What I’ve Been Reading Lately

I’m still hard at work (is it really work, though?) reading some well-known general market fantasy novels. When I started this quest, I asked my Facebook followers what books they would recommend as a way of starting my To Read list. Several people suggested I read The Book Thief. I did read it, and I’m going to tell you what I thought of it today. But it’s not a fantasy novel! I’m just saying… 

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Click on each book cover to read more about them on Amazon.com.

 

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

It’s true. I had never read a Robert Jordan book before now. I actually bought the first three in a boxed set with a birthday gift card to Barnes & Noble. But they’re loooong books and I’ve got a pile of twenty fantasy novels waiting, so it will likely be a while before I come back to books two and three.

This book is about Rand, a simple sheep farmer, and his friends. Just as they’re about to enjoy Bel Tine (a village celebration), some trollocs (ugly beasties) attack his house, hurting his father. Rand manages to get his father to the village and begs the help of Moraine, an Aes Sedai (a woman who wields the One Power). Morianne believes that the trollocs are after Rand and his two friends, and so, to protect the town, they all set out on a quest to Tar Valon to consult the other Aes Sedai to try and figure out what the trollocs want with the boys. But as Morianne is fond of saying, “The Wheel weaves as the wheel wills” and their quest is filled with setbacks and twists and turns. When they are separated, they do all they can to get back together.

Long book at 782 pages. But it was good. I liked it. The storyworld was immensely deep and complex. Loved that! The wheel of time concept is so clever. I liked the magic, as well, and the way that only women could wield the one power as it drove men insane. There were lots of interesting and unique things in the storyworld and cultures. I liked Rand as well, and he was our hero. It’s my understanding that we won’t always have Rand’s point of view throughout this series of fourteen books. But the other characters were fun too. I’m very glad I finally read one of these books. Well worth the time.

 

The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell

I asked my local high school history teacher if he could recommend any good books about the Vikings, and he suggested I read this book. I had been looking for a nonfiction book, but I added this to my To Read list anyway, as it looked interesting. Then when I went to visit my mom in Alaska this summer, she had this book on her shelf! So I read it as fast as I could while I was there. Pretty entertaining.

This book is about Uhtred, a young English boy who is captured by Danes when they defeat his father in battle. Ragnar the Fearless liked the bravery he saw in young Uhtred and decided to keep him. And so Uhtred is raised with the Danes and comes to love them, but England is his home and he knows that someday he will take back Bebbanburg, his birthright, from his uncle and rule the manor that is rightfully his. For now, though, he is content to go viking with Ragnar. Until he meets Alfred, king of Wessex, and is forced into the king’s service.

This book … wowzer. It was so interesting. Loved the depth and the reality of the storyworld. It was fascinating and sometimes awkward to read through the point of view of a boy who was raised by Danes and hates the Christian God. The Danish perspective was really intriguing. Very different morals than mine. It was a good book, though I doubt I’ll keep reading the series.

 

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

No, I do not think this book is fantasy just because death is the narrator. It’s historical fiction. And it was excellent. But it took me a while to think so. Seriously! It took me almost a month to get past the first thirty pages. Once I did, I was hooked. But the perspective of death is just so bizarre, I found it difficult to connect until we were solidly with Liesel.

This is a powerful book. It tells the story of a German girl in World War II. I’ve read many stories of Jewish people from that war, but I found this perspective fascinating. The characters were so unique and wonderful. I loved Rudy most of all. Just adored the kid. This isn’t a happy book. There are happy parts, but the ending is heartbreaking. I bawled. I’m not talking mere weepiness. I needed tissues. And when I finally finished, it I understood why everyone said I had to read it. It was an experience I carried around for days.

I also appreciated the way the author warned us what was coming. Death gave us spoilers. When I first read them, I thought, “You can’t do that!” thinking of all the writing rules I’ve been taught. But the thing is, it was brilliant storytelling. Knowing what was going to happen made every fun scene painful. A perfect example of how to break those writing rules on purpose. If you haven’t read this, put it on your list and don’t give up! It’s well worth it.

 

Dune by Frank Herbert

Speaking of hard to get into books … No, that’s not fair. I was interested in this book from page one. But the way it’s written is so very dense. My copy of Dune is 489 pages, if I count only the story and no appendixes. There are no chapters. Each section is broken up by a quote from the Princess Irulan, whom we don’t meet until much later. If you’ve seen the miniseries, they changed things and put her in way too early. Hollywood, anyway.

This is another book I’m thankful I put in the time to read. It was hard work, but this book was fascinating. It was written in 1965 and the storyworld is magnificent. I was very impressed with the depth of the author’s creativity in building the planet Arrakis (aka Dune) and the politics of the universe. Everything was so complex, which is part of why it was such a tough read for me. I had to go slowly if I was going to catch everything. And there were lots of names that were too similar. But I loved this book. Really neat. (But I hate the cover on this re-release. Bo-ring!)

 

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Okay, so I’m a gullible person. It’s not entirely my fault. See, I married the biggest jokester on the planet, I think. And after sixteen years of marriage, I never know if he’s being serious or not. So as I read The Princess Bride aloud to our family, I was delighted to learn how Mr. Goldman’s father once told him this story out loud. And when he tried to get his own son to read it years later, and his son said it was boring, he learned that his father had cut out all the boring parts. And so Mr. Goldman set to work at once writing this lovely abridged version of S. Morgenstern’s classic.

Yeah … I fell for it. I was halfway through the book when my husband broke it to me. Then I went on Wikipedia and learned the truth. Ah well. Turns out that Mr. Goldman is a very clever author. Color me impressed.

This book was written before the movie, but it’s so good that much of the movie dialogue is taken word for word from the book. I loved that! Not only because I loved the movie, but because I was happy for Mr. Goldman. Hollywood makes a mess of many a literary masterpiece, but they did just fine by The Princess Bride. There was more in the book, of course, than fit in the film. In the book we get the backstories of Inigo and Fezzik, both of which were interesting. But I’m really impressed by the way Mr. Goldman told this story as if he were abridging a classic. He goes into depth about why he cut this next scene, and he’ll give summaries of the boring parts. It was delightful. I don’t think I ever smiled so much when reading a book. Everyone should read this one.

What have you been reading lately?