Espresso read and liked Lori's review of The Gathering Storm (Wheel of Time, #12; A Memory of Light, #1):

"WARNING: THERE ARE MAJOR SPOILERS IN THE COMMENTS SO SKIP IF YOU HAVEN"T READ THE BOOK!!!!!

I said I wasn't interested. I said I wouldn't bother reading this until the whole series was done. But with all the great reviews, and als...more WARNING: THERE ARE MAJOR SPOILERS IN THE COMMENTS SO SKIP IF YOU HAVEN"T READ THE BOOK!!!!!

I said I wasn't interested. I said I wouldn't bother reading this until the whole series was done. But with all the great reviews, and also having really liked Sanderson's other work, I went back on my word as soon as I saw this at Costco! On top of that, I'm even ignoring some books I've been dying to read that I have on hand, notably Kingsolver's new one. I'm such a liar!

Well, I've finished. I busted my ankle so since I was flat on my back I was able to have quite the marathon in this world.

I am surprised how much I liked it, and alot more than the last books Jordan actually wrote! I felt that we are FINALLY gathering towards a conclusion, and instead of bringing yet more minor and extraneous players into the mix, we now focused only on the more major characters. In the previous books, I couldn't remember who half the characters were, but for this one, even with the looooooong break I needed no reminders at all. Even with my senioritis!

The book was far more focused and back to concentrating on things that are essential. And the wonderful world that Jordan created but misused after the first few books is back!

For all you action buffs who love battles, that is lacking here. There's lots more preparation for military action, but the real battles here are psychological for both Egwene, trapped in the White Tower, and for Rand himself. Finally, we get back in Rand's mind, and for the hero of the story, Jordan was doing his best to make us hate him. Well, no longer. He captures our sympathy, so much so that we may dislike what has happened to his character but we don't blame him at all, in fact we now understand and are very sad. BUT BUT BUT there is actual development here! Which I can't say because that would be a spoiler.

There are not many books that would be so utterly engrossing that would make the hours fly while I was forced into utter inactivity on a couch with my ankle lifted all day long. This book made what would have been a hair-pulling experience into an utterly wonderful weekend. (less) "

Espresso read and liked Christine's review of The Diary Of Cozette:

"Think Danielle Steel with more sex. And the only reason I gave it a two was because of the sex.

There were a couple of phrases that Cozette said that I was particularly fond of. Mark my words. The next I have a man and I am all hot an...more Think Danielle Steel with more sex. And the only reason I gave it a two was because of the sex.

There were a couple of phrases that Cozette said that I was particularly fond of. Mark my words. The next I have a man and I am all hot and bothered, I am going to look him in the eyes and say, "My peach is weeping." If he stays, he is mine because he gets my sense of humor. If he bolts, aaaah, good riddance. (less) "

Espresso read and liked Chad's review of The Sword of Shannara Trilogy (Shannara, #1-3):

"This is like a weird acid-tripped reader's digest version of The Lord of the Rings. Replace "The Ring" with a sword, the wizard with a druid, and hobbits with humans and apparently that is enough to not get sued for copyright infringement. ...more This is like a weird acid-tripped reader's digest version of The Lord of the Rings. Replace "The Ring" with a sword, the wizard with a druid, and hobbits with humans and apparently that is enough to not get sued for copyright infringement.

On the other hand, even though the plot is stolen whole cloth from Tolkien, Brooks is much better at characterization. I remember Allanon and Menion Leah more fondly than Gandalf and Aragorn. The characters definitely carried me through what was an annoyingly familiar story.

The other two books in the trilogy are more original than the first, though repetitive plot-wise: <descendant of Shannara> must find <magic object> in order to SAVE THE WORLD! The writing and storytelling improve with each book, however, and the next series (Heritage) is much better, but probably wouldn't make much sense without starting from the beginning.

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