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The second book in the Mistborn series. I liked it more than the first one, I think. I now know the characters. The stakes are higher, even though one big thing already happened in book 1 (no spoilers) that could make you think that book 2 would be easy-going. But that's not the case and I was even more invested in the plot now. Looking forward to part three.
Sidenote: Brandon Sanderson is a master of magic systems. The 'allomancy' that he has created (and that keeps getting revealed throughout the books) is very cool.
Sidenote 2: Again, I could very much visualize in my head many scenes from the book. I hope they turn this into a good TV show or movie some day (but don't overdo it with the magic CGI please; don't repeat what Amazon did to the Wheel of Time material).
Have been meaning to get into the Mistborn series for a while and finally got around to the first book. I really enjoyed it. Brandon Sanderson is such a great world builder. The plot is gripping, but in a slow and methodical way. There are faster paced stories out there, but I liked that the characters had time to develop rather than rushing from plot point to plot point. His magic system of allomancy is amazing and only slowly unravels throughout the book. Some of the scenes I could already picture as a movie (matrix-style bullet time, but driven by a coherent magic system). Maybe we'll see a movie of this series someday.
Not a "one story in one book" kind of book. Rather, the chronological collection of various versions of the tale of Beren and Lúthien (first published in the Silmarillion, I think). Some chapters are prose, some in form of poems.
Brief versions: The mortal man Beren and the immortal elf-maid Lúthien cannot "just be together" (because her father does not approve) so they go on a quest to collect a Silmaril, the most precious gem in existence which just so happens to be in the possession of Morgoth, the most evil creature in existence. Drama ensues.
There are some parts which are dry. Christopher Tolkien goes into detail on the single fragments that he pieced together from his father's unpublished material, which is interesting in a way, but also sometimes it's not.
But then there are parts where I myself was surprised at how captivating a poem spanning 20+ pages can be. The tale itself is beautiful and dragged me into the realm of middle-earth again.
Spent a few weeks listening to the audio book. In one way to prepare for the upcoming season of the TV show, in the second way to finally continue with the original work. I had read book 1 and 4, but somehow left some gaps in between.
So, this was really good! Great characters, amazing dialog, well-crafted universe. Learned some new details here and there; the true and tragic story of Ser Jorah Mormont's lost love, just to name one.
Good to see that after years I can still get more and more invested in the story. To be honest though, I will probably never be able to remember the Targaryen family tree. Well, maybe after the next book.
Verdict: 37 hours well spent.
After a couple of non-fiction books, I wanted to just grab a light read. Read this in a stressful time, so I didn't fully devote my attention to the story, which is why it didn't capture me completely and confused me sometimes. I laughed in parts, but yeah, can't really rate this properly, because I didn't pay attention all the time. I think this is a good story though, definitely had some captivating characters.
Wow, what a weird again into Neil Gaiman's world that's kind of like our world, but in a weird way. This book made me want to go on a road trip through the US. Overall, I really liked it, even though somehow Gaiman's fantasy is sometimes too... unpredictable (?) for me. I like when I have a feeling for what could or could not happen in a fictional world, but with Gaiman's stories, this feeling never sets in.
Spannendes Universum, interessante Charaktere -- und irgendwie ein Hauch von russischer Kultur, den ich gar nicht fassen konnte, der mir aber zugesagt hat. Die Sprache war in Teilen schleppend, ich vermute das passiert einfach mit Übersetzungen. Vermutlich ist es in Russisch besser, aber halt außerhalb meines Horizonts. So hat es mich in Phasen als Leser leider verloren, dann aber wegen einer spannenden Aktion wieder gewonnen. Ein Auf und Ab, so wie diese Bewertung. Mal schauen, ob ich den nächsten Teil noch lesen werde (Tendenz ja), vorerst aber erst anderes.
What I had heard about this book ranged from "the best fantasy book in like EVER" to "completely overhyped". My own opinion lies somewhere in the middle. A very character driven story - which I liked. However, there just didn't seem to happen... much? I know it's book 1 of an unfinished trilogy, but so far it all felt like setting the scene so that the story could take off. Curious to learn how it continues, but will probably read some other books first.
The third and final book of the first Mistborn series. For me it was a banger. Best one out of the three, packed with action. I also liked the plot centered around Sazed who explores religion and why people believe or don’t believe. My personal gripe with all Sanderson books though: I often find myself thinking “oh, this is cleverly written”, looking at the craft of writing and how Sanderson constructs his stories and his worlds. Unfortunately this breaks the immersion for me at times.