About midway through the third book in the Chronicles of Amber, I came to the realization that these books are the perfect length for me. They’re about as long and as fast-paced as a typical L’Amour novel, which is to say that they’re less than 200 pages and feel like they’re less than 100. If …
Continue reading “This is why I love shorter fantasy novels: Sign of the Unicorn by Roger Zelazny”
I have to be honest: before I discovered the Chronicles of Amber, I had all but given up on Zelazny as an author. All of his stuff that I’d previously attempted to read had won a bunch of major awards, and none of it appealed to me. I honestly couldn’t see what the big deal …
Continue reading “When to give an author another chance: The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny”
I’ve slowly been going through all of the writing books at the Orem Library, looking for everything that I can use to hone my craft. Some of them are better than others, and some of the ones that I initially DNFed I’ll probably end up coming back to and trying again. But one of the …
One of the first pieces of writing advice that I ever recieved, right alongside “never end a story with the words ‘it was all a dream’” and “never introduce the main character by having them look at themselves in a mirror” was “never write a story where the main character has amnesia.” Which struck me …
Continue reading “An Amnesia Story Done Right: Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny”
This book is the third and final volume of the complete original Conan the Barbarian stories by Robert E Howard, and it absolutely lives up to the high quality and excellent production value of the previous volumes. Besides including what many consider to be some of Howard’s best Conan stories, the commentary paints a detailed …
Continue reading “Joe Reviews: The Conquering Sword of Conan by Robert E. Howard”
Rhythm of War is the fourth book in the Stormlight Archive. Congratulations if you’ve made it this far! I won’t go into very much detail about plot, since this is a fourth book, but we do get point-of-view chapters from Navani, Kaladin, Adolin, Shalan, Venli, Dalinar, and some other more minor characters. My brother tells …
Continue reading “Piper Reviews: Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson”
My first review! I very much enjoyed this book, which wasn’t too unexpected since I read the first book in the series and very much enjoyed that book as well. Of course, there was always a danger that I wouldn’t enjoy it since we ditch the main character from the previous book — or turn …
Continue reading “Piper Reviews: Half the World by Joe Abercrombie”
Brandon Sanderson is known for his massive, door-stopping tomes, but after reading The Emperor’s Soul, I think might like his short fiction better. Of course, “short” for Brandon is still a decent-sized novella. The world is rich and full of magic and history—but Brandon doesn’t explain all of it, just the parts that are relevant …
Continue reading “Joe Reviews: The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson”
[This review originally appeared on my writing blog in July 2009.] This book was incredible. Magnificent. It made me think, it made me cry–it made me want to be a better man. David Gemmell examines issues and themes such as life, death, and love in ways that are as meaningful and honest as they are …
