Alright…I have to start with: I HAVE FINALLY FINISHED THE 4TH GAME OF THRONES BOOK…and it only took me FIVE MONTHS!!!!
I know
Latest Reads is late, but we’ve all heard this song and dance for the past
several editions…I’m a busy slacker! And I checked my goals for November…epic
fail! My self-publishing debut did NOT happen NOR did I finish a WIP. Now,
failure is something I seek out from time to time…maybe I’m sadistic…maybe I’m
just a realist and I know the road to success is littered with failures. So
according to my warped way of thinking: the more failures, the greater the
success! Plus, I like that failures build character…something the world is
sorely lacking these days. And personally, I like being filled with character…it
keeps things interesting;-)
OK,
onto other things: This busy holiday weekend was loaded with tons of Ruby Hood
promo! A feature on the Stephanie Meyer fanpage via Facebook, a Ruby Hood Blog
Tour hosted by the up and coming BBTour Services, AND a $.99 black Friday sale
on Ruby Hood on amazon. My lil vixen has been ALL over the place this weekend!
And just to fluff my feathers a bit…she made it down to a sales rank of 23,000
at one point…it was fleeting, but she was there!
In
between, promos, movies, and errands, I pushed my grading and report cards
aside so I could finish “A Feast for Crows”…finally! Here is it goes…the only
entry in the LATE Latest Reads for November!
A Feast
for Crows by George R.R. Martin:
In this installment of the ‘The Song of Ice and Fire’, Martin
leads the reader on a rather interesting path. First, we follow some of our
favorites: Jamie, Cersei, Sansa, Arya, Sam, and Brienne. We see what has transpired
in their worlds after the Red Wedding and the intense killing of many
characters from the third book. However, what happens when you kill a bunch of
characters??? Well, one must introduce some new ones to fill the void. And that
is exactly what George R.R. Martin did! There are pages upon pages from the perspective
of new characters in this book. Personally, I did not care for this aspect,
especially since so many of my favorites were left out of this edition: John,
Daenerys, Bran, Tyrion, and Ayra (yes, she was in the 4th, but VERY
briefly). And we don’t hear a lick about the Wall or the direwolves. Why you
ask? Well, Martin told their story as well, but they are in the fifth book,
which runs parallel with the fourth (of course, Martin waits until the last
chapter to fill the reader in). This is brilliant from an author standpoint,
but fairly brutal for the faithful reader, especially, after the book-gasim of
the third book! I did quite enjoy the addition of Lady Stoneheart, she is one
creepy character! And the book certainly moved forward. Jamie has grown and
changed as a character now that he’s lost his sword hand. He happens to be one
of my favorites now. Cersei’s scheming has finally begun to backfire on her.
Sansa has transformed from highborn Sansa Stark into bastard born Alayne. Arya
has taken a new and interesting path, which I hope we learn more about in the
next one. And the honorable Brienne and Samwell have found themselves in some
rather sticky situations even thought they are only trying to fulfill oaths to
others. But it just wasn’t enough! I am a Stark fan through and through…I’m
still pretty pissed Eddard Stark was killed in the first book. I thought for
sure he would be the hero of the whole series, but now his family is split
apart or dead. One can only hope, the remaining Starks can find each other
again and seek vengeance for the fallen!
Final
thought: I can’t wait to read ‘Dances with Dragons’! It’s the whole reason I pushed
through the doorstop of four!
What’s
next, aside from hoping to be on time???
·
The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett (Yes, I know this one
has been on my list for months…it’s so far out of my wheelhouse, it’s taking
longer than I thought).
·
The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer (Apparently, the
author is from Glee. I’m reading it along with several students of mine.)
·
Solstice by Damian Stevenson
Great post and I totally agree with your stand on failure. I myself have totally sunk my own self imposed deadlines. And goals. Like the fact I have yet to finish a NaNoWriMo... but, I have been pushing my promotion business so all is well. And I have had The Magician's Assistant sitting on my kindle for a YEAR! I have so many review commitments I just keep pushing it off.... so hopefully You can let me know how it is! ((hugs))
ReplyDelete