RJ - Slayer of Trolls’s Comments

RJ - Slayer of Trolls’s comments from the 2025 Reading Challenge group.

Note: RJ - Slayer of Trolls is not currently a member of this group.

Blagica wrote: "A book is a dream that you hold in your hand. Looks like you have had some awesome dreams this year. I hope that April brings you many more five star reads. Do you have a stand out book so far this..."

Great question Blagica! I liked three books last month enough to give them my elusive 5-star rating but I think my favorite for the year (so far) was Nexus by Ramez Naam. I base that on the fact that I enjoyed it so much that I started telling everyone around me about the book, whether or not they read books at all (and whether or not they even cared what I was talking about). That's how I know I really loved a book.

I finished this towards the end of 2017. I loved it! It was my favorite read of the year. It was nothing like what I was expecting though. I'm interested to hear what people think of it.

I finished this one a couple months ago. I don't want to post any spoilers since I know some folks are currently reading the book. I really enjoyed the first few chapters with the introductions of Louis (who for some reason I pictured in my head as Jeff Goldblum), Teela (who seems stereotypical to a modern reader) and especially the aliens who were very imaginative.

I finished three more and I am now up to 17 for the year!


Nexus by Ramez Naam
Rating: 5 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Read for The Evolution of Science Fiction group


Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Read for The Evolution of Science Fiction group


The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Read for SciFi and Heroic Fantasy group

So that makes it THREE 5-star reads in one month, which is one more than I had all of last year!

There's still a few days left in the month so stay tuned to see if I get any more finished...

I liked it more as a kid when some of the ideas (like a "4th dimension") were pretty mind-blowing. As an adult I gave it 3 stars although I appreciated the opportunity to walk down memory lane, especially prior to the release of the movie.

It feels like the discussion is winding down as we near the end of the month but of course please feel free to continue to post your comments and insights. Thanks again to those of you who were able to join us in this group read!

I finished a couple days ago. I liked it but not a lot. It was a little too slow for me and other than the protagonist I thought most of the characters were too underdeveloped. But I really enjoyed the setting and all the folklore characters as well as the conflict between the traditional beliefs and Christianity. I haven't decided if I'll continue with the series but thank you for letting me jump in on this discussion!

I'll be done by this weekend. It is a slow paced read so I haven't just sat down and knocked out the final few chapters yet. I'm looking forward to going back and looking at all the spoiler comments above when I'm finished.

Dlyn wrote: "I thought of growth as growing up. I equate it to "coming of age" and what better coming of age story than The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton -- which is a sort of more rece..."

There's a lot of good nominations this month but I'm going to second The Outsiders. I've been wanting to read that one for a while.

Has anyone seen the movie? I'm curious how it compares to the book.

Susy wrote: "Have added the Earthsea cycle to my TBR :) "

Good call! :)

Mid-month update:

I'm at 14 for the year now after finishing:


Thieves Like Us by Edward Anderson
Rating: 5 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Read for Pulp Fiction group


A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
Rating: 5 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Read for Dragons & Jetpacks group

Any month with two 5-star reads is a good one. I only had two 5-star reads in all of 2017! There might be one more 5-star read this month too...stay tuned!

Savannah wrote: "I'm actually getting this from the library today! I'll try and start it tonight so I can participate in the threads! :)"

Great! Welcome aboard Savannah. Is this your first time reading Wrinkle or had you read it when you were younger?

Taylor R wrote: "Hi Randy :)"

Hi Taylor!

I also felt like it was a little slow for adults. But I was surprised that the author discussed some quantum physics ideas that I would think were above the heads of her audience. Also, considering the book was first published over 66 years ago (JFK was President at the time) it was pleasantly surprising to see a female main character in what is essentially a Science Fiction book.

I'm about halfway through. I like it but not as much as I was hoping to.

I agree the story is very slow paced. The author is spending a lot of time on characters and setting and establishing the mythology that the story is about. I don't mind the slow pace but I do feel my mind wandering at times during some of the long descriptive parts.

And Kara I agree with your spoiler comment.

For those of you who read this as a child, were there any particular scenes that stuck with you?

For me, I remembered most vividly the explanation of the "wrinkle" in space which allowed them to travel to other worlds. When I re-read the book I also remembered vividly the turkey dinner, which seems weird...

Keturah wrote: "I am mid-through chapter seven and honestly I am struggling. It is good enough to keep me reading but I find myself totally confused as to why we are even here? Do we really just throw ourselves in..."

Good question. I wonder how the perspective is different for young children who are the primary readers of this book? Children have no choice but to go along with the adults in their lives most of the time. I suppose they often feel as though they don't have much control in their own lives.

Natalie wrote: "I chuckled when I heard the first line, it's from a Bulwer-Lytton novel that no one reads but everyone quotes, even Snoopy every time he starts his great novel."

Exactly! I first read that sentence in the Peanuts comic strip like many other people probably.

Off topic: The entire text of Snoopy's novel is:

Part I

It was a dark and stormy night. Suddenly, a shot rang out! A door slammed. The maid screamed.

Suddenly, a pirate ship appeared on the horizon! While millions of people were starving, the king lived in luxury. Meanwhile, on a small farm in Kansas, a boy was growing up.

Part II

A light snow was falling, and the little girl with the tattered shawl had not sold a violet all day.

At that very moment, a young intern at City Hospital was making an important discovery. The mysterious patient in Room 213 had finally awakened. She moaned softly. Could it be that she was the sister of the boy in Kansas who loved the girl with the tattered shawl who was the daughter of the maid who had escaped from the pirates?

And so the ranch was saved.

THE END

Source: http://ronaldbrichardson.com/metafict...

Welcome to the discussion Cassie, Kara, Maggie, Pamela and Tim!

I'll join in for this one, if that's OK. I started reading it about a week ago for the group read in the SciFi and Heroic Fantasy book club. I thought the first couple chapters were slow but it's growing on me. I hear a lot of comparisons with Uprooted by Naomi Novik since both stories were based on Russian fairy tales but this one reads much differently than Uprooted.