Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
This book was the best way I could think of to start my reading year. After going through a bit of a reading slump the last couple of months of 2022, I awoke on the first of January to the first of Brandon Sanderson’s secret projects in my inbox, and I was so excited to get to it, I was done with it by January 3rd. For those of you who don’t know, Brandi Sandi spent his lockdown year (the year I spent in despair […]
The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson
Good book. Good series. Five stars. My brain when trying to get up the willpower to review this book beyond those first three sentences: I just, when I have feelings about a book and I turn my thinky brain off a little bit while reading, it’s then hard for me to articulate all the big emotions with my tiny words because the wrong part of my brain was in charge for that. I am always putting this part of my brain in charge, and let’s […]
The Original by Brandon Sanderson; Mary Robinette Kowal
A novella co-written by Sanderson and Kowal, and with every co-written book like this, especially when I know both authors’ work to a certain degree, I spend a lot of time thinking about who must have written what. It’s not like a lot of Brandon Sanderson works, but it’s not quite what I know from Kowal. The novella is called “The Original” because we find ourselves in a future in which people can opt-in or out of certain technologies, including a cloning technology. Our narrator […]
The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson
First, for whomever needs to hear this: if you don’t remember the prior books in great detail, worry not. I was quite stressed that I wouldn’t remember enough to understand what was going on, but as always Sanderson is a reader’s writer and knows how to seamlessly remind you of the most salient points such that you can take a ride with him. Now, at the end of all things, I find myself in awe of what Sanderson managed to do over the course of […]
The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson
I almost don’t have anything to say about this, because it just is. I’m taking away my former 4.5 star rating, and this is now just a straight five. It is a perfect fantasy novella. This takes place in Sanderson’s Cosmere (a shared universe for all his adult fantasy), but can be read completely on its own, and would also be a good introduction to both Sanderson’s work, and to high fantasy in general. Our main character is Shai, a Forger, who has just been captured […]
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
Elantris is a (blessedly) stand alone fantasy novel, centering around the mystery of the fall of Elantris and three main characters, Prince Raoden, Princess Sarene and Gyorn Hrathen. Elantris itself is a walled city, once grand in scale and filled with people who travelled from neighbouring lands after having undergone a seemingly random mythical transformation to become Elantrians. Elantrians were white haired and silver skinned god-like beings who could do magic based on mystical runes. Ten years ago; however, all Elantrians (and the city itself) […]
