The Name of the Wind is set in that poorly defined time that D&D campaigns are. In this book, the main character Kvothe recounts his life’s story. His life was fairly uneventful until his parents started singing the wrong types of songs. Tragedy struc,k and Kvothe was determined to press on. So he tried learning magic at “The University,” which by th
e way has an insane asylum on campus because students have a habit of going mad, fun stuff. Kvothe really wants to know the name of the wind so he asks master namer (Elodin) to teach him. Elodin tells Kvothe to throw himself off a building; it’s great. Throughout Kvothe’s journey, he commits fraud, plays music, makes a deal with a loan shark, and makes a mortal enemy out of Ambrose Jakis(jack-ass). This book, The Name of the Wind, is brilliantly written and detailed; I could never do it justice in this small review.
The Xeelee Sequence takes you through the journey of mankind throughout the millions of years that the series takes place in. This book as you might have guessed, is more of a setting-driven series rather than a character-driven one. Don’t get me wrong, there are important characters such as Michel Pool who made it possible for faster-than-light travel with the pool interface. However, since the setting takes place over such a long time, you might not hear from some characters again. There might be some people who use relativity to cheat death for a while, but only a few do this. It is also easy to get lost in the scope of the series, essentially later on, and at some points, it does feel like the technology is just magic. That said it is really a good book, and for those of you who have the patience to read something like this will surely enjoy it.
As you might have guessed from the cover, A Perfect Frenzy takes place right before the Revolutionary War and is about Lord Dunmore, who was appointed governor of Virginia by the king. Lord Dunmore is afraid that the colonists will rebel, so he tries to build an army, and so there was war before any had been declared. This book shows you what really happened to that town that went missing, and how such a large army was mustered in such a short time. Honestly, it’s perfect for those of you who like history. It has mysteries, betrayals, and best of all, a satisfying conclusion. So, give it a try.
John Green’s book Turtles All the Way Down is realistic fiction, but wait, before we get any furtherinto this, I would like to give an honorable mention to The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green. It’s great. Also, a shout-out to Hank Green because his books are also great. Yes, they are siblings. Anyway, back to turtles, the main character is Aza Holms, and she has OCD, and when you begin reading, you’re thrust into the middle of her less-than-ideal mental state. There is nothing special about this book, and that’s the beauty of it; you join Aza as she goes about her life. There is such a level of detail that you can fully comprehend what they’re going through. It’s beautiful.
