Category: Read 2018

Servant of the Shard by R.A. Salvatore

I’m happy that these characters have their own series as they’re too interesting to just be left as side characters.

3/5 stars
Hardcover, 348 pages.
Read from January 2, 2019 to January 8, 2019.

I said to myself that I wasn’t going to touch this series and just stick with the ones about Drizzt but I couldn’t help myself. Especially with how the Neverwinter series went, I just had to know more about these supposed bad boys Jarlaxle and Artemis.

This novel takes place while the companions are all still together and instead of following Drizzt and his crew you see what’s happening on the other side with Jarlaxle and Artemis. This story shows what happens to the infamous Crystal Shard when it lands in Jarlaxle’s hands. Artemis has found himself within the company of drow, a precarious situation, but he has learned much about how this aggressive race of elves work and think. He is also aiming at robbing a highly guarded sword with which he hopes to have the help of his questionable ally, Jarlaxle. Jarlaxle, however, has found himself in a bit of bind as he doesn’t realize that the precious Crystal Shard is manipulating him. To make matters worse, Bregan D’aerthe, his own family, is trying to turn on him. Both Jarlaxle and Artemis have managed to be successful in their assassinating and scheming endeavours because they never trust anyone but in order for the two of them to come out of this situation alive, they’re going to have to address some of their trust issues.

entreri_and_jarlaxle_by_whiteelzora_dnbdtq-pre
Artemis and Jarlaxle by WhiteElzora on Deviant Art

This book was exactly what I expected. The characters are consistent with what I have read in the Drizzt books. I’m also happy that these characters have their own series as they’re too interesting to just be left as side characters. It’s intriguing to see Artemis as a parallel to Drizzt and reading this book helps define Artemis’ character further within Drizzt’s story, especially in the Neverwinter books. Artemis has his own moral compass, it’s just not aligned the way Drizzt’s is, which of course, Drizzt comes to see in the Neverwinter books.  Having read those books first, I am curious as to what happens between Jarlaxle and Artemis at the end of this trilogy as the Neverwinter books allude to an event. I enjoyed reading about these two rogues and look forward to reading the remainder of the trilogy.

Watermark by Joseph Brodsky

“The eye identifies itself not with the body it belongs to but with the object of its attention.”

3/5 stars.
Paperback, 144 pages.
Read on December 25, 2018.

I knew nothing about the author or the book prior to reading it, and I still, know relatively little about this Nobel Prize winner. Apparently, Brodsky is a kind of a big deal. Literature-nerd fail? Joseph Brodsky was a Russian-American writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1987. He also became the United States Poet Laureate in 1991. He was practically expelled from the Soviet Union in 1972 and ended up immigrating to the US where he lived to the age of 55 before dying of a heart attack in the winter of 1996. While living in the US, however, he spent that majority of his winters in Venice, Italy.

This short novel is a semi-autobiographical love story/essay/poem about Venice. It has poetical prose and paints vivid details of the author’s perception of the city’s character. Did this book make me fall in love with a city I have yet to visit? No, it’s more of a personal reflection of each of the different visits that the author took so it provides more insight into the author’s mind more than anything. While Joseph’s writing didn’t speak to me, he is a gifted writer and I am intrigued enough to see what else he has written. Besides, it appears he liked cats so that’s a good enough reason for me to give him another shot.

Joseph-Brodsky
Photo from the Poetry Foundation.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

“It begins with absence and desire.
It begins with blood and fear.
It begins with a discovery of witches.”

3/5 stars.
Hardcover, 579 pages.
November 15, 2018 to November 29, 2018.

I have committed a crime against books and against readers with my thoughts on this novel. How I came upon reading this book is through a smaller sin but it is the decision I made afterwards which is what makes me truly abominable. I discovered this book after watching the first season of the TV series based on the book trilogy. So my first book crime is that I read the book AFTER watching the TV show. Before I share my guilt about my most atrocious book crime, let’s discuss the book further.

Diana is a witch, though she has spent her whole life denying her heritage and her abilities. All she has ever wanted was to live a normal life and for her to reach her career goals based on her own merit. She left the US to pursue schooling in the UK as soon as she could as to escape the pressure of her aunts, who also raised her. Diana’s parents were both witches too but they were murdered when she was quite young, or so she was told. Diana’s family history and her heritage start to unearth themselves after Diana pulls a unique book out from the library. The book is magically embued and she quickly returns it after feeling its power. Shortly after, creatures of all kinds start to pester Diana. Demons. Witches. And especially vampires. All of who want to get their hands on this book and she doesn’t know why. The book has apparently been missing for centuries and she has been the only one who has been able to recall it.

Diana starts being pursued by a tall, dark and excessively handsome vampire named Matthew, which causes some concern for her friends and family due to the dark history between the two species of creatures. However, something is different about this vampire and Diana doesn’t feel threatened by him, in fact, he seems to want to help her. Diana cautiously enters into his confidence after some of her own kind turn on her and something more than friendship begins to develop between the two of them. Relationships between creatures of different species are forbidden but as the two fall for each other.  Now the congregation of creatures is after them and the book that Diana found. The two of them now must try and unravel the mystery surrounding Diana’s past, her heritage and the book that could be the key to the future of all the creatures.

Sounds like a really great concept right? That’s because it is but I have to admit the idea was not executed as well as I was hoping. The writing goes on tangents and isn’t very organized. This writing style was also confirmed to me when I attempted to read the second book in the series, Shadow of Night, which I could not finish as it was a disorganized mess. An editor clearly had a heavier hand in the completion of this novel making it readable and thank goodness, as this concept could have been completely ruined.

Here is where I commit my biggest atrocity and it pains me to say this… but… THE TV SHOW WAS BETTER! There I said it. And when I say better, I mean a lot better. Like infinitely better. The show took this great idea that the author had and polished it up and made it all shiny and awesome. I have no regrets because it’s true. I like the character of Diana more in the TV series as she seems stronger and more independent and the love story that develops between her and Matthew is an intense slow burner that felt realistic and was a pleasure to watch. The Matthew in the books is just too perfect and I found myself rolling my eyes with the romance that developed in the book.

Needless to say, I will not be pursuing the books series further. I will, however, continue to watch the TV series as I anxiously await the return of the second season. If you find the plot of this book intriguing and you want something smart and intelligently done, I would recommend the TV show.  This book wasn’t terrible but it just didn’t compare to the organized and streamlined show that came after it.

 

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