en-US Mon, 09 Jun 2025 05:44:07 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Review7606748191 Mon, 09 Jun 2025 05:44:07 -0700 /review/show/7606748191 Barry gave 4 stars to The Tiger and the Wolf (Echoes of the Fall, #1) by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Great setting that definitely lets it stand out from the usual fantasy medieval-esqe one.

Maniye is the daughter of a Wolf chief and the captured queen of the Tigers. Her childhood has been lonely and hard, facing the antagonism and indifference of her father and the whole tribe. She is about to go through the tribe's right of passage into adulthood and must give up one of her animal spirits but she feels equally of both. Then a Serpent priest is captured that sets in motion events she hadn't planned. In conjunction with this, Asmander has been sent by his father up to the North to try to get mercenaries to help fight in a potential war in the rich South in the Crocodile nation of which he is part.

I'd originally tried reading this a few years ago and just wasn't feeling it at the time. However this time around I ended up enjoying it even though there are a few issues with it. One of the big plus points is the setting. These are very primitive societies, think late bronze age, early iron age and you'll get the idea. People don't have much and being part of a tribe is literally usually a matter of life and death. The fantasy element here is the ability to shapeshift in the animal of your people. I like the way they have to learn to encompass their armour and weapons into their animal shape, so if you have an iron knive, your teeth or claws might have an iron covering etc. People with a parent from more than one totem animal need to choose one or the other, otherwise the competing animal spirits will drive them mad.

Maniye is a fairly stereotypical teen protagonist being honest. I'm not against this trope but a fair warning here. She basically spends the book running from one problem to another, while being helped out by people on her way. She's a very sympathetic character but the random strangers constantly helping her out is my main peeve with the book as it does seem pretty out of keeping with this harsh world. Asmander doesn't get quite as much screen time but he is definitely the more interesting of the two and even by the end of book his motivation is not entirely opaque. The other main POV is Maniye's father, a pretty cruel and ambitious ruler, and I always enjoy a POV from the 'antagonists' side.

The first half of the story is great, and though I did enjoy the second half as well, it did get a little repetitive as Maniye went from one disaster to another. There were a few kind of curveballs towards the end, one I saw coming almost from the start but the other I didn't see at all which was cool. I'm glad I eventually got to finish this book and I'm looking forward to the next book which sounds like we'll get to explore more of the world.

Please see this and other reviews at ]]> Review7396704720 Thu, 05 Jun 2025 05:13:56 -0700 /review/show/7396704720 Barry gave 4 stars to Spinning Silver (Hardcover) by Naomi Novik
An enjoyable book but I did have a few issues with it.

Miryem and her family are living a poor and harsh life in a small village in Russia. Her father is a moneylender, but a very bad one, and one day she decides to take over from her father as she feels she can do a better job. She quickly turns their fortunes around, as well as that of Wanda, the daughter of an abusive father who is even in worse straits then she is. She gains a reputation for making gold and gains the attention of a Staryk lord and also unwittingly draws in the faith of the entire kingdom.

By far the best parts of the book are to do with the Russian winter. I'm unsure what century this is supposed to be but I'd imagine late medieval. It seems brutal, and the thoughts of having to live your life like that really brings into focus how the world has changed in the last century or so. Novic really sells how cold it is and that hunger is ever present during the winter months, even for the relatively well off.

It is also a book of two halves. I loved the first part which had little to no supernatural elements to it. I wasn't even sure initially if the Staryc, think of the Tuath de Danaan in Irish folklore, were real but as the story progresses it becomes obvious they are along with a few other things. Even when Miryem goes to the Staryc kingdom initially I was still really intrigued but then a choice was made, which seemed so completely out of character and seemed to happen to just serve the plot, that I almost stopped reading then and there. I did continue on but I didn't enjoy it as much after.

It is still a good story. I liked how careful Miryem and her family have to be just because they are Jewish, it's even harder for them in an already hard world. I also really felt for Irina's governess Magreta, her whole life dependent on the whims and being seeing to be useful to the nobility. The Tsar seemed interesting initially but turned out to be a bit superficial in the end. It's a real pity about that decision that somewhat ruined my enjoyment of it (I know this is pretty arbitrary but it is what it is), but there were still really enjoyable parts to this and I would recommend it to others.

3.5 stars rounded up

Please see this and other reviews at ]]> ReadStatus9509084296 Wed, 04 Jun 2025 14:29:40 -0700 /review/show/7628029324 Barry is currently reading The Bear and the Serpent by Adrian Tchaikovsky
]]> ReadStatus9506910171 Wed, 04 Jun 2025 01:17:44 -0700 /review/show/7626498265 Barry is currently reading The Court of Broken Knives by Anna Smith Spark
]]> ReadStatus9506906013 Wed, 04 Jun 2025 01:14:23 -0700 /review/show/7606748191 Barry finished reading The Tiger and the Wolf by Adrian Tchaikovsky
]]> ReadStatus9478767637 Wed, 28 May 2025 06:55:17 -0700 /review/show/7606748191 Barry is currently reading The Tiger and the Wolf by Adrian Tchaikovsky
]]> ReadStatus9444596403 Mon, 19 May 2025 15:26:18 -0700 /review/show/7396704720 Barry finished reading Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
]]> Review7485878282 Thu, 01 May 2025 04:00:52 -0700 /review/show/7485878282 Barry gave 4 stars to A Crown of Swords (Wheel of Time, #7) by Robert Jordan
A little slow but still a great read.

So I've always felt this is where the series really starts to bloat, though I'm sure other's may disagree. This is where we start to get more and more POV's from minor characters such as Morgase, Galina or Seaine, to fairly major ones such as Elaida, Sevanna and the Forsaken. It definitely adds more texture and scope to the story but does take away focus from the main characters, especially considering there are quite a lot of main characters as is.

As for the story itself, as there are so many threads going on, it does start to slow down. A lot of the book, and in particular the first half, is all about the consequences of Dumai's Wells. It changes Rand profoundly as well as a lot of other people's opinions and attitudes towards the Aes Sedai. I find it very interesting and is my favourite part of this book apart from the Mat chapters. He's with Elayne and Nynaeve in Ebou Dar still looking for the bowl of the winds. Perrin and Egwene have fairly small parts to play in this book and is all set up for their next arcs.

I suppose we need to talk about Mat and Tylin a little. When I first read this, and even after, I found the whole thing quite amusing which I think was Jordan's purpose. Being honest I still do a little. However I can see where people have issues with it and I know if we reversed genders I would have much more of an issue with it. This hasn't aged well I suppose but I don't think it was meant in a bad way and it's all from Mat's POV anyway who is famously unreliable. I love all his comments on wondering where Olver gets his bad habits towards women from.

Not quite as many legendary moments in this one but there are still quite a few. Rand coming back to Cairhien after Dumai's Wells, the arrival of Cadsuane, Rand meeting the rebels, Mat and Birgitte, Elayne and Nynaeve's apology, Nynaeve on the boat, Elaida when she finds out about Dumai's Wells. As usual there are probably more I've forgotten about. I did find the end a little anti-climatic but it's not bad as such. Roll on book 8.

Please see this and other reviews at ]]> Review7485878282 Wed, 30 Apr 2025 14:15:04 -0700 /review/show/7485878282 Barry gave 4 stars to A Crown of Swords (Wheel of Time, #7) by Robert Jordan
A little slow but still a great read.

So I've always felt this is where the series really starts to bloat, though I'm sure other's may disagree. This is where we start to get more and more POV's from minor characters such as Morgase, Galina or Seaine, to fairly major ones such as Elaida, Sevanna and the Forsaken. It definitely adds more texture and scope to the story but does take away focus from the main characters, especially considering there are quite a lot of main characters as is.

As for the story itself, as there are so many threads going on, it does start to slow down. A lot of the book, and in particular the first half, is all about the consequences of Dumai's Wells. It changes Rand profoundly as well as a lot of other people's opinions and attitudes towards the Aes Sedai. I find it very interesting and is my favourite part of this book apart from the Mat chapters. He's with Elayne and Nynaeve in Ebou Dar still looking for the bowl of the winds. Perrin and Egwene have fairly small parts to play in this book and is all set up for their next arcs.

I suppose we need to talk about Mat and Tylin a little. When I first read this, and even after, I found the whole thing quite amusing which I think was Jordan's purpose. Being honest I still do a little. However I can see where people have issues with it and I know if we reversed genders I would have much more of an issue with it. This hasn't aged well I suppose but I don't think it was meant in a bad way and it's all from Mat's POV anyway who is famously unreliable. I love all his comments on wondering where Olver gets his bad habits towards women from.

Not quite as many legendary moments in this one but there are still quite a few. Rand coming back to Cairhien after Dumai's Wells, the arrival of Cadsuane, Rand meeting the rebels, Mat and Birgitte, Elayne and Nynaeve's apology, Nynaeve on the boat, Elaida when she finds out about Dumai's Wells. As usual there are probably more I've forgotten about. I did find the end a little anti-climatic but it's not bad as such. Roll on book 8.

Please see this and other reviews at ]]> Review7440629587 Wed, 16 Apr 2025 05:27:46 -0700 /review/show/7440629587 Barry gave 5 stars to Lord of Chaos (Wheel of Time, #6) by Robert Jordan
Still one of the most epic endings I have ever read in a book.

This starts fairly slow but does gather momentum. In some ways this is one of the most significant books in the series considering it's where Rand and the Aes Sedai really come into contact properly for the first time since he has been publicly acknowledged as the Dragon Reborn. It's also where Egwene goes back and begins her journey properly. It also sees Mazrim Taim and the Black Tower come into existence. All these are huge and have massive inputs on the whole rest of the series.

Rand again has the majority of this book. He's manoeuvring the pieces around him, and making the play on Sammael, but in a lot of ways this is one of the last times he's relatively at peace. He's basically just hanging around Caemlyn and Cairhien, and once Min arrives back on the scene it's all fun and games. It's definitely all pretty bittersweet, particularly his interactions with Mat and Perrin.

Mat doesn't have too major a part here but it's setting up his major arc which is to come. Perrin is back on the scene but it's only towards the end and for most of it it concerns the whole Faile/Berelain thing which I dislike intensely. Still not sure what it adds to the overall narrative, other than some character exploration.

For our other main characters, they are all pretty much based in Salidar and the rebels. It's interesting but half of the narrative is just about standings/rankings and who can make another person do what they want. The Wheel of Time is supposed to be fairly strong with its feminist credentials but I find the preoccupation with clothing and rank fairly stereotyping. I also really disliked how they all treated Mat, for two of them at least he is supposed to be a friend.

There are definitely a few things off putting here, and most of these will get worse before it gets better but this book also has some of my favourite scenes in the whole series. We have Mazrim Taim's arrival, and everything on the Farm. Rand and the Maidens. Both embassies first meetings. Avienda and Elayne. The meeting in the inn in Caemlyn. Fire and Spirit. Rand and Min. And of course Dumai's Well, which as I've mentioned already, is one of the most epic things I have ever read. I'm probably missing others. A huge but very entertaining book, and we're not even at the half way point yet.

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