Books

The grand finale of the first major arc of The Stormlight Archive. In a similar way to Rhythm of War before it, I felt Wind and Truth suffered from pacing issues and could have been shorter. Flashback chapters fleshing out character backstory were frequent enough to feel like a distraction, and probably could have been condensed. There was however a lot of payoff for events built over the preceding 4,000ish pages of the series so far, and I’ll be back for the second arc when book 6 has been written!

It’s coming home… To Ankh-Morpork! ⚽ A book about football. But also a book about class and social mobility and nature vs nurture and probably many other things I missed, as there’s nothing quite so densely layered as a Discworld novel, which is one of the reasons I’m looking forward to future series rereads.

The making of one of my all-time favourite TV shows, as told by one of its stars. If you’re a regular Parks rewatcher, you’ll enjoy Jerry’s Garry’s Larry’s Jim’s stories about making it.

Winner of the Booker Prize 2024, so clearly a very good book, but my 3 star rating is as much a reflection of my own mindset as anything else. Orbital is a deep and introspective read with some beautiful prose, and so is slightly mismatched to my current taste for lighter fiction. A good book that I’d have likely enjoyed more if I’d read it at a different time.

Brandon Sanderson at his most whimsical - channelling no small amount of Sir Terry Pratchett (and mentioning him as an influence in the post-epilogue blurb) - in a tale written from the perspective of recurring Cosmere character Hoid. I really enjoyed Tress and the shift in tone that comes with an in-character narrator.

A suitably explosive conclusion to Mistborn era 2, packed with revelations about the Cosmere and raising even more questions about what the major players are up to 👀

I’m really enjoying era 2 of Mistborn - it’s every bit as good as the first trilogy. And, as ever, there’s always another secret…

Shadows of Self is where it really feels like era 2 of Mistborn has properly gotten underway, and is more connected to wider events in Sanderson’s Cosmere universe. It also has a jaw-dropping final act that reminded me of The Final Empire - a very good thing!

The more modern world of electricity, railways, guns, and technology is a fun setting for new Mistborn stories, and I enjoyed Wayne’s antics 🕵️‍♂️

Something of an extended epilogue for the first Mistborn trilogy, and essential reading for anyone following the story that draws all of Sanderson’s Cosmere works together. I can see I’m going to have to pick up era 2 of Mistborn next!