ParchmentDragon

 I feel like I only post five-star reviews at the moment, and I apologize if that bores anyone, but I'm afraid here comes another one😅. I already adored the first book in the Demon Cycle, The Painted Man,  and had high hopes for this sequel. And I was definitely not disappointed! The Desert Spear  was another five-star read for me, I loved every single page I read and I'm now really sad that it's over. If the series continues like this, it might turn into one of my favourite fantasy series, on one level with Robin Hobb's books, and that is saying something, because I love those to bits! As this is a second book, I advice you to read the first book before you read this review. I'm going to try and avoid most spoilers for the second book, but I can't talk about it without mentioning things that happened in the prequel. So, as I took quite a lot of notes while reading, let's quit rambling and get into the actual review! There are four central points ...

This beautiful book was a bit of an ambivalent read for me, and I ended up rating it three out of five stars. Nineveh and Babylon  is an account of Layard's expedition to said archeological sites in the late 1840s. The book follows his second visit to the ruins of ancient Babylon and Nineveh, and Layard not only describes the process and the results of his second excavations, but also what he experiences while traveling from Turkey to the site of Babylon. Thus, the book is about far more than archeology, it also encompasses geology, politics, history and sometimes even philosophy.  I know you are supposed to begin by saying what you like about a book, but I would like to get the negative out of the way first. As you can see in the pictures, the book is very long. It is pretty much exactly 600 pages and full of information on all the topics mentioned above. At first, I didn't mind that at all, but after the first half, it became a bit too much for me. The latter hal...

The Painted Man is the first book in the Demon Cycle series by Peter V. Brett, and as I'm currently reading the second book, I thought I might as well review the whole series and hopefully get one or two people more to read it. This was honestly amongst the best high fantasy novels I've read this year! Although it has been several months since I read this first book, it's still quite fresh in my mind and I still have to think back on it often. The story was incredibly gripping and engrossing, I never wanted to stop reading. It only took me a couple of days to get through this book and I enjoyed every single page of it. So now let me tell you whait is about and why I enjoyed it so much! In this first installment we follow our protagonists, Arlen, Leesha and Rojer, who live in a world that is invaded by demons every single night. They rise from the Core as soon as the sun is gone and only go back to the centre of the earth at first light. Due to this in...

The Essex Serpent  has been out quite a while now, and has received a lot of buzz since publication. It has been listed for, and won, several prizes and was Waterstones Book of the Year 2016. It was also very hyped on booktube, so I was at first not very interested in picking it up, as too much hype makes for very high expectations that are often disappointed. But when I heard, after the hype had died down a little, that this book was about confronting new ideas and discoveries and how to cope with fast changing times, my interest was peaked after all. I love books that not only offer an interesting plot, but also deal with specific topics and attempt to send a message and make the reader think. And this book definitely had me thinking a lot. I am genuinely sad that I didn't pick it up sooner, because it was simply fantastic. So far, I might even say that it is my favourite book of the year (excluding certain re-reads 😁). Well, let's begin at the beginning and tel...

Beware: this might turn into a longer review.. Now that you've been warned, let me begin: I don't quite know why I chose to pick up this book. I guess the rainy weather here in Germany made me feel like picking up an autumnal read, but since I rather disliked this novel the first time I read it, I can't say why I immediately turned to this. It was probably time to give this a second chance and see if there might not be more to it than what I noticed on my first read. And let me tell you: there is. It has been several years since I first read it, and I remember feeling utterly bored by it and being very put off by it being written completely in diary entries, letters and telegrams. My reading tastes seem to have changed a lot since then, because these were exactly the factors I now liked. This format allows you to really experience the narrated events, you not only get the plot but also the emotions and thoughts of the characters. I especially enjoyed reading Dr. Sew...

          The Golden Fleece by Robert Graves is a retelling of the ancient Greek myth about Jason and the Argonauts. The most popular and acclaimed version of this myth from antiquity is probably the epic poem The Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes, who lived in the 3rd century BCE. Graves took it upon himself, according to his very interesting introduction to this book, to compare and analyze existing versions of the voyage of the Argonauts and compose one compiled tale. His story is not supposed to only tell about the quest for the Golden Fleece, Graves also puts the Argonauts' voyage into a bigger religious and historical/mythological context, telling of how the Fleece came to be and why Jason was ordered to reclaim it from Colchis. So this novel does not start with Jason, but one or two generations before him, and tells of how the Olympic religious system developed. I can't really talk about how accurate all this is, as I am by no means an expert on an...

Dune  by Frank Herbert is a Science Fiction classic published in 1965. Usually, I'm not a big fan of this genre,  War of the Worlds  by H.G. Wells is one of the few sci-fi novels I've really enjoyed thus far. That's why this book surprised me so much. The novel mainly follows Paul Atreides, the son of Duke Leto Atreides. The story begins with Leto being granted the fiefdom over Arrakis, the desert planet famous for its production of the spice drug. This drug grants a small amount of the ability to look ahead in time and is extremely valuable. The Duke is aware that his being sent to Arrakis is a plot to destroy him, as he has long been entangled in a vendetta with his relation, the Baron Harkonnen. The Duke is also aware that the Emperor is somewhat concerned in this trap, but he nonetheless attempts to settle on Arrakis and dreams of setting up relations with the locals, the Fremen. Paul is fifteen at the story's beginning and we basically follow his journey...

⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Golden Bowl is one of James' later works, first published in 1904 and revised for the New York edition in 1909. The copy I read, the Everyman's Library edition, prints the latter version. This was the third full novel I've read by Henry James, and sadly it might have been my least favourite. It has the reputation of being quite difficult to read, and now I can see why. But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy this story at all. First for the plot. I don't want to give anything away, so I'm going to be brief here (also, don't read the introduction of the Everyman's copy if you don't want to be spoiled). The Golden Bowl is the story of a father and his daughter and their respective marriages. The main theme here is betrayal and how it affects those involved, but the story also explores human relationships in general. We follow Maggie Verver, daughter of a very, very rich American in England, and her h...

I feel like this is going to be a very difficult book to review. First off, I should mention that I mostly listened to this on audiobook, which was fantastic. This might be one of the best audiobooks I’ve listened to so far, the narrator, Ralph Lister, does such an amazing job. His voice is extremely easy to listen to, and he somehow manages to give every character a different and suitable voice. I especially liked the voice he gave Kruppe, it was just so perfect for the character and often made me laugh out loud. He really made the story come alive and gave the people more substance and depth with his narration. So I really wa nt to recommend the audiobook here!  So now to the story itself. I don’t think I could explain it in any way. I knew going in that this is generally known as a very confusing book, and I now see why that is. Nothing is really fully explained, the reader is dumbed in the story and learns something here and there as he goes along. Maybe I’m not ...

So a few weeks ago I finally conquered The Histories by Herodotus, a historian who lived approximately from 484-425 BC. This notable work of history is partly an account of the war between Greece and Persia in the 5th century BC, but also an inquiry into different cultures and nations, which the author has either witnessed himself (probably), or heard about through oral accounts. I was very intrigued to read this rather long book, because it is generally accepted as the foundation of historical writing as a genre, and I thought it would be fascinating to read about a time that long gone from someone who was actually alive back then and wrote down what he was told and witnessed himself. It was indeed a fascinating read, especially the first few books. I read the Penguin Classics Deluxe edition, which is full to bursting with useful notes, comes with thirteen different and very handy maps, and two introductions. These are by the translator (Tom Holland) and editor (Paul Cartle...

Royal Assassin is the second book in Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings series and takes off where Assassin's Apprentice ends. We follow FitzChivalry Farseer over a period of some years, when the Red Ship raids are laying waste to the coasts of the Six Duchies and intrigue is endangering the bit of security the realm has left. There's really not much else to be said of the plot, since it is the second book of the series and everything else would contain spoilers. Suffice it to say, that although it is a long and rather slow moving book, I loved it even more than the first book and did not want it to end, despite all the pain it caused me. The biggest strength of these books are definitely the characters. Hobb creates such an amazing cast of deep characters, they all feel very real and many-faceted. I love how Burrich can be both the always grumpy but still caring and loving father figure, and the irrational, stiff-necked man who can't accept Fitz...

Hello there! The Portrait of a Lady is one of Henry James' most famous works. After reading it myself, I have to say it deserves this fame 100%. First serialised in 1881, it is generally regarded as a realist novel. The story introduces us to a set of various interesting and very different characters. The heroine, or the Lady , is Isabel Archer, who, after her father's death, is taken to England by her eccentric aunt Mrs Touchett. As the title suggest, the novel basically (if one can actually use the term 'basically' in relation to James) attempts to create a portrait of Isabel's live. And oh does it succeed. So, the outset of the book shows us Isabel newly landed in England, surrounded by her sickly cousin Ralph Touchett, his father Mr. Touchett, the friendly Lord Warburton and of course her aunt. Isabel immediately captivates the attention of all those around her, as she is very different from the usual women of England's upper society. She is ov...