Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
Series: Standalone
Published by Tor. 2002
Pages: 306
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

I loved this book. Stories of your Life and Others contains eight short stories. Each one is original, moving and mind-blowing. Even though Ted Chiang has only written short stories like these, he has won series of science fiction awards with them (several Nebula and Hugo awards for example). The movie Arrival is based one one of these short stories.
Seeing Arrival before reading this book made me curious. Could the book possibly be as good as the movie? Yes, it absolutely was.

So why did I love this book so much? Continue reading “Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang”

More Than This by Patrick Ness

More Than This by Patrick Ness BookcoverMore Than This by Patrick Ness
Series: Standalone
Published by Walker Books ltd. on May 1st 2014
Pages: 480
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

So far I’ve read two books by Patrick Ness. One I absolutely loved and will never ever leave my memories, the other turned out not to be so memorable at all. This man is full of surprises, and he proves nothing less in More Than This.

In More Than This we follow a young man named Seth. His story begins dramatically with his death, and wakes up in what seems like a different world. A world that is not as it should be. First of all, he wakes up in his childhood home, all the way in England, while he now lives in America. Secondly, everything is overgrown and there is no one to be seen. Seth tries to figure out what is going on, and for a while he is the only character in our story.
Continue reading “More Than This by Patrick Ness”

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. SchwabA Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab Book Cover
Series:
Shades of Magic #1
Published by Titan Books on February 27th 2015
Pages: 400
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

Kell is Antari, one of the last of his kind, living among humans who possess a lot of magic, a little, or none at all. He lives in a city where magic thrives. A smell of rose perfume engulfs the air, where the red glowing river flows throughout. The place Kell calls ‘Red London’, because there is more than one London. In fact, there are four, living side by side in a different universe, where only some know of their existence. Red, the color of magic so pure and balanced. Grey, a bland color, where no magic is left. White, the color of a place that smells like ash, slowly falling. Black, the color of destruction, succumbed to its own power.

Continue reading “A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab”

A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston

,A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston Book CoverA Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston
Series: A Thousand Nights #1
Genre:
Fantasy
Published by
Disney Hyperion
Pages:
328
Format:
 Ebook

 

“If you listen long enough to the whispers, you will hear the truth. Until then, I will tell you this: the world is made safe by a woman. She bound the monster up and cast him out, and the man who was left was saved.”

A Thousand Nights was so much more than I expected it to be. It was a beautiful and original story about family, feminism and magic and I’m glad I’ve read it. The setting was simple but amazing: a dangerous court surrounded by an even more dangerous desert and a girl who has the will to survive both. Continue reading “A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston”

Quests of the Kings by Robert Evert

Quests of the Kings by Robert Evert Book CoverQuests of the Kings by Robert Evert
Series: Quests of the Kings #1
Genre: Fantasy, YA

Published by Diversion on March 14th, 2017
Pages: 322
Format: Ebook
Source: Netgalley ARC

Nathalie, a sixteen year old girl works hard to keep her family alive. She has many different jobs during the day, not wishing to marry to a man. Not like the other girls. In fact, she hates to be a woman because of the way they are treated by society. The life of an adventurer, the ones who take up perilous quests the king offers in exchange for gold and influence, seems very far away. Yet, somehow Nathalie manages to get on the evil adventurer Brago’s bad side. Running from this threat to her life, she finds Sir Edris. A gallant man. In his care, her life takes a whole new direction.

I felt that this book had more potential than it lived up to. Nathalie, for example, hates the divide between men and women in this society. The author makes sure you know this, especially through the first few chapters. It was a little bothersome to read every now and then. Continue reading “Quests of the Kings by Robert Evert”

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Heartless by Marissa Meyer Book CoverHeartless by Marissa Meyer
Series: Standalone
Genre: Fantasy, YA, Retellings
Published by Feiwel & Friends on November 8th 2016
Pages: 453
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

Lady Catherine Pinkerton is a daughter of a marquess in the Kingdom of Hearts. The Kingdom we know from Alice in Wonderland with it’s terrifying monarch. In such a position certain things are to be expected of you. For example, when the king proposes to you, you shall accept and a rich, happy life for you and your family lies ahead. You shall not indulge in hobbies that are below your position in society. Such as baking, preposterous!

Sadly, Catherine loves baking and wishes to open a shop to share her pastries and confections with the Kingdom. Something a queen surely cannot do. Meeting the court’s new jester makes accepting the proposal even more impossible, Continue reading “Heartless by Marissa Meyer”

The Girl with all the Gifts by M.R. Carey

The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey Book CoverThe Girl with all the Gifts by M.R. Carey
Series: Standalone
Genre: Sci-fi, Horror
Published by Orbit on January 14th 2014
Pages: 460
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

“You can’t save people from the world. There’s nowhere else to take them.”

This story takes place in a dystopian, zombie-containing future but it is mostly about Melanie. She is a very smart girl but one that is just as naive, if not more than most children. But who can blame her? Her days are either spent in her room-like prison or in a prison-like classroom. She doesn’t know it herself but she is, of course, one of the zombies.  Continue reading “The Girl with all the Gifts by M.R. Carey”