Michael Smith > Recent Status Updates

Superb. Close right now to being the single greatest fantasy adventure/drama I've ever read.

I didn't read as much as I wanted too today, but all this same, I'm having a terrific time with this book.

This is an exceptional book on any and every level. Wow. Wowowowowow.

Honestly think this book, a fifth of the way in, is showing signs of being a major favourite of mine. Everything I disliked about GOTM (I have yet to review it) is handled so much better here, I am amazed it's the same author.

This is becoming one of my favourite go-to reads when I feel a slump coming along. Personally, I think for a middle grade series, this is actually one of the best. Anyone of any age can enjoy this, it hits hard emotionally and the character writing so strong. There is also no safety net for the characters, real danger lurks and bad things happen. Personally, this to me is just adult storytelling, softly told.

I need time to collect my thoughts. This was a magnificent and maddening read. It was both compelling and confounding. I think Erikson bit off more than be could chew, but I also think there is a chance I may end up absolutely 100% on his side. Is this genius, or is this honestly just a mess? Could it be both? Wow.

Review and score pending. It's definitely a 7 at the very least out of 10.

I got a little lost...then I understood it again...then got lost...now I'm ok. What a wild ride!

I had to read just one more chapter...

So I'm really loving this book. It's really refreshing to me, and I'm finding myself really, really loving these characters. Coll and Paran have just met for the first time, and it's a quieter scene, and so far my favourite moment.

Ooh I got a touch lost, but I found my way back to getting into the story. Really, really full throttle.

This is incredible. I'm actually pausing everything right now to devour this. Just as I am about to start the tenth Wheel Of Time book, I choose instead to fall headfirst into the world of Malazan Book Of The Fallen.

And it's strange and beautiful.

I've not read anything like this before. I can't believe I hated this the last few times I tried!

I think I'm a Malazan fan already!

Phenomenal writing, and I think it's fair to say Malazan is finally opening up to me. Prior to this attempt, I had found Gardens Of The Moon an impenetrable mess.

Here is my top: Treat GOTM like a sequence of novellas. Don't worry about what you don't know, just take in what you do know. The settings are fun, the writing is quick, the characters are memorable.

It all feels like disconnected prologues, the sort you get in a book set years before the story starts. It doesn't really feel like a novel, and there doesn't seem to be an overall story. And I'm really liking it.

I really ought to have finished Wheel Of Time before starting this. All the same, this is not my first attempt at reading this book. However, this is the first time I've enjoyed it. So far, it's really winning me over.

I have no idea how to review this. It ended with a 10/10 finale, but the book elsewhere is, at best, a wobbly 7/10, a four at the worst. Wildly inconsistent. But rewarding? Oh yes. Yes yes yes yes.

I can't put it down.

Oops.

I have one mor chapter left, but have to go to work now. Well, this book started really slowly and just got better and better. I will say it's not been the most captivating, but it has been a very layered, very detailed book, with plenty to sink your teeth into. For all its failings (it hardly succeeds as pure escapism at its peak), it does add plenty of texture to the worldbuilding.

Ok so I feel like the second half, whilst in part still a little flat for me, builds very well onto what was a slow and at times ponderous first half. I cannot say I agree with the readers who say it was so bad they gave up, and I hesitate to call this a "slog" or a "slump", but I get why for many it was a challenge.

So far, a shaky 7/10. I hear it ends well, I'm into the last 20% now!

I have to say, I'm starting to really love Cadsuane. She's entertaining!

Loving it

SO CLOSE TO THE END, of both this book, and nearly the series. Absolutely love it! It gets better and better.

Wow. I feel like the characters have so much depth, I can't wait to reread them and pick out things I missed. Also, the world feels so rich, and the vastness of it merely hinted at, that I can't wait to read the rest of Sullivan's works, and soak it all in.

Michael J. Sullivan has become one of my favourite writers, for sure.

This might be my favourite book in the series yet!