectively utilized, and the general plot was engaging enough. Always here for a heist.

“Plots behind plots, plans beyond plans. There was always another secret.”

[alexgasun]

Reading Wrap Up 2023

In 2023 I got back into reading. I loved reading as a child but as I grew older I had less and less time to read. Also I didn't know what to read. When I was in school, classics were most popular but I didn't enjoy reading classic literature. This year, I quit my job and I had a lot of free time. I borrowed my boyfriend's kindle and started reading again. I mostly read fantasy and romance, fantasy romance too. I try reading mostly adult books in these genres because I do enjoy reading some smut.

I've read 102 books in total, DNF-ed 52. So, here is my list of the best, most mediocre and the worst books I've read.

Best books 2023 : 1. The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem (adult fantasy romance)- this is book 1 in The Scorched Throne duology. Second book release date has not been announced yet. In this story we follow Sylvia, lost and presumed dead heir to Jasad. Sylvia's main goal is to survive. She has no plans to reclaim the throne or help her people who are murdered for their magic.

2. Silver in the Bone by Alexandra Bracken (young adult fantasy, romance) - book 1 in Silver in the Bone series. I'm not sure how many books there will be in the series. There is no release date for book 2. In this story we follow siblings who are searching for Arthurian ring. The world is very well constructed. It's magical, dark.

3. Children of Fallen Gods by Carissa Broadbent (adult fantasy romance) - book 2 in The War of Lost Hearts trilogy (complete). I don't want to write much about premise of this book because I'm afraid to spoil anything for anyone. You definitely need to read book 1 Daughter of No Worlds before you read book 2. Book 2 is told in 3 POVs, 2 of them are connected and one of them is kind of independent. All I will say is that this book is heartbreaking, beautiful, tense and emotional. The ending is my Roman Empire. And it's the best book in the series, in my opinion.

4. Tress of Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson (young adult fantasy romance) - part of the Cosmere series (ongoing) which consists of mostly independent stories. I decided to read this because TikTok won't shut up about Brandon Sanderson. I've seen how thick his books are and I want to avoid them, no matter how great they may be. But Tress of Emerald Sea is about 500 pages and it was a very light read. And, most importantly, so much fun. In this story we follow Tress, who leaves her island to search for her beloved. Such a magical work. It takes you back to good parts of your childhood, I don't know how to explain it.

5. A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir (young adult fantasy romance) - book 4 of An Ember in the Ashes series (complete). It's a final book in the series. You definitely need to read previous books to appreciate this work. Again, I don't want to spoil anything so all I will say that this is a perfect ending to the series. It wraps everything up, there are no questions left. So devastatingly beautiful, sad, hopeful. I'm tearing up as I'm writing this. I do want to mention that I would not qualify this as a young adult book. There are some pretty heavy topics involved, there is gore and torture (which is described in detail too). Definitely check out warnings.

6. At The End There Was You by Wendy Heiss (fantasy romance). Pretty short novella, not part of any series. The God of Death has announced that he will destroy the world in 7 days. We follow Winter, our main character, as she assists Azriel - a mage in trying to find a way to avoid the end of the world. Beautifully written. Some heavy topics discussed/mentioned.

7. Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer (young adult/adult fantasy romance). Book 1 in Assistant to the Villain trilogy (ongoing). The author recently announced book 2 release date (August 2024). This book is a very light read even though some heavy topics are discussed. If you want something "serious", deep. intricate and complicated you should probably skip this one. The main reason why I have it in the list of Best books is because of the romance. I'm a sucker for a slowburn, especially in fantasy genre and romance storyline in Assistant to the Villain is exactly what I want to see. In this book we follow Evie - the main provider of her family - as she works as an assistant to The Villain. The main plotline revolves around the Villain and Evie trying to find out who is the spy in their castle.

8. The Right Move by Liz Tomforde (contemporary sports romance, adult) - book 2 in Windy City series (ongoing). There are 3 books in the series so far, mostly independent from each other with reoccurring characters. In this story we follow Indy, who has recently ended a relationship and needs a play to crash and Ryan, who is captain in a basketball team. Just read it.

9. Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez (contemporary adult romance) - book 2 in Part of Your World series (I'm not sure whether there will be more books in this series). You don't have to read book 1 but I do recommend it. The main female character is Briana - recently divorced, overworked. Her brother is sick so she takes care of him too. She's hoping to get promoted in the hospital but suddenly, a new doctor appears! Understandably, initially tensions are high. I must say, this might be my favorite romance of all time. Jacob is the best book boyfriend ever. There is no one like him. His universe revolves around Briana. Sorry, I'm a sucker for simps.

This list was supposed to include one more book but it's published under St. Martin's Press against which there is ongoing creator's boycott. While I'm not a creator and have 0 followers, I still want to support the boycott so I will not be mentioning the book title or the author. Also somehow this list took me almost an hour to write and the post is already huge. Will to mediocre books list in another post

[druggeddraccus]

ssp3 spoilers/review

rambling as i struggle to put my thoughts into words so i will not be a good debate partner on this lol sorry

yumi and the nightmare painter—it was okay not my favorite i can see why people are loving it so much i just had a hard time connecting with the characters and maybe it will change with reread.

anyway i came out with similar feelings/issues towards both frugal wizard and nightmare painter. and it just boils down to not liking the main characters.

it took till the beginnings of the sanderlanche for me to really start to enjoy both books. like as all the loose threads were going together i started to enjoy it more. and most of that is because i struggled to relate and enjoy the main characters.

cause with sanderson the characters are what you fall in love with first and that helps drive you to the sanderlanche. but if i’m struggling to enjoy the characters it’s going to be a subpar book until i get to that point. idk if that makes sense to anyone else but it makes sense in my brain lol

the worldbuilding is fucking cool as shit—neon lights, floating plants etc etc. and the story itself was really cool and the ending really helped solidify the story for me. the ending made the story.

(though i would have preferred yumi not come back—sometimes you need the sad ending) (“my gf turned into the moon” “that’s rough buddy”—im just saying it would’ve been cool—and there’s cosmere/investiture theories that i am not well versed in that could have applied toward her death (like kelsiers situation but again idk enough about it to properly theorize) i just know kelsier is kinda alive and yumi could have been mostly if not all dead yknow—lil sadness if he didn’t want to go the full princess yue)

i really enjoyed design and liyun (hoid was cool too—the heavy narration is starting to bug me a bit but it was good) i just did not enjoy the main characters. they weren’t the ones driving me to the sanderlanche so it made it more difficult to fully enjoy if that makes sense.

[wormygirlfailure]

What the fuck do you MEAN Kelsier is Thaidakar…I’ve read row, like over a year ago, did I just MISS that?! Honestly I might have just forgotten, that book was so lore heavy.

The plight of being a cosmere fan is finding out an incredibly important piece of information not from the books but from some random person on tumblr. I guess.

wait is it the row anniversary? wow. happy three years to UNETHICAL YURI and KALADIN i guess