Books and Babble
  • Home
  • Books
    • Book Review Archive
    • Movies, Places, etc
  • Babble
    • Tiki's Clicks >
      • Cameras
      • Phlog
      • Pictures >
        • Portraits
        • Europe 2006
        • Korea 2008
        • Ghost Town USA 2010
        • 2011 >
          • Seattle 2011
          • Critters
          • Southwesterly Parts >
            • Animas Forks
            • Silverton - Lake City
            • Moab
            • Santa Fe
            • MacDonald Observatory
            • Around Town
            • Bayfield
          • Northerly Parts >
            • North Shore Photo Shoot
            • Duluth
            • Boundary Waters
            • St. Louis
          • Niece
          • The Great American Road Trip
          • Pumpkin Pie from Scratch
        • 2012 >
          • St. Louis 0112
          • Wedding and Reception
          • Michigan & Minnesota
          • Camping in Jasper
          • Houston Zoo 102412
          • Smithville Photo Contest
          • HMNS Pixel Party
          • Texas Ren Fest
          • Picture A Day
        • 2013 >
          • Arizona
          • HMNS Pixel Party - Faberge 0213
          • Houston Lightning
          • New Orleans
          • Minnesota Road Trip
          • S&S Wedding
          • Fireworks
          • Hungary Hungary Honeymoon
  • About Me
    • Places
  • Bakes Blog

Review of Robert Jordan's "The Shadow Rising"

12/23/2013

0 Comments

 
Since this is the fourth book in the series, I won't go into explanations of characters or places. There will be spoilers (especially if you haven't read the first 3 books). Let's see if I can sum this up for you. To make things fun, I'm going to do it in list form. 

Rand al'thor:
Callandor
Lanfear
Trollocs
Aiel
Aviendha
Rhuidean
Car'a'carn
Al'Cair Dal
Origins
Asmodean


Mat Cauthon:
Tear 
Trollocs
Aiel
Rhuidean
Door
Hanged
Tinkers
Al'Cair Dal

Perrin:
Tear
Trollocs
Faile
The Ways
Two Rivers
Wolf Dreams
Lord Goldeneyes
White Cloaks
Wedding
Trollocs

Egwene, Nynaeve, and Elayne:
Tear
Black Ajah
Tanchico
Thom Merrilin
Egeanin
Ter'angreal
Moghedien

Min and Siuan Sanche:
Tar Valon
Elmindreda
Violent Visions
Elaida
Siuan Stilled
Elaida Amyrlin
Escape
Gawyn
Logain



To be honest, I'm pretty pleased with my list. I think I covered most of the main points. Let me know if you think I should add any others. 

Now on to the review:

Robert Jordan still has my attention. I want to know more about these characters and their particular paths. I have read the first 7 books before, but I am only remembering certain images and plot arcs. I'm missing chunks of the story. Rereading the books has been wonderful because it's mostly new again. One thing I really liked about this particular book is that you hear a lot about the main character, but you hear it from other people. Rand doesn't have many chapters where he is the voice. It's a nice change of pace. 

As I've mentioned in previous reviews, I have a problem with the women of books like these. The haughtiness in particular is a bother. With romances changing sides and new love interests being introduced... I don't think it's ever going to go away. Oh well. 

I remember the last time I read these books, I was in college. I was taking an history class about ancient Asia. The parallels I saw in that class and this book were really exciting. The Aiel are like  Mongols. There is even a Silk Road. I recommend looking in to it. It's really quite fascinating. 


Really enjoyed this book, looking forward to the next one! 
0 Comments

Review of Robert Jordan's "The Dragon Reborn"

9/7/2013

0 Comments

 
Gosh, these are getting more and more difficult to relate. Since this is the third book in the series, I am not going to summarize the books from here on out (Spoilers!). Since this book is titled "The Dragon Reborn" and assuming you have read the first two, I'll give you two guesses what this book is about. If you answer "the dragon reborn" you will be right.  Anyway, let's move on to the review. 

Review:

The story is not as connected as it was, not to say that the writing is not as connected, but each of the characters gets to go their own way, even if it is for only a short time. I like that the characters can come back together, but I enjoy it more when they go off on their own adventures and then come back together. 

I'm still listening to the audiobooks and am enjoying them immensely. When my attention wanders, the story progresses and I can pay attention again when I realize I haven't been. I was trying to figure out what I liked about this book so much. I think it may have something to do with the lack of story from Rand's point of view. I enjoy most of the characters stories, but when it comes time to tell Rand's, I'm just not that interested. This book actually tells the same story from many different sides. You keep getting updated about Rand, but it doesn't spend much time inside his head. 

One thing I love about these books is the parallels to our history. My brother has mentioned to me that he considers the different ages to be what we would consider a parallel universe. Things may be similar in some ways, but they are never quite exact. You can see this in the heroes of legend, Artur Hawkwing, Brigitte (who could totally be Sif). My brother also postulates that Matrim Cauthon could be Odin. There are many parallels, but it's too early in the series to mention all of them. As I get farther into the series I will come back to this point and my ideas about different characters. The point of this is that it is fun to try to puzzle out and I really appreciate that Robert Jordan took the time and the effort to put all those little details in place. 

Blood and bloody ashes, I don't know how I feel about the language in this book. There are times when I consider the analogies and comparisons to be unique and clever, but some things are completely overdone. If I hear Mat say, "blood and bloody ashes" one more time... ugh. Normally, I love the creativity in language. This book didn't have very much of that. I know that it changes with the different people groups that come in with different languages. So, I can't base my liking of the language on just one book. 

The idea of Tel'aran'rhiod is explored more in this book by several different characters in different ways. It's like introducing a completely different world to explore with different rules. It's almost as if Robert Jordan had several different stories in his head and he wanted to be able to make them all happen, but they couldn't because of the "rules" of the world he created. So, he created another world where all the stories could be told. I'm a fan. 

So, my response to this story. I liked the third book better than the first two. I have a feeling crazy Rand stories are going to take up a lot of the next book and I'm not sure I'm ready for that. We'll see. 
0 Comments

Review of Robert Jordan's "The Great Hunt"

8/1/2013

0 Comments

 
"The Great Hunt" is the second book in the "Wheel of Time" series. There characters are much the same in this book as they were in the last one. The first book in the series is "Eye of the World", and I have already reviewed it. 

In the first book, the Horn of Valere (when sounded, the dead heroes will come to the aid of he who sounded the horn, "The grave is no bar to my call") is located. The story starts out in Fal Dara where our characters rest. The Amyrlin Seat, the woman who is in charge of all aes sedai (women who can channel the One Power), rides to Fal Dara to meet with Rand, Mat, and Perrin (a wolf brother, which is a man who can communicate with wolves). These three boys are ta'veren, which means that the pattern of time and its events are woven around them, and they can even change the pattern if they are strong enough. While in Fal Dara, the Horn is stolen and so is Mat's tainted dagger (from Shadar Logoth, a place so corrupted that even the trollocs fear to enter) by Padan Fain, a darkfriend. Once Padan Fain takes the dagger, the evil of it seeps into him and he becomes an abomination. Without the dagger, however, Mat starts to get very sick. There is a bond between Mat and the dagger that only the aes sedai can break, but Mat must go to Tar Valon (the white tower, where aes sedai are trained). Rand, Mat, and Perrin go searching for Mat's dagger and the Horn of Valere. Egwene and Nynaeve go to Tar Valon to be trained. 

While in the tower, Egwene, Nynaeve, Elayne (Daughter Heir of Andor), and Min are sneaked out of the tower on a "secret mission" and lead through the Ways by an Aes Sedai named Liandrin. On the other side they are ambushed. Egwene is captured and put into an a'dam, which acts as a sort of collar that is controlled by the sul'dam (leash holder). The idea is that women who can channel are to be controlled or destroyed. The woman in the collar cannot do anything that the sul'dam does not want her to. Nynaeve and Min escape capture, so they try to rescue Egwene. 

Review:

Well, this was a fun read... or rather listen. I am listening to the audiobook. I find it easier to get through the descriptions. There is a lot of talk of clothes and locations, and I enjoy it. Sometimes it can be a little too much. That being said, the story is fantastic. There characters are relatable, engaging, and fun. I want to learn what happens next, and I want to see what the characters will choose. I can only imagine that a writer would have a hard time trying to capture the lives of so many different characters. I am wondering why I never finished the series. Maybe this will be the time. I really enjoy the way that Robert Jordan writes. I like how he uses analogies that relate to the characters he's written. I'm always confused by the titles of the books. I have a hard time telling the books apart based on the titles. 

I think Robert Jordan's attention to detail is wonderful, but can be distracting. I love his loyalty to the characters, and how he keeps them true to themselves. I love the whole side story of the Seanchan and am interested to see how this story will progress. 

I'm not going to state if I would recommend this book or not because it is the second book in the series. Perhaps at the end of this series I will state if I recommend it or not. I already started listening to the third book, and it's kinda hard to keep them separate in my brain. 
0 Comments

Review of Robert Jordan's "The Eye of the World"

6/19/2013

0 Comments

 
This is probably the third time I've "read" this book. I read it twice before and I listened to it this time. Why would I read this book so many times? Well, there are a few reasons. The first of which is that I read a good chunk of this series (Wheel of Time), 5 or 6 books (ranging from 600-1000 pages)at a time. It is at this point that I get burnt out on it. The second reason is that, despite my complaints about Jordan's unnecessarily detailed descriptions of what people are wearing, it's a very good series. The third reason why I keep going back to rereading it is that I just want to finish the darned thing. 

Well, this time I listened to it, and do you know what? I think I enjoyed it more. If it weren't for the fact that it took around 30 hours to listen to one book, I would probably continue doing so. Maybe when I get stuck later on, I will go back to audiobooks. We'll see. 

Why did I choose to reread it now? Well, I had an interesting conversation with my brother. Most conversations I have with my brother are interesting, I'll be fair. He and I have similar taste in books. I guarantee I've read some books that he would roll his eyes at, and I'm sure he's read some books that I tune out when he talks about them. For the most part, however, we have similar enough interests where we can talk about books, movies, shows, music, etc for extended periods of time. 

Back to this conversation: he suggested that in the different Ages of the Wheel of Time, there are different times that could be written as our same "universe" but during a different age. I used the example of Planet of the Apes when Charlton Heston discovers that he's been on Earth all along, he has just been in the distant future. So, perhaps Jordan wrote this story as either an Age in our past or an Age in our future? Who knows? The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills. 

On to the book:

The story is about a sheepherder named Rand. He and his friends survive a trolloc (large Troll like critters) attack and, in order to save their families and their village, they leave with an Aes Sedai (a woman who can wield the One Power, like the Force) and her Warder (like a body guard but different). Rand is accompanied by his two best friends, Mat and Perrin. The three of them are wanted by the Dark One. Two women from their village also accompany them and eventually discover that they are both able to wield the One Power. A Gleeman (Mr Bojangles who can juggle) named Thom also joins them. Along the way, they are hunted by the minions of the Dark One who chases them by day and fills their dreams by night. They get separated and their paths in the pattern diverge. Perrin discovers something ancient about himself. Mat tangles with some dark stuff that changes him for life. Rand meets a princess and sees a false Dragon (a man who can wield the One Power, which can only end in madness, who also believes he is the answer to prophecy). This is the first book in a 14 book series. There is a lot of information to cover. I tried my best to summarize without giving anything away. 

My review of this book:

It was excellent to listen to. I love the characters, I love the language, I love the writing. There are paragraphs I find myself skimming, so maybe it is better for me to listen to these books. My favorite thing about this book (this time around) is finding all the little things that could potentially be from a different "age". Maybe something from our past is in these stories (just wait until the next few books and I can go further into depth on this one). So far, the one I am most excited to mention is the Green Man and Mount Dhoom. The Green Man is a tree like creature/man. Perhaps Middle Earth is a different age of this world... of our world! Where do the Ogier come from? Trollocs? I want to know. I got some insight into Mat that is also exciting, but it is too early in the series to bring it up. 

Would I recommend this book to someone? Only if I thought they were willing to hang in there for 14 long books. You know what, I would recommend this book to anyone who is capable of reading a 700+ page book. So, reader, can you read? (see what I did there? Of course you can read, you're reading this blog!) Read the book. If you don't like it, you can yell at me or whatever, but I would rather you tell me why you didn't like it and maybe start a discussion. I like talking about books. I'd happily have a conversation about it with you. 

What didn't I like about the book? I've said it before and I'll say it again. I hate it when independent, spunky, rebellious female characters are portrayed as being solid as a diamond on the outside, but are super fragile when it comes to emotions. Haughty is a word I often use to describe characters like this. All the women that I can think of in the story are like this. Unnecessary. Also, the descriptions can get a little tedious at times. 

Anyway, this book left me really excited to read more of this series. Just trying to puzzle out the different Ages is going to be super fun! It's like Myst, but not interactive. 
0 Comments
    Picture
    For the record, these reviews are my personal opinions about the books I volunteer to read. I'm not getting paid by anyone to read or review them. A lot of people charge a penny for their thoughts... mine are free. 
    Subscribe to receive email updates!

    Enter your email address:

    Archives

    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    April 2012
    February 2012
    December 2011
    October 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    February 2011
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010

    Categories

    All
    A Dance With Dragons
    A Feast For Crows
    Aldous Huxley
    Allegiant
    Amanda Palmer
    Amy Tan
    Anansi Boys
    Andrew Matthews
    Anne Of Green Gables
    Apt Pupil
    A Sound Of Thunder
    Audrey Niffenegger
    Austin
    Authors
    Battle Royale
    Bbc
    Benjamin Button
    Billy Pilgrim
    Book Club
    Books
    Book Sale
    Brandon Sanderson
    Brave New World
    Brians Winter
    Bushwhack
    Cabin In The Woods
    Cemetery
    Childrens Books
    Chuck Ney
    Cindy Spencer Pape
    Click
    Cloud Atlas
    Coraline
    Crooked Tree
    Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
    Cycle Of The Werewolf
    David Farland
    David Mitchell
    David Sedaris
    Desperation
    Diana Gabaldon
    Different Seasons
    Dinosaurs
    Dirk Gently
    Divergent
    Douglas Adams
    Dress Your Family In Corduroy And Denim
    Drinking Game
    Dystopian
    Earthsea
    Elantris
    Emp
    Enders Game
    Ender Wiggin
    Epistolary
    Equus
    Everythings Eventual
    Eye Of The World
    Eyes Of The Dragon
    Family Film
    Fantasy
    Fiction
    Flash Gold
    Flipped
    Foxfire
    Frank Peretti
    Fran Kranz
    F Scott Fitzgerald
    Game Of Thrones
    Gary Oldman
    Gary Paulsen
    George R R Martin
    Gerald Chicalo
    Gerald's Game
    Gnomeo And Juliet
    Goosebumps
    Half Price Books
    Half Way Home
    Hamlet
    Handling The Undead
    Hatchet
    Haven
    Homesteading
    Horns
    Hugh Howey
    Hunger Games
    Hunted
    I Love Video
    Insomnia
    Insurgent
    Interstate 60
    Into The Tall Grass
    James Marsden
    Jeff Blumenfeld
    Jeff Wheeler
    Joe Hill
    John Ajvide Lindqvist
    John Steinbeck
    Joss Whedon
    Justin Scalise
    Kathryn Stockett
    Kindle
    Kurt Vonnegut
    Kvothe
    Language
    Lets Get Invisible
    Library
    Lindsay Buroker
    Liseys Story
    LM Montgomery
    Michigan
    Monkeys Paw
    Monster
    Monty Roberts
    Movie Review
    Movies
    Movie Store
    Needful Things
    Neil Gaiman
    Netflix
    Night Of The Living Dummy
    Nonfiction
    Of Mice And Men
    One Second After
    Orson Scott Card
    Outlander
    Patrick Rothfuss
    Paul Bettany
    Peacemaker
    Performance
    Photographs And Phantoms
    Places
    Plague Dogs
    Planet Of The Apes
    Play
    Post Apocalyptic
    P&P
    Pride & Prejudice & Zombies
    Priest
    Ray Bradbury
    Relationships
    Review
    Richard Adams
    R L Stine
    Robert A. Heinlein
    Robert C. Wilson
    Robert Deike
    Robert Jordan
    Rolf Potts
    Romance
    Romeo And Juliet
    Sandkings
    Sci-fi
    Serial Story
    Shakespeare
    Shardik
    Shawshank Redemption
    Short Story
    Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
    Slaughterhouse-five
    Something Wicked This Way Comes
    Song Of Ice And Fire
    Spoilers
    Stand By Me
    Starship Troopers
    Steampunk
    Stephen King
    Survival
    Suzanne Collins
    Texas
    The Cabin In The Woods
    The Colorado Kid
    The Dark Tower
    The Dragon Reborn
    The Girl Who Cried Monster
    The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
    The Great Hunt
    The Help
    The Horse Whisperer
    The Joy Luck Club
    The Kingkiller Chronicles
    The Life Of Pi
    The Long Dark Teatime Of The Soul
    The Lost World
    The Man Who Listens To Horses
    The Mist
    The Name Of The Wind
    The Shadow Rising
    The Shining
    The Stand
    The Sum Of All Men
    The Talisman
    The Time Travelers Wife
    The Wise Man's Fear
    The Wretched Of Muirwood
    Thinner
    Travel
    Update
    Ur
    Ursula Leguin
    Vagabonding
    Veronica Roth
    Watership Down
    What Im Reading
    Wheel Of Time
    Where The Red Fern Grows
    William R. Forstchen
    Wilson Rawls
    Wizard Of Earthsea
    W W Jacobs
    Yann Martel
    You Want To Go Where

    RSS Feed

Copyright © 2015 COPYRIGHT Nicole Koves. All rights reserved.