Monday 23 May 2016

The Master Magician



Book 12 of 2016 is The Master Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg.

This is the third book in The Paper Magician series.

If I had stopped at the first book, I would have missed the quality of books two and three. This series improved exponentially in time.

There are much better feminist protagonists but placing this in a historical setting helps justify her behaviour. Thing is, Jane Austin would have slapped her silly.

The second book is the peak of this series and I'm not stoked with how this went but it was ok.

Three teenage girls in love with their teachers out of five.

Should I read this? Only if like me, you have Kindle Unlimited. I'd not have read this series if it wasn't free to me, thanks to a Prime subscription.
What did I learn? Women can undermine themselves far too easily by dating colleagues. In all eloquence, I stick with the idea that you shouldn't shit where you eat.

Saturday 21 May 2016

The Glass Magician




Book 11 of 2016 is The Glass Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg. This is the second book in The Paper Magician series which I read last September.

The first book annoyed at how teenager whiney the first book was that I didn't want to finish the series. It was the reviews from Good Reads users who made me want to read the second book.

The second book is much better than the first and I went straight in to the third. This is mainly due to the female lead becoming less teenage infatuated girl and more grown up. Instead of courting her teacher, she goes out on missions to slay great magicians. This makes me happy.

Three broke mirrors and 14 years bad luck out of five.

Should I read this? Probably not. The first book is not easy to get through.
What did I learn? Competent woman are amazing.

Wednesday 4 May 2016

Seveneves



Book 10 of 2016 is Seveneves by Neil Stephenson.

This book has been a reading project for the last 4 months. At Christmas time, I bought four copes and distributed to my reading friends. One took it up and demolished it in no time while the others, I must chase to complete this 880 page tome.

What I can tell you is that this book is worth every second I got the pleasure to spend on it. There were no slow moments. Every part lead to the next. Every challenge felt uncomfortable but absolutely necessary. Each word and page and chapter and plot and play was well played and entirely satisfying.

I won't ruin anything for you except to say that if there were seven Eves then this is the way the nine should end.

In the words of the recently departed Prince of purple...
All seven and we'll watch them fall
They stand in the way of love
And we will smoke them all
With an intellect and a savior-faire
No one in the whole universe
Will ever compare

5 evolutions out of 5.

Should I read this? This is a sci-fi must. A must. Like, read it NOW.
What did I learn? Who runs the world? Girls.