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The Warded Man

Book Notes Instead of being asleep at 19:32 on 22 January 2017, kitt created this:

The Warded Man, book one of the Demon Cycle, has been on my list for a while now, along with books two, three, and four. It was often mentioned in the same breath/suggestion as Name of the Wind, though different authors and different worlds. This book is where meet Arlen, Leesha, and Rojer. I can't say I was excited about three main characters and following along different story lines. When Jordan did it with the Wheel of Time, and Martin did it with the Song of Ice and Fire, well, I skipped over the perspectives that are just so boring. Didn't have that problem with this book.

I enjoyed this book. The big time gaps in the story didn't bother me as much as they did in, say, the Saga of the Seven Suns, which is odd, because there are big time gaps, a year spent warding a library, a lifetime (not really, but let's call it 7 years) learning to juggle and entertain a crowd. We skim the highlights of the lives, not seeing the tedium of a daily life.

One of the things I really like about the book is the practical application of both Stoicism and Buddhism. Neither is explained outright, but both are strongly present.

The world is engaging, and the story a fun ride. I'll keep reading the series.

Quotes from the book that caught my attention:

“We are what we choose to be, girl,” she said. “Let others determine your worth, and you’ve already lost, because no one wants people worth more than themselves...." - Bruna

“Welcome to adulthood,” Cob said. “Every child finds a day when they realize that adults can be weak and wrong just like anyone else. After that day, you’re an adult, like or not.” - Cob, page 192

The Slow Regard of Silent Things

Book Notes kitt decided around 18:22 on 12 January 2017 to publish this:

Okay, this book starts out with a warning from Rothfuss about how you, the reader, shouldn't buy this book. In as much as I had already bought the book, the warning was a bit too late.

Amusingly enough, the last part of the book continues this trend, with an explanation of how the book came to be, and came to be published.

I enjoyed the book, even if I know that Andy hated the book. It's about Auri, and the perceived workings of an off-drummer, but-I'm-sane-from-my-perspective mind. It has nothing to do with Kvothe, which puts it in a weird place.

I wouldn't recommend the book.

The illustrations, however, are delightful, and could make really nice woodblock or letterpress prints.

Babylon's Ashes

Book Notes Instead of being asleep at 17:19 on 8 January 2017, kitt created this:

That this book took me a week to finish would have me concerned about my reading speed, except there are so many good parts, so many relevant parts, in it that I'm okay with my reading it slowly. The arc of the book is predictable, the character development is expected, the action is as imagined. What caught me in this book is the wording, the details, the smaller message, and the underlying lesson in the book.

That, and the relevancy of the book to today's politics. If I didn't know any better, I would swear that Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck KNEW how the election would turn out and published the book as a road map to dealing with the aftermath and provide comfort to rational, good people around. There were so many good quotes from the book, so many places where I had to stop reading and just think about what I had just read, that I highly recommend this book. Problem is, to read this book, you kinda need to read the previous five books in the Expanse series (including the one that just pissed me off).

I have been really enjoying the series (minus that one book), so yeah, have to say read it read it read it, but will temper it with, "If you can get through the previous five."

The Wise Man's Fear

Book Notes kitt decided around 22:38 on 30 December 2016 to publish this:

"It is the patient, cut-flower sound of a man who is waiting to die."

Okay, book two of the Kingkiller Chronicle, Rothfuss continues along right where The Name of The Wind left off. Like, I finished one book and picked up the next and boom, I was back in the same world.

And wow, was I happy to be back. All the characters I expected were back, a few were added, and dammit, I now have to wait for book three to come out sometime in the next... never.

Of the book, well, the last 80 pages or so are the denouement, which was somewhat amusing to me, to have so much of the story as a wrap-it-up-already part of the tale. I kept thinking, what, why. There were a couple of twists that I did not see coming, which is great. For the most part, I enjoyed the book highly, wish I had taken more notes, and will recommend the (yes, still unfinished) series.

Wait, I do have something to complain about. When Kvothe tells the Chronicler in the first book his story will take three days to tell, he was living on a planet with 58 hour days. How do I know this? Because the audiobook is 43 hours long. It tells of Kvothe's second day of telling, glossing over some of the auxiliary events and interactions of the day. If the telling took 43 hours, that wasn't a single-day telling. Rothfuss wrote a Jordan-worthy saga, and let us all have it for cheap.

Name of the WInd

Book Notes Posted by kitt at 22:19 on 13 December 2016

I have had this book on my shelf for a long time. I knew this was the first book of the series and that the series wasn't completely written and that the fans of the author are as frustrated with the author's not completing the series as much as George R.R. Martin's fans are at not finishing the Song of Ice and Fire already. So, I hadn't started the series, of which there are two books currently published.

Well, earlier this month, for reasons I don't quite recall, I picked up the book and started reading.

And immediately kicked myself for not having started reading the book when it was published, almost ten f'ing years ago.

The story is told in two timelines: present with Kote the innkeeper, and Kvothe, a young kid of eight as he grows up and into Kote. The first part of the book, described to me as "the slow start of the book, just get through it to the good stuff," was interesting. And I like how the present and past interweave. I like Rothfuss' story telling, and I like the world he has created.

Recommended if you like sci-fi fantasy books.

Along with the next book, The Wise Man's Fear, which I started reading about 5 minutes after I finished this one. That one is going to mean I've read only 73 books this year, since it'll likely take me until the end of the year to finish it. And then I'll be among the many, many fans wondering when book three will be out.

The Man With The Golden Torc

Book Notes Yeah, kitt finished writing this at 20:14 on 2 December 2016

Book 1 of the Secret Histories series.

I enjoyed the Nightshade series by Simon R Green, so when Amazon suggested this book, I figured it would be a fun read.

Of course, I didn't realize that the series was already like twelve books long.

Still.

This book is a fun read. It's about Eddie Drood, of the Drood family, the secret entity protecting the world. Each member of the Drood family wears a gold-colored torc, a rigid "neck ring" made of metal, designed to be worn permanently. Wikipedia has a better description of torcs. The torc has the magical abilities to give its wearer extraordinary strength, protection from injury, and near impenetrability.

The book starts out with Edwin being given a task by the Matriarch of the family, after Edwin describes just how much he hated growing up in the family. Family is family, so he accepts the task offered, and is subsequently attacked by legions of enemies. He spends the rest of the book figuring out WTH is going on. In the middle of it, he finds Molly, and together they continue to figure out what is going on.

Like all modern fairy tales, OF COURSE they figure out what's going on.

I enjoyed the book, even if I guessed wrong on the true purpose of the Matriarch's task. I thought it was to take out the Drood family's strong enemies. It wasn't. Still, a fun read.

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