thoughts on books i enjoy. writing is hard, so expect updates and elaborations over time. beware: dropdowns contain potential spoilers.
(covers will be fixed soon)
author: Scott Hawkins
year: 2015
read: apr 2025
eldritch horror fantasy where the true horror is knowledge itself and those who possess it. a highly weird and well-mixed blend of shock and creeping dread. i think i would recommend it overall, though i have certain critiques about the ending - or maybe i read into it too much, or not enough.
author: Tamsyn Muir
book 1: Gideon the Ninth (2019)
book 2: Harrow the Ninth (2020)
book 3: Nona the Ninth (2022)
book 4: Alecto the Ninth (forthcoming)
last read: apr 2025
a recommendation from a work friend whom i cannot thank enough. stayed for the humor and necromancy, left with a soulrending ache that i can't even begin to describe. i will be rereading, probably very soon.
Gideon stole my heart, Harrow crushed it to powder, and Nona put it back together. Alecto may kill me, but it would be an honor.
my darling sweet dumb strong baby, my beloved, originator of so many swoonworthy cosplays...
John Gaius you miserable pontificating narcissist, i can't wait until the rad lesbians fuckin GET your ass.
a selection of favorites:
"Pyrrha said it was puppy love, but Nona knew better. Puppy love just made you want to open the puppy's lips and play with the puppy's teeth."
"Oh my God! I forgot about Noodle!"
"What are Pyrrha's nicknames for you?" "Kiddie. Lil Bits. Nono. Nope. Nums. Nona-Palona."
"It's not their fault they're small!"
author: Brandon Sanderson
book 1: The Alloy of Law (2011)
book 2: Shadows of Self (2015)
book 3: The Bands of Mourning (2016) - haven't started yet
book 4: The Lost Metal (2022)
read: march 25 (books 1 + 2)
two books into this one and while i am enjoying it, it's definitely a tonal shift from the first trilogy. shorter, faster paced, a bit less cosmic. i intend to finish out the series, but maybe not for a little bit.
author: Brandon Sanderson
book 1: The Final Empire (2006)
book 2: The Well of Ascension (2007)
book 3: The Hero of Ages (2008)
read: jan - feb 2025
broke out of a reading slump by trying these out via audiobook and got hooked very quickly. some of the writing is like being slapped in the face with a wooden clog ("the destruction around him was a metaphor for his life," "we can hold multiple meetings a day as long as we don't schedule them at the same time") but the worldbuilding and, more importantly, the plotbuilding are so immaculate that i had to shotgun all three books.
i plan on working through the next era as well, and then i suppose i'll have to wait for ol brando sando to feed me more...
what a character. what an outlook on religion and duty. what a tragic man. what an absolute legend. and that ending... i cried. the last bit of Hero of Ages implies that he reunites with Tindwyl after it all and that does my heart so good.
ferrochemy, hemollurgy, lord Yeoman, lord Set, Luthidel, Urtoh, Phaedrix city, the Terrace Mountains, terracemen, aetium, Elendi (which led to mild confusion). just audiobook things, i suppose.
though i also wonder if some of these were intentional given the obvious connection between koloss/colossus and kandra/contract?
Vin and Elend's tiny wedding and the first time Elend pulled the "that's my wife!" card.
unprotected Elend going "fuck it" and attacking a koloss by himself.
the reveal of the koloss's insistence that "we... are... human..." and the jawdrop it caused at 1 in the morning.
for Tensoon, most noble of wolfhounds.
for Tindwyl, warrior mother beyond compare.
the southern reach series, the Earthsea cycle, Jim Butcher, Bartimaeus
would also like to give this place its own theme at some point.