Book and Audio Review: The Name of the Wind (Kindkiller Chronicles #1)

Title: The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicles #1)
Author: Patrick Rothfuss
Genre: High Fantasy
Rating: 5/5
Page Count: 722 (mass market)
Publication Date: March 27th, 2007

Synopsis (Goodreads):
Innkeeper Kote narrates most of his tale to the Chronicler. Kvothe, when his family troupe of traveling players is massacred, spends years starving, beaten beyond count, in a crime-ridden city, then daringly enters a legendary school of magic.

Review:
I started this book one day by randomly starting to listen to the audiobook and got completely sucked in. I have a lot of problems with audiobooks, normally I can't focus on them to save my life - but there are just certain narrators who suck me in. This one, Nick Podhel, was amazing, completely fantastic. His voice and Rothfuss' words were perfect together.

I half-read, half-listened (I think more towards physical), and I kind of wished I'd been able to listen to more of it, but I enjoyed it in both forms a lot. Even though it took me forever to finish - because I was enjoying it and it was really, really good, but it's dense and long. It's beautifully written, poetic and beautiful, but it makes it a slow read. Although, I don't think that's a bad thing because I enjoyed being able to take my time with this, not rush through it, just - enjoy it and relax.

The story itself is incredible - the characters, the plot, the storytelling - and I found myself not sure if I wanted Kvothe to keep telling his story or if I wanted to read about him and Bast and Chronicler in 'present times.'

Overall thoughts? Read this book. My physical copy has one of my favorite stories behind it* and it's a fantastic and fantastical book, and I don't think you should know more then that.

*we were in Portland, in Powells in 2013 (LeakyCon) and there was this guy trying to get a girl to buy Ready Player One. And, as we were walking by, I added (as did Haley) that it was a fantastic book and she should read it. And he immediately turned and went "have you read The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss?" and I told him no. And he told me to go and read it and I wouldn't regret it because it was phenomenal. So... I did, my copy has the Powells price sticker on the back. Thank you, random book recommending stranger.

Book Review: Helen and Troy's Epic Road Quest

Title: Helen and Troy's Epic Road Quest
Author: A. Lee Martinez
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Humor
Rating: 4/5
Page Count: 368 (paperback)
Publication Date: July 16th, 2013

Synopsis (Goodreads):
Witness the epic battle of the cyclops!

Visit the endangered dragon preserve! Please, no slaying.

Solve the mystery of The Mystery Cottage, if you dare!

Buy some knick knacks from The Fates! They might come in handy later.

On a road trip across an enchanted America, Helen and Troy will discover all this and more. If the curse placed upon them by an ancient god doesn't kill them or the pack of reluctant orc assassins don't catch up to them, Helen and Troy might reach the end their journey in one piece, where they might just end up destroying the world. Or at least a state or two.

A minotaur girl, an all-American boy, a three-legged dog, and a classic car are on the road to adventure, where every exit leads to adventure. Whether they like it or not

Review:
This book wasn't amazing, it didn't blow me away However - it was a lot of fun, sometimes ridiculous, but fun. The synopsis up there gives you the basics, but I wanted to add more.

This book is about these two teenagers who happen to half-witness / half-almost be sacrificed and it makes them wind up on this strange quest for a god. And one of my favorites parts of this book is the world they live in, because their parents just wish them luck and wave as they drive away. Quest? Everyday happenstance!

Helen, as you get from the synopsis, in a minotaur - and that was interesting and different. And Troy, all around American honestly good guy (seriously, I bet his teeth sparkle when he smiled), who I obviously liked because I couldn't find a reason to not like him. And they're a great pair, they set out on their quest/road trip and hope for the best.

This book is really about them - even through the strange cyclopes battles and dragon forests - it's really about them. And, also, a bit about these bikers who are also Orcs, who have kind of been sent on a mission by their god to kill these two kids.

It's insane, basically, and it's not really well written (though it's not terrible), but it's fun and the characters have something that makes them feel real. I'd probably mostly recommend this to people who like mythology, mostly Greek but it jumbles a bit at points, or people who like road quests trips.

Book Review: Wool Omnibus (Silo #1)

Title: Wool Omnibus (Silo #1)
Author: Hugh Howey
Genre: SciFi/Fantasy, Dystopian
Rating: 5/5
Pages: 539 (Paperback)
Publication Date: first published 2011

Story Notion: What... is happening? Oh my god.

Plot: (Goodreads)
Contains WOOLs 1 - 5.

This Omnibus Edition collects the five Wool books into a single volume. It is for those who arrived late to the party and who wish to save a dollar or two while picking up the same stories in a single package.

The first Wool story was released as a standalone short in July of 2011. Due to reviewer demand, the rest of the story was released over the next six months. My thanks go out to those reviewers who clamored for more. Without you, none of this would exist. Your demand created this as much as I did.

This is the story of mankind clawing for survival, of mankind on the edge. The world outside has grown unkind, the view of it limited, talk of it forbidden. But there are always those who hope, who dream. These are the dangerous people, the residents who infect others with their optimism. Their punishment is simple. They are given the very thing they profess to want: They are allowed outside.

Review:
All of these five stories are connected, obviously considering they were put in one book, but they're also split up for a reason, I thought. It's almost to give you pause, like that part of the story is over now, or something is different.

And the first one is the shortest and the most confusing and kind of painful, they're all... painful, actually. So much stuff happens but at first it's slow going even though I felt things happening and I was pretty much terrified for the characters through this entire book. And it just got worse, actually, as it went on.

I couldn't tell you exactly why I liked this book, or collection, not exactly, but I can give you a few guesses. The characters would be number one, I'm also a character person, and these charaters are something, that's for sure, and I did enjoy them all and how they were connected and how they acted through out the series.

Also - I found the first three about books slow, because I did like the characters and the weird situation they were in, but it also kind of just meanders a bit at the beginning. And, looking back, I'm not sure it was a bad thing. If you find it too slow at first, just keep going and pushing, it's an amazing story with an interesting world that I want to learn more about and the writing is good.

Amazon
Indiebound

Full Dark, No Stars

Book: Full Dark, No Stars
Author: Stephen King
Genre: Horror
Rating: 5/5
Page count: 386 (Paperback)
Favorite character: Out of all four, it might of been Darcy. Or Harry.

Plot: (From Goodreads)

A new collection of four never-before-published stories from Stephen King.

1922
The story opens with the confession of Wilfred James to the murder of his wife, Arlette, following their move to Hemingford, Nebraska onto land willed to Arlette by her father.

Big Driver
Mystery writer, Tess, has been supplementing her writing income for years by doing speaking engagements with no problems. But following a last-minute invitation to a book club 60 miles away, she takes a shortcut home with dire consequences.

Fair Extension
Harry Streeter, who is suffering from cancer, decides to make a deal with the devil but, as always, there is a price to pay.

A Good Marriage
Darcy Anderson learns more about her husband of over twenty years than she would have liked to know when she stumbles literally upon a box under a worktable in their garage.

Review(s):

1922 was quite, well, gross. It was a really good story, but it really reminded me of Dolores Claiborne, another of his books. I loved that book, but, for some reason, I found myself thinking about that one a lot while reading this one even though they don't really have that much in common.

Big Driver was well written and creepy as hell, but in a good way. It was such a weird book to read and she didn't react in some ways how I thought she would. Tess is a very, very strong women and it shows through her actions in this novella.

Fair Extension was very good. I love it. Deals with various evil creatures are always, not quite fun, interesting to read about. It's always interesting to see how they must pay. This book was really good, it was, if I ordered them, my second favorite out of the four.

A Good Marriage. It was good. It was even great. I liked the way it happened, and that the wife is the last to know. Isn't she always, though? It was an interesting plot, I was intrigued to figure out what was going on. Darcy is a very strong character and I don't know how she keeps it together for so long. This is definitely my favorite novella in this collection.

This collection, as a whole, is definitely not for the faint hearted, but if you're not that and like horror or Stephen Kings book, then I'd suggest picking this one up.