nadia | notabookshelf > Recent Status Updates

not much to update on tbh, i feel like book 2 is mostly just the war and a lot of running, hiding, and running again. not too bad but def less fun than book 1 :c

ANYWAY back to this gem. epic fantasy brings me indescribable joy and my guess it's because literally the first series i ever read at the ripe age of 12 was an adult fantasy. i also know that fans of that series tend to love perumov as well. so like. this is just very well-tailored personal reading

"Why do you have to know what you're doing all of a sudden?" is the tagline of the entire style of beat generation i feel like and i think thats very hot and sexy

i loved Corso before but. yeah. this book sure does make me appreciate his silly genius even more

i love the beats because they were all mad in love with each other but most of all kerouac, and kerouac was a straw man made up from the exhaustion and disillusionment of america, which, in turn, eventually collapsed in on itself

im skipping chunks on stuff that i haven't yet read but it's surprisingly not that much, a few burroughs and kerouacs

reading the beat generation always makes me feel at peace but ALSO disturbed simultaneously. truly am entering the shared consciousness of the universe

"Time Second-Hand" is a collection of stories from soviet people in the post-soviet world. the title refers to the cruel irony of post-soviet russia, when the fall of the iron wall brought in the western winds of freedom of the 90's, and soon after resulted in a swift resurrection of communist sympathies.
i'll be reading this slowly and painfully, because russia will forever hurt my soul✌🏻

did i see this Grand Reveal coming since like page 20? yes absolutely i did. did i still gasp just now when it finally happened? hell fucking yeah

theres a Malachiasz in here are you kidding me
like an actual person named Malachiasz
amazing

end of book 1

oh my god. oh my god. idk what to say. this was. great. i already know that imma be here reading mr. perumov for a While now. someone should get on with translating this, i think🤧

im coming to you to either admit that im a dumbass or reveal to you that perumov is a rlly good writer. i just had an "oh.... ooOoooOOHHhHhh" moment when the pieces clicked together about something that happened tens of pages ago/was going on up until now. there is so much going on at all times i swear to god i cannot keep up but it is so fucking exciting

i'm obsessed for seemingly no reason at all ;-; i absolutely do hate the writing style because as i Mentioned, it's not /Russian/ which is jarring and upsetting, but other than that the story itself is rlly engaging. readability 10/10

NOTHING gets me going like a guy from an ancient family of wizards, disowned because his lifelong goal is to become the best warrior/spy in a secret league that opposes the huge and respected and powerful league of said ancient wizards. he's one of the main characters and he's like my top favourite

imma be real annoying with constantly saying how much it reminds me of wicked saints BUT. like. in a good way. it's based on russian mythology and written by a russian author. if you've read ws, this is basically what would've happened if Nadya was hired as an assasin by Kalyazi royalty. i am really enjoying it so far (even though i am 90% sure how this is gonna go) ;-;

the name of the king of one of the two kingdoms in this book is Severin and it is a bit too close to Serefin for me not to yell about it

it's so interesting to me that i can clearly tell when russian prose is heavily influenced by translated fiction. you know what i mean? like? when you're reading the original text, but it sounds as if it's translation. the formulas are set in stone. it's kind of unsettling but also kind of cool

side note: page numbers are a bit off and my russian app doesn't do percentage, rip :/

the way this world is IMAGINED the way it is WRITTEN the COMPLEXITY of it. i am in awe. i'm following eight, EIGHT characters with distinct main-ish storylines from different parts of the world right now, with super complex magic system, political intrigue, personal desires, and they are so. like. SO good. that's not even mentioning around 50 other characters introduced briefly. i Understand the hype now. i get it

my main problem with stories like this is how bewildered the characters are at the rules of their own world. Sophia behaves as if she was just born yesterday, and every rule is a massive surprise. it's a bit frustrating to see her spirit of rebellion and rage at the system that failed her turn to waste, simply because she does not stop to think even for a split second

i SAID it is time for classic russian fantasy

i think the pacing is a bit off, like there's scene after scene and it's so rapid and yet the exposition is drawn out. it's a jarring mix

literally all my daydreaming is always and forever about cinderella re-imaginings and half my fanfiction drafts are renditions of the conderella story and i am so excited for this ;-;

thank u NetGalley for blessing me with this arc

"I am convinced that the Dreamers, at least the Dreamers of today, would rather live white than live free. ... To awaken them is to reveal that they are an empire of humans and, like all empires of humans, are built on the destruction of the body."

"The truth is that the police reflect Anerica in all of its will and fear, and whatever we might make of this country's criminal justice policy, it cannot be said that it was imposed by a repressive minority."

strong flashbacks to Fanon's essay On Violence

"America understabds itself as God's handiwork, but the black body is the clearest evidence that America is the work of men."

can't stop thinking about the absolutely INSANE visuals. this would be such a fine fantasy thriller/horror netflix show i am shaking

ok yeah thats my one Thing abt this book. Russian names, when listed officially, go like this: Last Name (family name) + First Name (given name) + Paternal Name (derivative of your father's name). Kostya apparently only has his paternal name, and all the others only have their last names. makes sense for orphans to have only the last name (tho often they're given a derivative of "Ivan" for paternal). jsyk i guess

if i could magically make everyone love and appreciate this series as much as i do trust me i absolutely fucking would