Fantasy – Page 4 – Nonfiction and Nonsense

Crescent City: House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas

With HOFAS due to arrive at my house on February 2nd I did it again and read another book consisting of over 700 pages in less than 48 hours. I could not put House of Sky and Breath down, and it wasn’t because I was in a rush to read the newly released third book of the series. We finally got answers to the many questions that we were left with at the end of HOEAB. On top of that, new mysteries were placed before us in this second Crescent City novel, and I found myself surprised more than once with things I wasn’t even considering and did not see coming. I was happy that there wasn’t an overload of new information right at the start which seemed to overwhelm me and the majority of everyone else who has read the first book. However, we were given just as much new information to mull over and try to sort through. I did have to add to my pages of notes that I took during the first book because I knew that there was no way I was going to remember everything. I also knew that even the smallest thing could come up big in the future. Even though I know I will be re-reading these books at some point in the future, the notes are good to have on hand.

I will preface this next paragraph by saying there are minor spoilers ahead, but if you are here reading this it is likely that you have already finished reading HOEAB and hopefully HOSAB. I am not going to give an overview of the book, it would be impossible, I am just going to express some of my overall feelings. You may now continue if you wish, you have been warned.

At the end of HOEAB Bryce and Hunt were in her apartment trying to wind down after saving the city from Hel’s demons. Before they could seal the deal, they were both interrupted by phone calls, Bryce getting one from her mother and Hunt getting one from Isaiah. They both end up going to help sort out all the chaos that occurs after the battle which also included the deaths of two very important leaders. We find out in HOSAB that afterwards, instead of going home and finishing what they started, Bryce told Hunt that she wanted to take things slow, and get to know each other better. Several months have passed and they have been working on their friendship, and in terms of their physical relationship it seems like at most they have been holding hands and doing cheek and forehead kisses. Then we learn that she suggested a date to consummate their relationship, and that it is still months away. I was so disappointed when I read this, I believe I actually let out a drawn out, “What?” in frustration. I tried to make peace with myself after coming to realize that it was going to be a long time before any action happened. Luckily, my hope of Bryce changing the terms came true and we ended up not having to wait too long for something to happen, if you count a quarter of the entire book as not being too long. But the wait is worth it, because this book gets spicy. For two people that were incredibly attracted to each other, they have an amazing amount of self control. I feel like the wait we had to go through as readers was as frustrating as it was for these imaginary characters in their situation.

Obviously, there is way more to this book than just the spice. We get to learn more about Hunt’s friend, Tharion, the mer man. He actually has kind of a tragic backstory and you end up feeling really bad for the guy. Ithan gets a bigger role in this story, which I ended up loving. He’s a really selfless, kind guy, he just believed in the lies that were spread because no one was able to present him with the truth until recently, and I am glad he and Bryce were able to mend their friendship. The story ends really tragically though, with some of the characters being captured and the core gang getting split up. But it is the last chapter in the book, the chapter with the biggest and most exciting cliffhanger I have ever read, that is probably the greatest thing to ever happen in fantasy novel history. I was more excited about getting to read HOFAS than I was when I got to read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows after that two year wait. I will just say that it has something to do with my favorite SJM series. After finishing this book, I think that this is now my second favorite series in the SJM universe. And I think after I have finished the next book in a few days I will be solid with my resolve in this decision.

Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

Fiction

I went into this book knowing very little, the basics basically. The biggest pieces I knew were that the main character was a woman named Bryce, there were a lot of mythical creatures and hybrids, and that the author was inspired to write it after watching Zootopia with her kids. I honestly wish I had never heard that last part because I kept thinking about Zootopia and the similarities between the film and this book as I was reading. Knowing that bit of background information didn’t diminish how much I enjoyed the story overall, it just distracted me a lot.

As for the story itself, I didn’t like it immediately, and not just because it was kind of hard to follow in the beginning. Something about it just wasn’t drawing me in at first, but having finished it I can say that I would read it again, and I will read it again. People were not joking when they said that no one has any idea what is going on for the first fifty pages, and if they say they did then they were lying. I myself took about three standard notebook sized pages of notes while I was reading, two of them I filled up during those first fifty pages. I think that the overwhelming pile of information you get at the very beginning may cause some people to want to give up reading it altogether. But be strong! Once you get past all that and the story begins to unfurl, you will not want to stop reading. I think I may have hit a personal record when I finished this 799 page book in less than 48 hours. Essentially, I only stopped to eat, sleep, shower, take care of my cat, and assure a few people that I was alive and ok. It is rare that I find a book that makes me want to put everything else in my life on hold because I need to finish the story. I think my favorite thing overall was that even though the story had merpeople, fae, angels, and a bunch of other creatures, they existed in a world that also had modern technology. I have been longing for a story like this for a long time.

I was coming up with predictions as I went, but a lot of them ended up being wrong. I placed a lot of post its to mark things I thought were important to go back to. There was one specific phrase that is uttered many times in the ACOTAR series that was said a few times in this book. And even though I went into this book almost blind, I do go on the internet, and though I tried extremely hard to avoid spoilers, I wasn’t able to dodge all of them. I think the characters of Prythian might end up meeting some of the characters of Valbara. I think this phrase was giving us readers a hint. I am not joking when I say that as soon as I finish writing this review I am opening up the next book. My plan was to give myself a week to read each of the two preceding books in the hope that I would be ready to go once I got my copy of HOFAS. I really underestimated myself. I think I am going to end up going to a midnight party to try and get a copy of the book the very second it goes on sale, because I know I am going to finish the next book just as quickly as the first one.

The First Girl Child by Amy Harmon

Fiction

I amused myself by selecting a book with the word ‘first’ in the title to read as my first review of the year, and I didn’t even need to go out and buy anything as I already had The First Girl Child by Amy Harmon in my to be read pile. I was drawn to it because the cover called to me, it alluded to an ominous story within. So I was a bit taken aback when instead of horror I got a Nordic inspired tale of curses, clans, and destiny.

The very little I do know about Nordic lore comes from watching the Thor movies of the Marvel Universe and seeing a little bit of the show Vikings. I don’t know how prominent runes are in the Nordic culture, or if they are just one of the fictional elements of the book, but this story has them as a central societal pillar. The fictional island nation of Saylok consists of six clans that surround a central kingdom and their temple. Keepers, men of Saylok that have felt a calling to the temple, live their learning about the power of the runes and keeping that power safe. The Keepers understand the importance of not letting the runes be used or understood by just anyone, as putting power in the hands of the wrong person can yield terrible consequences. And this is exactly what happens when Desdemona, sister of Keeper Dagmar, is wronged and wants vengeance. She curses the entire island in her anger, thus beginning a drought of sorts on the people of Saylok.

This is actually a really great tale. It is not overly complicated, it is classic. It has a villain, a hero, a love story, or two, conflict, and resolution. It is also a standalone, as far as I know. But if you read it, and like it, the author of this book has written many others that you can check out. When I find a new author, and I like what I have read, I am always curious to see what else they have written to see if it is just as good. And I plan on reading more books by this author in the future.

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

Fiction

So I was kind of correct when I made my guesses as to what this book would be like. The atmosphere was similar to that of the first three books, which was great because I was ready for action again. There wasn’t a war, but everyone was preparing mentally and physically for what they believed was coming soon. And, there was a lot of groundwork laid in terms of spying on the enemies as well as trying to make alliances and allies.

I really liked that this book was mostly from the point of view of Nesta, with some Cassian point of view thrown in. Nesta is really complicated. She has always been unapproachable, unpleasant, fierce, fearless, and proud. She has gone through a lot of trauma in the short period of time since Feyre was taken to Prythian, not to mention the upset and embarrassment of the loss of her family’s fortune in the past. After what happened towards the end in A Court of Wings and Ruin, you would expect Nesta to have had a change for the better, but the exact opposite occurs. Nesta gets even nastier, destroying the very few friendships she had, isolating herself, and destroying her mind and body daily with drink, gambling, and men, and this is how the book opens up. We do find out why Nesta was acting this way very deep into the story and it is an incredible tale as we learn why she is the way she is as we see her begin to heal.

If I didn’t already know that a sixth book was being drafted, I would have either guessed that there was one in the making or I would have been disappointed at the idea of being left with so much unanswered. There is definitely going to be another war, either between Prythian and the continent or between some of the High Lords, that is very obvious. We are left wondering if anything is ever going to happen between Elain and Lucien, as they still do not talk much and Elain still seems incredibly reluctant to give Lucien a chance. There is a new female character introduced that I see forming a romantic relationship with someone in the inner circle. There was a pretty big hint in the book. And I suspect in the next installment that there will finally be some romance for Azriel, either with Elain, as a lot of people have been predicting, but I also kind of have a good feeling about Gwyn, and I honestly would prefer that pairing. Hopefully I won’t have to wait too long to find out. But in the meantime, I now have a chance to start reading Maas’ third series, Crescent City, with just enough time to get through it before her third book in that series comes out in January.

If you haven’t been interested in my fantasy review ramblings, I do have a nonfiction book that I will be reviewing next week. As much as I love fantasy and sci fi, I do realize that I need to read something that is educational or enlightening once in a while to keep me grounded in reality.

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas

Fiction

I cannot understand why people seem to dislike this book. I thought it was really nice. The story was nice and it was nice to see the characters get a break for once. I liked getting a glimpse of them living their normal day to day lives as they healed mentally while rebuilding their court. Depending on how the next book begins, I do see this as maybe being a book that you could skip over and not miss out on any of the plot as the story continues.

I found it to be a welcome break for my mind, one that I am grateful to have had when I looked at the size of book five. In fact, compared to the rest of the books in this series, this book is almost like a short story when you look at its length in comparison. This took me only a few hours to read rather than a few days. I can see how Maas used her love of fairy tales in the writing of this story, it was pretty tame when compared to the rest of them and had the most overall happy feeling out of all of them too.

Having said that, I predict that A Court of Silver Flames will mirror the atmosphere of the first three books. I don’t think there will be a war, unless those mortal queens do decide to start something, I think it will be a lot of spying, planning, and prevention. I am looking forward to seeing where this part of the story goes, and maybe getting a glimpse of the continent that everyone keeps talking about.