Elizabeth Allen > Recent Status Updates

This is a struggle, sad to say. I think I'm either going to push through and read it all in one big session for the peace of mind, or simply just drop the book. We'll see.

Mixed feelings so far, but leaning towards the positive. The 2-page trauma dump backstory monologue was an extremely strange choice before establishing any character familiarity, and I'm confident that stems from the clear DnD origins of the book.

But I think Jeffrey Speight has a good grasp on making personable characters, and I'm eager to see more of it.

Well written, but I struggle to read more than a chapter or two at a time. Still trying to figure out why I don't feel the itch to keep reading, which is true of all the books I've truly loved.

I feel like I've made this comparison a lot lately; but this is very Malazanian.

The prose is thick with philosophy and has already hit a few sweet spots for me.

There is an undercurrent of misogyny that I'm keeping an eye on as it is more than a little worrying.

Okay so this is like 90% romance and 10% fantasy, which is not the balance I was expecting. How do I actually feel about it though?

Hm. I'm not the most well-read romance reader as it's not something I've paid much attention to, but I think this is well written hetero pairing.

T. Kingfisher has a charming way of writing characters, and a modern voice.

It's nice to be making progress on other books again.

Unfortunately The Dragon Republic is not living up to the bar The Poppy War set. It feels too beholden to the themes of the first book and the real history it draws from, when in reality it should have been its own thing. You can still see R.F. Kuang's masterful writing come out, but it's much more subdued from what I've come to expect.

Will finish this tonight, no doubt. Review possibly same day, but I might have to push it over to tomorrow if I can't get other things out the way first.

The fact that I'm already thinking about when I can read the next book should tell you all you need to know about how I'm feeling.

Mention of the Clouw siblings didn't make it into my review of Deathless Beast, but it undoubtedly goes without saying that I adored them. The opening three Clouw chapters have confirmed that A) Bone Shroud is just as well written as Deathless Beast, and B) I am just as excited to see where these character's stories go next.

Once the book finally stopped introducing new characters and instead worked with the ones it had, it got a lot better. I am massively impressed with how subversive Ken Liu has been with his character progression so far, as by allowing anything to happen to even the important ones, you're so much more likely to be surprised.

Ascendant is allowing me to revisit my childhood love for Eragon without having to actually reread the series and reckon with my nostalgia, and for that I'm grateful. If anything, I think the quiet disability narrative gives it an angle that its inspiration lacked.

I'm starting to feel a little disappointed by the book. Sometimes I feel like I'm sharing a conversation with a sage philosopher, and other times I feel like I'm reading a wikipedia entry.

Flaws: Dependence on glossary, sometimes weak/lacking prose "he said", "she asked", "they moved".

Honestly not a long list, and it all gets washed away.

I live and breathe for Lin & Jovis.

It's a slow burn, and yet I'm not feeling impatient or bored in slightest. When there's action, I'm invested, and when the characters are just sat around conversing, I'm vibing.

It's weird having vast army movements and politicking diluted down into plot summary style description, and I'm left thinking that, if portraying these conflicts isn't the focus of the book, then what is?

This book came to my attention during my search for Paladin fic, but here it's more of an aesthetic than anything else. I am a little disappointed by that, but I don't dislike the experience I'm getting. It's romance and comedy driven, and it hasn't misstepped yet.

I'm always a sucker for good character writing, and tend to prefer it over intense action or vast worldbuilding, so it comes as no surprise to anyone that Assassin's Apprentice is my cup of tea.

I will readily acknowledge that this book is niche, and that I am that niche, but this has the making of my favourite fantasy book ever.

Given that I thought The Bone Shard Daughter was basically a retelling of The Final Empire except for exchanging depth in the magic system for better character writing, I'm happy to say that The Bone Shard Emperor is basically everything I wanted The Well of Ascension to be as a sequel - broadening the scope, introducing politics, testing relationships; but remaining tightly plotted and character focused.

The Nisong chapters have so far felt pretty pointless and empty, but that hasn't been able to distract from the fact that this book is a huge improvement from the first, and genuine fun to read.

Deathless Beast is very Malazanian in its world building, bombarding you with names and concepts with little explanation as if they were natural and familiar to you. But where Malazan failed to support this with any good character writing or cohesive plot, Deathless Beast does. There's more to my experience with this book than that, but regardless, I'm really loving it.

Really struggling. I'd probably drop this book here if it weren't for the fact that it was strongly recommended by a friend. I just find that everything about this book is drowned under the weight of technobabble and warhammer jargon, that it's only barely able to tell a story underneath it.

I told myself I wouldn't pick up any more books since 7 is already one above the limit of 6 that I set for myself, but here I am adding another to the pile. I'm desperately starved for good Paladin stories, and Deathless Beast promises that in part, which is why I'm not just waiting before starting it. Enjoying it a lot so far!

It's incredibly refreshing to be this far into a series and for it to have remained so consistently good. If I had to say just one thing about R.F. Kuang's writing, it would be to say that she does not waste pages.

Helluva opening chapter. Some segments got a bit too flowery and bloated regarding the prose, but I otherwise have no complaints and lots of excitement.

"To consider out greatest anguish an incident of no importance, not just in terms of the life of the universe, but in terms of our own souls, is the beginning of knowledge. To reflect on this while in the midst of that anguish is the whole of knowledge. When we suffer, human pain seems infinite. But not even human pain is infinite, because nothing human is infinite..."

"I am present at a play with different scenery, and the drama I watch is me."

"Everything we know is merely our impressions, and everything we are is merely someone else's impression of us, a personal melodrama in which we are conscious of being our own spectators, our own gods, by kind permission of the local council."

"All life is war, and battle is, therefore, the very synthesis of life."