A Song of Ice and Fire 2: A Clash of Kings

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This book didn't enthral me the same was that the first book of the series did. It was still however a really good read, just not quite on par with the first book.

I actually took nearly 4 months to read this book, this was in part due to the pace of the story at the beginning of the book, but mostly it was due to my anticipation of the final Wheel of Time book not leaving me the will or concentration to read other books.

I would definitely recommend this book, but I hope the next book in this series is more like the first one.



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Wheel of Time 14: A Memory of Light

A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Brilliant, I want to read it again straight away.

I have been reading and rereading the Wheel of Time series for roughly the last 10 years. I started reading it because a book shop had a 3 for 2 offer on fantasy books, and there were only 2 books I needed from another series, I can't even remember which series that was. I am so glad that I picked up The Eye of the World and thought, this might be a good read. Yes it bloody well was, and the series has had me hooked since.

I have been so excited about this book, I read all of the preview bits that were released and thought they were brilliant, they just made me more excited about the actual book. I preordered the book from amazon last May, and for the week before release day I kept checking my amazon account to see when my copy had been dispatched. When I finally saw that it had been dispatched, I made a strange excited squeaking noise. On the estimated delivery day, I couldn't leave the house in case I missed the postman, I couldn't have the TV or radio on in case I didn't hear the door bell. When the postman arrived with my book, I about hugged him.

Now with the final book of the Wheel of Time in my filthy little mits, I was overcome with mixed emotions. Excited to find out what happens, sad that the series is ending and that I will never again be able to read this book, or another book in this series for the first time, worried because characters that I have grown very attached to would probably die in the last battle. So I just sat hugging the book, and smelling its booky goodness for about half an hour.

When I started reading it, I tried to read it slowly, 1 chapter, do something else, another chapter. I wanted to savour this book. By a third of the way through that plan went out the window, I needed to gorge myself on this book. I could not put it down, I needed to know what happened next.

This book did not disappoint at all, thank you so much Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, this series will always be part of my life, I can see myself still rereading it in 20, 30, even 40 years time.

I really hope that at some point there will be more prequels to go along with A New Spring, I would love to find out how Moiraine and Lan found the Dragon Reborn in the Two Rivers.



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2012: A Review

I kinda fell off the waggon for writing book reviews back in May, must try harder next year.

In 2012, I read 34 books, which isn't too bad, but I was aiming to read more. The problem I found was that after I read Wheel of Time 7: Crown of Swords, I didn't want to wait another month to read the next book. (My plan had been to read 1 Wheel of Time book per month so that I finished reading the series in December, perfectly timed for the final book coming out on the 8th January.) So I quickly finished all the other books in the Wheel of Time series, after which I was too excited about the new book coming in January that I couldn't focus on any other books. Instead I listened to the Wheel of Time audio books, two per month, I've now listened to all of them, and I'm counting the days until the 8th January. Seriously, I am more excited about A Memory of Light (the final Wheel of Time book) than I was about Christmas.

My plan for 2013 is:

1) Write book reviews for every book that I read in 2012 and haven't reviewed yet, I plan to do this between now and the 7th January.
2) Read A Memory of Light, soooooo excited about this, and review it.
3) Continue to work my way through the BBC Top 100 Books list, still loads of them to read.
4) Finish reading the A Song of Ice and Fire series, I've completed the first book and started the second.
5) Only read books that I haven't read before, unless they are on the BBc Top 100 Books list.
6) Start working my way through the 5000+ books that I have on my Kindle, trying some new authors and new genera's etc.

The books I read in 2012 are:

1) The Wheel of Time 1: The Eye of the World - Robert Jordan 
2) The Inheritance Cycle 1: Eragon - Christopher Paolini
3) The Inheritance Cycle 2: Eldest - Christopher Paolini
4) The Inheritance Cycle 3: Brisingr - Christopher Paolini
5) The Inheritance Cycle 4: Inheritance - Christopher Paolini
6) The Wheel of Time 2: The Great Hunt - Robert Jordan
7) Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
8) His Dark Materials 1: Northern Lights - Phillip Pullman
9) The Wheel of Time 3: The Dragon Reborn - Robert Jordan
10) Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
11) Lord of the Rings 1: The Fellowship of the Ring - JRR Tolkien
12) The Wheel of Time 4: The Shadow Rising - Robert Jordan
13) To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
14) Mistborn 1: The Final Empire - Brandon Sanderson
15) The Wheel of Time 5: The Fires of Heaven - Robert Jordan
16) Mistborn 2: The Well of Ascension - Brandon Sanderson
17) The Wheel of Time 6: Lord of Chaos - Robert Jordan
18) The Wheel of Time prequel: New Spring - Robert Jordan
19) Mistborn 3: Hero of the Ages - Brandon Sanderson
20) Mistborn 4: Alloy of Law - Brandon Sanderson
21) The Wheel of Time 7: A Crown of Swords - Robert Jordan
22) The Wheel of Time 8: A Path of Daggers - Robert Jordan
23) Fifty Shades of Grey - EL James
24) The Wheel of Time 9: Winter's Heart - Robert Jordan
25) The Wheel of Time 10: Crossroads of Twilight - Robert Jordan
26) The Wheel of Time 11: Knife of Dreams - Robert Jordan
27) The Wheel of Time 12: The Gathering Storm - Brandon Sanderson
28) The Wheel of Time 13: Towers of Midnight - Brandon Sanderson
29) A Song of Ice and Fire 1: A Game of Thrones - George RR Martin
30) The Wheel of Time 14 Prologue: By Grace and Banners Fallen - Brandon Sanderson
31) The Hunger Games 1: The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
32) The Hunger Games 2: Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
33) The Hunger Games 3: Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
34) The Pseudonomicon - Phil Hine

I have created links to the book reviews already completed and will update the links as I write more reviews.

Finally, I want to nominate my best and worst books of the year:

Best Book of the Year 2012 - I would like to say all of the Wheel of Time books, but I'm going to choose a book that I read for the first time this year

Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

This book is amazing, I couldn't put it down, parts of it terrified me so much that I wanted to scream at the characters in the book to run away, parts of it moved me to tears (which is not an easy thing to do). At the end of this book I was emotionally drained. I will defiantly read more by Sebastian Faulks.

Worst Book of the Year 2012 - Damn curiosity got the better of me and I wish I had never picked up this drivel, I can't believe how many women like this book.

Fifty Shades of Grey - EL James

Dear EL James, please do not attempt to write any more books, go get a job somewhere else, somewhere you will not inflict your shite on the eyes and minds of any more people. Thank you.

Happy New Year everyone.

Tasha xxx

His Dark Materials 1: Northern Lights

Northern Lights
Philip Pullman
1995
5/5
BBC Top 100 Books - Book 3 (part 1)

This book is set in a world very similar to our, however the world is very different to ours. The story revolves around the adventures of a girl called Lyra and her travels through this steampunk dystopia from Cambridge to London, and on to the Fens, and eventually to the Arctic.

This is the second time I have read this book, and it is a good as I remember, I can't wait to read the next two books in this series again.

The Lord of the Rings 1: The Fellowship of the Ring

The Fellowship of the Ring
J R R Tolkien
1954
5/5
BBC Top 100 Books - Number 1 (part 1)

I first read this book just after the film was released in 2001, I had waited a number of years to read it because I didn't want the film to be a disappointment like most films based on awesome books are. At the end of the first LOTR film, I couldn't wait until the next film was released to find out what happened, so I read the books. Despite loving the books, I didn't read any of them again until now. I had forgotten how much brilliant stuff the films had left out!

I love this story and I can't believe I went for so long without reading it again, this series will probably have to go onto my read every year or two list.

Birdsong

Birdsong
Sebastian Faulks
1993
5/5
BBC Top 100 Books - Number 13

 It is very rare for a book to bring me to tears or cause me emotional pain, this is one of these books. The naive optimism before the battle of the Somme made me want to scream at the characters in the book to warn them not to go over the top.

I loved how this book switched between a pre-war love affair, the horrors of World War 1, and the story of a young woman trying to understand what her grandfather had experienced during this war.

Sebastian Faulks has created characters that feel very real, he makes the read feel their joy, their sorrow, their fear and their pain. I couldn't put this book down and felt emotionally drained after reading it.

Wheel of Time 2: The Great Hunt

The Great Hunt
Robert Jordan
1990
5/5

The second book of the brilliant Wheel of Time series begins in Fal Dara where our protagonists are resting after the events in book 1. Rand, Perrin and Mat join the hunt for the Horn of Valere and are for a while on their own without (so it seems to them) Aes Sedai interferance. While Egwene and Nynaeve travel with the Aes Sedai to Tar Valon to learn to control their use of Saidar and become Aes Sedai. This book switches frequently beween the adventures that the boys from Emond's Field are having and those that the girls are having. Towards the end of the book all of these characters are drawn together again on Toman Head.

This book is as brilliant as the first book, it left me totally hooked and wanting to find out more. I have read this book several times (9 to be precise) and every time I read it (and any of the other Wheel of Time books), I find more layers to the story.