Red Sister by Mark Lawrence
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“I was born for killing—the gods made me to ruin.”


Mark Lawrence's Broken Empire trilogy is one of my favorite series of all time.

And the Red Sister is better than all of them.

This book played with so many emotions in so many ways. This book was a work of art.

If you're seeing these words, "GO BUY RED SISTER NOW AND READ IT!"

***There may be minor spoilers. I will try my best to keep them minimum.***

Red Sister is the first novel of the Book of the Ancestory series. I've been a reader of Mark Lawrence since his first book reached shelves and I thought I wouldn't be able to love any of his books more than that original Broken Empire trilogy.

I was wrong.

Red sister has not only become my favorite Mark Lawrence book (thus far), but one of my favorite books ever!

Coming of age stories are a weakness for me as well, my childhood being filled with Harry Potter and other various tales of young nobodies fulfilling their destiny or becoming something great. It must reach out to the boring life my soul desperately wishes it could escape.

I was born in the wrong era, but I digress.

One of Mark Lawrence's biggest strengths is turning darker characters into someone you can relate to. He causes empathy and support to happen naturally, not forcing it upon us but showing us the character through multiple levels of depth. I still have not read an author who does it quite like Mark Lawrence does.

Damnit why did I wait so long to read this book!
“I hope he comes back full of devils and they eat his heart.”

All of the sisters were unique and exciting to learn about. I constantly kept asking myself, "Who did Sister "This" used to be? How did she get to this point? Was she like Nona once?
What is the focus moon?
What are the Shiphearts?
What is the Ark?
Who is Nona really?
What, who, why, how, where when.... Mark is a master of laying pieces and subtle clues to make you pull your hair out in desperate attempt to finish the book to receive the answers he has been titillating you with for 400-something pages. Every piece is interesting and feels sooo important. Nothing feels like useless information.

And that's also how I felt about the story.
The pace was fantastic. Every chapter felt useful and exciting. Everything kept moving you forward. There were slight hints and previews of the future and what was to come, but they only fueled my eager fire of avoiding sleep and reading long into the night.

“The hardest lesson I ever learned was that every bad thing you see a friend do to someone else they will some day do to you.
Nona is a god damn GENIUS character. She is such a deep character and I get lots of kudos to Mark Lawrence for making such a powerful female cast. As a man, I know I struggle to understand the female mind but Mark does it in a such a way that you don't doubt any of it for a second.

I've been rambling for a while. But all I really want to say is go buy this book now. You will not regret it for a second. It's the type of book that makes me forget all the other books on my plate. It's the type of book that makes me put down everything else I'm in the middle of because I need my fucking answers!

I love you Mark Lawrence. You've taken me to worlds that have become a part of me. Your prose is elegant yet easy to ready. Your characters feel like I've known them outside of the pages. I will read anything you write. Anything!

The shortest lives can cast the longest shadows.”
5/5 Steps on the path.

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The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5/5

Joe Abercrombie, the Lord of Grimdark, is a fantastic author.

I've been trying to get started in this series for quite a while now, as a fan of fantasy and grimdark alike, but it's dry beginning really took a while to stick with me. I picked it up and put it down several times over the past year, in favor of more exciting and fantastical reads that I just had to get to.

I won't lie. Reading this before/after some pretty amazing reads made it all the more challenging.

But I'm glad I finished. I'm glad I finally put everything else on hold to read The Blade Itself. It was an awesome book.

“Once you've got a task to do, it's better to do it than live with the fear of it.”

When I put this book down this morning, after devouring the last 30%, I sat and pondered on what I had just read.
The plot wasn't particularly amazing.
The setting was average, and I'd read places like it before.
The pace was slow in parts and it took a long time for things to start getting interesting.

SO why did I love the book so damn much?

Joe Abercrombie is an incredible writer of characters and dialogue.

Each character stayed true to who they were, without once faltering or finding Abercrombie's majestic hands changing them to better fit a situation. Each character was wholely unique and interesting, with flaws, strengths, personality, history, and a future you care about following.

Logen Ninefingers, my personal favorite, and I'm sure the favorite of a lot of people, had the most interesting chapters. A barbarian who knows blood, death, dirt and cruelty in a "civilized" city and completely out of his element. Every description of him by others was hilarious and had me smiling non-stop.

Sand dan Glokta, the creeping, crawling, cripple who's worst enemy is a staircase was always in pain, always complaining externally and internally about everything anyone says. It was such fantastic writing. I almost don't know how to explain it. I really hope to read more about his legendary past in the books to come.

Bayaz, the cheat, the balding, plump powerful magi who loves to bathe, walking out into the heat of probably the most intense battle in the entire book, ass naked, with bathe water dripping down his front and over his jewels... I don't think I need to explain how freaking outrageous and awesome this scene was.

Jezal dan Luther, the rich, arrogant, and popular swordsman who is incapable of living his luxurious life due to his love for a common girl, a forbidden love and one he's not sure is reciprocated. I have to say, the final duel of the tournament with Bayaz cheating for him was also hilarious.

Ferro Maljinn, the escaped slave who is as vicious as she is cunning. I don't know too much about her yet, only that her and Logen make an incredibly exciting duo.

Seriously though, These characters are just so vivid and fantastic. As a reader who is drawn to characters far more powerfully than any other device, I realized that this is why I love Joe Abercrombie. Because he creates some of the most memorable and true to themselves, flaws and all, characters that I've ever read.

I also love that he's not afraid to explode someone into a cloud of gore on the page.

"Shit" - Logen Ninefingers

The books flaws were not necessarily flaws per se. I have not a single bad thing to say about Joe Abercrombie's writing, only my own modern brain struggling to read the boring everyday stuff. It felt almost like a prologue to the series than having its own beginning, middle and end. The plot was MUCH more interesting during the second half, however. If you're impatient like me, stick to it. It's so worth it. If you're more patient then me, you probably have already finished this and rated it highly =)

Overall I give The Blade Itself a 4.5/5. It's gritty. It's funny. It's a fantastic book.
Onto the next one =)

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Age of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Really Michael? You have to make a grown man cry like that?

What a tale. What a wonderful, beautiful, awe inspiring tale.

Its 3:25 AM. Im going to sleep and then write my review of this beautiful work tomorrow.

---

I have always worshipped heroes in stories. I had no idea I was surrounded by them.

Alright! Now that I have slept and rested on what was one of the hardest to put down books I've ever read, I will try and do it justice, try and paint some sort of picture that will get you to start reading this fantastic series.
I will probably fail. But I will try.

SPOILER WARNING - While I will try not to spoil important areas of the plot, there may be character development spoilers.

The Age of Swords is book two in the Legends of the First Empire, a tale that takes place along time before the Riyria books. Michael J. Sullivan makes each readable without reading the other series, but I HIGHLY recommend reading the Riyria books before this series. There are some moments in The Age of Swords that had my jaw dropping and the wheels in my mind spinning. The connections have little to no impact on the overarching story of the Legends of the First Empire, but for someone who has read the Riyria Revelations several times, they were incredible!
Seeing the world take shape as the Legends had told about in the Riyria books was a treat in and of itself.

This book had a LOT of character growth. Mainly for the women, at least. Seeing a cast of such powerful women, all of whom aren't afraid to be... well... women, was incredible. I fell in love with each and every one and care deeply about their stories and what will happen to them.

Persephone, Suri, Moya, Arion, Roan, Brin.

Normally in a book, there is a small group of people I feel this connection towards but Michael J. Sullivan writes in a way that makes his characters feel as real as the people I interact with on a daily basis. They are so deep, so multi-dimensional, and just flat out enjoyable to read about.

No character is a Mary Sue. Everyone has their flaws, weaknesses, and shortcomings. Michael writes about these character and their "disabilities" in a way that is hard to believe he doesn't experience them all himself. As someone with similar Cleithrophobia, I couldn't believe how accurately Suri's thoughts were when feeling trapped.

Closed was okay. Closed could be dealt with. If the door behind her now was only closed, she could open it whenever she wanted.

And not only that, but Gifford's shortcomings. How does a cripple become such a powerful character in a dark and bloody world? It's honestly incredible that Michael was able to write these characters and make them feel so real and not silly.

Although Gifford’s roads appeared narrower, rockier, and strewn with more thorns, he always found a way to cope.

Roan and her past history of abuse, overcoming the odds and creating freaking earth shattering inventions.

Moya and defeating her stereotype of being beautiful and weak.
Moya turned the handle of her sword in a remarkably sophisticated spin. She held the pommel to Brin. “Put it on my blade. I’ll do it.”

Brin overcoming the death of her family, and creating/reading language.

Although men were strong like rocks, any stone could crack. Women were more like water. They nurtured life and could shape the hardest granite through unrelenting determination.

I'm sure you've noticed by now, how incredibly quotable this book was. I found goosebump inducing quotes on every other page. This book was powerful. This is why I read fantasy.

Raithe was the only weakpoint in the book for me, and it wasn't a bad thing, but simply a chance for him to grow. He felt selfish, obtuse, and just flat out hard to like. Especially, when surrounded by the incredible cast. I imagine this had to do something with his premise as a character. He's the first character we learn about in the Legends of the First Empire series. So while, I don't believe he is the main character at all, I do have an attachment towards him. I want him to overcome his Dureyan roughness. I want him to see the world through more optimistic eyes. But depression is real. Pessimism is harder to overcome then simply deciding it so. I look forward to seeing where the God-Killer goes.

Okay now that I've babbled and quoted on randomly, Let me talk about it.
Yes it.
Be warned before continuing.

It was 2:30 AM. I was laying in bed devouring page by page, wondering how in the hell they were going to kill Balgagarath(or however you spell it).

The second Minna sat in Suri's lap while Arion was telling her what needed to be done... I knew I was going to cry.
WHY MICHAEL!? WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME!?
“I love you, Minna. I always will.”

What a powerful, horrible, emotional moment for a grown man who may or may not have cried.

Suri has become my absolute, bar-none, favorite character in this story and is up there as one of my favorite characters of all time. Shes young, but brave. Scared, but willing. Suri is incredible.
Persephone is an amazing woman, don't get me wrong. She comes in a close second, but Suri and what she had to do to save her comrades and the world was just... Unprecedented for me as a reader.

Overall, this book receives a complete 5/5. If possible, It would gain higher points. This is why I read books. This is why I read fantasy. There are few books that have made me feel this way throughout my life.
The Harry Potter series which taught me to love reading as a kid.
The Lightbringer series which scratches every fantasy itch for me.
The Riyria Revelations which introduced me to the wonderful, poetic words of Michael J. Sullivan.
And now the Legends of the First Empire, for showing me the strength and power of individuals, especially women, when all odds are against them.

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