Mistborn:
The Final Empire, Brandon
Sanderson
672|Gollancz|1st
October 2009
Synopsis
A
thousand years ago evil came to the land and has ruled with an iron hand ever
since. The sun shines fitfully under clouds of ash that float down endlessly
from the constant eruption of volcanoes. A dark lord rules through the
aristocratic families and ordinary folk are condemned to lives of servitude,
sold as goods, labouring in the ash fields.
But
now a troublemaker has arrived and there is rumour of revolt. A revolt that
depends on a criminal that no one can trust and a young girl who must master
Allomancy – the magic that lies in all metals.
Review
For the last few months, most of
my Twitter feed has been raving about Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy, especially after Gollancz launched the Mistborn Readalong ahead of the release
of Shadows of Self, and I felt like I
was missing out. I was.
Before beginning The Final Empire I had introduced myself
to the world of Brandon Sanderson with The
Rithmatist and I loved it. The characters, the world-building and the magic
system blew my mind, but that had nothing on Mistborn. I have to admit that the first hour or so of the
audiobook was a little slow and I struggled to grasp the mechanics of
Allomancy, but in an audio nearly 25 hours long, that’s really not too shabby!
I fell hard in love with it though.
The magic system is intense and
detailed and I was completely fascinated. I expected to maybe get a little
bored as all of the details were worked out and it played into the long,
precisely described fight scenes as I tend to in those scenes, but I was
entranced and I could see it all unfolding so clearly – I usually get a little
lost in the action! I think it helps that Allomancy – the science-y, magic of
swallowing metals and taking power from them – is ingenius and like nothing
I've come across before and I really wanted to know how it would show itself in
battles.
As strong as a world is, for me,
a book can't stand without its characters and I fell in love with mistrustful
Vin; bold, determined Kelsier; adorably hapless Elend; knowledgeable and loyal
Sazed and the rest of Kel’s crew. I was championing them from the beginning and
I became surprisingly invested in their wellbeing as Sanderson isn’t afraid to
kill of his characetrs. There was one loss in particular that I couldn’t quite
get my head around and I was really rather devastated; I'm just hoping it
didn’t happen at all and they’ll make their way back to the crew.
Brandon Sanderson has
revolutionised my idea of high fantasy and I’m so excited to continue with this
series and slowly devour his backlist.
The
Martian, Andy Weir
385|Del
Rey|28th August 2014
Synopsis
I’m stranded on Mars.
I have no way to communicate with Earth.
I’m in a Habitat designed to last 31 days.
If the Oxygenator breaks down, I’ll suffocate. If
the Water Reclaimer breaks down, I’ll die of thirst. If the Hab breaches, I’ll
just kind of explode. If none of those things happen, I’ll eventually run out
of food and starve to death.
So yeah. I'm screwed.
Review
I was
really nervous about reading The Martian.
Excited because of all the hype, but also really nervous because of all the
hype. Luckily, I completely loved it.
One of
the biggest criticisms of the novel is the amount of science and maths in the
story and I was worried that I'd find it a little boring but that wasn’t the
case at all. The science and maths was often the biggest part of Mark’s day and
a lot for those back at NASA trying to figure out how to keep him alive;
without it, The Martian would be a
very short novel! But I also think it just brings home the marvel of space
travel and the technology, time and money needed for it to work at a most basic
level. I found it really fascinating.
I have to
admit that it was definitely helped by Mark’s dry, witty and sarcastic
delivery. I listened to this on audiobook and the narrator, RC Bray, was
wonderful. His hit all of the comic nuances perfectly and I could clearly
detect the change in tone when the POV switched from Mark to NASA. Every
character felt distinctive and fully drawn and I was interested in everything
that was going on, never wanting to skip any perspectives which is always a
possibility with split narrations!
I loved The Martian and it met all of my
expectations. The only thing I wanted that I didn’t get was a little more of an
epilogue. Though the story did end there, it also didn’t and I want more.
The Snow Sister,
Emma Carroll
Illustrated by
Julian de Narvaez
100|Faber|1st October
2015
Synopsis
Pearl
was putting the finishing touches to a person made of snow. And that person,
with coal for eyes and a turnip for a nose, was now wearing Pearl’s sister’s
best shawl.
It's
Christmas Eve and Pearl Granger is making a snow sister. It won't bring her real
sister back. But a snow sister is better than no sister.
Then
a mysterious letter arrives, with a surprise that will stir the heart of
Pearl’s family.
Will
Christmas ever be the same again?
Review
At only 100 pages, The Snow Sister is a short and sweet
Christmas novella.
Set around the mid to late-1800s,
Pearl’s story begins on Christmas Eve. She comes from a poor family who is
still grieving the loss of Agnes, Pearl’s sister, and Christmas hasn’t been a
proper Christmas since. But with a letter arriving from Bath, it seems their
luck might be changing and Pearl runs to the shop to buy the ingredients to
make a celebratory cake! But Pearl’s day doesn’t go quite as planned…
The
Snow Sister has
a surprisingly adventure, highlights the disparity between the rich and the
poor in Victorian England and, like all good Christmas stories, teaches you
that it’s who you have, not what you have.
A lovely, sweet and beautifully
illustrated tale that will be the perfect bedtime story for Christmas Eve.
Sophie
No comments:
Post a Comment
Leave a message, I'd love to hear from you!