In order to get my pile of books down to manageable proportions, I decided to aim to read/finish a book a day these summer holidays. This blog will primarily be devoted to keeping track of the books I've read.
The Dark Tower Volume VII: The Dark Tower by Stephen King
The final book of The Dark Tower series. It was a really intriguing story, and so absorbing. The shout outs that King put into the series made it fun to read, like the Harry Potter and September 11 references. The combination of horror, fantasy and western was something that I hadn’t encountered before, but I liked it. This book was the end, so it was very sad. I was bawling my eyes out when the ka-tet fell apart. The story still felt like it was sectioned up, so much that the final journey with Susannah and Roland felt completely disconnected from the rest of the narrative. The humour in the book, like the appearance of the deux ex machina was enjoyable, and even the author insert was well done. The climbing of the Dark Tower was a wonderful concept, and I enjoyed the ending despite it being a bittersweet one, especially Susannah’s one. I was really touched by that ending, and the characters of Eddie, Susannah and Jake made it all the more heartwarming. Even just thinking about it makes my eyes well with tears.
Sabriel by Garth Nix
The first book in the Old Kingdom trilogy. I love the premise of the Old Kingdom, and the idea that Death isn't the end. The overlapping worlds thing is pretty cool too. The romance could have been developed better though - I always felt that Touchstone's declaration was out of nowhere. And suddenly finding people attractive seems to be a common theme. The action was pretty tense, but all those people dying didn't really affect me like they normally would - a consequence of so much fodder for the bad guys I guess. The bad guys seemed fairly commonplace until the big revelation told us otherwise. I liked the linearity of the plot in this book.
Boundary Lines by Nora Roberts
I’m totally addicted to Nora Roberts – her writing style is pleasantly easy to read, her characters are enjoyable and likeable, the dialogue has a natural flow yet is awesome, and her plots don’t seem to be tacked on to the romance, although it could be the other way around. This particular book I like because it’s the guy that falls in love first, and it takes rejection for the girl to realise it. The characters are well drawn and sympathetic, and it’s easy to see the attraction between the two main characters. The other characters aren’t too superfluous, mostly serving to delineate the main characters’ personalities or as plot points. The integration between plot and romance is very well done in this story.
Lirael by Garth Nix
Book two of the Old Kingdom trilogy, or book one of part two. I raced through it, reading only the Sameth bits, since he was the interesting character for me this time, after reading Sabriel. Sam was very emo and angsty, but I suppose it was justified since he had been affected by his journey into Death. Didn't stop me from wanting to slap him out of his misery, or wanting to slap Ellimere for not seeing what was wrong with him. Sabriel and Touchstone had an old-married-couple feel to them, but their basic personalities were still there, even if you didn't get to see them that much. Mogget was as awesome as always. The awareness between Lirael and Sameth did squick me out a bit though.
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