Robin Hobb: Dragon Haven

Hi everyone

Dragon Haven is the second book in The Rain Wild Chronicles by Robin Hobb. 
I got my copy from Bol.com.

"Return to the world of the Liveships Traders and journey along the Rain Wild River in the second instalment of high adventure from the author of the internationally acclaimed Farseer trilogy.
The dragon keepers and the fledgling dragons are forging a passage up the treacherous Rain Wild River. They are in search of the mythical Elderling city of Kelsingra, and are accompanied by the liveship Tarman, its captain, Leftrin, and a group of hunters who must search the forests for game with which to keep the dragons fed. With them are Alise, who has escaped her cold marriage to the cruel libertine Hest Finbok in order to continue her study of dragons, and Hest's amanuensis, Bingtown dandy, Sedric.
Rivalries and romances are already threatening to disrupt the band of explorers: but external forces may prove to be even more dangerous. Chalcedean merchants are keen to lay hands on dragon blood and organs to turn them to medicines and profit. Their traitor has infiltrated the expeditionand will stop at nothing to obtain the coveted body parts. And then there are the Rain Wilds themselves: mysterious, unstable and ever perilous, its mighty river running with acid, its jungle impenetrable and its waterways uncharted.
Will the expedition reach their destination unscathed? Does the city of Kelsingra even exist? Only one thing is certain: the journey will leave none of the dragons nor their human companions unchanged by the experience."

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, especially since the first one didn’t quite capture my interest. 

The character development is outstanding—everyone has grown in ways that make their thoughts and emotions feel authentic and compelling.
While I still don’t love reading from Sintara’s perspective, I really enjoy Mercor, so it’s definitely a Sintara issue, not a dragon one. The constant focus on love and relationships can be a bit much, as if there aren’t more pressing matters to consider, but it’s a minor gripe in the grand scheme.

The story moves at a slow pace, but this time, I didn’t mind as much. The depth of the characters, their interactions, and the excitement of the journey more than made up for it. And, as always, Robin Hobb’s worldbuilding is absolutely immersive and breathtaking. 

Happy reading!
Helena 

 

 

Wrap Up: August

Hi everyone

August has come and gone way too quick. We went on a week's holiday with the children, both my daughters had their birthdays (they are now 8 and 4) and my husband and I celebrated 11 years of marriage. We had a lot going on this summer. :)

Now it's back to school here in Belgium and thus back to the routine and after-school activities. The weather here feels like it's fall already but that's Belgium like we're used to.

Here's what I read last month:

- T. J. Klune: Under the Whispering Door

- Tommy Orange: Wandering Stars

- Neil Gaiman: Coraline 

- Glen Cook: The Black Company 

- Vernor Vinge: A Fire Upon the Deep 

- Katherine Addison: The Tomb of Dragons

- Brandon Sanderson: Tress of the Emerald Sea

- Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter: The Long Utopia 

How was your month? What did you read? Anything you liked?

Happy reading!
Helena 

 

Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter: The Long Utopia

Hi everyone

This was my second time reading the fourth book in The Long Earth series by Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter.
You can read my previous review here. 

" 2045-2059. After the cataclysmic upheavals of Step Day and the Yellowstone eruption humanity is spreading further into the Long Earth, and society, on a battered Datum Earth and beyond, continues to evolve.
Now an elderly and cantankerous AI, Lobsang lives in disguise with Agnes in an exotic, far-distant world. He’s convinced they’re leading a normal life in New Springfield – they even adopt a child – but it seems they have been guided there for a reason. As rumours of strange sightings and hauntings proliferate, it becomes clear that something is very awry with this particular world.
Millions of steps away, Joshua is on a personal journey of discovery: learning about the father he never knew and a secret family history. But then he receives a summons from New Springfield. Lobsang now understands the enormity of what’s taking place beneath the surface of his earth – a threat to all the worlds of the Long Earth.
To counter this threat will require the combined efforts of humankind, machine and the super-intelligent Next. And some must make the ultimate sacrifice... "

Even though this was my second time reading the story, the ending was as difficult to read as it was the first time. I really dislike Sally but the way things ended for her made me emotional.

The scope of this series just gets bigger and bigger. It actually makes me scared when I try to imagine it in real life. Now in the series there's different alien species from another universe that are actually aiming to destroy one long earth. How terrifying is that! 

The family history told from an other perspective threw me off a bit, I would have liked it better had it been told by Nelson or in the narrator's voice. 

Lobsang's plot was great. He is so humane, I understand his feelings and his reasoning behind his escape to another world to start anew. Agnes and he actually make a cute couple. 

Lastly in my list of little opinions; I am so, so glad Joshua and Sally never ended up a couple. It would have been so easy to write them in a relationship but I don't think it would work so I'm happy they didn't write them as a romantic couple. 

Happy reading!
Helena 

 

Brandon Sanderson: Tress of the Emerald Sea

Hi everyone

Tress of the Emerald Sea is a standalone novel by Brandon Sanderson. It is set in The Cosmere so it is part of his multi-series world but you can read it without having read the others.
It's also more of a YA book. 
I bought this book from Bol.com.

"The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?"  

I didn't really enjoy this. The story was ok but boring, the plot was a bit rambling and the characters were dull and mediocre. Mostly, it was the POV, the tone of the storyteller that annoyed me. Hoid was not witty or funny he was just stupid all the time. Even when it wasn't intentional, when he was meant to be funny and smart he only ever was dumb and idiotic. The book was trying to be funny but it fell flat for me.
The worldbuilding is, as is usual for Sanderson, amazing, interesting and very different from other books I've read.
The main villain in this book was absurd. In the end she just leaves? I mean, that's just lazy writing. I don't see why she should leave because she really wasn't in danger from Tress and the others.

Happy reading!
Helena  

Bookhaul

Hi everyone

I bought some books and I received one (awesome surprise) too!
*    happydance    *

My parents went on holiday to the UK and my dad got me a very special gift. He bought me

- Ben Aaronovitch: Tales From the Folly

And the book is signed! It's signed! How amazing is that! I was so, so happy with my gift.

 

 

And here are the books I bought myself.

- Ben Aaronovitch:  The Masquerades of Spring

- Amy Bloom: In Love 

- Benedict Jacka: An Instruction in Shadow 

- Grant Snider: The Art of Living

- Emily Tesh: Some Desperate Glory 

Have you read any of these?

Happy reading!
Helena

Katherine Addison: The Tomb of Dragons

Hi everyone

The Tomb of Dragons is the third book in The Cemeteries of Amalo series by Katherine Addison. Like the other books in the series, this one has a gorgeous cover. This is actually the third book in the series but it's also the fourth book in the overarching series, namely The Chronicles of Osreth. 
I got my copy from Bol.

Thara Celehar has lost his ability to speak with the dead. When that title of Witness for the Dead is gone, what defines him?

"While his title may be gone, his duties are not. Celehar contends with a municipal cemetery with fifty years of secrets, the damage of a revethavar he’s terrified to remember, and a group of miners who are more than willing to trade Celehar’s life for a chance at what they feel they’re owed.
Celehar does not have to face these impossible tasks alone. Joining him are his mentee Velhiro Tomasaran, still finding her footing with the investigative nature of their job; Iäna Pel-Thenhior, his beloved opera director friend and avid supporter; and the valiant guard captain Hanu Olgarezh.
Amidst the backdrop of a murder and a brewing political uprising, Celehar must seek justice for those who cannot find it themselves under a tense political system. The repercussions of his quest are never as simple they seem, and Celehar’s own life and happiness hang in the balance." 

It's difficult to pinpoint what makes this series so comforting to read. The maincharacter is rather boring but he is also honest, always striving to be the best person he can be and to do the best he can. He is likeable in the way I can relate to him, him being introverted, his love for reading, tea, walking, his insomnia, his few close friends. His friends are also really lovely people.
The names of places and people are hard to remember and keep apart because they are so different from ours. But Addison's worldbuilding is amazing. The people feel like real people, the 'magic' is interesting and the plot is, while simple also effective and engrossing.
The whole setting is very different and unique.
The story is heartwarming, learning to rely on people, learning the value of friendship, opening the door for love again, questioning yourself, ... It's charming, heartwarming, sad and bittersweet, lovely and moving all at the same time.

The Tomb of Dragons is the last book in The Cemeteries of Amalo series but I truly hope and wish for other books in this world of The Chronicles of Osreth.  

Happy reading!
Helena 

Vernor Vinge: A Fire Upon the Deep

Hi everyone

I saw this being read by someone I follow on Goodreads and it looked good so I wanted to try it for myself. A Fire Upon the Deep is the first book in the Zones of Thought series by Vernor Vinge.
I read this on my e-reader.

"Thousands of years in the future, humanity is no longer alone in a universe where a mind's potential is determined by its location in space, from superintelligent entities in the Transcend, to the limited minds of the Unthinking Depths, where only simple creatures, and technology, can function. Nobody knows what strange force partitioned space into these "regions of thought," but when the warring Straumli realm use an ancient Transcendent artifact as a weapon, they unwittingly unleash an awesome power that destroys thousands of worlds and enslaves all natural and artificial intelligence.
Fleeing this galactic threat, Ravna crash lands on a strange world with a ship-hold full of cryogenically frozen children, the only survivors from a destroyed space-lab. They are taken captive by the Tines, an alien race with a harsh medieval culture, and used as pawns in a ruthless power struggle."

This was strange.
On the one hand I felt like I was reading a children's book and I didn't like that in this story, it didn't fit the story. The writing and the dialogue especially were childish. And on the other hand I didn't truly understand everything going on science-wise because some things got little to no explanation. I loved the concept of the Zones of Thought; that's an interesting idea but it wasn't used in a way that made me feel something more than wondering how life would be it this were true, so completely unrelated to the story. 

The book was way too long for the story it told. Multiple chapters where essentially nothing happened that was different from the previous chapters. There's no character development and no world-building anywhere. Endless talking about nothing or about the same things over and over. It was just boring.

It has also aged badly. The futuristic aspects are now completely dated and almost laughable.  

The moment I closed the book on my e-reader I forgot about it and I had to push myself to keep reading because I found it to be boring. I switched to reading other books while reading this one because my mind kept wandering while reading this one.

Interesting premise but not much more. 

So yes, another Award Winning Novel I didn't love or even truly liked. Sad but true.

Happy reading!
Helena