Joe Kessler > Recent Status Updates

I read this in 2009 when it first came out and didn't really love it. But so many people since then have told me it's their favorite Sanderson that I wanted to give it another try.

G-d, I fucking love this book.

I'm delighted to report this book is just as good on a reread. Possibly even better?? And I already gave it five stars the first time through wow

"Death in New Venice" by Guy Adams -- ★★☆☆☆

"A Gamble with Time" by Steve Lyons -- ★★★☆☆

"Suspicious Minds" by Jacqueline Rayner -- ★★★☆☆

"Picnic at Asgard" by Jenny T. Colgan -- ★★★★☆

"[Romney] watched TV to pass the time and read... sci-fi and fantasy for fun. He particularly enjoyed The Three Body Problem and devoured everything by Brandon Sanderson." Don't know how to feel about that, tbh!

"[Romney] watched TV to pass the time and read... sci-fi and fantasy for fun. He particularly enjoyed The Three Body Problem and devoured everything by Brandon Sanderson." Don't know how to feel about that, tbh!

“Sardeet, no one expects anything of you. They are frightened because your life entered into legend, and because it fell into tragedy. They were prepared for you to become a goddess; they can imagine you becoming a holy one in the mountains. But if that is not what you desire, what then? You know better than the rest of us what the voice of the divine calling you sounds like.”

“After one has trained with the Warriors, one is sent into the world weaponless on a quest to find some injustice and right it. The masters believe that one must not forget that bloodshed is not the answer to all problems, and that if one cannot achieve righteousness unarmed, one will never do so caparisoned.”

"I don't think he's exactly pleased to see me."

"No kidding, Sherlock."

...I am choosing to believe that the book is presenting that dialogue to us as censored for some reason, and Score actually said the more common expression there.

This character (headmaster of a private school) just used the word "infer" to mean imply. How did the editor not catch that??

This started out well, but it's flitting between 2 and 3 stars for me at this point.

"The squid moved swiftly away, the green glow diminishing. He had done it! He'd beaten it off."

Are we still doing phrasing?

Okay, the idea that the witch is influencing various misadventures to happen against the posse that's coming her way makes me feel a little better about the randomness of all these encounters. It's still a pretty shaggy plot, though.

"Conju did not like Fitzroy Angursell’s poetry and had never read Aurora; he thought that if the Imperial Censors had banned it they must have a good reason; the stories of the Red Company irritated him for how topsy-turvy and irregular they wanted society."

"She looked at me meaningfully, something people would go on to do to me fruitlessly for the rest of my life instead of getting to the point and saying what they mean. I wished people would just tell me."

This has gotten... marginally better.

This is feeling like a DNF to me already. I'll give it a little longer to be sure, though.

Still torn between 3 and 4 stars, like I feel like I have been all book. Which probably means I should round down, right?

As expected, Fourth Wing won the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards for the new "Romantasy" category rather handily, with a total of 397,565 votes.

The second-place title, Assistant to the Villain, received only 33,665 votes. Talk about a landslide!

This book started out so strongly, but it's really gone off the rails by this point. (And how is there still so much of it left??)

Wait, what the hell is the rest of this book about, then?

This is getting better now that the [redacted] stuff is a little clearer, but it's still probably gonna be my least favorite Murderbot outing

"Are you accusing me of abusing my power where this cadet is concerned, Colonel Kaori?" Varrish moves to step toward us, but my bag is in the way.

"Oh, no." Kaori shakes his head. "I think you abuse your power in general."