Being a new parent, one of my concerns is that at some point in time my daughter will find herself unsupervised and in the presence of guns. You may be thinking to yourself, if you lock up your guns you’ll never have to worry about that scenario. In a perfect world, locking my guns up would be enough to keep my daughter safe. However, we do not live in a perfect world and children are very resourceful. All it takes is for my daughter to visit a friend and them ask if she wants to see their parents gun, to thwart my simple plan.

My plan has always been to make an attempt at getting my daughter involved in shooting, in some capacity. If she showed no interest and would rather spend her time engaging in some other hobby, I am fine with that as well. Regardless of her choice to learn to shoot, I intend to get her familiar with firearms. The ultimate goal is to remove the “forbidden fruit” mindset that drives children to get into things that they know is off limits to them.

After watching a couple of Youtube videos featuring Massad Ayoob (I could listen to him talk for hours, he is a tremendously interesting individual), I decieded to order a couple of his books. One of those books was Gun Proof Your Children! All that I read about this book described it as a common sense approach to children and firearms, while being a very fast read. Those reviews were spot on.

Gun Proof Your Children! spans a whopping seventeen pages. Coupled with this short book is Masaad Ayoob’s Handgun Primer (More on that in another post). The style of writing is conversational and encourages you to think back on your childhood. An emphasis is put on how determined and clever children can be when they want to get at something.

While this book isn’t step by step guide on how to gun proof your children, it is thought provoking and suggests familiarizing your children with firearms in the event that they stumble onto one, unsupervised.

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Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: Gun Proof Your Children by Massad Ayoob

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Several months back I found myself with a good deal of time to kill. My grand plan was to run an errand about an hour from home and visit a Boarders bookstore in the area for new reading material. I wasn’t terribly impressed by their Fantasy selection, but one book caught my eye, Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie.

Armed with my latest purchase, I drove to a local cigar shop and planned on enjoying a cigar while I immersed myself in the novel. After arriving I got caught up in conversation and never cracked open the book. Later that evening I visited a Science Fiction and Fantasy forum to get some insight on the book. As it turned out, it was suggested that I start with the First Law Trilogy before getting into the then latest Abercrombie tale.

Title: Best Served Cold
Author: Joe Abercrombie
Published By: Orbit
Published Date: July 2009
ISBN: 978-0-316-04496-7
Length: 632 Pages
Purchase: Amazon Kindle Edition @ $2.99

The Story

Monzcarro (Monza) Murcatto and her brother Benna are mercenaries. Together they have built a reputation for themselves as heartless killers that will stop at nothing to place the crown of Styria atop Orso’s head. As Monza and Benna grow more and more popular among the people, Orso becomes concerned that the pair may attempt to steal his place of power.

To put his mind at rest, the pair are invited into his chamber and ordered disposed of. Outnumbered and caught completely by surprise, Benna is killed before his sisters eyes. Monza struggles to fight back and is thrown from a balcony, sent tumbling down a mountain.

Her hellacious fall down the mountain leaves her badly broken and near death, the only thing which saved her was Benna’s dead body breaking her fall. Expecting death to come, her world goes black. Some time later she wakes to find that she has been coarsely mended by a stranger she deems the Bone Collector.

Dragging her mangled body from the Bone Collector’s hut, she vows to seek vengeance for the death of her beloved brother. With a desire to kill, Monza sets out on a journey to track down and murder the seven people responsible for Benna’s death and her mangled body.

My Thoughts

Before reading The First Law trilogy, I spent a great deal of time reading through nine novels by Robin Hobb. As a result, I found myself stuck on Hobb’s writing style and Joe Abercrombie’s writing felt clunky. While I enjoyed The Blade Itself (Book 1 of The First Law trilogy), it wasn’t until I read Before They Are Hanged (Book 2 of The First Law trilogy) that I really got into Abercrombie’s writing. When I completed Last Argument of Kings (Book 3 of The First Law trilogy), I wanted nothing more than to dive into Best Served Cold.

Having read so many trilogies, I found the stand alone novel a little more difficult to get into. The story seemed to develop much faster than I was used to. I wasn’t sure that I liked the speed at which plot twists were revealed and characters developed. Before I reached the one-hundred page mark, I had trouble putting the book down. Abercrombie’s dark humor and gritty characters sucked me in.

Much like Abercrombie’s previous work, it was filled with violence and raw sex scenes. Each character had a personality that was both admiring and deeply disturbing, making for a story that was exciting. While I did not enjoy it as much as The First Law Trilogy, I enjoyed it thoroughly. The ending was done very well, leaving plenty of room to build on in future books.

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie

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Over the past few weeks I have been walking past the family bookcase and thinking that something has to be done with it. We have books stacked ontop of other books. Paperbacks wedged into tight spaces in an effort to contain all of our reading material to one space.

Staring at this form of ordered chaos, I got to thinking. Am I ever going to re-read some of these books? First on my list of questionable re-reads was the Sword of Truth Series. This set is made up of twelve books (eleven novels and one shorter novella). When I read this series in 2009, I enjoyed it very much. It was a tale that got me back into reading and immersed me into the fantasy genre.

Since wrapping up the series I have read a variety of other books. Some of these books I enjoyed much more than the Sword of Truth, others not as much. What it boils down to now is that I feel as though I have been reading a higher caliber of books. My concern is that going back and re-reading the series will not be as enjoyable as the first time.

The thought of not getting as much enjoyment out of re-reading these novels has left me wanting to clear them off of my bookcase. The clear shelf space would go a long way in organizing my ever growing pile of to-read books. In order to make the space, I need to determine what to do with the books.

Gently Used Books

Gently Used Books is a second hand bookstore in a shopping center near where my parents live. I have been to this store a couple of times and they appear to be growing at a steady pace. In the couple of years I have been aware of the store, it has moved to a larger location and expanded twice.

Rather than pay cash for gently used books, you are given store credit in trade. The idea of taking my books to the store and turning them in for credit is not a bad idea, however, it does have its drawbacks. The largest being their small fantasy section. Since I read little outside of the genre, I would not benefit from the large selection of other novels in stock.

Aside from limited selection, I want to take advantage of my Nook and switch to digital. Rather than continue to purchase more paperbacks, I’m trying to limit my physical books to hardback. By doing this I hope to save a bit of money and shelf space by purchasing fewer paperback novels.

The one appealing aspect of trading in my books is that store credit does not expire. Instead of limiting myself to their fantasy section, I could turn the credit over to my daughter when she starts reading. The idea of her having an entire bookstore to choose from puts a smile on my face.

Reselling

Behind the connivence of dropping my books off at the local used book store for credit, I toyed with the idea of selling them for cash. The first site that comes to mind is eBay. While you can sell practically anything there, I simply don’t see it producing a decent amount of money for my paperbacks. Selling each paperback for less than it would cost to ship the items seems like more trouble than it is worth.

After more or less ruling eBay out, my next thought was to utilize Amazon. Coincidentally, it is where I purchased the books to begin with and selling used books seems simple enough. From the looks of it, all I would need to do is create an account, list the item, and assign it a price. My concern here is holding onto the books for long periods of time while I waited for someone to purchase them. Normally I wouldn’t mind holding out to maximize my return, but I’m trying to make space, not call my unwanted books inventory.

Paperback Swap

A couple of years ago I was sitting next to Brian Hewitt at a Cigar Seminar in New Orleans when he began using his Blackberry to arrange a trade on Paperback Swap. Before that moment I had never heard of the website. The concept sounded interesting but I never took the time to setup an account or read into the details.

The concept seems simple enough. You create an account and list all of the books you are willing to swap. Another member can then request your book, at which point you package it up and mail it to them (you pay postage). When they receive the book you receive a credit to request a book of your liking (same goes, person with the book pays to ship it).

If I were looking for more physical books, this option would be ideal. One book sent out translates into one book received. There is the cost of shipping books but it appears to be minimal (Less than $3.00 per book seems about right). While this option does not save me space in terms of going digital, it does keep the content on my bookshelf fresh.

Donation

The last and simplest solution would be to take my books to the local library and donate them. I have never donated anything at a library before but I would imagine that they would accept whatever books I was willing to give them. While this option won’t save me any money in the long run, it would help a system that seems to be declining.

My Decision

The truth of the matter is that I’m really not sure what to do with my books. I have signed up for a Paperback Swap account and think that may be the best solution for exchanging old reading material for fresh books. The inventory of available books changes constantly and seems far richer than my local used bookstore. There is also the plus of getting a book for a book, not a percentage of the books cover price to put towards a purchase.

I have a dozen books that I plan on listing to test the waters. If it doesn’t work out as well as I hope, then I’ll simply be back here once again weighing my options.

What would you do
in my situation?

Post from: Walt in PA

What to do with my unwanted books

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Several months ago, I finished up the Tawny Man Trilogy by Robin Hobb and was in search of another epic fantasy tale. After several glowing recommendations, I decided to go with The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. Shortly after starting in on the first book, my free time became erratic. It took a considerable amount of time to read The Blade Itself and Before They Are Hanged. By the time I hit book three, Last Argument of Kings, I had more time and read through it in short order.

Due to the vast amount of time it took to complete this series, I will not be looking at each book individually. Instead, I’ll be talking about the series as a whole.

My Likes:

I am not a fan of profanity in the Fantasy genre. I can’t explain why I feel this way, mainly because I don’t mind it in any other genre, but it often feels like a cheap thrill. Joe Abercrombie drowns the reader in profanity and yet it never comes across as a cheap thrill. It is folded into each character so well that it feels as though it is a part of them. At no point did I feel as though the author was trying to shock me with his choice of words, they flowed naturally from each and every character.

I absolutely love Joe Abercrombie’s sense of humor. This gritty tale had snippets of dialog that made me crack a smile and others that made me roar with laughter. Whenever a punchline was delivered, it felt natural for the character, which made it all the more appealing. On several occasions I went back and re-read paragraphs just so that I could laugh some more.

My Dislikes:

When I first started reading The Blade itself, I had a bit of difficulty getting into the story. The problem wasn’t that the story was dull, my issue was with the way in which the story was told. Having recently finished nine Robin Hobb novels, I struggled with Joe Abercrombie’s style. The story felt as though it lurched forward rather than progress smoothly. Every instance of “said Logan” or “said Bayaz” grated at my nerves. Before long I was drawn into the story and was less concerned with the style that it was written, however, in the beginning it was a challenge.

There were some aspects of this tale that were painfully obvious. It felt as though too big a hint was given to the reader, too soon, and for scores of pages an outcome was plainly coming. When the plot twist was presented to the character, I found myself bored with the idea and looking forward to something else coming out of the woodwork.

Closing Thoughts:

The First Law trilogy was recommended to me as a gritty story with many grey characters. Initially I struggled with the writing style but quickly became engrossed in the story. I was so impressed, in fact, that I dove right into the next published work, Best Served Cold. In addition, I pre-ordered The Heros so that I could continue to read Joe Abercrombie’s gritty, action packed stories.

The character development throughout all three novels was fantastic. Some viewpoints I loved, others I loved to hate. When the story was coming to a close, I loved seeing everything unfold from the variety of perspectives. I thoroughly enjoyed this trilogy and would recommend it to anyone that enjoyes gritty fantasy with dark characters.

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: First Law Trilogy

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The hobby that I was quickest to return to was reading. Even while my books sat, collecting dust, I managed to add to the to-read pile even when I wasn’t actively reading. As you would imagine, that has left me with a rather daunting stack of literature. Not only do I have a leaning pile of physical novels, I also have a virtual stack of eBooks to get through.

In an effort to keep a running log of my reading, and to keep things organized, I have been using the Goodreads service. I recently logged in to add two more books to the To-Read shelf (Dragon Keeper and Dragon Haven, both by Robin Hobb, thanks to my mother-in-law and sister-in-law for the Christmas gifts) when I saw a widget on the sidebar for a 2011 Reading Challenge. It was very simple, just tell it how many books you want to read throughout the year and it watches your bookshelves for completed books and counts down to your goal. I decided to give it a go and set a small goal of twelve books (one book per month seems very achievable in my situation).

Right out of the gate I have been doing very well, finishing one book that I started late last year (which was counted towards my goal) and finishing up another late last week. Both books are part of the First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. Once finished, I started in on a stand alone novel by the same author, Best Served Cold. This novel is set in the same world as the trilogy and takes us on a journey throughout a different part of the world. It intertwines storyline from previous books and creates a very dynamic setting for all of the books to coincide.

I have been enjoying joe Abercrombie’s work so much that I have pre-ordered his latest book, The Heros. With a release date of early February, I hope to receive it just as I wrap up my current book. I can’t wait to get started but am a little bummed out that I didn’t order the novel from a UK based bookseller (Joe Abercrombie is based in London and thus his books release in the UK first). Not only could I have had the book a bit sooner, I could have also had the version with the nicer cover art. Instead, I purchased through Amazon US and took advantage of Prime two-day shipping and such.

With a lot on my plate, in terms of reading material, I look to have a busy year ahead of me. To be honest, I’m really looking forward to trying to get in as much reading as possible. I’m not sure in which order I plan to tackle all of these books, but it should be loads of fun.

What Books do you plan
on reading in 2011?

Post from: Walt in PA

Leaning Pile of Books

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Back in July, my wife surprised me with a Barnes & Noble Nook (eReader) for my birthday. Since receiving it, I’ve been on the lookout for free eBooks which fall into the the Fantasy genre. Among them was a novel by I J Black entitled Amnar: The Execution. Of the few eBooks that I’ve collected, I was most interested in reading this one due to the activity of its author on Twitter (@TheCharmQuark).

Finding time to sit down in a quiet room to read has been difficult with a four-month old baby in the house. My once long reading sessions have been cut back to a fraction of the time, and it took what seemed like forever to get through the last novel on my stack of things to read. Rather than continuing on with The First Law Trilogy, I decided to take a short break and dive into the world of Amnar.

Armed with a cup of coffee, a CAO LA Traviata Maduro, and my Nook, I sat down in silence and began reading. This eBook is listed as being roughly 59,000 words and is the prequel to Amnar: The Inheritor. Being relatively short (compared to the ~300,000 word novels I generally read), I thought this would be a good opportunity to get a feel for I J Black’s writing style.

Teaser:

The following was copy/pasted from Smashwords:

At the heart of an ancient civilisation, a nightmare is brewing. Chosen to become the next leader of Amnar’s greatest warriors, Arist is hated by almost everybody. Manipulative and hungry for power, she has started a campaign that will bring the entire civilisation to its knees. Her trick? She will use its own laws to do it. This is the prequel to The Inheritor/The Awakening

My Likes:

One of the most interesting parts of this novel, at least for me, was the setting. Everything takes place within one structure which is broken into an upper and lower level. Nobility resides on the upper level while the servent class resides below. There is a clear line separating the two areas and the story bounces back and forth between these spaces. With the story taking place in such a condensed space, I was amazed at the level of action. It kind of reminded me of the 1957 film, 12 Angry Men. The entire film takes place in a single room (a jury room within a courthouse) and there was is no lack of drama or action.

Second to the setting, I enjoyed the pacing of Amnar: The Executioner. Even with all of the action taking place, I never felt as though the story was rushed, or that it stalled. Each scene felt as though it belonged and drew me deeper into the storyline. When it was time to set my eReader down and do something around the house, I had to tear myself away.

My Dislikes:

The biggest knock against this novel was the use of profanity. While I am no prude, and have been known to let the expletives fly, I find the use of the words like Fuck, Cunt, and Bitch in Fantasy novels distasteful. To be completely honest, I really have no idea why I feel this way. I suppose that when I read this type of story, I get whisked off into another world and feel as though I am being tugged back by certain uses of profanity. In many cases it feels like a cheap thrill and I wish the author would create cuss words unique to the world of the story. While the profanity is not excessive, it cheapened the dialog.

My only other dislike in this tale came in the form of the cast of characters. At the start of the novel there is a list of characters and their titles. I didn’t pay much attention to this list at first but found myself referencing it later due to the volume of characters. There are a total of eighteen listed, all with a formal title that is often referenced in the story. Not only did I have trouble keeping track of who everyone was, I had some difficulty with the names themselves.

Closing Thoughts

Due to the demands of raising a child, I don’t get the opportunity to read nearly as much as I used to. In the past I would set aside at least an hour before bed and crack open a book. Practically all of my reading consists of fantasy novels. I absolutely love being whisked off into another world and being lost in another time and place. Amnar: The Execution did just that. I felt whisked away to the world of Amnar and drawn into the life of Arandes Nashima.

Given the fact that this novel is free, there is nothing to lose in reading it. I found the quality of writing as good, if not better in some cases, as novels that I’ve spent my hard earned money on. My suggestion would be to head over to Smashwords, download whichever flavor of eBook you prefer, and give it a try.

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: Amnar The Execution

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Earlier this week I wrote up a quick post talking about my birthday and having received a Nook from my wife. After playing with the device for a few minutes, I hopped onto the web in search of an eBook to try it out.

Earlier that day I spent some time reading a piece of Flash Fiction by John Pender. I recalled having seen his eBook and decided to give it a read. The primary option for this book is in print form and is self published at Lulu. I selected the eBook option and made a payment of $6.25 before downloading my pdf.

John tells us that this book provides “Seven short, short, short stories and poems guaranteed to send shivers down your spine and make those little hairs on your arms stand on end.”

After the simple purchase process, Seven Days of Terror was loaded onto my Nook and I was off and reading. The book, as you would have guessed by the name, is broken into seven section. Each section, or day, contains one piece of fiction.

Table of Contents:

• The Tale of William Storey
• Wolves
• Set in Stone
• Jeremy Willard and the Old Gray Squirrel
• Paper Cut
• Four (….—-)
• Poetry of the Seventh Day

Each piece of fiction is short, just as John tells us in the introduction. They can easily be read in just a few minutes and are easily digested. The writing style is comfortable and allows each story to flow comfortably. The genre is Horror and the content is chilling without being gory or vulgar.

There are some stories I enjoyed more than others, but in general I enjoyed this book. Because I’m not a poetry reader, I skimmed through those sections and moved to the tales of terror.

My only disappointment came in the book being listed as 86 pages. While there may be 86 actual pages, roughly 27 are left blank for formatting purposes. This makes the book much shorter than it seems at first glance.

So the big question, would I recommend this book? If you enjoy reading Horror and some Poetry, I think you are going to enjoy this book. Even eliminating the 27 pages, plus the poetry, I still feel as though I got my monies worth out of Seven Days of Terror and would buy it again, as a gift.

If you are interested in reading Seven Days of Terror, you can purchase your copy from Amazon for $7.98. A Kindle version is available for $4.95 or it can be purchased from Lulu in PDF format.

Watch my Video Review of Seven Days of Terror

My apologies for the video quality, I opted to use
my Mac rather than capturing with my HD Camcorder

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: Seven Days of Terror by John Pender

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Title: Random
Author: Craig Robertson
Published By: Simon & Schuster UK
Published Date: 2010
ISBN: 978-1-84737-729-6
Length: 329 Pages
Purchased From: Book Depository @ $15.15

The Story:

In current day Glasgow, a series of murders take place. The killings have police baffled as there seems to be no motive. It seems as though randomly selected people are being killed for no other reason than mass hysteria. The only connection between the victims is their severed pinky finger.

Over a few years time The Cutter terrorizes Glasgow and eludes detectives. As the story unfolds, we learn that the murders are not completely random and there is a method to the madness.

My Thoughts:

Random was the first thriller that I have read in some time. I found it to be a nice change of pace from Epic Fantasy. When my copy of the book arrived from a UK bookseller, I was surprised at how short it seemed. The trade size paperback with more than three-hundred pages is printed in a relatively large font with a fair amount of white-space on each page. While not a problem, it makes for a relatively fast read.

The storyline moves smoothly from one murder to the next, filling in back story where needed. The chapters are short (in comparison to epic fantasy) which makes picking up the book, for a few minutes at a time, a pleasure.

The murder scenes are descriptive and unique. I was very fond of the use of Facebook as a device for selecting a murder victim. Little twists like this, in addition to unique ways of killing, made the book interesting and kept me on my toes.

If you are a fan of the thriller genre, I would suggest giving this book a try. It is written by a Scottish author so some words may require research (for instance, I had no idea what a “punter” was).

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: Random

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Title: Mad Ship
Series: Liveship Traders Trilogy
Author: Robin Hobb
Published By: Bantam
Published Date: 2000
ISBN: 0-553-57564-3
Length: 850 Pages
Purchased From: Amazon @ $7.99

The Story:

In the second book of the Liveship Traders Trilogy, Mad Ship, the storyline picks up immediately where it was left off in Ship of Magic. The Vestrit family Liveship, the Vivacia, is seized by a manipulative pirate in his quest to become King of the Pirate Isles. With his title of King growing near, Kennit uses the quickened ship to strengthen his position as a savior to the enslaved population.

Upon hearing news of her family Liveship, Althea vows to regain control of the Vivacia and bring her safely home. With no means of doing such a thing herself, she is aided by a former shipmate, Brashen, and an odd new trader, Amber. Together they plan to request the help of a Liveship long abandoned and considered to be mad.

My Thoughts:

While not totally sold on the Liveship Traders Trilogy from the perspective of Ship of Magic, Mad Ship changed all that. The storyline came together and simply clicked. Characters that I spent so much time loathing suddenly matured and turned into people I wanted to read about.

The addition of Paragon, the mad ship, added a curious twist to the storyline that had me eager to read. With each chapter, more of the world was brought into focus, changing my perception of the God-Like figures known as the Elderlings.

If the third book in the trilogy, Ship of Destiny, is as good as Mad Ship, this series is going to shape up to be a fantastic story.

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: Liveship Traders – Mad Ship

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Title: Ship of Magic
Series: Liveship Traders Trilogy
Author: Robin Hobb
Published By: Bantam
Published Date: 1999
ISBN: 0-553-57563-5
Length: 809 Pages
Purchased From: Amazon @ $7.99

The Story:

Ship of Magic is the first book in the Liveship Traders Trilogy. This series of books takes place shortly after the Farseer Trilogy (Assassin’s Apprentice, Royal Assassin, and Assassin’s Quest) comes to a close and also takes place within the same world.

Bingtown is a city along the Cursed Shores and is home to an old line of traders that travel by ship to exchange goods between merchants in other towns and cities. What makes this group of people so special is there bond with another sect of society, the Rain Wilds Traders, and their use of Liveships. These ships are made of a mysterious and wildly expensive wood which quickens and comes to life.

The book revolves around one trader family in particular and their Liveship. The Vestrit family falls on hard times and has their Liveship perused by pirates. Along the way, Althea, finds herself in a massive family dispute and does all she can to prove herself worthy of being the captain of the Vivacia.

My Thoughts:

While this book was enjoyable, I did not find myself bonded to it nearly as tightly as I was the Farseer Trilogy and the Fitz character. I appreciate that this series takes place within the world I am familiar with and makes references to events and lands that I have experienced through the viewpoint of Fitz.

The ending of this book was a little strange. The reason I say that is because the resolution that I was waiting for was not one from a character that I expected. It ads a nice twist to the ending but I felt like something was missing.

I’ve become very fond of Robin Hobb’s books and intend to continue on with this series. Once finished, I’m planning on diving into the Tawny Man Trilogy to see how Fitz has made out since the last time we heard of him in Assassin’s Quest.

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: Liveship Traders – Ship of Magic

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A couple of months ago I was having a conversation on Twitter with Dennis Camacho when he sent me a link to a website to track the things I was reading. He had mentioned that he tried the site and thought I could benefit from using it as an avid reader.

The name of the website was Good Reads. Essentially it is a database of books. Through a free account, you can access that long list of books to track what you’ve read and what you plan on reading. In addition to creating these virtual book shelves, you can rate and review books along the way. One of the coolest features for me was the ability to be able to comment on a specific book as I read along. Along with this note is a page marker to keep track of your progress.

Initially I thought that it was really cool but was skeptical on how frequently I would actually put it to use. Surprisingly, I’ve been relatively active. I use it mostly to make notes on a book as I read it and fill up virtual shelves as I make purchases and complete books.

Good Reads also has a message board type setup which allows you to converse with other readers on a given topic. There are forums set up which allow you to join or create book clubs and generate discussion. I have not got involved in this system yet but viewing the discussions in books clubs is rather interesting.

If you are an avid reader, I would suggest taking a look at what this free service has to offer. When you setup your account, or if you already have one, feel free to add me as a friend. The site can also be used to track the things I am reading if you want to get an inside look before a particular review goes live here on Walt In PA.

Post from: Walt in PA

Good Reads

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Title: Assassin’s Quest
Series: Farseer Trilogy
Author: Robin Hobb
Published By: Bantam
Published Date: 1998
ISBN: 0-553-56569-9
Length: 757 Pages
Purchased From: Amazon @ $7.99

The Story:

After narrowly escaping King Regal’s Dungeon in Buckkeep, Fitz is in dire need of rehabilitation to get back into everyday life after being tortured to the brink of death. To help Fitz get a grip on his life, Burrich spends time living with him as he goes through the process of readjusting.

After a falling out with his very dear friend, Fitz strikes out on his own with the intention of avenging both himself and his former king. By the time Fitz realizes that he is playing into the hands of his adversaries, it is nearly too late to correct the mistake and he is forced to rely on help to get him to safety.

From this point on, Fitz is bonded to a side quest in which he has pledged himself. He journeys far to the north to seek out his long missing King-in-waiting, Verity. It is on this quest that he learns a great deal about both of his magical abilities, the Skill and the Wit.

My Thoughts:

In the grand scheme of things, I really enjoyed Assassin’s Quest. By little more than half-way, the reader is given a closer look at the magic system within this series. When we receive more exposure, the possibilities begin to open up and the story takes an interesting turn and focuses more on how deeply the magic system is involved in solving the problem at hand.

The biggest complaint that I have heard about this book is the ending. Some feel as though it is a little too gloomy after all that Fitz has been through, although I feel that the ending was fitting. There was realism in the way the book ended and I don’t know that I could have appreciated a typical fairytale ending where the hero rides off into the sunset, happily ever after.

When this trilogy came to a conclusion, it had me completely and utterly engrossed in it. I wanted nothing more than to dive right into the Tawny Man Trilogy which takes place several years later in Fitz’s life. Despite my interest, I have opted to read the Liveship Traders Trilogy by Robin Hobb. This series is set within the same world as Farseer and supposedly gives the reader a broader view of the happenings of the land before being plunged back into the life of Fitz in the third trilogy.

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: Farseer – Assassin’s Quest

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Title: Royal Assassin
Series: Farseer Trilogy
Author: Robin Hobb
Published By: Bantam
Published Date: 1997
ISBN: 978-0-553-57341-1
Length: 675 Pages
Purchased From: Amazon @ $7.99

The Story:

At the end of Assassin’s Apprentice, Fitz is deathly ill as a result of poison and must rest. After an extended stay in the mountain region, the remainder of the party from Buckkeep head back to their home lands to deliver the new queen-in-waiting. The only person to remain at Fitz’s side is Burrich, who was also injured at the end of Assassin’s Apprentice.

Before the worst of winter sets in, the pair journey back to their home of Buckkeep. Over the time that has lapsed, the war with the Red Ship Raiders has built and the coasts are in more danger than ever before. Due to the upbringing of the queen-in-waiting, she interjects herself into the war and begins to rally the smaller lands to defend themselves. By doing this she gains much respect by those around her and is viewed as more than just a foreign lady with the title of queen-in-waiting.

As the end of the novel draws near, Fitz discovers plotting against Kind Shrewd. He then takes it upon himself to remedy the situation and finds himself in a mess of trouble. In this messy predicament, we learn a bit more of the magic system that is The Wit and The Skill.

My Thoughts:

Despite the ending of this book coming across as a little strange, I enjoyed the story immensely. With each book that I read I find myself liking Fitz more and more. At times he comes off as whiny, and at others he comes off as confident and understanding. Regardless of how he is portrayed in any given circumstance, I find the character interesting and fun to read about.

If you find this story interesting but are concerned about it being loaded with killing, there isn’t much to worry about. While the story revolves around an assassin, much more emphasis is placed on what is going on in the characters life, not so much on his job. While there are assassinations taking place, they are not what this book is all about.

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: Farseer – Royal Assassin

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Title: Assassin’s Apprentice
Series: Farseer Trilogy
Author: Robin Hobb
Published By: Bantam
Published Date: 1996
ISBN: 0-553-57339-X
Length: 435 Pages
Purchased From: Amazon @ $7.99

The Story:

Assassin’s Apprentice is the memoirs of one FitzChivalry Farseer. The story begins as Fitz explains that each time he attempts to write the history of the Six Dutchies, he winds up telling the story of his youth instead.

The story starts off with Fitz having no recollection of his childhood before the age of six. At this time he was taken to a Keep by his grandfather to be turned over to his father. It would seem that Fitz was the Bastard Son of the King-in-Waiting Chivalry Farseer.

At this time Fitz was taken in by a soldier at the keep and turned over to the man responsible for tending to the King-in-Waiting’s beasts. Before long Fitz was given a warm place to sleep within the stables. Years pass as Fitz lives in the stables and takes on the life of any other young boy, the only difference is that the taint of being a Bastard follows him.

After several years of this simple life, Fitz attracts the attention of King Shrewd and is accepted into the keep as one with noble blood, although he must carry the sign of a recognized bastard son to the royal line. Over time Fitz’s education grows and he is eventually tasked with becoming the apprentice of the royal assassin.

My Thoughts:

Being a fan of story telling, I loved the tone of this novel. Because of the manner in which the story takes place, Fitz is able to glance past insignificant parts of his life and focus on the times which made mattered to the storyline.

The chapters in Assassin’s Apprentice were a little lengthy, but I had difficulty putting the book down. I managed to read this novel in a matter of three days. It made for excellent reading material in between bouts of snow shoveling from a winter storm.

It may be a rather bold statement, but Assassin’s Apprentice is easily the best book I have read in the past six months. If you enjoy this type of story, I would strongly suggest giving it a read.

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: Farseer – Assassin’s Apprentice

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Title: Mistborn – Hero of Ages
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Published By: TOR Fantasy
Published Date: May 2009 (Mass Market Edition)
ISBN-10: 0-7653-5614-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-7653-5614-7
Length: 724 Pages
Purchased From: Amazon @ $7.99

The Story:

The Hero of Ages starts off much like The Well of Ascension and takes place after a years time has passed since the previous book. An this time, Ruin has been released from his prison by Vin as she attempts to do the right thing and release the power from the Well of Ascension in an effort to save the world.

Once Ruin is released from his prison, he begins to take apart the world. The ash mounds which spewed ash into the air in previous books begin to erupt more frequently. The pileup of ash quickly destroys any plant life already struggling to survive. Both animals and people are dying off from lack of food.

In addition to the falling ash, viscous earthquakes rock the land and split the earth apart. Lava leaks from these chasms and destroys towns and people alike. To make matters even worse, the mists are beginning to linger longer and longer, lasting well into the day. Some people who risk going out into the mist are stricken by seizures and deemed Mistfallen. Some survive only to be viewed as people with little faith in the Church of the Survivor.

With Ruin released to the world, Vin takes the burden upon her shoulders to try and save the world. She must learn how to destroy Ruin and correct the problems caused by the Lord Ruler from one thousand years of rule.

My Thoughts:

While I had trouble staying focused on The Well of Ascension, Hero of Ages held my attention in a much tighter grip. While there was just as much fighting, the battles didn’t seem to drone on and on with detail. I believe this attention to detail is what made me loose interest in the previous book. I simply had no interest in reading, at length, how Vin dropped a coin and pushed, then pulled on a window hinge, in order to push on a doorknob to attack her opponent.

While I generally dislike seeing characters spread about the world while major events are taking place, it just works in this book. Each character seems to have their own problems to deal with in order to achieve the final goal. With several things in motion, the bounding back and forth among characters makes the storyline feel fast paced and exciting.

I thoroughly enjoyed Hero of Ages and look forward to reading more of Brandon Sanderson‘s work. The next novel I have my sights on is Warbreaker. While it is available free online, I intend to purchase the book and read it in traditional form. While Well of Ascension may be slow going, the Mistborn Series as a whole was excellent.

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: Mistborn – Hero of Ages

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The Story:

At the end of Confessor by Terry Goodkind, Richard Rahl conjures a powerful spell to create an alternate world. The reason for this alternate world was to give those that wanted to be completely free of magic, a place to live. Once all that wanted free of magic were away, the opening between worlds was closed and The Sword of Truth Series came to a close.

Thousands of years later, a descendant of the house of Rahl, Alex, is living an everyday life in a world free of magic. With nothing in the world but an aging grandfather, a mother in a mental facility, and his love for painting, Alex begins his twenty-seventh birthday like any other day.

While out walking, Alex meets a stunning woman and saves her from being run over by an out of control plumbing truck. After a strange encounter, the pair walk to an art gallery where Alex shows off his work as a painter.

When this mystery woman disappears and strange things begin to happen, he thinks himself crazy. After being attacked by a crazy ex-girlfriend and her two thugs, Alex again meets the mystery woman as she saves his life and ends the lives of those attempting to hurt him.

In an attempt to put the puzzle together, Alex and Jax dive deeper into the Law of Nines prophecy and discover trouble for both of their worlds

My Thoughts:

Having read and enjoyed the Sword of Truth Series, I was a little skeptical about reading The Law of Nines. When I first heard about a new book from Terry Goodkind, I did a little online reading to see if the book would interest me enough to pick it up. After having read about a dozen different pitches on the storyline, I was most hung-up by the use of the last name Rahl as the main character.

Being billed as a Thriller and not a Fantasy novel, I was concerned of the crossover from one genre to another, while drawing from characters I knew and loved from a previous series. After much thought, I wasn’t pleased by what I had read and decided I was going to pass on the novel.

A few weeks later, while adding books to my Amazon shopping cart, I found myself in need of one more item to push me over the free shipping threshold. Not allowing myself to think about it, I added The Law of Nines to my shopping cart and made the purchase.

After having taken so long to read Mistborn – The Well of Ascension, I wanted a change of pace. I picked up The Law of Nines with my expectations set low. I was rather surprised by the story and wrapped up the book in three days.

My concern was that The Law of Nines was going to taint The Sword of Truth series, in my eyes. What I found was a story that takes place thousands of years after The Sword of Truth comes to its conclusion. The bridge from one story to the next was an interesting one that I am glad I took the time to read it.

Just like many of the Sword of Truth Books, I found myself not wanting to set the book down. The story is engaging and easy to follow as Alex Rahl and Jax struggle to save two different worlds from the same vile individual.

The Law of Nines does not require you to have read the Sword of Truth series to follow along. If you have read the previous books, there are a few things in this novel that will grab your attention and make you think back to the goings on in past books.

If you are a fan of The Sword of Truth Series, I would definitely recommend picking up The Law of Nines. Just keep in mind that this novel is billed as a thriller, with less of an emphasis on fantasy, however, the separate worlds, appearing and disappearing bad guys is definitely fantasy in my eyes.

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: The Law of Nines

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Title: Mist born – The Well of Ascension
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Published By: Tor Fantasy
Published Date: 2008
ISBN: 978-0-7653-5613-0
Length: 763 Pages
Purchased From: Amazon @ $7.99

Additional Information:

Mistborn is a Trilogy written by Brandon Sanderson. The three books which make up this series, in order, are The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages. These books were originally published in 2006, 2007, and 2008. This review covers a later publication in the form of Mass Market Paperback. This publication of The Well of Ascension took place in 2008.

The Story:

The Well of Ascension begins one year after The Final Empire ends. In the previous book, Vin has defeated the Lord Ruler and rocked the dominance as it has change thrusted upon it. During the years time between books, Elend Venture is named King due to his beliefs of freedom to the Skaa.

In an attempt to please all the people, all the time, Elend creates an Assembly to be the voice of the people. As the story progresses, Elend’s Nobleman father, who fled the city during the battle with the Lord Ruler, has decided to come back and seize Luthadel from his son. Killing him in the process, if need be.

Before Straff Venture can attack the city, two more armies arrive with the same intentions, to seize Luthadel and claim it as their own. In an attempt to buy time, Elend begins to play political games with the armies in an attempt to make them kill off one another. All the while, Elend’s Assembly is attempting to remove him as King so that they may surrender the city over peacefully and fall back into the routine of slavery.

While the politics are in full swing, there is a greater danger awaiting the world. With the Lord Ruler dead, the Deepness has returned to threaten lives of the entire world. With Vin believing that she is The Hero of Ages, she assigns herself the task of saving the world and destroying The Deepness.

My Thoughts:

Even though I found this book quite interesting, it couldn’t hook me and keep me reading. I found myself reading a chapter per night, several night per week, then putting the book down to attend to other things. Because I read the book in so many small pieces, it took me a tremendously long time to finish. By the time I turned the last page, nearly two months had elapsed, where other books have taken me only two weeks.

Despite taking a long time to read, I enjoyed the storyline and found myself thinking all the way through the book. With a few twists and turns along the way, Brandon Sanderson kept me thinking about what was possibly around the corner for Vin, Sazed, and Elend.

Just like the first novel in the series, Mistborn – The Final Empire, the magic system revolves around the use of metals and allomancy. This system alone makes the Mistborn Trilogy worthy of a consideration. Unlike many other fantasy books, allomancy does not require elaborate hand gestures and chanting to make amazing things happen. The magic system, at least to this new-to-fantasy reader, is a refreshing change of pace.

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: Mistborn – The Well of Ascension

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Photo above was taken from the Gently Used Books Website

A couple of years ago, I ordered some take out over the phone from a pizza shop that was close bye. I drove over to this little strip mall and noticed a book store that I hadn’t previously, named Gently Used Books. At this particular time, I don’t recall the store being open and I made a mental note to visit during their normal business hours.

Since I noticed the store, I had been meaning to stop in and look around. For one reason or another, it always slipped my mind and I never got around it, until just a couple of months ago. It would seem that the business was doing well, because when I finally was able to visit, it was after the store moved to a larger location.

A few months back, I was on my way to visit my parents and had to stop in to a store in a popular shopping center. This shopping center recently underwent some development and saw the addition of a few new stores and the expansion of another.

Some of the businesses within the shopping center took the opportunity to move their stores into one of the more modern and larger spaces available. This left their old locations open for stores like Gently Used Books.

As I was passing through the shopping center, I noticed Gently Used Books in its new location. Just like before, I told myself that I needed to make a point to stop in and take a look around. Just like the last time, when I noticed the store it was outside of their normal business hours.

This time I didn’t let the thought slip my mind and made a point to set aside time to visit. The following week I did just that and took a look around. What I found was just what you would expect when the name Gently Used Books enters your mind. The store was filled with used books that appeared to be in great shape.

Among the shelves of books were many customers quietly picking through the selection or reading through a potential purchase. For such a small store, business appeared to be booming. I made my way over to the small fantasy section and began looking around.

At this point I was just about finished with The Sword of Truth Series and was simply looking curiously at what was on the shelves. As I scanned the shelves, I found one book that was familiar to me and immediately picked it up for purchase.

I poked around for several more minutes before making my way to the cash register. The employee I dealt with was very nice and before long I was on my way back to my car. In that brief afternoon visit I was able to save a couple of dollars by purchasing a gently used copy of A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin and also supported local business.

Post from: Walt in PA

Gently Used Books – Douglassville, PA

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The book I am currently reading hasn’t been able to hold my attention like the first book in the series. As a result, I’m finding myself picking it up less and less. In the event that I do pick it up, I’m finding that I’m reading a chapter and setting it aside for something that holds my interest a bit better.

I hope to spend the long holiday weekend powering through the book and getting caught up on some other things. In the meantime, I thought it might be worth-while to fill you in on what I have on my agenda to read over the next couple of months.

I went on a little bit of a buying spree and have a number of books backlogged to work through before I order any new titles. I’m unsure of what order I’ll be reading the books in, so you’ll just have to keep an eye on the videos to see what direction I go in after finishing up the “Mistborn” Series.

• Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson (Book 2 of Mistborn Trilogy)
• The Hero Of Ages by Brandon Sanderson (Book 3 of Mistborn Trilogy)
• Assassin’s Apprentice By Robin Hobb (Book 1 of Farseer Trilogy)
• Royal Assassin By Robin Hobb (Book 2 of Farseer Trilogy)
• Assassin’s Quest By Robin Hobb (Book 3 of Farseer Trilogy)
• The Malloreon Volume 1 By David Eddings (Books 1 through 3 of The Malloreon Series)
• The Malloreon Volume 2 By David Eddings (Books 4 and 5 of The Malloreon Series)
• The Law of Nines by Terry Goodkind

In addition to my recent purchases listed above, I have a handful of other titles that have been on my bookshelf for far too long. I may begin to mix in those books between series so that I can get them off of my “to read” list and onto my “have read” list.

Post from: Walt in PA

Books waiting to be read

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Title: Mist born – The Final Empire
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Published By: Tor Fantasy
Published Date: 2006
ISBN-13: 978-0-7653-5038-1
ISBN-10: 0-7653-5038-6
Length: 643 Pages
Purchased From: Amazon @ $7.99

Additional Information:

Mistborn is a Trilogy written by Brandon Sanderson. The three books which make up this series, in order, are The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages. These books were originally published in 2006, 2007, and 2008. This review covers a later publication in the form of Mass Market Paperback. This publication of The Final Empire took place in August 2007.

The Story:

Mistborn is a story that takes place in a world that is no longer green and covered by flourishing vegetation. Instead, this world has been overtaken by a sky full of ash which blocks out much of the suns light. Plants and other vegetation have lost thier green color and have turned brown and gray, leaving the world pale with a lifeless feel.

In the evening, the mist comes out and floods the streets and country roads. While the mist is no real danger, the skaa workers are terrified of it and hide within their crowded sleeping quarters while the nobility host grand balls.

At the center of everything is the Lord Ruler. This evil man has created a class system which forces the Skaa to become the slaves of nobility. After years of torture and brutal killings, there is finally a serious voice among the Skaa to rebel against their Lord Ruler, their self proclaimed God.

The story of Mistborn follows that uprising and two people that are most important to its success. Kelsier is the sole survivor of the Pitts of Hathsin with incredible allomantic abilities. Vin is a sixteen year old girl who is discovered by Kelsier as having great potential for allomancy. The pair work closely together with a group of rebels with the goal of overthrowing the Final Empire.

My Thoughts:

After reading The Belgariad Series David Eddings, I really wanted to read something that wasn’t so black and white. It was recommended to me to give Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy a try, as it was said to contain gray characters and a darker storyline. I couldn’t have been any more pleased by that recommendation and thought the book was a fantastic read.

What set this book apart from my limited fantasy experience was its lack of incantations and hand gestures to create magic. Instead, Mistborn uses a system called Allomancy, which I found very interesting. This magical system works by an Allomancer ingesting metals then burning them within the body. There are ten common metals, all of which have one particular ability.

The storyline itself flows well and never feels as though it has stalled. Because of the flowing storyline, I found it easy to sit down and read for an extended period of time. It was sometimes difficult to set the book down between chapters because it always felt like something was just around the corner and I didn’t want to hold off to read it.

I actually enjoyed this book so much that I am concerned about the next one. The progression in Vin from being a street thief to a powerful allomancer has me hoping that I don’t run into the same problem that I did with the movie The Matrix. In that Movie, which was excellent, Neo progressed from a nobody to the most powerful person in the matrix. In the following movie, he seemed far too powerful due to the fast progression and, as a result, the movie sucked. I am hoping that I don’t see the same thing happen in The Well of Ascension and Vin’s abilities.

If this write-up has sparked even a little curiosity within you about this book, I would strongly suggest picking it up and giving it a read.

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: Mistborn – The Final Empire

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Title: The Child Thief
Author: Brom
Published By: EOS (HarperCollins Publishers)
Publish Date: 2009
ISBN: 978-0-06-167133-3
Length: 481
Purchase From: Amazon @ $17.81

The Story:

The Child Thief by Brom is a retelling of Peter Pan. In this version of the tale, things are far more dark and sinister than what you may remember from Disney. The Child Thief opens by following a young boy named Nick. This boy is running away from a drug dealer who has taken up residence in his grandmothers apartment building.

After telling his mother about the problems the drug dealer is bringing to the home, Nick is confronted and is burned across his forearm for being a snitch. Trying to get back at the drug dealer, Marco, Nick steals several thousand dollars worth or drugs and tries to get away.

Nick is discovered in a park while trying to make his way to the New York Subway. After being knocked down and held in the park for Marco to arrive, a golden eyed boy, Peter, springs out and comes to the rescue of Nick. After a quick show of violence, the boys leave the park and let loose on the streets.

Before long, Nick is taken to the mist and brought through to the world Peter is protecting. This world is not Neverland, but Avalon. In Avalon, Peter is raising an army of children to fight the flesh eaters and their captain. All of the children here have been collected by Peter and were in some sort of trouble. Because of the circumstances in which these children were saved, Peter is viewed as some sort of Messiah.

A land that we all think of as filled with fun and games, is told as one filled with violence and death. The boys train to become killers and hunt the flesh eaters, which are trying to eradicate the land of the devil children so that they can escape the mist that has trapped them there.

My Thoughts:

I’ve got to be honest, when I first heard that this book was a retelling of Peter Pan, I was a bit skeptical. After heading over to amazon and reading the premise, I was really eager to give it a read. What I found was a version of Peter Pan that was so gritty that I couldn’t put the book down.

Practically all of the characters in this story are gray (not black or white as in ultimately good or evil). Everyone is fighting for what they believe is right, meanwhile this entire war that looms on in the book is nothing more than a catastrophic misunderstanding and overreaction. By the end of the story you get to see the best and the worst of the substantial characters.

I thought that this was a fantastic story which is definitely worth a re-read in the future. While this may be a story of Peter Pan, it is not meant for children. Both extreme violence and foul language take place in this book, which is why it is probably best suited for a mature reader.

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: The Child Thief

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The Story:

The Belgriad is a Series which follows a young boy named Garion. Garion is very young and thinks that he is just like any of the other boys on Feldor’s Farm. Each day he plays among friends and spends time with his Aunt Pol working in the farms kitchen.

After a time on the farm, Garion meets a traveling story teller that goes by the name Old Wolf (or Mister Wolf). Slowly Garion and Old Wolf begin to grow closer when it becomes apparent that Aunt Pol is closer to this story teller than she lets on.

In time, Garion learns that Old Wolf is actually his Aunt Pol’s father as they set out on a journey. The purpose of this journey is kept from Garion and he begins to grow tired of being treated like such a child. As the story progresses, characters are added to the story and Garion begins to mature.

As their journey continues, Garion learns that he is a very special boy, despite his feeling normal. It is said that there is very old prophecy which dooms the world. In this prophecy, Garion is called upon and must defeat an Evil God that has been sleeping for generations.

In addition to Garion’s key position in the prophecy, he learns that his family lineage has given him the gift of sorcery. As he practices his craft, the party travels closer to the resting God. Before long, the final battle takes place between Torak and Garion. With the fate of the world on Garion’s shoulders, he succeeds and defeats the Evil God.

My Thoughts:

Before writing up this wrap-up on The Belgariad, I wanted to let it sink in a bit. After finishing the series, I moved right along and started on another book. Allowing myself some time before typing this up has shown me just how memorable the series was.

Just like The Sword of Truth Series, I’m finding it difficult to find those mental breaks between books. While I know the story as a whole, I am having difficulty remembering what event took place in what book. I don’t think this is necessarily a negative thing, but something I should expect among multi-book stories.

The storyline as a whole, I feel was a little lacking in the memorable department. There were times when it was a lot of fun to read this series and there were also times when I felt bored and just wanted to get it over with. The writing style feels little dry and the characters all seem ultimately good or evil (black or white as opposed to gray).

While the characters were likable, they seemed to lack a bit of realism at times. My favorite part of the series was the interaction between Garion and Ce’Nedra. The childish bickering between the young couple made several smiles creep across my face.

Since finishing this series, I have purchased The Malloreon, which is another five-book series that follows The Belgariad. I intend to read that series, however I’m planning on breaking each book up so that I don’t feel as locked into Eddings’ particular writing style. I think the breaks will help the storyline flow and hold my interest a bit more.

If you have a teenager that is looking for something to read, this series is good clean writing. There isn’t anything in it that I found offensive and the storyline isn’t full of plot twists that may loose the interest of a younger reader.

Books In Order:

• Pawn of Prophecy
• Queen of Sorcery
• Magicians Gambit
• Castle of Wizardry
• Enchanters End Game

Post from: Walt in PA

The Belgariad Series Wrapup

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Title: Enchanters End Game
Author: David Eddings
Published By: Del Rey Books
Publish Date: 2002
ISBN: 0-345-45631-9
Length: 236
Purchase From: Amazon @ $12.20

Additional Information

Enchanters End Game was originally published in 1984 by Ballantine Books as part of The Belgariad series by David Eddings. In 1995 a hardcover first edition was published which incorporated the last two books of this series. In 2002 a trade edition (large format paperback) was published. This review covers the 2002 trade release and all information above is in reference to this particular publication.

The Story:

After sneaking off in the night, Garion, Silk, and Belgarath begin making their way to fight the evil God Torak. All information up to this point tells the party that the sleeping God is lying in Cthol Mishrak stirring from his long slumber.

The book now splits into two active storylines. One follows Garion on his journey to reach Torak while the other follows the activities of Ce’Nedra. More emphasis is put on Ce’Nedra due to all of the activity going on around her. Garion is simply traveling across the land and trying to go unseen as not to stir up any trouble.

After Ce’Nedra takes it upon herself to unite the lands of the west, Polgara snaps out of her tirade and makes sure the princess follows through. While the plan of uniting the west seems a little far fetched, Polgara thinks that it may just work since there is a vague reference to this kind of activity in the prophecy they have been following.

Ce’Nedra has a tough job ahead of her and needs to get over her dreadful fear of public speaking in order to convince men to pick up arms and become a part of the war effort. With the prodding of Polgara, Ce’Nedra is wildly successful and manages to create an army of incredible size by the time her campaigning is complete.

This new army lead by Ce’Nedra works their way across the land in an effort to draw battle and attention away from the Tomb of Torak so that Silk, Garion, and Belgarath can slip on through and get to the God Torak without issue.

In a bit of a plot twist, everyone required by prophecy manages to arrive at the tomb of Torak together for the final battle. After Torak awakens from his sleep, a battle begins with Garion. As expected, Garion succeeds and Torak is defeated. Garion and Ce’Nedra complete their wedding ceremony and the story ends happily ever after.

My Thoughts:

All in all, this book wasn’t bad. It certainly wasn’t something to write home about, but it does a good job of closing out the series without any blaring gaps in the storyline to raise questions. After the story was complete, there was an epilogue which told us of the wedding between Garion and Ce’Nedra.

While the story is interesting, it is very black and white. This sort of cut and dry story makes it a little tedious to read book after book. I’ll definitely be continuing on with The Malloreon, but I’m going to need to give David Eddings a little rest. Even when I do get back to reading this author, I think I’ll have to break up the books and not read all five, one after another.

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: Enchanters End Game

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Title: Castle of Wizardry
Author: David Eddings
Published By: Del Rey Books
Publish Date: 2002
ISBN: 0-345-45631-9
Length: 246
Purchase From: Amazon @ $12.20

Additional Information

Castle of Wizardry was originally published in 1984 by Ballantine Books as part of The Belgariad series by David Eddings. In 1995 a hardcover first edition was published which incorporated the last two books of this series. In 2002 a trade edition (large format paperback) was published. This review covers the 2002 trade release and all information above is in reference to this particular publication.

The Story:

During the conclusion of Magicians Gambit, Belgarath and Ctuchik get into a magical battle. When Ctuchik is defeated, Belgarath collapses due to exhaustion and the the party must spring to action. Coincidentally, at the conclusion of the battle, a volcano in a nearby mountain begins to erupt and the stronghold begins to crumble.

The party escapes from the stronghold and needs to figure out a way to travel back to the Vale of Aldur without being captured. The plan is to allow the Murgos to pick up on their trail and begin tracking them. Once that happens, they plan to shift course and hide their tracks so that the Murgos continue on and stumble onto an awaiting army.

As the plan is set into motion, a group of men find a way to attack the party with the use of magic. In order to protect the child Errand from the threat, Polgara must remove herself from the role of group leader and focus all of her will to putting herself and Errand into a sort of force field.

When polgara steps aside as leader, Garion has leadership thrust upon him and is expected to lead the party onward. With Polgara occupied and Belgarath still unconscious, Garion is required to defend everyone from the threat of magic.

Suddenly, this group of men using magic are able to lock onto Durnick and slowly begin killing him. It is at this time that Garion learns to cast himself from his body and take the form of a shadow. He then travels quickly back to the group of men and destroys their means of casting magic.

As the journey continues, the group safely makes it to Riva where the Orb of Aldur is to be placed. With all members of the party together once again, and Belgarath recovered, the plot begins to unfold. Garion learns that he is the protector of the Orb of Aldur and the Rivan King. It is also at this time that the Orb and the dry voice help Garion see each member of the party for their purpose in the prophecy.

As the ceremony takes place, Ce’Nedra realizes that she is to be the wife of this former simple farm boy and lets out an audible sigh of displeasure. From here the couple see one another in a different light and the bickering between them amplifies.

Late one evening the dry voice in Garion’s mind leads him to the Mrin and Darine Codex Prophecies. Garion must make a decision on how things will continue from here. The choices are to go to war with the Murgos and their God Torak, leaving hundreds of thousands to their deaths, or to sneak off and battle Torak alone.

After Garion makes his decision, he sneaks off in the night with Silk and Belgarath. The group leaves a note behind for Polgara, which sends her into a tirade. In order to help unify the lands, Ce’Nedra decides to take on the role of Overlord of the West while her husband to be is off to fight Torak.

My Thoughts:

I was really hoping that this book was going to end of a different note. Throughout the story I have enjoyed the back and forth bickering between Garion and Ce’nedra. When their marriage was finally out in the open, I couldn’t wait for the plot to thicken and read about trials and tribulations of young marriage.

When Garion slipped away with Silk and Belgarath I was a little disappointed that the storyline was not going to take on any kind of twist. It seemed as though the author was following a straight line to the end of the series and didn’t want to spend too much time on squabbles between characters. The overall storyline is good, I just wish there would have been a little extra flare thrown in from time to time.

With only one book remaining in The Belgariad series, I’m anxious to get finished up so that I can move on to something with a darker tone and characters that are gray rather than purely black and white (good vs evil).

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: Castle of Wizardry

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Title: Magicians Gambit
Author: David Eddings
Published By: Del Rey Books
Publish Date: 2002
ISBN: 0-345-45632-7
Length: 320 Pages in Original Paperback
Purchase From: Amazon @ $12.21

Additional Information

Magicians Gambit was originally published in 1983 by the Random House Publishing Group as part of The Belgariad series by David Eddings. In 1995 a hardcover first edition was published which incorporated the first three books of this series. In 2002 a trade edition (large format paperback) was published. This review covers the 2002 trade release and all information above is in reference to this particular publication.

The Story

In a continuation from Queen of Sorcery, Garion and his party continue on their quest to retrieve the Orb of Aldur. We learn that along the way, Apostate Zedar has had the orb stolen from him by an evil sorcerer named Ctuchik. This changes the direction of the story slightly, but the group trudges on.

As they trek through a mountain region, they are slowly becoming overtaken by the weather. A dry voice in Garion’s mind tells him that there is a cave nearby where they can get out of the weather and allow their horses time to rest. One of the horses, as it turns out, is about to give birth.

After some trouble, the mare gives birth to a colt that is not strong enough to live. Sadness overtakes the group as they stare and the dead colt lying in the room. In a fit, Garion moves towards the colt and forces his will into the dead animal. After warnings from his Aunt Pol, Garion continues and eventually forces the colt back through the barrier of death and into the land of the living.

Once the party is well rested, they continue on with their journey. In an effort to save time, they travel through a haunted land and all but Belgarath (Mister Wolf or Old Wolf) and Aunt Pol (Polgara) need to be put into a magical sort of hypnosis. This state of mind allows the members of the party to travel through the haunted land without going insane from the frightening actions of the dead.

After traveling through the haunted land of Maragor, the party arrives in the Vale of Aldur. While in the Vale, Garion learns more about his grandfather (Belgarath), and his Aunt Pol. He is given a small tour of the area and gets to see first hand where his grandfather and aunt grew up.

It is at this time that Garion decides that he must learn to control his gift. While Belgarath and Aunt Pol are occupied holding a conversation with the God Aldur, Garion goes off on his own to practice. Seeing a rock that his grandfather once moved with his mind, when he was Garion’s age, he tried to do the same. In a comedic twist, Garion winds up burying himself into the soil up to his neck and has to rely on Silk to dig him back out.

When business is concluded in the Vale of Aldur, the party sets out for Ulgoland. It is here that another member of the party is found and Princess Ce’Nedra is left behind. While in Ulgoland, the princess learns a few life lessons and realizes that she is in love with Garion.

After leaving Ulgoland, the party trudges on to find the Orb of Aldur. In the conclusion of the book, the orb is discovered and a huge magical battle takes place between Belgarath and Ctuchik. The Orb is recovered and yet another party member is added in the form of a very young child nicknamed Errand.

My Thoughts

After reading the first three books in The Belgariad series, I’m finding that I’m slowly finding it more and more difficult to read for long periods of time. While the innocence and boyhood trials and tribulations are fun, they just are not engaging enough to hook me. I find that after a chapter of reading, I’m ready to set the book down and find something else to occupy my time.

If I were reading this book when I was about 15, I could see this as being something I would be absolutely glued to until the series was complete. I’m determined to finish this series, but am hoping that it begins to develop a little more substance along the way. While the characters are very likable, the storyline seems a little too predictable and doesn’t have much in the way of plot twists.

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: Magicians Gambit

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Title: Queen of Sorcery
Author: David Eddings
Published By: Del Rey Books
Publish Date: 2002
ISBN: 0-345-45632-7
Length: 239 Pages
Purchase From: Amazon @ $12.21

Additional Information

Queen of Sorcery was originally published in 1982 by the Random House Publishing Group as part of The Belgariad series by David Eddings. In 1995 a hardcover first edition was published which incorporated the first three books of this series. In 2002 a trade edition (large format paperback) was published. This review covers the 2002 trade release and all information above is in reference to this particular publication.

The Story

Queen of Sorcery picks up where the previous book, Pawn of Prophecy, leaves off. Garion and the group travel from Sendaria to Arendia to continue their quest. Just like in the first book, the group needs to track down and recover the stolen Orb of Aldur.

After a journey on the water, the group finds themselves in the abandoned city of Vo Wacune. The group needed to rest and recover while waiting for a member of their party, Hettar, to meet them with horses to speed up their journey.

Not having any responsibility, Garion gives himself the task of setting out into the city each day to watch and wait for Hettar’s arrival. One day while hiding along a wall on the edge of town, he overhears two people speaking about their lives as serfs. After a short conversation, the two people move along and Garrion discovers someone making their way towards the abandoned city.

Garrion’s immediate impression is that this well-to-do lone rider must be one of the ones responsible for enslaving the people he overheard talking. In the heat of the moment, Garion ambushes this person and goes on the attack.

After a lot of commotion, Mister Wolf comes to investigate. To Garion’s surprise, Mister Wolf introduces this lone rider as Lelldorin and the newest member of their party. Lelldorin is an eighteen year old boy of Asturian descent and is a very proud individual.

As the story moves on, Garrion and Lellodorin become rather close, although Garion found his new friend to be rather annoying a times. With someone his own age to talk to, Garion begins to loosen up try to piece together the little information he has about his life.

Shortly after Hettar arrives with horses, the group heads out to continue their journey. The plan is to make their way to Tolnedra so speak with the Emperor, Ran Borune XXIII. Mister Wolf decided that it is best to warn Ran Borune of the potential dangers of the Orb of Aldur being stolen and the potential for a catastrophic war.

Along the way, the group is attacked by beasts of the woods and Lellodorin is injured. With no choice, the party leaves Lellodorin to recover with a group of companions. During the attack the group is aided by a knight named Mandorallen who also joins the party.

While Mister Wolf meets with Ran Borune, a young girl bursts into the room throwing a tantrum. We learn that this girl is Ce’Nedra, the daughter of Ran Borune, and she is quite displeased by being cooped up in the castle.

The party sets out from Tolnedra and are later approached by two riders who wish to travel with them to the next city. With Tolnedra and the surrounding communities in turmoil, the strangers seek protection along their way. While traveling, Garion becomes suspicious that this female stranger is actually Ce’Nedra in disguise.

As the story develops, the group learns that the Orb of Aldur is not far ahead of them and that they must split up. Mister Wolf and Silk decided it would be best of they traveled through the swamps of Nyissa while Barak, Durnik, Mandorallen, Aunt Pol, Garion, and Ce’Nedra backtrack to make safer travel, by ship, to Nyissa.

The story follows Garion and his party while they become ambushed. All but Garion are closely watched and he decides that he needs to act and kill the leader of the group, Chamdar. Before doing so, he hears a familiar voice in the back of his mind which tells him that he must not use his dagger.

Following the advice of this voice, Garion calls upon his will and uses a powerful blast of magic to burn Chamdar alive. When it is all over, Garion feel remorse and considers himself a monster for doing such a thing and vows never to use magic again.

The book comes to a close after a bit more excitement and magic when Silk and Mister Wolf meet up with the rest of the group in Nyissa. I feel as though I’ve told you far too much of the story already, so for the remainder you will just have to read it yourself.

My Thoughts

This book seemed to hit its stride by about the half-way point. The action began to pick up and parts of the storyline just seemed to click. Up until this point I didn’t feel the story reaching out to me. I had a hard time keeping myself engaged for more than a chapter or two before setting the book down and doing something else to occupy my mind. As soon as the story picked up, I was engaged and found myself clinging to the book. I felt engaged all the way up until Queen of Sorcery reached its conclusion.

The ending of this book left a little to be desired. Unlike Pawn of Prophecy, where the ending was a simply transition to the next book without a climax, this one had a battle that ensued. After the battle, the storyline cooled and we were ushered into the next book.

Overall the story wasn’t a bad read, although it feels very innocent. At time the innocent boyhood story makes me laugh and smile, but between those points I sometime struggle to keep myself focused.

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: Queen of Sorcery

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Title: Pawn of Prophecy
Author: David Eddings
Published By: Del Rey Books
Publish Date: 2002
ISBN: 0-345-45632-7
Length: 192 Pages
Purchase From: Amazon @ $12.21

Additional Information

Pawn of Prophecy was originally published in 1982 by the Random House Publishing Group as part of The Belgariad series by David Eddings. In 1995 a hardcover first edition was published which incorporated the first three books of this series. In 2002 a trade edition (large format paperback) was published. This review covers the 2002 trade release and all information above is in reference to this particular publication.

The Story

Pawn of Prophecy begins by introducing us to a young boy named Garion. At this junction in the book he is less than ten years old and keeps himself occupied by playing with friend on Feldor’s Farm in Sendaria. The first few chapters do a bit of jumping around as we learn little tid-bits about Garions younger years. One chapter may tell a story of when he was just ten years old, while the next may jump to a time when he was twelve.

After a few chapters, the story settles in to a time when Garion was fifteen. All of his life he has lived on Feldor’r Farm with his Aunt Pol. This was a very peaceful place that made Garion feel safe and secure. One day while on the farm, Garion meets a man that goes by the name Old Wolf, or Mister Wolf. Mister Wolf is a storyteller of sorts and makes his way to Feldor’s Farm every so often to tell tales in exchange for Aunt Pol’s cooking and glasses of ale. This storyteller is so good at telling tales that the whole farm gathers to listen in. Stories that the people have been told all of their lives seem to come to life as Mister Wolf speaks.

As the story progresses, there seems to be some sort of bond between Aunt Pol and Mister Wolf, but anytime Garion asks, all he is told is that they have known one another for many years. One occasion Aunt Pol and Mister Wolf seem to have to have an urgent conversation and Garion is sent from the kitchen to fetch carrots. While lingering near the kitchen window, he hears the two discussing a mission which must be tended to immediately.

Following this discussion, the characters set off, accompanied by Durnik the farms smith. During their journey, Garion feels as though he is being dragged along because Aunt Pol insists on treating him like a child and doesn’t know what else to do with him. Along the way, the small group meets up with Silk and Barak where the group plays the part of turnip merchants making their way across Sendaria.

On their journey, Garion begins to be taught important life lessons to becoming a man by Mister Wolf, Silk, and Barak. being young in years, Garion becomes defiant at times towards his Aunt Pol, who he feels views him as a burden and a child.

My Thoughts

Unlike many of the books in the Sword of Truth Series, the end of this book did not have a climax and defined ending. The story comes to a conclusion as the group leaves Sendaria and travels to Arendia to continue on with their mission. At times I feel a little in the dark as the story follows Garion. Because of his young age, he is treated as such and is not informed of the finer points of the mission.

At times, Garion eavesdrops on conversations between the older characters. This is the only way he seems to gather information, and in turn, that is the only way that information in conveyed on to the reader. It is interesting because I really get to see the world through Garion’s eyes and at times I root for his defiance towards Aunt Pol.

The story is very laid back and fun because of the perspective given. There are short stints where Garion is off being a boy. In one instance he punches a boy in the face and kisses a young girl, which simply made me laugh and smile as the scene played out.

Pawn of Prophecy seems to be geared towards young adults as the storyline is pretty straight forward and simple. There isn’t a whole lot of thinking involved and you can simply sit back and read. I didn’t come across any material which would be frowned upon when presented to a teenager.

While the story is simple and fun going, I am enjoying it none the less. I was a bit surprised that there wasn’t any sort of climax at the end and it simply readied me for a transition to another land where Queen of Sorcery begins.

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: Pawn of Prophecy

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Title: Villains by Necessity
Author: Eve Forward
Published By: Tor
Publish Date: 1995
ISBN: 0-812-52228-1
Length: 535 Pages
Purchase From: Amazon @ $35.00

The Story

Villains by Necessity is a story that takes a different approach than your usual fantasy novel. In this case we are given the perspective of evil rather than that of good. Some near one hundred fifty years before the main storyline takes place, there is a great war between good and evil. When this war concluded, good triumphed over evil and the Dark Gate was locked shut, slowly strangling all evil from the world.

After the Dark Gate was closed, a way to open it once again had to be created. For this, a key was created. The key was far too powerful to wipe from the face of the earth, so it was broken into six segments. One segment for each of the Heros that ended the war against evil. Each segment was hidden from the world and linked to a test designed by each Hero. Pass the test and that portion of the key was earned, fail and the outcome was death.

A century and a half after the key was broken apart and hidden away, we are introduced to Arcie (a thief) and Sam (an assassin) holding a conversation in an empty guild house. For a time they reminisce of the good old days when evil was spread throughout the world and things were fun.

With little to do and the world growing more pure by the day, the two men headed over to a tavern to laugh and drink. Soon after having their fill of drink, they were captured and taken to the castle dungeon. While in the pits of the dungeon they learn that all of their friends, who mysteriously turned good, were whitewashed by a great white mage.

After escaping they meet a woman named Kaylana (a druid) in the woods. She teaches them of the imbalance of the world and asks them to help her open the dark gate and prevent the world from being destroyed by the excess of light flooding the world.

From this point forward their journey begins and they strive to locate each segment of the key required to balance the world once again. Along the way they meet Blackmail (a dark knight), Valerie (a sorceress), and Robin (a centaur). In their travels they are hunted by the great white mage and several other people fighting to keep the light thriving and the Dark Gate locked.

My Thoughts

When I learned that this book focused on evil rather than good, I was very interested in reading the story. Rather than the normal good vs evil, where we follow the story of a hero, I was instead given a dark twist. I think that this twist alone makes this book worth reading as it was the complete opposite of what I got started with in the Sword of Truth Series.

This book took quite a bit longer for me to read than others. I think the reason for this was the way it was formatted. Rather than traditional chapters, the book was broken into roughly ten parts that spanned a number of pages. This never allowed me to set the book down at what I felt was a good spot.

The storyline felt a bit clunky as it jumped from one portion to the next. Rather than have inner dialog, or conversation between characters, we immediately arrived in new locations for the story to continue. I was left wondering if the characters traveled in silence or if there was nothing worth noting along the way. I’m not sure if this was left on the cutting room floor so that the story didn’t expand beyond one book or if it was by design.

Towards the end, when all of the key segments were assembled, the charterers went into a labyrinth. At this point there are many dream sequences that made things tough to follow. Once this part of the story progressed, things got hot and heavy with battle and dialog. At that point, things were easy to follow and fun to read.

All in all, I’m glad that I read this book. I loved the concept of the story and would definitely recommend it to someone looking for another fantasy novel to add to their bookshelf. Because Villains by Necessity is out of print, it is tough to find and carries a hefty price tag (for a mass market paperback). For this reason, I’d recommended keeping an eye out at your local used book store or yard sales in hopes that you may find it for its cover price of about $7.00

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: Villians by Necessity

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It seems like its been forever since I’ve read the Sword of Truth Series by Terry Goodkind, but it was actually only just a couple of weeks. During the last couple of videos, which publishes a short time after I finished each accompanying book, I made mention that I wanted to do a wrap up of the series.

The idea initially was to do a brief summary of each book in the series. After giving this much though, I decided against it and instead want to simply take a look at the series as a whole. I think this is probably the best way to avoid spoilers and ruin the fun of reading for anyone that is interested in picking up the books for themselves. Ultimately, I would have had to inform you of how each book was revolved to make sense of the book after it, which in mind mind would have spoiled the ending of each book.

The Story

The Sword of Truth series starts off with a woods guide, Richard Cypher, stumbling onto a woman walking along a road leading to Hartland. When Richard sees this woman, he notices a small group of men following her. These men are staying far enough away from the woman so that she does not notice them. With the impression that the men are planning on attacking, Richard races through the woods to catch the woman at a side trail and lead her to safety.

Once Richard is able to get the woman away, he learns that her name is Kahlan and that she is on a very important quest which she can’t go into detail about. The two decide that they should speak with Richard’s dear friend Zedd, as he is likely the most able to help her.

As the story develops, Richard learns that there is a prophecy written that places him in a very powerful position. Richard is then named the Seeker of Truth and ventures out into the world to defeat Darken Rahl. Along the way Richard and Kahlan fall in love and struggle with instructions that they can not be together.

After Darken Rahl is defeated, Richard learns that he was in-fact one of many bastard sons to Darken Rahl and that he is now the new Master Rahl of D’hara. With his father dead, Richard faces a far more powerful enemy and enters into a long struggle to bring peace and freedom to the world.

Along the way, several obstacles present themselves and Richard must face them to continue on. These obstacles are presented in books three through eight. Books nine through eleven take us into the Chainfire trilogy which deals with the disappearance of Kahlan.

My Thoughts

The Sword of Truth Series was my very first experience into the fantasy book genre. I can’t get enough in the form of fantasy television, and as a result, several people recommended that I pick up Wizards First Rule to get me through the off-season of Legend of the Seeker. Once I started reading, I was quickly hooked and found it difficult to put the books down.

Each book was easy to follow and didn’t spend too much time developing the world that the story was placed in. The characters were like-able, for the most part, and made learning about them fun and interesting. The use of magic was not over the top and believable limitations were put into place.

It was becoming a little tiresome to read the same author for twelve books straight (Debt of Bones included). In the end I was a little sad that the story came to a close, but at the same time I was happy to be able to move onto something new.

My biggest gripe with the series was the constant reminders of events in previous books. While some things made sense to re-tell, many seemed pointless. It was as if we could have possibly forgotten who Richard was and the title he carried. In some instances I felt like I was re-reading the same paragraphs over and over again.

The only other thing to bother me was the constant talk of rape. While I can certainly see something such as rape being common in this world Terry Goodkind created, I was becoming numb to it. The first time was shocking and made an incredible impact on the the story, each and every time after that seemed unnecessary and didn’t do a whole lot to make the world seem any more brutal.

While the series had its ups and downs, I was happy to have read it. I enjoyed all but two books and found it difficult to pry myself away from reading even those books. There seems to be a huge fan following as well a huge crowd that dislikes the series with a passion. If you are well versed in the fantasy genre, the Sword of Truth series may be too simple for you. If you are new to the genre, like I am, you should consider checking it out.

The Books

• Debt of Bones (prequel to the series)
• Wizards First Rule
• Stone of Tears
• Blood of the Fold
• Temple of the Winds
• Soul of the Fire
• Faith of the Fallen
• The Pillars or Creation
• Naked Empire
• Chainfire
• Phantom
• Confessor

Post from: Walt in PA

Sword of Truth Series Wrapup

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Title: Debt of Bones
Author: Terry Goodkind
Published By: Tor
Publish Date: 2004
ISBN-13: 978-0765351548
Length: 160 Pages
Purchase From: Amazon @ $5.99

The Story:

I first learned of Debt of Bones while part way through the Sword of Truth Series by Terry Goodkind. Curious where it fit into the series, I did a little research to make sure that I didn’t inadvertently skip it. What I learned was that Debt of Bones was published before the Sword of Truth Series was concluded but encompassed a time long before the series was set into motion.

This book was written to give the reader a sense of understanding when it comes to First Wizard Zorander and the boundaries that are in place during Wizards First Rule. Even though this book takes place in the world created in the Sword of Truth series, it can easily stand on its own if read separately.

The story begins standing outside of the Wizards Keep in Aydindril. Standing among a crowd of people wishing to speak with the wizards inside, a young woman named Abby urgently needs to speak with First Wizard Zorander. Before making her journey to the keep, her village of Coney Crossing was overtaken by D’Haran troops. Among the many innocent people taken prisoner were Phillip and Jana, Abby’s husband and daughter.

Although Abby is ungifted and does not have the ability to call upon magic, we learn that her mother was a Sorceress. Before her death, she informed Abby of a debt involving the First Wizard and that Abby would inherit that debt and needed to travel to see the First Wizard.

With Abby’s village ravaged and her daughter and husband taken captive, she races to the Wizards Keep with the intention of calling the debt due and demanding that Wizard Zorander help her reclaim her family.

My Thoughts:

With this book being so short, I was able to read this is a single sitting. I thought that it was an interesting look at a very important character. The story takes little time unfold and as a result, feels like it is missing a little something.

While this book doesn’t impact the Sword of Truth Series and can be read after without raising too many questions, if I had to do it again I think I would have read the prequel first. The story places Zedd in a different light and would have made some of his actions later all the more meaningful had we known the terrible things within his past in more detail.

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: Debt of Bones

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In this edition of Shooting The Breeze, I discuss the last book of the Sword of Truth Series entitled Confessor. This book also concludes the Chainfire trilogy which includes books nine (Chainfire), ten (Phantom), and eleven (Confessor)

Post from: Walt in PA

Confessor – The Sword of Truth Series

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In this installment of Shooting The Breeze, I talk a little bit about Book 10 of the Sword of Truth Series, Phantom. This book begins to bring the eleven book saga to a close.

Post from: Walt in PA

Phantom – The Sword of Truth Series

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In this edition of Shooting The Breeze, I talk about my latest read in the Sword of Truth Series, Chainfire. Chainfire is the first book of a Trilogy which brings the series to a close. This weeks video runs just under twelve minutes and briefly explains why this post is late coming.

Post from: Walt in PA

Chainfire – Sword of Truth Series

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Its been a little while since I’ve read this book in the series, but I immediately recorded a video of my thoughts. While the finer details of the story have become blurred to me since I’ve continued on in the series, I do remember enjoying this book.

The transition from The Pillars of Creation to Naked Empire was smooth and started up immediately after the previous book ended. It was a nice change of pace from the last book and it got me back into an eager state of mind to continue reading.

Post from: Walt in PA

Naked Empire – Sword of Truth Series

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I want to preface this by saying that the video accompanying this book was done in the heat of the moment. I fired up the camcorder right after I finished reading and the juices of disappointment were flowing freely. While the story had its interesting points, it was the first book in the series that I actually thought was a chore to read.

I found myself avoiding putting the book down, not because it was suspenseful, but because I simply wanted to be done with it and get back to the main storyline. Rather than focus on Richard and Kahlan, it instead introduced two new characters and stayed with them up until about the last seventy-five pages.

Post from: Walt in PA

The Pillars of Creation – Sword of Truth Series

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Well, its another week and I’ve got yet another video for you. This time around I’ve managed to read the next book in line, in the Sword of Truth Series by Terry Goodkind. Book six is entitled Faith of the Fallen. This book was in the neighborhood of about eight-hundred pages and was the last of the second box set.

Faith of the Fallen starts off shortly after Soul of the Fire ends and immediately jumps into why the previous book ended the way it did. Being a little disappointed in the ending of the last book, I was eager to see why the author choose such a path for the main characters.

Before long my outlook changed on the previous book and I was engrossed in the new story. Suddenly, the characters become ripped apart and the book goes on to leap from one part of the world to another. With each jump, we learn a little more of how the stories will later become intertwined.

The separation of the characters came off as forced, which wasn’t overly pleasing. It seems that the core characters are always off dealing with different things and it lacks a sense of togetherness. Even though I wasn’t overjoyed by this separation, it played out wonderfully and had me clinching my book, not wanting to put it down.

By the time the book had come to a close, I appreciated the previous book far more. I felt as though I couldn’t totally understand the previous book until Faith of the Fallen was given a chance to unfold and make Richard’s choice completely clear, especially since his choice was so far out of character for him.

In this video I told more of the story than I had before, simply because I feel that the other videos lacked alot of detail and were simply too vague. I don’t feel as though I spoiled anything for you, so don’t be too concerned about learning anything that would ruin the television show, or books, for you.

Post from: Walt in PA

Faith of the Fallen – Sword of Truth Series

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During the last video regarding the Sword of Truth Series of books, I mentioned that Temple of the Winds was an excellent read and that I was eagerly looking forward to continuing the story with Soul of the Fire.

I have since finished reading the book and went on to record another video the very night I finished reading. With such an “in the moment” kind of video, I went on to say that I was very disappointed with the ending.

A few days later, the ending was allowed time to settle on my mind and be viewed a little differently. While I still feel that the ending was disappointing, I now understand it a little better. The main reason for this understanding is most likely due to the fact that I have started reading the next book in line.

Soul of fire, just like the others, picks up immediately after the previous book ends. At this point the story has gone on for about a year and covered a vast number of situations for each substantial character.

The author has had a tendency to break apart the characters during the story so that multiple key events could happen simultaneously. As a result, the story tends to get very interesting as all of these characters hit their stride throughout the book.

Soul of Fire was a slow starter and good a good amount of time to finally hit its stride. This was due to the introduction of new characters in a city which played a pivotal role in the resolution to this books problem. The book tends to drone on a little about the lifestyles of the people and the history of their land. Granted, this is important to know if you want to understand how the hero comes to his problems resolution.

As mentioned already, I wasn’t overly pleased with the ending of the book, however, it made me all the more eager to read the following book. I struggled to understand why the book took the “easy” path that it did and the beginning of the next book does an excellent job of explaining that decision to you.

Post from: Walt in PA

Soul of the Fire – Sword of Truth Series

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Well, its about that time again. I’ve got another post for you on the Sword of Truth series of books. Not long after I finished up Blood of the Fold, I got started on Temple of the Winds. Just like the other books in the series, this one picks up shortly after the previous books ends.

With a storyline that seamlessly flows from one book to the next, this one doesn’t take much time to warm up. Before long the action picks up and it became hard to set down. I read this book over a span of about six days. I started during the week and read somewhere around sixty pages each night before bed. When the weekend rolled around and I had more time on my hands, I burned through it before the weekend was out.

Just like in all of the other write-ups, I’m trying to avoid spoiling the book for you. There was alot going on in this book, but one particular event made for a spectacular plot twist. You were teased with it a couple of times before it came to place, but I never thought it would actually play out. When it finally did, I got a chill down my spine as it unfolded.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am eager to get started on the next. If I had to compare this to the other books in the series, I would say it was just as good as Stone of Tears.

Post from: Walt in PA

Temple of the Winds – Swordof Truth Series

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Before I finished up Stone of Tears, I was a little concerned that I just might read through the last book in my first box set before receiving the next one in line. After checking my amazon account, I learned that for some reason Box Set 2 was delayed and was scheduled to ship in about a weeks time.

I was getting concerned that I might just read through Stone of Tears and tear through Blood of the Fold before the next book arrived. Not wanting to be held up, I dragged my feet a bit and read less frequently. Fortunately, this book didn’t grip my attention nearly as much as the first two and taking my time was easy.

This book, just like the previous one, starts up a couple of days after the previous one ends. This makes the storyline flow nicely and avoids the thought of something being missed between stories. For majority of the book, the characters are spread out in this fantasy world and the story does alot of weaving in and out to follow them along their journey.

I didn’t find myself tightly drawn into the story until about the mid point of the book. The early chapters were filled with political talk of joining lands for the greater good, or why those lands should remain separate. During these chapters I felt bored and wished that something would just happen already to end the story of joining the lands.

At the mid point, that jolt to the story took place and the political perspective seemed to dissipate and the action kicked in. From here on out I enjoyed the story much more and had to put a little more effort into setting the book down.

My only other complaint about this book was the constant reminders sprinkled throughout to remind you of past points in the story. I would imagine this was done to bring a reader back to speed between books (months or years) but I found it highly annoying as a reader that was reading the series book by book, in a short period of time.

The next book in the series is entitled Temple of the Winds. As of this article, I have read the first few pages and look forward to bringing you a little information on that book as well.

Post from: Walt in PA

Blood of the Fold – Sword of Truth Series

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A couple of posts back I made mention that I was reading the Sword of Truth Series. After reading the first book, I did a write-up and video about it, Wizards First Rule. Since reading that book I have been hooked on the series and have been doing alot of reading. Not too long ago I finished up the second book in the series, Stone of Tears.

Having enjoyed the first book so much, I knew that this book was going to have to be really good to outshine the first. To my surprise, it was even better! More often than not I would have to tear myself away from the book just to get things done around the house. As soon as my errands and tasks were complete, I was right back to the book.

The nice thing about this book was that it picked up a couple hours after the first ended. The storyline flowed from one book to the next in a seamless manner which made diving into it very easy. The story was already set and the slow process of building on it was already taken care of in Wizards First Rule.

This one was a bit larger than the first, coming in at roughly one-thousand pages compared to the roughly eight-hundred of the first. The story was very long and kept my attention as I progressed through. My one, and only, complaint was that the ending seemed to come too quickly. When there was about ninety pages left, I realized that the ending hadn’t been firmed up yet and seemed to come on in a rush.

With the second book down (as well as the third as I write this), I am eager to dig deeper into the series. I’ve really enjoyed reading the books thus far and hope the next ones can live up to the enjoyment I got out of the early ones.

Post from: Walt in PA

Stone of Tears – Sword of Truth Series

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Being kind of bummed out that the show was off the air for the season while new episodes were shot, I gave alot of thought to reading the books to fill the void. I was hesitant to do so because I was afraid they would ruin the show for me. After all, being the source of ideas for the show, I was afraid that the books would lead me too far and allow me to know what was coming of the show before I actually watched it.

Throwing caution to the wind, I decided to go for it and read the first book of the series. Since season one was based on the first book only, I thought I had nothing to loose. I hopped onto amazon and ordered a box set containing books 1 through 3 and eagerly awaited their arrival.

When they arrived I was a little surprised by how thick they were. The average book that I read was on average 400 pages, these books were at least double that. Looking forward to what the books contained, I got started on a Saturday afternoon. Before the first chapter was complete, I knew I was hooked. For the remainder of the day I did nothing but read. As midnight approached, I forced myself to set the book down and get some rest.

On Sunday morning I got an early start and dove right back into the book. Unable to put it down, I continued to read throughout the day and into the night. I somehow managed to complete the first book in that second sitting and my eyes were weary. Looking at the clock, I realized that it was 3:30 AM.

Looking back at what I had read, I’m very glad that I decided to read the book. I found vast differences between the television show and what the book contained. My attention was gripped tight by the tale of Richard, Kahlan, and Zed.

Unlike other books I have talked about here on the site, I don’t want to say a word. There is so much packed into the book and so many twists and turns that I don’t want to ruin anything for those that intend to read Wizards First Rule.

If you enjoy tales of magic, wizards, and old ways, this book is one that you should most definitely read. It was by far the most captivating I had ever read and I eagerly look forward to continuing on with the series. In the video below I rambled on about my experience with the book, as well as a little on how I read and what goes on in my mind as I do so.

Post from: Walt in PA

Wizards First Rule – Sword of Truth Series

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Each and every Friday I set a little time aside to visit my local cigar shop and catch up with the regulars. Some weeks I have a little more time than others, but I do my best to give my business to the local shop. One particular Friday a group of us were sitting around and one of the regulars was telling us about his office.

This regular is a doctor and a partner is his practice. He went on to tell us how he has a fantastic staff due to the way they do things in his office. Each month the partners evaluate the books and if they make a profit over that particular month the year before, they assign bonuses to share the profit.

He went on to say that sometimes when new staff arrives they have a difficult time adjusting to the way things are outside of medical school. For this reason he has one mandatory task that he expects all new staff to partake in, which is to read a short book on change.

He went on to tell us about this short book chock full of thought provoking writing. The book was entitled Who Moved My Cheese?. Several months later the book came up again at the cigar shop, this time from another regular that had read it per the doctors suggestion. He went on and on about how it was such a good short read.

Even later down the line I was making a small purchases on Amazon and decided to add the book to my cart to qualify for free shipping. A few days later I un-boxed my order and cracked open the book. Reading the book from cover to cover did not take long at all. Before I knew it I was finished and amazed at how thought provoking it was.

The plot revolves around four characters, two of which are mice and two are little people. The mice had simple brains while the little people had the ability to inject emotion into their situations and think them through. One day the four characters set out on a journey through a maze to find cheese. After finding the cheese, the four characters respond to the situation a little differently.

The mice would awaken in the morning and scurry off to find the cheese. The little people got slower and slower each day, taking their good old time to arrive at the cheese. One morning the cheese was gone, this is when the the real thought provoking writing begins. Each character goes about their a day a little differently in order to find new cheese.

After finishing the book I found it difficult not to look at my current situation and put some thought into how I could make things better if anyone were to move my cheese.

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: Who Moved My Cheese?

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A few weeks ago I was bored out of my mind. I wasn’t up to watching television and had all of my necessary work completed for Stogie Review. As I annoyed my wife by pacing around the living room, she suggested that I grab a book off of our book shelf and do some reading.

I love to read but rarely have enough free time to complete a book in a decent amount of time. This time, however, I had an open weekend in front of me and thought it was as good a time as any to dive into a book. I headed to the bookshelf and began looking for something fairly short.

I eventually came across a book entitled The Giver and wasn’t sure where it came from. According to my wife, it was required reading material for her in high school. She remembered it being an interesting read which was fairly short. I grabbed the book from the shelf, put on a pot of tea, and selected a cigar. A few minutes later I was immersed in the book.

Right from the start this book hit me as being strange. The main character, Jonas, is a twelve year old boy living in a perfect society. From the age of twelve, each member of the community is given a specific role and is expected to carry it out. Adults are assigned a mate as well as children and are expected to live their lives in perfect order.

The author focuses on a time in the life of Jonas where he goes through a transition. On his twelfth birth year he is assigned a role in the community and begins the transition to adult. He is assigned the unique role of “Receiver”, which has not been assigned in a number of years. This causes concern for him and excitement for the community.

Jonas’ new role in the community is to train as a receiver and eventually replace the current occupant. As Jonas trains with the old receiver, his life as he knows it is torn apart. This unique role gives him access to information that the community keeps quiet, it eventually changes the way he views his parents, sibling, and closest friends.

As the book progresses, Jonas and the current receiver plot to make the community right and give back the freedom of choice to the people. A series of events take place which shock the community and create a bit of a lack-luster ending to the story.

After two cigars, a couple of cups of tea, and about three and a half hours, I completed the book in one sitting. The ending left the mind free to guess at how society has changed as a result of Jonas’ actions, as well as make you think about the current state of the world.

The book is entertaining enough to keep your attention, but expect to stop at some points and shake your head is disbelief. The intention of the book is to make a young reader think about the way society functions and even call some things into question.

I did a little research after reading this book and it appears as though it has made a few banned books lists. It also seems that many of Lowry’s books have a similar storyline, although admittedly I haven’t read any. It seems as though if you have enjoyed a Lois Lowry book in the past, you may enjoy this one as well.

Post from: Walt in PA

Book Review: The Giver by Lois Lowry

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