Phil_R's Completed Shelf
Phil_R's rating:
Added Feb 09, 2024
Phil_R's rating:
Added Dec 03, 2023
Comment:
Took me way too long to read this, but was worth sticking with it to the end. Not what I was expecting. Nobody structures a novel as perfectly as Eleanor Catton, except maybe Anthony Doerr.
Phil_R's rating:
Added Aug 18, 2023
Comment:
It's every bit as good as I expected a story written by Dave Eggers from the POV of a dog to be. Very good.
Phil_R's rating:
Added May 16, 2023
Comment:
It's got that 'weird & wonderful' Vandermeerian vibe that so many authors go for nowadays, but not in any sort of forced way. No surprise considering how amazing Salamander (2001) is. Nothing about this book from Alberta's best novelist that I don't love, except that it was released right before playoff season so it took me forever to finish it. Woulda finished it real quick I think if I wasn't so busy watching the Leafs lose.It's got that 'weird & wonderful' Vandermeerian vibe that so many authors go for nowadays, but not in any sort of forced way. No surprise considering how amazing Salamander (2001) is. Nothing about this book from Alberta's best novelist that I don't…
Phil_R's rating:
Added Apr 03, 2023
Comment:
Has the feel of ancient myth but rolls off the page like the best classic fantasy and filled with wild laughs only Rushdie can pull off. Readers will remember Pampa Kampana like few other fictional characters.
Phil_R's rating:
Added Feb 27, 2023
Comment:
If there was one thing I wanted more from A River Enchanted it was MORE TIME IN THE SPIRIT WORLD and then presto - book two delivers big time with a great big trip to the other side. The only thing about this story I didn't like is that the Isle of Cadence only seems populated by its few central characters, so the world seems very isolated and I'm left wondering what society the characters are even trying to save.If there was one thing I wanted more from A River Enchanted it was MORE TIME IN THE SPIRIT WORLD and then presto - book two delivers big time with a great big trip to the other side. The only thing about this story I didn't like is that the Isle of…
Phil_R's rating:
Added Jan 30, 2023
Comment:
Really enjoyed this all the way through. Well-paced, very tidy, folksy sort of fantasy. Normally I enjoy a grittier, darker fantasy world but this is so well done I am skipping right along to 'A Fire Endless'.
Phil_R's rating:
Added Jan 04, 2023
Comment:
Pretty solid rip of alternate history sci-fi action with interesting distortions of reality, but I'm just gonna compare everything he writes to Song of Shattered Sands, an all time forever epic fave, and it's a pretty far cry from the magic of the Shangazi desert.Pretty solid rip of alternate history sci-fi action with interesting distortions of reality, but I'm just gonna compare everything he writes to Song of Shattered Sands, an all time forever epic fave, and it's a pretty far cry from the magic of the…
Phil_R's rating:
Added Nov 29, 2022
BabelBabel, BookOr the Necessity of Violence : An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution
by Kuang, R. F.Book - 2022Book, 2022
Phil_R's rating:
Added Nov 29, 2022
Comment:
Gave up. Hated it. Not gonna finish even though it does at least intensify toward the end. Super disappointing. Love Poppy War so much had such high hopes but this novel falls so, so flat.
Phil_R's rating:
Added Jul 31, 2022
Comment:
Moments of sheer brilliance and devastating satisfaction to finish off a series that is easily an all time fave. Gets quite a lot more serious here, compared to explosive fun of book one. And more action here better pacing than the philosophical depth of Shorefall. Part of me thinks and hopes Bennett will bring readers back to Giva one day, but anything he does next is gonna be sweet.Moments of sheer brilliance and devastating satisfaction to finish off a series that is easily an all time fave. Gets quite a lot more serious here, compared to explosive fun of book one. And more action here better pacing than the philosophical…
Phil_R's rating:
Added Jun 24, 2022
Comment:
Just read Foundryside for the 3rd time in anticipation of book #3, and it got even better than how much I loved it the first two times! Hopefully a second go with Shorefall has the same effect. Can't wait for LOCKLANDS. June 26!!
Phil_R's rating:
Added Feb 26, 2022
Phil_R's rating:
Added Feb 08, 2022
Comment:
I do not read memoir or biography but had to check this out. Thought it would be too much Lurie but I loved it from cover to cover. Instead of 'fishing' or 'painting' with John, this is like 'Reading with John'. He takes a lot of liberties with settling grudges, but everything about this beautiful man is super indulgent and that is exactly the word to describe the experience - indulgent.I do not read memoir or biography but had to check this out. Thought it would be too much Lurie but I loved it from cover to cover. Instead of 'fishing' or 'painting' with John, this is like 'Reading with John'. He takes a lot of liberties with…
I Love You but I've Chosen DarknessI Love You but I've Chosen Darkness, BookA Novel
by Watkins, Claire VayeBook - 2021Book, 2021
Phil_R's rating:
Added Jan 14, 2022
The EveryThe Every, BookOr, at Last A Sense of Order; Or, the Final Days of Free Will ; Or, Limitless Choice Is Killing the World
by Eggers, DaveBook - 2021Book, 2021
Phil_R's rating:
Added Dec 31, 2021
Comment:
Every chapter of this novel just gets crazier and crazier and builds with Eggers' trademark brutal clarity until the bubble just gets so full it has to burst but of course Eggers can balance it and oh it's so funny and so terrifying.
Phil_R's rating:
Added Nov 29, 2021
Phil_R's rating:
Added Nov 03, 2021
Comment:
OATS' BASTARDS! Oh I hope it's 800 pages!
Phil_R's rating:
Added Sep 19, 2021
Phil_R's rating:
Added Aug 13, 2021
Comment:
I was reluctant to start this massive epic 5 years ago but now am so glad I did. Read the last chapter so slow just to stay in the Shangazi world for as long as possible. Can't wait to see what Bradley Beaulieu comes out with next.
Phil_R's rating:
Added Jul 08, 2021
Comment:
Among all the incredibly exciting books just flooding out all the time this one rises to the absolute top. Thickest atmosphere. Best taken in light doses but also difficult to stop reading. Much easier to handle than Vorrh but still wildly intense in tightly packed chapters.Among all the incredibly exciting books just flooding out all the time this one rises to the absolute top. Thickest atmosphere. Best taken in light doses but also difficult to stop reading. Much easier to handle than Vorrh but still wildly intense…
Phil_R's rating:
Added Jun 19, 2021
Comment:
The naivete of the main character is a bit frustrating at first, but once Fatma catches up on details that are obvious to the reader this world gets very cool very quick.
Phil_R's rating:
Added May 13, 2021
Comment:
Had a hard time getting into it, but noticed I was laughing so much I really didn't care if I was into it or not. Laughing this much feels so good.
Phil_R's rating:
Added May 13, 2021
Comment:
My heart pounded very hard for Rin's final battle. When it comes to epic worldbuilding fantasy with mortals and gods clashing, I still think Robert Jackson Bennett's 'Divine Cities' is an unbeatable numero uno, but this trilogy scores a lot of points for managing to be realistic, in that it doesn't shy away from what genocide and war really looks like.My heart pounded very hard for Rin's final battle. When it comes to epic worldbuilding fantasy with mortals and gods clashing, I still think Robert Jackson Bennett's 'Divine Cities' is an unbeatable numero uno, but this trilogy scores a lot of…
Phil_R's rating:
Added Apr 25, 2021
Comment: