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Winterkeep: Publication Info and Personal Expectations

I cannot tell you how excited I was to learn that we were going to get another book in the Graceling Realm series. If you know anything about me from my blog, it’s probably that I absolutely adore this series. It’s been eight years since Bitterblue had been published, and with the way it ended,…
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Book Review: Towers of Midnight (WoT #13) by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

Never once in Towers of Midnight does the story let you forget how close the Last Battle really is. After twelve books that covering roughly two years’ time, full of meanderings as the characters tried and failed to rally, it’s finally time. And I have no doubt it’s going to be epic. But we aren’t…
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Setting Study: Fennbirn from Three Dark Crowns
When it comes to conceptual world-building, Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake did well at integrating various core elements of the setting itself, with a few critical misfires that flubbed the ending. Still, the blend of various magics is unique enough, and its effects on the culture plausible enough, that it sets Fennbirn apart from…
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Book Review: Five Dark Fates (Three Dark Crowns #4) by Kendare Blake
I have been loyally following Kendare Blake’s Three Dark Crowns (TDC) series since Three Dark Crowns (#1) was published in September 2016. As personal preferences go, Three Dark Crowns seemed to be right up my alley; I liked the darker, intense fantasy, especially if it features an interesting magic system. Rating: 3/5 Stars Note: spoiler-free …
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What is Fantasy?
I recently watched an old youtube podcast involving three hosts talk about fantasy. (For the intensely curious: The Story Telling Podcast #16: Writing Fantasy) It was clear that they were not particularly well-versed in the genre, and to be fair it was back from 2013. However, as I listened to them try to to define…
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Book Review: The Gathering Storm (WoT #12) by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
The end is drawing near. As the characters are preparing for the impending Last Battle, the narrative grows more intense and the stakes grow higher. The Gathering Storm focuses primarily on Rand al’Thor and Egwene al’Vere as they try to rally their people towards peace and unity; chaos and bloodshed will only provide the Dark…
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Setting Study: Gatlon City from Renegades
One doesn’t usually expect a rich world-building experience from a superhero novel, although one of the many reasons for it is that, most often, superhero novels are either based in real Earth-cities, or is at least situated in a sort of universe that is very Earth-like. In some capacity, it resembles that of an urban…
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Book Review: Supernova (Renegades #3) by Marissa Meyer
I wanted to hurry up and finish the series since Archenemies hadn’t taken me nearly as long to read as I’d worried it would. I’d forgotten how fast YA books tend to read, at least in comparison to the Wheel of Time series. So I pushed through this on my break at work and also…
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Book Review: Archenemies (Renegades #2) by Marissa Meyer
Almost two and a half years ago, only a few months after its publication, I picked up Renegades hoping it would be another Lunar Chronicles. I left that book feeling somewhat disappointed; neither hating it nor loving it, but rather just sort of wishing it had given me something more. I’ve had its sequels, Archenemies…