1. Both Kabsal and Jasnah have spoken to Shallan about stealing the Soulcaster, and both have done so in a pretty lighthearted manner, considering how serious it would actually be to steal it. Do you think Kabsal was telling the truth when he brushed off Shallan’s questions about his plan to steal the Soulcaster? Is he still interested in stealing it? Does he have other, deeper motives??
I’m not sure. Kabsal seems to really like Shallan, so it’s possible he’s really there for the soulcaster and really wouldn’t have asked her about it. I do think he must have some ulterior motive for sticking around Jasnah for so long. I suppose he could be a spy for the king, since he’s shown up in that story too, but I think it’s most likely he was telling Shallan the truth.

2. By the end of the section, Shallan has found out that she’ll be able to return home in one week, but she’s torn between wanting to continue her studies, and being able to take the stolen Soulcaster home. So far it looks like her theft hasn’t been detected, but do you think she’ll be found out before that time? Do you think she should leave, or might decide on her own to stay? Could something else happen to make her stay?
I think Jasnah must know her Soulcaster is missing already, given how often she seems to use it. I’m still hoping Shallan will return the Soulcaster, find some other solution for her family, and stay to learn, mostly because she seems to be enjoying it so much. I think for her to stay, she’d have to find a solution for her family’s problems no matter what else happens.

3. How much do you think Jasnah actually knows about the theft of her Soulcaster? Is it even remotely possible that Jasnah is still in the dark about it? If she knows, did she in fact dupe Shallan with a fake, as Shallan theorizes? Or did Jasnah let her steal it? Why??
I don’t think there’s any way Jasnah doesn’t know her Soulcaster has been taken. It’s possible she’s testing Shallan. I think it’s more likely that Shallan is just unable to use the Soulcaster then that Jasnah gave her a fake though. It sounds to me as though someone can get to know a Soulcaster after using it more, so perhaps it will just take Shallan time. Perhaps Jasnah wants to see what Shallan will do? Or if she can figure out how to use is?

4. During the Highstorm, Kaladin experiences a lull during which the wind and rain stop, he feels no more pain, and he sees an enormous “face of blackness, yet faintly traced in the dark”. The face is described as, “Inhuman. Smiling.” Was Kaladin just hallucinating? If not, do you think this being had something to do with recharging the sphere? With Kaladin somehow feeling better before the storm kicked up again? Or could this being be malevolent? Thoughts/theories??
This is a great question, but I’ve got no idea. I don’t think he was just hallucinating – that would be too irrelevant to the story to spend time on – but I’m not sure what other explanation there is. I think the storm simply recharged the sphere and Kaladin took power from the storm as well.

5. Before Kaladin is forced to endure the Highstorm, he tells his men to come out after the storm is over; he says he’ll open his eyes and look back at them, and they’ll know that he survived. Kaladin obviously survives, and everyone in Bridge Four is really glad about that. But we haven’t yet seen a reaction from anyone other than Kal’s men. Do you think Kaladin’s survival could have a wider impact than just giving his own group of bridgemen hope?
 I think Kaladin’s story will eventually intersect with Dalinar’s (I hope so anyway!) and he’ll have a large role to play in the entire epic story. I’m hoping that his survival will lead to him finding out about his ability to use stormlight. Other than that, I’m not sure that the actual event of his survival will have any other effect.

6. We learn quite a bit about Teft in this section… kind of. But pretty much everything we learn just leads to more questions. What do you think about these “Envisagers” Teft mentions? How much do you think Teft knows about Kaladin’s ability to use Stormlight? It seemed like Teft became wary of Kaladin after he recovered – why? Do you think he’ll tell Kaladin about what he knows?
I’m not sure who the Envisagers are, but it seems as though they might have been a group devoted to protecting, hunting, helping… people with abilities like Kaladin’s. I think Teft might have become wary of Kaladin because he has some idea of his powers, perhaps is even aware they can be weaponized as in Zeth’s case. I hope once he gets an opportunity he’ll tell Kaladin what he knows, but I think it’s possible that what actually happens will be more complicated.

The post Way of Kings Read-Along – Part VI appeared first on Doing Dewey.

Title: 

Avry is the last of the healers. After a plague the healers couldn’t cure decimated the Fifteen Territories, all of the healers were hunted down and killed. On the run, Avry is eventually captured by a band of men who, surprisingly, value her healing skills over the bounty for turning her in. Unfortunately, they want her to heal the man Avry blames for the healer’s demise. The decision she has to make is a tough one, since he might also be her land’s best chance at peace.

As soon as I started Touch of Power, I remembered why I love Maria V. Snyder’s writing so much. It’s precisely what I want when I pick up a YA book. She’s clearly mastered the art of showing instead of telling. Information about the fascinating world she’s created is seamlessly integrated into the events of the book. Although the pace felt slow to me at the beginning, I eventually got into the story and started tearing through the pages.

Like every YA book I’ve read lately, this book does involve a romance. Fortunately, it adds to the plot without overshadowing it. Although there’s a little overlap between romance and action, it never distracted the characters from what needed to be done. Avry’s feelings grew in a very believable way and I ended up quite impressed with how the romance was handled in this one. I liked the book more and more as I went and by the time I finished, I couldn’t wait to pick up the next book in the series.

Amazon|Goodreads

The post Touch of Power appeared first on Doing Dewey.

Title: 

Only by disguising herself as a boy is Alexa safe from a fate worse than death. Fortunately, her impressive fighting skills quickly earn her a place in the elite prince’s guard. In that position, she’ll have to decide where her loyalties lie, with her prince or her kingdom. Her decision will influence the fate of her world. Also, there is a love triangle.

That’s what the book should have been like, anyway. Oh, and by the way, a love triangle. Instead, the love triangle took over the book. There wasn’t much misplaced romance in the middle of danger, but there were moments when I wondered why we were spending time on this. The fate of kingdoms was in the balance! I didn’t care much which of the men who somehow fell in love with the boyishly disguised Alexa ended up with her. Given how much of the story was devoted to this love triangle, I was extra annoyed by the ending. Character’s who create their own romantic problems are one of my pet peeves.

The love triangle was especially disappointing given how good the rest of the book was. The writing was vividly descriptive, drawing me right into the constant action and intrigue. I loved the characters and the character development. The plot wasn’t too novel or surprising, but it reminded me of Tamora Pierce’s books in a great way. Were it not for the love triangle, I easily could have given this four or five stars. It wasn’t the worst love triangle I’ve ever read, with a reasonably decisive heroine. However, my interest in her love life paled beside the fascinating political intrigue which I wish had gotten more attention throughout the book.

Amazon|Goodreads

The post Defy appeared first on Doing Dewey.

1.  We seem to be getting more and more proof that there is some ”luck” or magic at play when it comes to Kaladin’s safety,  survival and his skills – especially during those battle scenes.  Even when performing that Kata in the Chasm, there was something  incredible about his movements according to the rest of the crew. Initially the blade seemed to be the source of his skills (to me at least) , what do you think might be fueling his powers?  Do you think they’re getting stronger?
Everything about Kaladin makes me want to know more about how the magic in this world works! What are spren? How do the relate to the storm energy Kaladin uses and which might power Dalinar’s visions? Could Syl somehow be helping Kaladin out? Does his natural fighting ability have something to do with wind spren? So, basically, I have no idea what’s going on here, but I can’t wait to find out.

2. We were introduced to Navani, King Gavilar’s widow and the current King Elhokar’s mother.  What was your initial impression of her?  There seems to be some complicated history between her and Dalinar,  do you think she might end up being an ally or an eventual hindrance?
Oh man, she seems like trouble! I feel like she’s too ambitious and could lead Dalinar to do something rash. I like her though! She seems like a very intriguing character.

3. What did you make of Sadeas’ maneuver against Dalinar to gain the King’s favor by being named the High Prince of Information?  How do you reconcile his actions with the advice Dalinar received ”to trust” Sadeas?
I’m really not sure about this. I like to think that Dalinar’s visions are helpful and that things will work out well for him as a result, but things aren’t looking to good for Sadeas. It’s possible he somehow thinks not presenting a united front with Dalinar will be beneficial politically, for himself or the king. However, with the way he treats bridgemen, it’s hard to give him the benefit of the doubt!

4. Where you surprised when Rock admitted to Kaladin that he was seemingly born being able to see the Spren and therefore could see Syl following Kaladin around? That led to a pivotal point for Kaladin, gaining Rock’s favor and then Teft’s.  What were your thoughts on that whole scene? Can you speculate as to why some people are able to see the spren when others can not?
I was very surprised. I suppose it could be a matter of belief, with Rock expecting to spren and therefore being able to see them, but I think there’s more to it than that. I’d be surprised if Rock had similar abilities to Kaladin’s though and I can’t think of another explanation. My biggest reaction to this scene was excitement that things are finally starting to go Kaladin’s way. It’s so exciting and different to see someone in an epic fantasy making a difference on such a small scale. It just seems so admirable.

5.  We got to see Adolin confront his father Dalinar because of his visions and lay all his cards on the table. Clearly Adolin thinks his father is losing it and his words seemed to shake Dalina’s own convictions as well.  Do you think this will have a lasting effect on Dalinar’s belief in his visions? Not to mention his acting on them?  Moreover, do you think Adolin will ever be convinced that there is more to Dalinar’s visions any time soon?
I’m concerned that Dalinar should believe in his visions, but will stop following their lead because of Adolin’s concerns. I do think Adolin will come around eventually, because I expect Dalinar’s visions to eventually have a huge impact on events in the present. However, I don’t think that will be any too soon.

6.  As if in further indication of Dalinar and Kaladin’s collision course towards one another, Dalinar has agreed to train a bridge crew – without putting them directly into assault or harm’s way (of course, love these two!!) do you think their joined efforts might be enough to change the way the the other High Princes  go about things during battle?  Especially Sadeas?
I cannot wait for these two guys to meet! It’s going to be epic. It might change the way some high princes do things, if the bridge crews are demonstrably faster and Dalinar doesn’t lose more of his trained soldiers than Sadeas. I think Sadeas will only change what he’s doing if he starts losing gem hearts to Dalinar, since he’s certainly in no hurry to lose as few bridgemen as possible.

The post Way of Kings Read-Along – Part IV appeared first on Doing Dewey.

This week’s host is Lynn of Lynn’s Book Blog and covers chapters 14-19. Here we go!

1.  After the Chasmfiend attack there were a number of altercations.  Two of these that particularly drew my interest were: the little scene where Wit ridiculed Sadeas – which seems to be a dangerous thing to do given that this could result in a dual or assassination – any ideas about why Wit seems to enjoy provoking Sadeas so much and: during the discussion with the King, Dalinar and Adolin – it seemed that the King became fleetingly suspicious – and later in the story the same look of suspicion crossed his features again during conversation with Dalinar.  What do you think is going on in the King’s head in relation to Dalinar?
I like Wit and think he’s a good guy. Sadeas, on the other hand, seems like a bad person. I like to think that’s why Wit gives him such a hard time. In answer to the second question, nothing good! I think the king is paranoid and he’s probably worried about Dalinar simply because he’s so competent. Either that or someone is directing his suspicions towards Dalinar…

2. We seemed to get a little more insight about why the bridgemen are not given shields of protection – what did you think of the reasoning behind this and what do you make of Sadeas – is he trustworthy or not?
Well, the thing with the bridgemen makes it clear that Sadeas is a bad person. However, I like to think we can trust Dalinar’s visions, which would mean that Sadeas is trustworthy, at least enough that he’ll help Dalinar defend the king.

3. Elhokar has suspicions about attempts on his life – is he paranoid or not and, if not, who do you suspect might be responsible?
Elhokar is definitely paranoid but in the case of the saddle, he might be right to be. Although I hope Sadeas turns out to be trustworthy, he is an obvious suspect since he’s benefitted from the accident (or “accident”, as the case may be).

4. Kaladin is a very intriguing character, what did you make of the latest bridge scene where he put himself at the front of the bridge and then his actions following that?  Did you think it revealed anything more about him?
From the very first chapter, it was already clear that he was a good guy who valued the lives of his men. This chapter made it clear how brave and self-sacrificing he was willing to be.

5. During Elhokar and Dalinar’s later discussion the king said that Dalinar was becoming more like Gavilar near to his end ‘When he began to act … erratically”  It seems like Dalinar is becoming more like his brother.  Do you think this is significant??
I’m not sure. Depending on why Gavilar was killed, it could mean Dalinar is in danger. It’s also possible that on his brother’s death, some kind magical force passed to him. I’d be very curious if his brother was also having visions before he died.

6. We finally witness one of Dalinar’s visions.  Do you think there is any significance about the visions always taking place during a storm and what were your feelings about this particular vision?
I would guess they’re somehow powered by the storm, in the same way their money is recharged by a storm. The vision was fascinating! I suspect it was true and it’s another thing that makes me suspect reincarnation may be part of the explanation for everything that’s happening.

The post Way of Kings Read-Along – Part III appeared first on Doing Dewey.

Title: 

London. 1880. In the slums of Spitalfields apprentice blacksmith Luke is facing initiation into the Malleus Maleficorum, the fearsome brotherhood dedicated to hunting and killing witches. Luke’s final test is to pick a name at random from the Book of Witches, a name he must track down and kill within a month, or face death himself. Luke knows that tonight will change his life forever. But when he picks out sixteen-year-old Rosa Greenwood, Luke has no idea that his task will be harder than he could ever imagine. (Source)

This book hooked me right away. The first two scenes, where we meet first Luke and then Rose, immediately engaged me in both protagonists lives. These scenes were tense and mysterious and I felt I got to know both characters. The book continued in the same fast-paced way it started. I was so involved I hardly took any notes! However, despite the excitement and adventure, at the end this book fell a little flat for me.

While the world was fascinating (similar to that in Born Wicked), it wasn’t fleshed out very well. For instance, Luke can see witches surrounded by an aura representing their power. That’s interesting and I would have liked to learn something about how it worked. There also weren’t a ton of details given about how the witches’ powers worked. More than that though, my biggest problems were with the villain. He’s basically evil for the sake of being evil and loving power. Oh, and he had a sad childhood. It just wasn’t enough to give him any complexity. Instead we got way more animal cruelty than I thought was necessary to show us that he was a bad person.

The ending was similarly flat. The protagonists never really confront each other about the lies they’ve told one another. They only solve the most immediate of their problems and then decide to go out into the world to face the rest together. It wasn’t even a cliffhanger, where you’re left at the end of some dramatic climax. It was more as though the author just stopped writing. Fortunately, she actually hasn’t stopped writing and there is a second book. Since I did have fun reading this one for most of the book, I’ll actually be quite excited to see if the second book fleshes out the world, the villain, and the main characters’ relationships a bit more. Because really, while it took longer to describe the flaws than the good bits, this certainly was an enjoyable read.

Amazon|Goodreads

The post Witch Finder appeared first on Doing Dewey.

Title: 

Irrelevant Kandy is a beautiful young woman, but she’s also bored and tired of men who only appreciate her looks. This leads her to make the following wish: “I’m board stiff. I want Adventure, Excitement, and Romance”. Unfortunately, the wishing well noticed her typo and literally turns her into a board! Fortunately Kandy might actually be going to get the rest of her wish too. Just not in the way she expected…

As one of my friends aptly pointed out (talking about Xanth after the first few books), Piers Anthony definitely gives off a bit of a “creepy uncle” vibe. Nearly everything relates to sex somehow. In a romance novel with steamy adult sex scenes, I might see the appeal. In this book, it was more of a juvenile snickering at sex. Some people might find it funny, but it just didn’t work for me. I also discovered that I don’t find puns especially funny, even if they are something Xanth is know for. Occasionally, they made me laugh. More often than not, it took me a minute to get them and when I did, I didn’t feel like it was worth the effort. It just pulled me out of the story.

Fortunately, even though Anthony’s writing style wasn’t my favorite, I did generally enjoy the story. The characters end up in new and exciting places every chapter. I was constantly surprised by the creativity of the world building. There were also a few instances where Anthony’s humor did work for me. Any book that uses humor to convey an anti-censorship and pro-Unix message is alright by me! In fact, the story would have completely overcome my reservations about the writing were it not for one thing. Everything was too easy. The characters occasionally have to be clever to solve a problem, but for the most part, the way their quests works is by serendipity. They happen to end up in the right places with the right tools to make each challenge pretty simple. Insta-love is also apparently part of how Xanth works. So, while I would recommend giving this series a try to see if Anthony’s sense of humor happens to match your own, I’m not sure I’ll be going out of my way to read the previous 37 books in the series.

Amazon|Goodreads

The post Board Stiff (Xanth #38) appeared first on Doing Dewey.

Title: 

The Dream Thieves is the sequel to The Raven Boys. It continues the story of Blue and the boy who is her true love, but who will die if she kisses him. The focus of the book, however, is on one of the other boys. Ronan is a complete punk at first glance, but there’s more to him than meets the eye. Not only can he be nicer than you might expect, he also the ability to dream things into reality. And some very bad people would love to make use of that ability if they find out who he is…

I recently had the extreme good fortune of meeting Maggie Stiefvater at Oblong Books and if you’re in NY, you should check them out, because they rock! And Maggie rocked too! She was funny and personable and gave a great talk about her books. I also found out that The Scorpio Races was her favorite book she’d written until The Dream Thieves. I thought The Scorpio Races was pretty much the best thing since sliced bread, so of course I came home and started reading The Dream Thieves immediately.

It was perfect. The slowly growing romance and the well developed characters reminded me of why I loved The Scorpio Races. The epic ending which could do for a complete series ending reminded me of my favorite part of The Raven Boys. And the sense of humor was both brilliant and all its own. The beauty of the writing reminded me of The Scorpio Races too and I like to imagine that that’s the author’s love of her story showing through. I loved this book and while I’ll continue to read Maggie’s book in general, her favorites will definitely be the ones I anticipate the most.

Amazon|Goodreads

The post The Dream Thieves appeared first on Doing Dewey.

Title: 

Ten years ago the entire royal family of Lumatere was slain and the kingdom fell under a curse. Surrounded by an impenetrable magic barrier, half of her people remain trapped inside with an evil king and half wander the land outside as exiles. On the outside, Finnikin and his guardian Sir Topher have struggled to find a home for the Lumateren exiles, but when they meet an exile named Evanjalin who claims the heir to the throne is alive, they have to consider the possibility that they have a hope of returning home.

It could just have been too long since I’ve read an epic fantasy story, but I really reveled in all of the great but somewhat expected elements in this book. It never felt cliched to me; just like it was exactly what it should be. It struck me as the sort of story that my history-major friends who wish they lived in the middle ages would dream of living. It was epic. The actions of the characters affect the fate of countries Both great heroism and great sacrifice are called for. There were prophecies, curses, quests, missing heirs, and magic kingdoms. All of the elements a great epic fantasy needs were present and accounted for.

I think what kept all of this epicness from becoming over the top or cliched was the author’s amazing way with characters. All of the characters felt unique and three-dimensional. All had their strengths and their flaws. They didn’t always get along, but they did discuss their problems like human beings, instead of like frustrating characters in some young adult novel. They didn’t make their own problems. Even our hero is portrayed as very human and the author addresses some impressively modern gender role issues through his relationship with Evanjalin. Although this lacked some of the depth and world building you might see in a longer novel, overall I thought this was an incredibly impressive story with great characters.

This review was part of The Journey Home, a series of reviews and discussions of Finnikin of the Rock. You can find participants here. Thanks to Charlene at Bookish Whimsy and Paola at A Novel Idea for hosting!

Amazon|Goodreads

The post Finnikin of the Rock appeared first on Doing Dewey.

Title: 

Although Dana is human, as soul sister to vampire Ani she could potentially live forever. Unfortunately, Ani’s decision to kill a human who tries to hurt Dana causes the vampire leader Donovan to decide that the sisters are more trouble than they’re worth. Fortunately, the sisters have some powerful friends and if they manage defeat Donovan, Ani will be safe as the new vampire leader. But first, they have to survive…

This book has a lot of potential. The writing was occasionally stilted, perhaps because the words and sentence structure were reasonably simple, but the writing was certainly not bad and wouldn’t have distracted me from a really good story. At the beginning, I was completely engrossed in learning more about the unique vampire mythology the author created. It’s so fun to see a new take on an old legend, especially one in which vampires enjoy being vampires instead of being all angsty about it. At only 80 pages long, I was dreading running out of book!

Sadly, I ended up feeling very let down by the second half. In the last forty pages, nothing happens except the characters preparing for a massive, climactic showdown with Donovan. There’s training, and more training, and the book slowly started to drag. Eighty pages suddenly seemed like a lot to get through! If this had, in fact, lead to an epic showdown, I would have been ok with all the lead up. Instead, the bad guys basically just surrender and the anticlimactic ending takes only a few pages. I might read more be the author since she had some great ideas, but in this case I was disappointed with the execution.

Amazon|Goodreads

The post Soul Sisters appeared first on Doing Dewey.