Tag Archives: Middle Earth

Book Reviews- Nov 2024

4 Dec

Welcome back to another monthly book review! I finished up a trilogy, read a few standalones and am still working my way through an incredibly long audiobook…

The God of Lost Words (Hell’s Library #3) by A.J. Hackwith- Claire, Hero, angel Remi and muse Brevity might just have to destroy the Library in order to save it… After saving the Library of the Unwritten Wing and finding out just what the books are made of, their secret out and all of Hell is coming for every wing of the Library. A war erupts and it’ll take all of their wits to survive.

–This was a good finale to the trilogy with a fantastic battle for each of the characters and bringing in a new villian (Godmother of Ghosts mwahaha). I admit some of the…details of the plot left me a little confused but I just kept reading anyway. It was more along the lines of fantasy-rules, so I didn’t feel like I’d understand it even if I stopped and pondered it… Anyhow, once again I did like the character growth – their battles and losses and victories felt specific to them. After finishing it, I was a little confused by some of what had happened but still finished content overall. The romance is, as I said in my reviews for the previous two books, is different than I normally read/prefer. (pansexual is apparently the word for it…) While I may not necessarily like this part of the plot, Hackwith wrote it so well that it didn’t take away from the story. And that the love was true and deep – not this flighty, physical focused type of infatuation. I appreciated that. With that in mind, a cautious recommend. As a last thought, I think the first book was my favorite, with this one being the second favorite.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien- Bilbo Baggins, hobbit of Bag-End, joins the wizard Gandalf and twelve dwarves, led by none other than Thorin Oakenshield, across Middle Earth to help the dwarves reclaim their homeland from the dragon Smaug. Through many obstacles – most of them extremely dangerous- they struggle through before even reaching their destination- the Lonely Mountain

–  I always love the Hobbit but listening to Andy Serkis narrating it, just improves it by leaps and bounds, somehow. It has been several years since I read this story and thoroughly enjoyed how Tolkien points out these random facts/feelings – in a way that modern authors just don’t do (well, that I’ve come across). Anyway, it is a nice, concise wonderful adventure story. I love how talkative Gandalf is. How uncertain Bilbo can be. How much the dwarves complain all throughout but then repent soon enough after. Highly recommend reading or listening to (esp with Andy Serkis narrating) this story!

Dragonsteel Prime by Brandon Sanderson- On Yolen, we follow the story of a boy named Jerick and a fool or jest, who calls himself Topaz (though you might know him by another name).

–this was written back in 2001 and only now has been widely printed and sold. We see Sanderson’s original attempt at writing the Bridge Four story. I appreciated that, at the beginning of the book, he even says that the story is a bit all over the place. This acknowledgement made a difference through the parts that seemed out of left field.. I adored all things to do with Topaz. And Bat’Chor. And really, there were times I was wishing we were focusing more on Jerick… Anyway, I did enjoy this story even though I, maybe, don’t love certain elements of it. (some choices near the end just frustrated me!) I got the hardcover and it’s simply gorgeous.

Where the Long Grass Blows by Louis L’amour- Bill Canavan rides into a valley at war – the two large ranches are owned by rustlers turned ranchers, fighting to dominate the entire valley, and a third small ranch caught in the middle. The third ranch was owned by honest folk – a brother and sister. But Canavan didn’t just happen to choose this valley to settle in. He knew this land, this range war and had decided he’d stay. He’d staked a claim and had plans to be the one still standing after the the war had blown over. What he hadn’t counted on was just how much the woman owner of the small ranch would affect him…

–whenever I want a nice, cozy, western read, I pick up a Louis L’amour. I greatly enjoyed this one – it was full of the clever cowhand with a fist of iron and a moral compass; the villians who run roughshod over everyone; the beautiful spirited woman that fights back and cattle, horses and the range. I always like the straight-talking, quick-decision making aspects that are in L’amour’s stories. I liked that Canavan entered the town of Soledad with the intent to stay -this wasn’t a spur of the moment decision. And I liked the comparisons drawn from the other characters, between him and Star Levitt. Highly recommend.

Currently Reading:

Uprooted by Lyn Julius

The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (at 59% of a 69 hr audiobook)

I hope you found something to add to your to-read list!

~Laura

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Lord of the Rings Series Review

27 Jun

 

The Lord of the Rings series is a high-fantasy novel written by J.R.R. Tolkien and first published in 1954/55. I never understood what all the hype was about this series until my OH got it for me and finally read it. I will admit to it taking far longer than I wanted, to get through all three volumes but that can be blamed on life and not wanting to eat and read at the same time (i mean, the book is gorgeous, I didn’t want to get anything on it!) I finally caved though when I couldn’t put it down. Hefting that through the house as I took care of the dogs, made meals, etc was interesting but the world of Middle Earth and the amount of details he put into backstories, languages, etc, was fantastic.

lotrseriesreview

I had already seen the movies (totally did it backward) but I think it helped me, having an idea of who these characters were. Normally I don’t like that, it shapes what you think about them to the degree that when they are different in the book (as they inevitably are, movies tend to take SO much license…….) but, for some reason, it helped.

I also read some about Tolkien and the parallels of himself and others in his life in some of his characters, which added a whole other layer to it.

Yes, it’s violent (it’s a WAR, man!) so I wouldn’t recommend this for young readers – unless you’re reading aloud to them and then you could skip over those bits! Other than the violence ( in the mood for some head-lopping? Gimli and Legolas keep count.), this series is CLEAN.  Why can’t more writers keep it that way?

I was watching an interview of Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachan, two of Bollywood’s biggest stars recently and loved their answer when asked why they don’t kiss in their movies. “you have this intimate moment and then suddenly, snap, cut, you’re in the mountains singing and dancing. It’s a lot more interesting…I’d much rather that.”   I got so excited when he said that! People can fall in love – and express that love – without getting all physical and mucking up the whole story.

ahem. Sorry…. Stepping down off my soapbox…..

So. I so appreciate the little bit of love and romance in these stories, it’s romantic, sweet, honoring and respectful. And isn’t that the love we all dream of?

The Fellowship of the Ring – book 1 by J.R.R. Tolkien – Frodo Baggins had no idea just what he was inheriting from Bilbo that night. But soon he knew that the Ring Wraiths were hunting him and the Ring of Power that he had. The Ring that could change the future of Middle Earth. Sauron wanted it to spread his evil through the land. So Frodo, Sam and those who would help him, must destroy the Ring in Mordor – the dark land where Sauron reigned.

 

The Two Towers – book 2  by J.R.R. Tolkien – The fellowship has been scattered. Some of them are dealing with treacherous Saruman. Some are preparing for the onslaught of war against Sauron. Only Frodo and Sam are left to take the Ring of Power to Mordor. Their guide through the dangerous lands is Gollum, the sneaky creature whose mind is filled with the Ring.

 

The Return of the King -book 3 by J.R.R. Tolkien – The fight continues against the evil Sauron –  Aragorn has joined with the Riders of Rohan. Gandalf has returned and defeated Saruman.  Merry and Pippin, having escaped the Orcs,  meet the Ents. Frodo and Sam continue their perilous journey into Mordor guided by Gollum. Through it all, the armies of Sauron are massing.

Gah! Just writing the synopsis’ (or is that synopsi?) makes me want to read them all over again. I also highly recommend The Hobbit, which is the prequel. I am going to give The Silmarillion a try although I’ve been warned it’s pretty much a history book of Middle Earth.

These books are very easily attainable, I’d bet you could get them at almost any used bookstore you wander into. Or Amazon is always a great option!

Have you read LOTR? What did you think?

~Laura

 

 

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,