More good books – Reading challenge update.

Thank you for popping by my blog to see what I’ve read since my last blog! I continue my Goodreads reading challenge, which is to complete 50 books in a year, and so far, early July I’m already 66% there.  I’m getting through a lot of books at the moment, as my reading habits are changing.  Very little television watching is done by me these days.

So what have I read since my last blog…..

Book #31 – Drakon by C.A.Caskabel

Well the last few months, so far, have been full of good reads for me and I’m pleased to say that this adds to them. The story is around our hero Da-Ran, who we initially meet as a barbarian asking for help from priests in a monastery and then as a child as he re-tells his life story. This I understand is the first in a series of books, and it’s a cracking start.

It is very much like The Hunger games and Maze runner, meets Genghis Khan as tribes take children into trials to develop future leaders, warriors, archers but at the same time filter out and lose the weaker one’s along the way. And at times this book does have a dark, cruel side, but definitely doesn’t take anything away from the story. Adds to it. The story flows brilliantly and the author has done a fantastic job in keeping you interested and wanting to read more throughout to find out what happens next! Who survives. Who passed the next trial. What superstitions are real. I got through this book very quickly, which is a clear indication of a good, entertaining and gripping read.

Definitely wanting to follow this series, and author! 5 out of 5 stars!

Book #32 – You by Austin Grossman

I did buy this, I admit, on the hope of finding something similar to one of my favourite books ‘Ready Player One’ and hoped to find something of equal standing and entertainment. And this is similar in that it has lot’s of nostalgic nods to the old computer gaming world, arcades, bad attempts at coding and dice rolling with Dungeons and Dragons. So for me and people in my generation, original uncool geeks, this will appeal to.

There are obvious differences to the afore mentioned book, in that this is about a group of computer game programmers not just a gamer. With flash backs to their youth and to present day, with all the troubles computer programmers, gamers and geeks face. And this is interesting, as they battle to produce the Ultimate game but also solve or eradicate an old Bug in the system, this is done by playing through old games etc. and solving puzzles. So is good stuff and the author has done a lovely job here, I really did enjoy this journey back to my youth and the book as a whole.

So why the dropped stars. Firstly, I got confused and didn’t enjoy the sections where our main character started conversing in real life? with the computer games main characters! He even goes on a date with one. Not sure if this was really happening and he’d gone mad, if he was dreaming it or day dreaming it, I never really figured this out. Although will say I did like the main character Russell, who is a kind of loner, loser type that doesn’t know where he fit’s in in the world and what he wants out of it. I could relate to him.

I also found and struggled with the vast amount of history given to us about the game(s) in the book, which doesn’t actually exist. This happens a lot, especially near the end, just as the pace cranks up a gear this information dumping throws it back in the ‘walking through mud’ pace leaving the reader to trudge through. Or skip