Hey all!
This week's reviews will put two trilogies (one realistic fantasy and one epic fantasy) into their crosshairs. The trilogies are:
Godblind by Anna Stephens (@AnnaSmithWrites) and Winternight by Katherine Arden (@arden_katherine). I've decided to review the two of them because they were both unique in their own way. They captured my attention and didn't let it go and I even missed some video gaming time to read them.
I'll talk about Winternight first.
The Winternight trilogy by Katherine Arden:
Winternight starts with The Bear and the Nightingale. This came out in 2011 and it has taken Katherine Arden about seven years to finish the trilogy. The Bear and the Nightingale. I'm reasonably sure you've all heard of it by now. If not - this is your chance. Buy the book. Read it. It's definitely worth it. Then buy the other two and read them as well.
The story of Winternight begins with some background (but it's by no means boring) about how a witch girl was born and the first few years of her wild life in 14th century Russia.
As the rest of Rus starts believing in a God and the monks who tend to this God the (hearth-)spirits/devils/demons (called chyerti in plural) of old Rus are forgotten more and more... which makes them fade and become powerless. But not in Vasya's family. Vasya (the descendant of an ancient line of witches) has the sight and makes it a point to deal with chyerti just as she would with any human ally. They are her friends.
Trouble arrives in the form of the Bear - the king of chaos - and Morozko - the winter king and king of death. I don't want to go too deeply into either of the storylines but suffice to say they divide into a really beautiful romance (albeit not so much in the first book) and a harrowing and uncaring enemy. In the second and third books (The Girl in the Tower and The Winter of the Witch) these villains and lovers are elaborated on and more dangers are introduced. Rus has to fight foes both religious/spiritual and worldly if it is going to survive.
Let me first of all say I'm not into romance. At all. I dislike the cringey YA romances where everything is perfect and a kiss is treated as if someone found the holy grail and I also despise the usually epic fantasy romance which is a) overdone and b) smarmy and rather fucked-up most of the time. However. I really enjoyed the romance in the Winternight trilogy. It's not obvious (at first) and it's subtle throughout. It doesn't make the (female) main character go crazy with besottedness. It is a partnership between two strong people and neither one takes crap from the other.
The second reason this trilogy is so beautiful is the story itself. You could say it meanders a bit - but at the same time the plot is razor-sharp without fluff. It meanders in the way that you're sucked into a magical kingdom and neither want to nor can leave. It's beautifully written and 100% worth the hours you'll spend on it. (And I don't say this about many books). It is truly a masterpiece of combined Russian folklore with... beauty.
Heck. I don't even like horses (at all! I'm serious!) but I really loved the horse-characters in this book. THAT is saying something considering all other books I've started that had talking horses were swiftly dropped.
Don't believe me still what a masterpiece this is? Buy it and see for yourself.
The next books we're taking a look at is Anna Stephen's Godblind trilogy.
The Godblind trilogy by Anna Stephens:
I'm not usually someone who likes 'THIS IS ALL PROPHECY' kind of storylines, and I still don't, but Anna Stephens must have done something right. I could put neither book down while reading them and it's still in my mind two weeks later.
The story was just incredibly well-written (with several POVs) and I just really wanted to know what happens (and what will happen in the third installment) at all times in the book. That being said... I disliked a lot of the characters. There are some whose only purpose seems to be to 'be there' (prophecy) and others who just change their personality in the blink of an eye. Then again this isn't really a problem per se. It's just how it is and my preference (and nothing is 100% perfect). I'm sure there are people who like Dom.
This trilogy then is completely different to Katherine Arden's Winternight. It's an epic fantasy whereas Winternight is more historical fantasy set in the 'real' world. The only reason they're in the same post is because they're both fantasy and I really enjoyed both of them in the last two-three weeks (and none of the other books I read was as good).
A bit more about the Godblind prophecy:
A lot of Godblind and Darksoul relies on it. Prophecy here, prophecy there, and one of the main characters is a prophet, and another (ok, more than one others) the CHOSEN ONE. As a result, a lot of the events in the book are caused by prophecy (at some point in Godblind even inexplicably, as in, it didn't make a lot of sense to happen this way), and yet, while reading it, it doesn't feel bad/like 'book explains everything because of prophecy' (cough Harry Potter). Indeed, the characters are very headstrong, and each have their own will, goals, and desires, and the prophecy part... Is not actually very very relevant at all. I'm guessing there might be another series after this is completed to make sense of the prophecy, or the prophecy itself is some kind of... 'It could apply to anyone'/'There are multiple peolpe it could apply to' plot.
Anyway. Godblind and Darksoul were the first really cool books I've read since Tim Pratt's The Dreaming Stars. I can guarantee you'll be sucked in and not let go once you start. In this case, the sucked in part also comes from the writing style itself. Anna Stephens doesn't muck around with endless description and boring fluff, but goes straight into action every single scene. It reads almost like a thriller, but it's definitely epic fantasy, and I'm really hoping the author will write more books in this world because I'm curious about all those countries mentioned which doesn't feature in these books.
The only caveat of the amazingness of these books I'd have to mention is the gore. The author's writing style makes it easy to read even when someone's getting nailed to a cross BUT the violence/blood/gore IS there. If you're a bit twitchy or faint-hearted this might not be the good for you. Then again. I usually don't read this kind of stuff and GOT was too much for me (I had to skip over a lot of writing/chapters while reading it) but as I've said above Anna Stephens has a very clean writing style which can put some distance between you and the book. It's almost sterile sometimes and definitely not as raw as GRRM's GOT but still quite immersive.
Does this sound like something you'd like? Read it and let me know in the comments what you thought! I'd love to get some input!
WriteBot.
Showing posts with label bookreviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bookreviews. Show all posts
Friday, February 22, 2019
Saturday, January 5, 2019
The Best of Non-Fiction 2018 (complete list)
Hey folks
This is a complete list of the two posts The Best Non-Fiction of 2018 Part I and The Best Non-Fiction of 2018 Part II combined and sorted by best book in each category (also sorted by best category) for your convenience.
Top Tier:
The Courage to be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi: I love this book. There has been no better book in my life ever before. I actually loved it enough to buy a paper copy after reading it on my Kindle just to have it on my shelf (and that doesn't happen very often at all). This book (not 12 Rules) IS the Holy Grail of learning to live with yourself and working through/DESPITE your past traumas in a non-pretentious way. It refers heavily to the philosophy of Alfred Adler and I promise you it is impactful. If you read any book from my list at all then it should be this one.
The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz: Another book right up there with The Courage to be Disliked and How to Win Friends and Influence People. It's on an entirely different topic (The 10X Rule was inspired by it) but so so worth it! If you read two books from my list it should be The Courage to be Disliked and this one. It's so much more accessible than the somewhat reckless airy-fairy tips of The 10X Rule and written so much more humanly relatable. In essence it's a simple guide on how to improve your life by dreaming well (however without any affirmation or visualization crap like you find in some of the more etheric self-help books) and by working on bigger and more fulfilling projects than you believed yourself capable of/could even conceive of.
Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy: This one was great and definitely deserves the light red colour. In fact it should probably be pink to do it justice.
The title of the book refers to its content: Do your most important task (the biggest frog) first. I wrote a full blog post about it here: Review of Eat That Frog but for the sake of this list the gist of why it is so impactful is that:
a.) Brian Tracy does not waste words. He starts with relevant information and sticks to it. He does not add any fluff to his text and stays fully on course throughout. This is why the book is only 100 pages long (depending of course on your format) but it's so densely packed with information on how to get started and finish your most important projects it's 100+% worth the money spent on it.
b.) Tracy's tips are practical and can be used immediately. Do you want to become more productive in your most important work (your biggest frog)? Then read this book.
12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson: This was the first non-fiction of 2018 I actually LOVED. You can say what you want about JP as a person (and I'll not join that particular debate) but 12 Rules is highly relevant to everyone who wants to improve themselves/their outlook on life and the world. Of course, not all Peterson writes is Holy Grail material, and I would argue not much actually is, BUT in every chapter, there are nuggets you can pick up to improve your life and relationships. You can pick and choose what you wish to incorporate in your life or not. As such, the book is definitely worth a read.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie: It took me a long time to get to this book. I knew it existed for almost a decade but couldn't bring myself to read it because the title sounds pretentious and fake as all heck. However... after hundreds and hundreds of recommendations I decided to give it a try... and it's great! It truly is an amazing book and not in the least pretentious or fake. A lot of people think 'But it will teach me to be false in order to make friends' but FAR FROM IT! The main body of the books deals with no-brainer tips everyone knows (such as smiling at people to lift both of your spirits and taking care of yourself) but needs to be reminded of because they are so easily overlooked. It also teaches you that when you are fake people will know and they won't respond to you at all - so it's the opposite of what a lot of people fear the book will try to make them do. I'll add my voice to this particular book's value: It's definitely worth it.
Second Tier:
Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande: This book is great! It talks a lot about the day-to-day business of writing and the fears you might encounter (and how to conquer them!). I recommend this for anyone who wants to be an artist.
Wake Up and Live by Dorothea Brande: The same as above but not focused on writing alone. It's a great book for everyone who feels slightly lost in life (I know I do...)
The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone: I've written a longer post about this one here. It's quite good if you want to have an overview of how much work you will be required to do in order to get ahead. It tells you basically to multiply every effort by 10 if you truly want to succeed. If you plan to contact 10 customers in order to sell your product, instead make it 100. If you plan to make 100,000 extra money the next year, plan to make 1,000,000 instead. In essence, it is better to fall short of HUGE goals than small goals. I believe this should be read once simply so you get the concept (and possibly change your working style for the better).
Give and Take by Adam Grant: A great book about leadership and becoming successful. The most important message of this book is (obviously) the importance of giving - not just in order to get, but simply to enhance your life. The book attempts to give you a blueprint on how much giving you should do and when/how to expect something back (to take).
Undoing Depression by Richard O'Connor: Highly useful/relevant if you struggle with mental health issues. You'll have to read it yourself to see the value of it. I simply can't sum it up well enough. Suffice to say it shows you how to deal with your dark thoughts and how to improve your life even if your depression cannot be entirely cured.
Atomic Habits by James Clear: A long review can be found here. This book is definitely worth the buy and read. It will reach you to REALLY improve your life - and in a sustainable way rather than all those 'just change/just do it' books. Any change happens gradually and in increments. Atomic Habits drives home that point and shows you how you can make habit changes permanent. It's really a useful book!
The Hungry Brain by Stephan J. Guyenet: This is a bit more in the health niche - specifically how the brain regulates how hungry we feel at any given point and what drives people to overeat. About 60% of it are incredibly useful and highly informative but the last three or so chapters drag. Here's a complete Review of The Hungry Brain. I personally read this book because I tend to stuff my face if there's something tasty around. It's gotten much better in recent years (after I started focusing on my health) but I notice that when there's something really tasty it's often very difficult to stop myself eating more than my stomach feels comfortable with. This book then was a way for me to understand why this happens (when consciously I don't want/need any more food but I still feel the urge to eat) and it did it's job! Recommended also if you're trying to lose weight!
The Runner-Ups:
Barking Up the Wrong Tree by Eric Barker: This one is actually good! It looks at what successful people do different than most (spoiler: the most important difference as Simon Sinek says: They have a WHY that affects other people) that leads to them being successful in the first place. It shows you how many of your learned mantras about success (just imagine yourself being successful already!) are wrong and do not help you in any way. You should rather look at your own skills and/or weaknesses to find things you excel at.
The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy: On the coattails of James Clear's Atomic Habits. A longer review again here. I would not read The Compound Effect without having first read Atomic Habits. All the concepts of TCE are related to (and mostly the same as) Atomic Habits - but it's not explained or written as well by Darren Hardy as by James Clear. This book is best read to deepen your understanding of atomic habits after you've read James Clear. I sort-of recommend it but it's not a necessary read if you've read Atomic Habits.
The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron: This book was very hyped... but I found it mediocre at best. It has some good ideas but isn't in any way exceptional. It's a good read, still, and I do recommend at least looking at it to see if the content speaks to you, but don't force it if you don't like it.
A Handbook for the Productive Writer by Bryan Collins: Meh. I wouldn't recommend this. It's just a whole lot of blabla you can actually get for free on the Internet (and concisely from my writing tips page: http://jasmingelinck.com/resources).
The Science of Rapid Skill Acquisition by Peter Hollins: I don't actually remember this book at all. I think it's just one of those publish-as-many-as-you-can-to-make-money life-advice craps. Not recommended.
As you might notice there is one book (The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F****) that I left out. This is intentional. I did not like this book and found it useless. That's why it doesn't even get a spot on the runner-ups.
WriteBot.
This is a complete list of the two posts The Best Non-Fiction of 2018 Part I and The Best Non-Fiction of 2018 Part II combined and sorted by best book in each category (also sorted by best category) for your convenience.
Top Tier:
The Courage to be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi: I love this book. There has been no better book in my life ever before. I actually loved it enough to buy a paper copy after reading it on my Kindle just to have it on my shelf (and that doesn't happen very often at all). This book (not 12 Rules) IS the Holy Grail of learning to live with yourself and working through/DESPITE your past traumas in a non-pretentious way. It refers heavily to the philosophy of Alfred Adler and I promise you it is impactful. If you read any book from my list at all then it should be this one.
The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz: Another book right up there with The Courage to be Disliked and How to Win Friends and Influence People. It's on an entirely different topic (The 10X Rule was inspired by it) but so so worth it! If you read two books from my list it should be The Courage to be Disliked and this one. It's so much more accessible than the somewhat reckless airy-fairy tips of The 10X Rule and written so much more humanly relatable. In essence it's a simple guide on how to improve your life by dreaming well (however without any affirmation or visualization crap like you find in some of the more etheric self-help books) and by working on bigger and more fulfilling projects than you believed yourself capable of/could even conceive of.
Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy: This one was great and definitely deserves the light red colour. In fact it should probably be pink to do it justice.
The title of the book refers to its content: Do your most important task (the biggest frog) first. I wrote a full blog post about it here: Review of Eat That Frog but for the sake of this list the gist of why it is so impactful is that:
a.) Brian Tracy does not waste words. He starts with relevant information and sticks to it. He does not add any fluff to his text and stays fully on course throughout. This is why the book is only 100 pages long (depending of course on your format) but it's so densely packed with information on how to get started and finish your most important projects it's 100+% worth the money spent on it.
b.) Tracy's tips are practical and can be used immediately. Do you want to become more productive in your most important work (your biggest frog)? Then read this book.
12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson: This was the first non-fiction of 2018 I actually LOVED. You can say what you want about JP as a person (and I'll not join that particular debate) but 12 Rules is highly relevant to everyone who wants to improve themselves/their outlook on life and the world. Of course, not all Peterson writes is Holy Grail material, and I would argue not much actually is, BUT in every chapter, there are nuggets you can pick up to improve your life and relationships. You can pick and choose what you wish to incorporate in your life or not. As such, the book is definitely worth a read.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie: It took me a long time to get to this book. I knew it existed for almost a decade but couldn't bring myself to read it because the title sounds pretentious and fake as all heck. However... after hundreds and hundreds of recommendations I decided to give it a try... and it's great! It truly is an amazing book and not in the least pretentious or fake. A lot of people think 'But it will teach me to be false in order to make friends' but FAR FROM IT! The main body of the books deals with no-brainer tips everyone knows (such as smiling at people to lift both of your spirits and taking care of yourself) but needs to be reminded of because they are so easily overlooked. It also teaches you that when you are fake people will know and they won't respond to you at all - so it's the opposite of what a lot of people fear the book will try to make them do. I'll add my voice to this particular book's value: It's definitely worth it.
Second Tier:
Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande: This book is great! It talks a lot about the day-to-day business of writing and the fears you might encounter (and how to conquer them!). I recommend this for anyone who wants to be an artist.
Wake Up and Live by Dorothea Brande: The same as above but not focused on writing alone. It's a great book for everyone who feels slightly lost in life (I know I do...)
The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone: I've written a longer post about this one here. It's quite good if you want to have an overview of how much work you will be required to do in order to get ahead. It tells you basically to multiply every effort by 10 if you truly want to succeed. If you plan to contact 10 customers in order to sell your product, instead make it 100. If you plan to make 100,000 extra money the next year, plan to make 1,000,000 instead. In essence, it is better to fall short of HUGE goals than small goals. I believe this should be read once simply so you get the concept (and possibly change your working style for the better).
Give and Take by Adam Grant: A great book about leadership and becoming successful. The most important message of this book is (obviously) the importance of giving - not just in order to get, but simply to enhance your life. The book attempts to give you a blueprint on how much giving you should do and when/how to expect something back (to take).
Undoing Depression by Richard O'Connor: Highly useful/relevant if you struggle with mental health issues. You'll have to read it yourself to see the value of it. I simply can't sum it up well enough. Suffice to say it shows you how to deal with your dark thoughts and how to improve your life even if your depression cannot be entirely cured.
Atomic Habits by James Clear: A long review can be found here. This book is definitely worth the buy and read. It will reach you to REALLY improve your life - and in a sustainable way rather than all those 'just change/just do it' books. Any change happens gradually and in increments. Atomic Habits drives home that point and shows you how you can make habit changes permanent. It's really a useful book!
The Hungry Brain by Stephan J. Guyenet: This is a bit more in the health niche - specifically how the brain regulates how hungry we feel at any given point and what drives people to overeat. About 60% of it are incredibly useful and highly informative but the last three or so chapters drag. Here's a complete Review of The Hungry Brain. I personally read this book because I tend to stuff my face if there's something tasty around. It's gotten much better in recent years (after I started focusing on my health) but I notice that when there's something really tasty it's often very difficult to stop myself eating more than my stomach feels comfortable with. This book then was a way for me to understand why this happens (when consciously I don't want/need any more food but I still feel the urge to eat) and it did it's job! Recommended also if you're trying to lose weight!
The Runner-Ups:
Barking Up the Wrong Tree by Eric Barker: This one is actually good! It looks at what successful people do different than most (spoiler: the most important difference as Simon Sinek says: They have a WHY that affects other people) that leads to them being successful in the first place. It shows you how many of your learned mantras about success (just imagine yourself being successful already!) are wrong and do not help you in any way. You should rather look at your own skills and/or weaknesses to find things you excel at.
The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy: On the coattails of James Clear's Atomic Habits. A longer review again here. I would not read The Compound Effect without having first read Atomic Habits. All the concepts of TCE are related to (and mostly the same as) Atomic Habits - but it's not explained or written as well by Darren Hardy as by James Clear. This book is best read to deepen your understanding of atomic habits after you've read James Clear. I sort-of recommend it but it's not a necessary read if you've read Atomic Habits.
The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron: This book was very hyped... but I found it mediocre at best. It has some good ideas but isn't in any way exceptional. It's a good read, still, and I do recommend at least looking at it to see if the content speaks to you, but don't force it if you don't like it.
A Handbook for the Productive Writer by Bryan Collins: Meh. I wouldn't recommend this. It's just a whole lot of blabla you can actually get for free on the Internet (and concisely from my writing tips page: http://jasmingelinck.com/resources).
The Science of Rapid Skill Acquisition by Peter Hollins: I don't actually remember this book at all. I think it's just one of those publish-as-many-as-you-can-to-make-money life-advice craps. Not recommended.
As you might notice there is one book (The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F****) that I left out. This is intentional. I did not like this book and found it useless. That's why it doesn't even get a spot on the runner-ups.
WriteBot.
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