The Library of the Uncommons

Anna Hudak stopped reading

A Game of Thrones (Hardcover, 1996, Bantam Books)

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

From a master of contemporary fantasy comes the first novel of a landmark series unlike any you’ve ever read before. …

Anna Hudak started reading Terraform by Propaganda

Terraform (AudiobookFormat, 2021, Blackstone Pub)

Terraform by Propaganda

Anna Hudak reviewed Moon over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

Moon over Soho (Paperback, 2011, Gollancz)

The second novel in Aaronovitch's Peter Grant series takes the police constable cum apprentice magician …

A restrained sequel (and it's for the better)

4 stars

While it may not have been quite the whirlwind thrill-ride of the first book that deeply explores a fantasy London, I think it was for the best. I don't know how you could top how, well, magical, the first book was and the thrill of discovering an urban fiction take on so many fantasy tropes made for this world by Aaronovitch. It feels more mature, more focused, and I enjoyed that. The basics of the world have been laid for us, and this book narrows its focus to dive deeper into magician societies and vampires. It really begins to explore those and allows us to understand those aspects of the world more. It doesn't try to up the excitement or ante from the first book, and I respect that. Too many authors, or directors, or any creator of any type of medium, fall into the trap of "bigger is better" …

While it may not have been quite the whirlwind thrill-ride of the first book that deeply explores a fantasy London, I think it was for the best. I don't know how you could top how, well, magical, the first book was and the thrill of discovering an urban fiction take on so many fantasy tropes made for this world by Aaronovitch. It feels more mature, more focused, and I enjoyed that. The basics of the world have been laid for us, and this book narrows its focus to dive deeper into magician societies and vampires. It really begins to explore those and allows us to understand those aspects of the world more. It doesn't try to up the excitement or ante from the first book, and I respect that. Too many authors, or directors, or any creator of any type of medium, fall into the trap of "bigger is better" and continually try to one-up themselves. Aaronovitch doesn't, and instead focuses on making a good story. I'm grateful for that.

Anna Hudak started reading This Here Flesh by Cole Arthur Riley

This Here Flesh (2022, Crown Publishing Group, The)

This Here Flesh by Cole Arthur Riley

*“From the womb, we must repeat with regularity that to love ourselves is to survive. I believe that is what …

Anna Hudak finished reading Moon over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

Moon over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

The second novel in Aaronovitch's Peter Grant series takes the police constable cum apprentice magician into Soho and the world …

Anna Hudak started reading Moon over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

Moon over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

The second novel in Aaronovitch's Peter Grant series takes the police constable cum apprentice magician into Soho and the world …

Anna Hudak reviewed Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass (Paperback, 2012, Bloomsbury USA)

In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin …

A poor mystery, but still a fun experience

3 stars

There are a lot of problems with the books. The characters are paper thin, the "mystery" is as easy to solve as a mystery in a child's book. Celaena frankly, isn't that good of an assassin if people can keep sneaking into her room at night, etc. Those are just the more egregious problems that kept nagging at me. But, despite the problems, I enjoyed this book. It's nothing great, in fact, I would say at best, it's mediocre. It's enjoyable, though. I had fun reading it, and at the end of the day, that's good enough.

3/5 = Mediocre

Anna Hudak finished reading Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, Elizabeth Evans

In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. …

Anna Hudak reviewed Rivers of London (Peter Grant, #1) by Ben Aaronovitch

Rivers of London (Peter Grant, #1) (2011)

Rivers of London (Midnight Riot in the US) is the first novel in the Peter …

Enjoyed despite the genre

4 stars

Content warning This review contains spoilers

Admittedly, I'm a newbie to urban fantasy and generally don't enjoy crime stories, so I was simultaneously worried and not sure what to expect going into this. But, I read it anyway (mostly because the cover of the book caught my interest). Honestly, I'm glad I did. While I did predict Lesley was the host, it still a thrill ride and has got me interested in the world created by Aaronovitch. It's an interesting take on fantasy, and one I find myself drawn to, which is helped along by how solid the characters are. While character development is far from the focus of this book, caring more about furthering the plot and setting up this interesting world, I still enjoyed the characters, especially Peter Grant, of course. I'm definitely excited to read the next book and see where the series leads.

4/5 = Good