I was interested to see what insights I might glean from MacMillan’s War: How Conflict Shaped Us, but the answer, sadly, was ‘not many.’
Two Treatises of Government Review
After spending the first treatise lambasting a proponent of absolute, unlimited monarchy, Locke turns in the second treatise to what I would consider the more productive exercise of defining, deriving, and justifying for himself the source of political power in any commonwealth.
Volsunga Saga Review
If I were feeling lazy, I could probably summarize this review by saying that reading the Volsunga Saga was a little like reading a cross between Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology and The Story of Burnt Njal.
Niccolò Rising Review
The elements that I enjoyed about the Lymond Chronicles are all present: a brilliant protagonist, beautiful writing, fascinating historical context, and evocative descriptions. Despite all of that, I found it difficult to engage with the story.
The Lion Review
The Lion captures one of the most significant time periods in the history of the western world, the pact that helped forge the Hellenic peoples into a single culture.
The Lost Metal Review
The Lost Metal is the most significant proving ground so far that he can manage to continue to tell compelling, intricate, contained stories while integrating those stories more with the Cosmere context.
The Bands of Mourning Review
While the characters, detail-level plotting, and world-building are all at Sanderson’s usual high level, the main plot felt like something out of Shannara.
Shadows of Self Review
Shadows of Self picks up a little after the events of Alloy of Law and builds on the threads leftover at the end of the first novel.
Alloy of Law Review
When I first heard that Brandon Sanderson was planning to do a second Mistborn series, set in a later era on Scadrial, I had mixed expectations.
The Naming Review
I read a lot, and I’ve been reading for a long time, especially in the fantasy genre, but something I’ve noticed since I began to make a deliberate study of writing in order to improve my own storytelling is that I've become much more critical of what I read.