Books

Book 418: Angel Fire East (Word & Void #3) – Terry Brooks

And just like that I’m done with my first foray into Terry Brooks’ World of Shannara. I’m not totally finished as I recently stumbled across a short story, Imaginary Friendswhich is technically Word & Void #0.5 so there’s one small story left! I’ll read it in less than an hour and that’ll be the next post later this week.

As far as conclusions go, this was a pretty good end to the story that spanned three books, fifteen years and roughly 9-12 actual days of action in the books. I didn’t pay attention to it in the first two books, but each of these books takes place in less than five days from start to finish. There are plenty of flashbacks and quite a few jumps ahead, but overwhelmingly the entire action of the story takes place in less than a week. Each of these books really are examples of the minuscule moments which can change the world for good (the Word) or for evil (the Void).

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Books

Book 417: A Knight of the Word (Word & Void #2) – Terry Brooks

Picking up five years after the action in Running with the DemonA Knight of the Word takes off at a fast pace and keeps going. If you could skip the first book of the Word & Void trilogy I would recommend it. This one was a huge step forward and I think the 80 fewer pages in this book were all description from the first book, making this one better. I mean you should read both, but know if you make it through the first one, you’ve got this great one to look forward to!

I wasn’t sure how I would like this book with the five years between the two stories and taking the action away from Nest and putting it solely on John Ross. Brooks didn’t let me down though, the story moved quickly to include Nest. It was a bit sad hearing about everything that happened since the end of Running with the Demon, but it was great to be back in the world again so quickly.

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Books

Book 416: Running with the Demon (Word & Void #1) – Terry Brooks

Talk about coincidence! I planned to read the Word & Void trilogy early this year as it’s been on my shelf for far too long and a coworker from my last job (3+ years ago) recommended it. Add that we recently started watching The Shannara Chronicles (IMDB link) and my interest in Brooks’ work increased. So when I started reading this and found out it’s a distant part of the Shannara universe my mind was blown!

I asked advice on whether to even consider the Shannara super-series and I find out I’ve backed myself into it inadvertently. Again, Mind. Blown. Although this is the eleventh book published connected to Shannara, it is the first in story chronology. I have no idea how many I will read, but I will most definitely finish out this trilogy as I was sucked in within the first few pages!

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Updates

January Recap 2016

2016 01-22 100K VisitorsI know I start out every monthly recap talking about how hard it is to believe that the month is gone, but we’re already a twelfth of the way through 2016! And next year is the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter. I’m not ready everyone, I’m just not ready.

The Big Blog News of the month is that I passed 100,000 all time views on the 22nd. I’m still impressed, I didn’t think I would stick with this for anywhere near as long as I have. With the scheduled and draft posts coming, I’ve already passed 700 posts and I feel like I’m picking up speed rather than slowing down in my old blogging age.

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CRWMPodcast

CRWM #09: Dr Mütter’s Marvels

CRWM09For episode nine of Come Read With Me, my friend Jess joined me to discuss Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz’ Dr. Mütter’s Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine. As usual, there were plenty of tangents including a five-minute tangent (you’re welcome, I edited it from 20) about Jane Austen fan fiction. Maybe I should just turn this into a Come Read Jane Austen with me podcast! (Don’t worry, I won’t.)

I was apparently super fidgety during the recording so I’m super sorry about all the background noise!

Download it here: CRWM #09 (Right Click and “save as.”) Or, better yet, subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher!

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