pickI enjoyed this book more than The Wrath & the Dawn. Good to see more of Irsa, who'd been overlooked in W&D, but then other characters like Jalal barely appeared. I'm delighted that the plot did not always go the expected route. But maybe both books needed a bit more length and different editing.
so-soI liked both sisters and Silas, and Pearce did a good job of creating the conflicts between them without making anyone too obviously wrong. But the near-mindless evil of the werewolves was dull, it was clear Silas was the Potential, and the story strains for believability in spots.
bailedIndividual facts were interesting. An entire book of them, with no overall narrative to entice me into turning the next page, was mind-numbing.
pickA good book for beginning and intermediate students. Michelsen discusses reversals thoroughly. She also explains elemental dignities, and there's not much on them in many books. No card meanings: you'll have to develop your intuition (or peek at other books)!
pickMy favorite fiction author, and while this isn't my favorite book of his, it's better than so many others out there. Richly-drawn characters, even the minor ones, and several smaller plots woven together rather than one major one. A historical fantasy with far more history than fantasy.
pickA good Tarot 101 book. You don't *need* it if you've read other intro books, but you might still like it. Full color throughout. (It needed better proofreading: some of the typos could mislead beginners.) Unique: there's an original spread for each of the Major Arcana.
pickGood, readable introduction to classical philosophy. Evans shows people using these different philosophies in today's world. Never goes too deeply into any of them, but that's what the Further Reading section is for.
pickI figured this would be an all-right read, and then it was much better than that (yay!). It's fun how the "plot" is summarized at the start of each chapter, and then you catch glimpses of it while reading the real story.
If they ever come out with Trivial Pursuit: Roman Empire Edition, my victory is assured.
pickI liked Shahrzad right away, and the rest of the book followed. Yeah, I'm a little cynical about parts of it, and there's a tangle of characters at the start, and must there be another Ineffectual Grief-Stricken Parentâ„¢? But it was a page-turner, and I want to read the sequel.
pickI enjoyed it and found it thought-provoking. The first half was unfocused, but the book came together as it went on. It covers about a century, and sometimes he went through events in less depth than I needed. It's interesting how the meanings of words like "church" changed as Christianity grew.
