I do not have a fucking clue about what that book was about. Everytime I started reading it I suddenly started to feel very, very sleepy. Maybe this was part of the problem. Plot is vaguely: Severian is an apprentice torturer. He befriends one of the people his guild has to torture, helps her kill … Continue reading
Category Archives: Fantasy
Book review: Outlander
I think you’ve got a problem with storytelling when most of your dramatic tension revolves around attempted rape or rape. But in the case of Outlander – the guys probably get it worse. I think most of the rape against women turn out to be attempted whereas the guys who get raped are…well…concluded. So plot: … Continue reading
Book review: Sunshine
So, when I thought this was on the list I first thought it must be the novel version of the film Sunshine and was then tremendously disappointed that it was a fucking vampire novel. I haven’t read Twilight and the books that I’ve read with vampires tend to either be Terry Pratchett, Bram Stoker or … Continue reading
Book review: Conan the Barbarian
Oh my god. OH MY GOD. The grandfather of fantasy, Conan the Barbarian, sets the stage for all the ridiculous sexism that shows up in later fantasy novels. I wish I could say it was kind of a guilty pleasure like Starship Troopers but it’s not. It’s just…upsetting. There are a lot of stories, so … Continue reading
Book review: Magician
So, apparently back when this was first published, Raymond E. Feist was told to make it shorter. However, after he became famous, he expanded it and it was republished – much to my dismay. 841 pages of dismay. So, the plot is interesting enough: a rift is opened between two worlds and a war-mongering empire … Continue reading
Book review: Furies of Calderon
The tragedy about this book is that it had a fairly good plot but was pretty much let down by several shoddy characters and the fact that we’re still basically left in the same position as we were at the start of the book. The plot is: a newly minted Cursor (like a secret agent) … Continue reading
Book review: Gardens of the Moon
This book had A LOT going on in it. A lot of it seemed to be like “Ooo! This is a neat idea…” and then it went NOWHERE. How do I describe the plot: there’s an Empress who is hell bent on expansion, taking over cities there’s a lot of people who don’t like her … Continue reading
Book review: The Last Unicorn
Okay, so maybe there’s some inverse law where a book is really good, the film has to be crap and if the film is good, the book is crap. This is how I feel about The Last Unicorn and The Princess Bride. Seriously, does anyone remember how weird the animation of The Last Unicorn was? … Continue reading
Book review: The Sword in the Stone
This was supposed to be about The Once and Future King but I can’t get into the next book. It feels entirely nonsensical but also just really dull. The Sword in the Stone was entertaining enough, though it did entirely have that feeling that the author didn’t even remotely entertain the idea that women or … Continue reading
Book review: Homeland
So this book has all the subtlety of a sledgehammer to your face. Given that, it’s still sort of enjoyable? But by about page 200, you’re a bit tired of all the sneers and plotting. It’s not even subtle plotting – everyone’s motivations are just told to you, rather than having anything come together slowly. … Continue reading
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