I’m not Impressed with Zelazny’s Amber, and Here are the Reasons

So, they say that Chronicles of Amber is a classic. A ten-volumes tale about an Amber prince and his son, a tale of alternative realities and parallel worlds, a symbolic tale of conflict between order and chaos. So they say. And I've read the whole thing, and I'm not that impressed. Maybe I'm based. Or … Continue reading I’m not Impressed with Zelazny’s Amber, and Here are the Reasons →

Rain Wilds Chronicles by Robin Hobb

Trigger Warning: SPOILERS For the last two years or more, I have been both wrong and right about Robin Hobb's books on the Realms of the Elderlings. I was right that the less Six Duchies' story, the better everything gets. But I was wrong that the author herself is homophobic. Or sexist on purpose. Liveship … Continue reading Rain Wilds Chronicles by Robin Hobb →

“Prodigal Summer” by Barbara Kingsolver

It's almost incredible, to read another book by an author and to know at once that, yes, it was worth to return to that writer. Barbara Kingsolver is one of them. Prodigal Summer is, after a way, similar to Flight Behaviour. Here and there, we get a story of unwealthy white people from American South. … Continue reading “Prodigal Summer” by Barbara Kingsolver →

Deeplight by Frances Hardinge

Oh, what a strange and wondrous book it was! After a way, it's a departure from the previous works of Hardinge, at least from those I've read so far, such as Cuckoo Song, A Skinful of Shadows, or The Lie Tree. This time, the author doesn't write of England's not so glorious past, of class … Continue reading Deeplight by Frances Hardinge →

Valdemar Revisited

They are fine. It's fine. They are fine. Those Valdemar books by Mercedes Lackey. Recently, I've read another couple of Valdemar books, including an omnibus about Tarma and Kethry, the pair of a warrior and a sorceress, Brightly Burning, a tale of fire-gifted Herald, and Mage Storms omnibus, which is just the penultimate sequence in … Continue reading Valdemar Revisited →

Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver

I was a bit afraid of returning to the works of Barbara Kingsolver. Although I loved The Poisonwood Bible and The Lacuna, I was dissapointed with Unsheltered. I felt as if there was too much politics there, even if I agreed with the author on many levels. Also, the narration wasn't as captivating as in … Continue reading Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver →

Once Authors didn’t make PoCs out of Important Historical Figures? 😂

You haven't read The General in His Labyrinth, then. Because in this novel published 1989 by Gabriel García Márquez, Simón Bolívar is literally Black. You know, that guy who was a Latinx Washington and after whom the whole country was named. Is Black. In Márquez's novel. Brace yourselves because I have a Spanish version, not … Continue reading Once Authors didn’t make PoCs out of Important Historical Figures? 😂 →

The Nightrunner Series by Lynn Flewelling

I have certain problems with book series which were progressive as for their times in one aspect but were quite mediocre on other levels. Some of those series, like Darkover by Marion Zimmer Bradley, made me literally angry. Some others, like books of Lynn Flewelling, gave me fun, actually. Nevertheless, I should not forget about … Continue reading The Nightrunner Series by Lynn Flewelling →

Deverry Revisited

I didn't expect that Deverry Series would grow indifferent to me and that I would be no longer interested in it. But having read five more novels from this universe—three from the second tetralogy, an installment of the third tetralogy, and the brand new Sword of Fire—reassured me of it sadly. Do you see already … Continue reading Deverry Revisited →

Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb

Trigger warning: an incoherent reflection. No explicit spoilers, though I had fears about this trilogy. I remembered enough that in the books on Fitz Farseer by this author, there was too much of heavy-handed moralising and of somewhat simplified intrigue. So I approached this new trilogy unsure about what to expect. And it was almost … Continue reading Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb →