#2024reads

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Amélie Wen Zhao: Song of Silver, Flame Like Night (2023, Random House Children's Books) 3 stars

In a fallen kingdom, one girl carries the key to discovering the secrets of her …

Meh

3 stars

This was my book club's pick for May. We follow this year's Illumicrate calendar which shows a fan created illustration of a different book each month. That and the good reviews elsewhere mean that it (or the trilogy it's the first book of) has its fans. I find that slightly puzzling because the content of the book doesn't live up to the great cover and is middling at best. Things are treated as great reveals even though they were telegraphed from a mile away or even explained in an earlier chapter. For the advancement of the plot the protagonists sometimes have to act out-of-character or foolishly and there are a lot of clicheś. The search for Lan Mom's legacy is captivating. Some of the magic is quite interesting and the question of whether it's necessary to destroy something that gives great power to have peace is intriguing. However, the author …

Nghi Vo: Into the Riverlands (Hardcover, 2022, Tordotcom) 4 stars

Wandering cleric Chih of the Singing Hills travels to the riverlands to record tales of …

fun read

4 stars

This is the second book I've read from the series and it's amazingly different from the first, rather quiet one. There's a lot of martial arts action! I liked how Chih (and by extension we) first heard the stories of various martial arts legends and then found themself in one. It was also interesting to see how those stories change during their retelling although that was only a small aspect of the book. Recommended. #2024reads

Heinrich von Kleist: Michael Kohlhaas (AudiobookFormat, German language, 1984, NDR) 5 stars

Michael Kohlhaas ist mit einer Koppel Pferde auf dem Weg nach Sachsen. Da pfändet ihm …

Überraschend gut

5 stars

Ein Klassiker, den ich bisher nicht gelesen hatte und ohne die ARD-Audiothek wäre es auch dabei geblieben. Es hat mir erstaunlicherweise richtig gut gefallen. Die Sprache ist ziemlich altertümlich und die Sätze zum Teil übermäßig kompliziert. Aber ich konnte trotzdem gut folgen. Rachegeschichten haben ja irgendwie große Anziehungskraft, so auch hier, obwohl das Unrecht im Grunde eine Nichtigkeit ist. Es gibt einiges an Action und zum Schluss nochmal eine unerwartete neue Wendung, die Kohlhaas' Rache am Kurfürsten erst richtig vollendet. Dazwischen auch eine Diskussion mit Luther zum Thema Unrecht. #2024reads

Tasha Suri: The Jasmine Throne (Paperback, 2021, Orbit) 4 stars

Imprisoned by her dictator brother, Malini spends her days in isolation in the Hirana: an …

Recommended

4 stars

This was the April book in the book club I have with two friends and we all liked it so much that we want to read the sequel.

I really liked the setting - I haven't come across many fantasy novels based on old India. We also get wood magic, supernatural (or alien?) beings, a mysterious illness and a magical temple. The worldbuilding is great and very dense. I found it hard to put the book down once I had gotten into it because it felt like being in a different world. The story, too, is more complex than I expected and there are some interesting and unexpected twists. The romance doesn't follow the usual patterns, either, I felt. If you're into fantasy you should check this one out. #2024reads