Book review – Cindy Young-Turner

Book reviews: Farewell to Jorg Ancrath

Finished the last two books in Mark Lawrence’s Broken Empire series. Dark, gritty, and highly recommended!

Jorg Ancrath, I just can’t quit you!

Mark Lawrence has done it again with book 2 of the Broken Empire series. Jorg is back, a little more grown up and mature, but still the same Jorg we grew to know and love (or despise at times) in Prince of Thorns. Only now the stakes are higher and Jorg seems to have developed a bit of a conscience. Loved the switching between past and present and the mystery of the box. And I have to say I cheered a bit at the end. Can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“This is where the wise man turns away. This is where the holy kneel and call on God. These are the last miles, my brothers. Don’t look to me to save you. Don’t think I will not spend you. Run if you have the wit. Pray if you have the soul. Stand your ground if courage is yours. But don’t follow me.

Follow me, and I will break your heart.”

Oh, yes, I would follow you, Jorg, but only because I’d be afraid not to.

Mark Lawrence has done it again with Emperor of Thorns, the conclusion of the Broken Empire trilogy. Jorg has matured a bit in this last book. He’s married, he’s going to be a father (lots of good reflections on fatherhood in this book), and he seemed a lot more introspective this time around. Maybe it’s because his goal of becoming emperor is within sight, and either he wins or he dies. And it breaks your heart a little because Jorg doesn’t sugar coat anything. Don’t get me wrong, the impulsive, brutal Jorg is still here, and every time you think maybe he’s changed, bam–he’s back into Jorg mode and blood will be spilled. But he understands what he’s done and in this book we see the depths of his pain, even as he makes no excuses for his actions.

I won’t give any spoilers, but we do see more of the empire in this book, more Katherine and Miana (imagine being stuck in a carriage with the two of them!), and more of the mysterious Builders.

When I was about 91% finished I had to stop and put it aside for a little while. Not because I’d lost interest, but because I was sure that things were going to go really badly for Jorg. I wanted desperately for him to find some peace or a tiny bit of happiness. You’ll have to read the book to find out if he does, but I will say that the ending took me by surprise and blew me away. It was perfect. Jorg has definitely taken a place as one of my favorite fantasy characters. And I’m sure if he had his way he’d pick off the other contenders one by one.

Thoughts on the Dark Tower series

Warning, there be spoilers ahead!

It’s been about a year since I finished reading Stephen King’s Dark Tower series and I wanted to finally share a few thoughts on it. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it, although it is a long series (7 books), and most of the books are rather lengthy. But worth it. And you haven’t read it and plan to, avoid this post so you won’t read any spoilers. I was really careful not to read anything until I was done with the series because I hate spoilers.

I actually came to the Dark Tower series differently than most people. I first read the graphic novels about Roland as a young man, and I saw his friendship with Alain and Cuthbert and his love for Susan. While some people found The Gunslinger (book 1) a bit slow, I was riveted because I was already invested in Roland’s world and couldn’t wait to find out what else had happened since I’d last seen him as a teenager mourning the tragic loss of Susan. (Side note, I don’t think I ever finished all of the graphic novels but I would like to someday.)

There have been lots of books and articles that analyze the Dark Tower. I’ll be brief and list a few things I loved about the series:

1. The world. Worlds within worlds, some like ours and some not. Pretty amazing and mind-boggling stuff. I read the books almost one after the other with a couple breaks in between, so by the end I felt like walking around saying “thankee sai” because I was so caught up in the world Stephen King had created.

2. The characters. Roland especially. What’s not to love about Roland? He has an old world charm and he’s the kind of guy you don’t want to mess with. And yet you also want to take him and shake some sense into him because the damn tower is going to be the death of him and all his friends. And he doesn’t care. It’s his goal and he’s sticking to it. My next favorite character was Oy, because I have a soft spot for animals. His death was the one I feared the most.

3. The action sequences. Wolves of the Calla and The Waste Lands were my favorites in the series. Blaine the Mono and the city of Lud. Facing down the Wolves in Calla Bryn Sturgis. Pure gunslinger style.

4. The ending. Okay, I think a lot of people may disagree with me. I didn’t have to wait years and years to finish the series as people did who were reading them as King wrote them, and I’m not sure if I’d feel differently if that were the case. *SPOILERS* I really liked the idea of Roland finally getting to the top of the tower and… ending up back at the beginning. It worked perfectly for me. The reason is that as much as I love Roland as a character, he was an asshole much of the time. He cared more about the tower than anything or anyone else and he would have sacrificed all of the others in a heartbeat to get there. To me the idea that he didn’t get it right and would have to do it again–and keep doing it again–was poetic justice. Ka, if you will. He needed to learn from his mistakes and do things differently. Having Cuthbert’s horn gave me some hope as a reader that he might have a chance to succeed in his next try. In my mind I was expecting Roland to die when he entered the tower and find some peace, but I also felt like he didn’t really deserve that yet. So the ending worked for me.

Now for the one thing that really bothered me. My main frustration with the final book was with the villains. There was so much build up over Mordred, especially in Song of Susannah, and I was expecting something big. I mean, you have King Arthur references galore and Mordred is Roland’s son. I’m thinking of the legend of Arthur and Mordred killing each other on the battlefield and wondering how that might have some sort of reference here. And I have to admit, as much as I hated the spider (yes, Mordred is half spider and you know how much I love spiders–NOT), there were a few scenes where I had a bit of sympathy for Mordred the starving boy, until I reminded myself he was also a spider that liked eating eyeballs. I thought maybe there would be a big confrontation between Roland and Mordred and he’d be conflicted about killing his son, I don’t know, something. But dying of food poisoning? No last words between Roland and Mordred? What a waste! And I know there’s more of the Man in Black in King’s other books, which I haven’t read, but his ending also seemed anticlimactic. And ditto with the Crimson King. As soon as we learned what the Artist could do with his erasers, I know what was going to happen to the Crimson King. He posed little threat to Roland with his sneetches, which Roland could easily shoot down. Again, lots of build up but little return. I don’t know if Stephen King was trying to say something profound here, but for me it was just annoying.

Still, on the whole, thumbs up for the Dark Tower series. If you haven’t read it, go get the books and stretch out in a comfy chair and be prepared for the ride of your life.

Book reviews: princes and thieves and mayhem

Just wanted to share a couple reviews I’ve posted on Goodreads. I’ve been reading some great books lately. I’ve also been working my way through Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. Not sure why I waited so long to read it. I am loving it so far. I recently finished The Wolves of the Calla and am almost ready to start Song of Susannah. So I’m getting close to the end. I think I’ll do a long post with my thoughts on the whole series once I’m done with it.

Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Prince of Thorns is dark, gritty, and very violent. Somehow Mark Lawrence makes me care about Jorg Ancrath, the fourteen-year-old protagonist who has few, if any, redeeming qualities and a penchant for doing whatever it takes to get what he wants. The flashbacks offer a glimpse into the torment that plagues him, but his pain certainly doesn’t make him a better person. He’s not supposed to be. To me that’s the power of this book. I hate what Jorg does, but somehow I’m fascinated by him at the same time. The first person point of view makes it a compelling story. Jorg tells it like it is, never apologizing for his actions and feeling very little remorse, but he has a certain charm that makes you invested in his story. Interesting world building also. I’m curious to see what awaits Jorg in King of Thorns.

The Child Thief by Brom

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is an amazing, dark, and violent reimagining of the Peter Pan story. It is definitely NOT your Disney Peter Pan. In the author’s note, the author mentions that he was intrigued by this line in the original book: “… when they seem to be growing up, which is against the rules, Peter thins them out…” I haven’t read the original, but I can see why this particular line would be so interesting. The Child Thief brings out the callous, selfish nature of Peter and combines it with celtic mythology to create a unique and fascinating tale. It is violent and rather graphic. At one point I started to feel like there were way too many heads cleaved from shoulders, but I couldn’t stop reading. I was riveted by the characters and the plot and raced through to find out how it was going to resolve.

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And then they all die: thoughts on Storm of Swords

Warning: Winter is still coming, and there be spoilers in this here post.

I previously proclaimed my love of Game of Thrones and recently finished reading Storm of Swords, book #3 in the series. For those of you at home following the HBO series and not the books, the most recent series covered half of book 3. I have to say, I was about halfway through (and that’s only about 500 pages or so into the book) before I really got invested in this one. I don’t know why the openings of the past two books have been so uninteresting to me. Maybe it’s because they take the point of view of characters who play a very small role in the story. Still, I persevered because I was certain it would get better. It was a slog to get to that point, but the pace did eventually pick up, around the time when VERY BAD things started to happen. I’m starting to think of these books like a train wreck that I just can’t look away from. I know the characters I really like are going to die. I’m just sure of it. (And don’t tell me. I’ll read it when I get there.)

Aside from the ho-hum beginning, I enjoyed the book quite a bit. The characters are usually what draws me into a story, and GRRM is great at creating compelling/repulsive characters. I’ve been trying to avoid spoilers for the series, which is hard to do because I can’t just avoid the internet while I read thousands more pages, but one tidbit I’d heard is that people seemed to start liking Jamie. This is a character I loathed in the first book. He threw a child out of a window and has a thing for his sister. No sympathy from me. And yet, I started to change my opinion of him in this book. I applaud the author for showing us this kind of character growth and making me grudgingly have a bit of respect for someone I previously despised.

As for the HBO series, I’ve only watched the first season on Netflix so far. It’s a bit graphic and over the top with the sex scenes, but the acting is great and season 1 was close to the book. I hear the following seasons start to change the plot, so I’m curious to see what I’ll think once I get through them. Still, the books are far better.

Biggest pet peeves in the book: the detailed descriptions of food (dear god, the number of courses at Joffrey’s wedding almost did ME in) and the endless cast of characters. My eyes glaze over whenever there was a long list of so and so, lord of such and such… I’m lucky I can keep track of the main characters.

And speaking of characters, here’s the rundown of my current favorites and those I love to hate:

Favorites: (I know, this means they’re going to die, right?)

Jon Snow: Still a favorite. Very pleased by the ending of the book, but it makes me worry for his safety.

Arya Stark: Again, still a favorite. I was hoping she’d stick with the Hound for a while. They make an interesting pair.

Ygritte: I liked the wildings a lot. They even seemed to have some gender equality. I really wished Ygritte and Jon had stayed in the cave, though.

Samwell Tarly: For all his whining, I really like Sam. He’s like an everyman and he’s so earnest and wants to do the right thing. I kept worrying he was going to be killed. Not yet, anyway.

Tyrion Lannister: Gotta love him, but I fear Tyrion is in way over his head. Shae’s betrayal just about broke my heart.

Jamie Lannister: Yes, he really did grow on me. He’s still an ass half the time. I keep hoping he and Brienne will get together.

Characters I despise:

Cersei Lannister: Still can’t stand her.

Tywin Lannister: Now we know why his kids are so screwed up.

Joffrey Baratheon: His wedding was indeed a joyous occasion.

Lysa Arryn: She is really messed up. I feel for her son.

Hmm, I can’t think of any others I truly loathed in this book so I have another category:

Characters I didn’t care much about:

Catelyn Stark: I still couldn’t get interested in Catelyn. I sympathize with her, truly I do, but she continued to put me off.

Stannis Baratheon: I struggled with the Davos chapters because I find Stannis so uninteresting. Not sure exactly why.

Daenerys Targaryen: She started off being interesting and the dragons are cool and I’m happy she’s freeing the slaves, but there wasn’t a lot of forward motion with her in this book. Maybe that will change in the next one.

So there you have it, my musings on Storm of Swords. Have you read it? What did you think? And if you’re watching the HBO series, how do you feel it compares with the books?

Meet the newest Game of Thrones fan

Winter is coming and there be spoilers ahead.

Yes, I’ve finally jumped on the Game of Thrones bandwagon. I’ve heard people raving about the books and the HBO series. I don’t have HBO, but I wanted to read the book before watching it anyway. Reading on the Kindle is deceptive, though. I knew the book was long, but I was thinking maybe five or six hundred pages. No, the book is actually 800+ pages. I had no idea until I looked it up. Good thing it was a compelling read!

I won’t say it was an easy read because yes, the story is grim. Bad things happen to good people. A lot of very bad things happen to good people. I hear that George R. R. Martin isn’t afraid to kill off main characters, which makes me worry that many of the characters I like won’t survive to the end of the series. There’s lots of violence, sex, rape, incest, cruelty, and more violence. I know people who were turned off by those things and didn’t like the book. Frankly, I’m surprised I liked it as much as I did, but I loved the realism. Life in the society Martin has described would be horribly grim. I love the political scheming. I love the shades of gray in all of the characters. No one is a hero. In fact, the people who try to stick to their principles and do the right thing (yes, I’m looking at you, Ned Stark) have a hard time surviving in the lion’s den. And the people you want to throttle most (can someone please hurl Joffrey off the castle wall?) seem to be winning.

Writing chapters using many points of view is an interesting technique. Each chapter is told from a single character’s point of view, so at times you go for many chapters without going back to that particular character. I worried it might be confusing at first, but I rather liked reading the different perspectives. I’ll have to see what I think after I’ve read one or two more books in the series.

Lest it seem all praise, there were a few things I didn’t like. Every time someone used the f-word, it took me right out of the story. It just didn’t fit with the language Martin had used. Finding good curse words is a challenge in fantasy. If you make one up you can end up with something like “by the balls of Baldur,” which just sounds silly, like something we would have said while playing D&D. I’m not sure what the solution is on that front. And some of the realism got a bit crude at times. Fine, you want to have your character go take a piss, but really, I don’t need to know that he’s shaking himself afterwards. Ick. Sometimes less is more. That goes for the sex scenes as well. I think Catelyn and Ned were the only ones with a normal, healthy relationship.

Maybe it’s just been a while since I’ve read epic fantasy, or at least a really good epic fantasy novel, but this book was a breath of fresh air to me as a fantasy author. It’s the kind of fantasy I like, very medieval, with plenty of sword fights and politics. The magic and magical creatures are subtle for now. I have a feeling the dragons and the Others are going to play a bigger role in future books, but I like the fact that there aren’t dragons on every corner and powerful wizards in every camp. I also felt the female characters were portrayed well. They were all strong in their own ways.

Favorite characters:

Tyrion Lannister: Hands down, I loved reading his chapters. He’s got to be one of the sharpest characters in the book and he has the best lines. (please please let him make it to the end of the series and get rid of the rest of his obnoxious family)

Arya Stark: I love a tomboy with a sword.

Jon Snow: I warmed up to him as the book went on and was a big fan by the end. I was going to be really disappointed if he deserted from the Wall, so I’m glad his friends brought him back. I think he belongs there.

Ned Stark: Well, I liked Ned a lot at first, but as I mentioned above, his sense of honor and duty got to be tiring after a while. I lost a lot of respect for him after he confronted Cersei because it was such a terribly stupid thing to do. People, if you know an important secret, tell someone who needs to know while you have the chance!

Robert Baratheon: He was a fun character. Pig-headed, narrow minded, all of the things a good king shouldn’t be. I kind of wished he did have the chance to give it all up and ride off to be a sellsword king.

Characters I love to hate:

Joffrey Baratheon: Sansa should have pushed him when she had the chance.

Cersei and Jamie: I can only hope they get what’s coming to them.

Viserys Targaryen: The crown he finally received was much deserved.

Sansa Stark: She was an incredibly annoying character. The constant mooning over Joffrey was too much for me. But she faced a rude awakening at the end of the book, so I’m curious to see how she might evolve in the future.

I’ve watched the first two episodes of the first season. So far so good. I think they did a good job staying true to the book, although there is so much that doesn’t make it on screen.

And now on to Clash of Kings.