Justin's Notes

I loved this book, and it has made me so excited about the rest of the Stormlight Archives. It's a tome and took me quite a while, but it is absolutely well worth your time. You can read my thoughts on it here.

I enjoyed this story. I bought this book after a book account on Instagram said it had become his favorite book of all time. He posts about it a lot and had a video that said something like "nothing really happens in this book, but I love it." It piqued my interest, and on a trip to Powell's with Syd, I decided to pick it up. I am glad that I did. Stoner is about a poor rural farm boy named William Stoner, born in the 1890s, going to the state university and then spending the rest of his life teaching there. It really is just a story about a guy's life. It isn't extraordinary in any way; it has some sadder parts, some happier parts, and a lot of just regular parts. It's just a story about a life.

What was impressive to me is how engaging William's is able to make a seemingly ordinary story feel. I was drawn to every chapter, excited to see how Stoner would handle the next situation. How He would recover from a disappointment or celebrate in a victory. I especially liked how the time gap between chapters could jump at pretty high rates. It felt relatable. Our lives can feel like it is the same thing for years on end at times. Even so, there are more things coming, and we see in this book that Stoner can go years going through the motions of his life to find himself still growing and learning in some form. I also thought that William's portrayed so well how different people are. How different we can handle conflict. That we as humans will never be the exact same as we grow and get further in life, for better or for worse. I just really enjoyed how Stoner told the story of a human. Life can be so many things, and this story just felt oddly beautiful to me.

I think you should read this book. It is pretty different from most, if not all, the books I have read. Yet, I do feel like it was an important story to me. Not only was it a nice palate cleanser between fantasy reads, but it felt relatable at a human level of seeing a person's life lived out, even if nothing in this story directly related to my own.

Dragon Republic is book two of the Poppy War trilogy (which you can read about the first book here). It keeps very similar pacing, action and brutality displayed in the first book, with some pretty cool plot points that really set up the finale. I enjoyed it, but as I thought with the first book and probably will say about most grim-dark series, it is quite heavy and mildly unforgiving. That said, the action was incredible, and the story picks up exactly where it left off from book one.

I really liked that Kuang's expanded on some of the aspects of shamanism in this book. Understanding more of the different shamanic powers really helped grow the world for me, and also contributed to understanding more of how the war from the first book even started. The constant tension between this magic and how closely tied it is to the social and political structure of the country, and especially the war, is really cool. I especially like how Kuang used other powers she had set up in the first book to drastically change characters, including Rin in this second book.

One of my favorite themes from this trilogy so far has been the idea of right and wrong, and who gets to choose which is which. Kuang constantly brings Rin into situations, posing her against one group or another, where Rin has to dissect if what she is doing is right or not, or if doing what is right is worth the pain or suffering it can cost. Obviously, in a grim-dark fantastical world riddled with wars, the point really seems to be that no one is right. That no matter what choice Rin makes, it ends up with many morally wrong consequences. That often times Rin chooses what feels right or wrong to me as the reader, and then I end up being the wrong one. Yet, I do think Kuang develops these decisions well. It does feel challenging at times that rarely do decisions feel redemptive, or even "good" in this story, so I am curious (maybe even hoping) if the third book will provide some good feelings.

My recommendation for this book is the same as the Poppy War. It is grim-dark fantasy and is very heavy. It isn't very happy, is incredibly brutal and can be emotionally heavy and conflicting. So unless that is your cup of tea, it won't be fun for you.

This book is a collection of short stories and novellas written by Sanderson. All of them complement some part of the Cosmere, often adding additional context and characters. There are so many orders and lists of how to read all of Sanderson's works, and many of the more complete reading orders include the majority of the stories in this collection. So after reading Words of Radiance, I decided to read through a few short stories and novellas that I hadn't read yet, including Edgedancer which is "a must" before Oathbringer.

The Hope of Elantris

This is a short story, primarily about a new character named Matisse, during the events that take place near the end of Elantris. It has a bit of action and really just gives a different perspective within Elantris. It's hard to say anything about it without giving some major plot points of Elantris away. Which is also why it's pointless to read this unless you read Elantris first. If you enjoyed Elantris though, it's a fun and very short story to read.

The Emperor's Soul

This novella was pretty cool. It follows Shai, a Forger who can alter and recreate souls. She is caught, imprisoned, and asked to replace the soul of the emperor. This story exists in the same world as Elantris, and now I am hoping that Shai makes an appearance if the Elantris storyline ever continues. I enjoyed the magic quite a bit in this story. Especially with Forger's having a sense of inanimate objects having a history and soul that can be altered. It made Shai's interaction with everything in the world unique. Even in a short form novella, Sanderson was able to provide a fast-paced, action-filled ending, which was pretty impressive. I thought it was a cool story with some fun characters and magic. And with how short it is, I think it's worth the read for any Sanderson fan.

Shadows for Silence in the Forsts of Hell

This story was pretty cool. The setting was pretty interesting and mysterious, and I love any story that has a bounty hunter. Also, the beginning with the people in the inn chatting reminded me of Name of the Wind, which was cool. The creatures in this story were pretty imaginative, I thought, and really brought some suspense into the story. And as always, even with a 50-page short story, Sanderson makes the ending full of action and intrigue. As far as I know, this doesn't relate to any current Cosmere story, so I am not totally sure why the reading order I am going off has it here. That said, I thought it was pretty cool and would recommend it for a quick read if you like his writing.

Edgedancer

This was a pretty cool read. The story follows Lift, who is a character in one of the interlude chapters in Words of Radiance, and also gives more background and development to one of the characters she interacts with, whom she calls Darkness. It's a fun story with a cool ending that makes me excited to see both of these characters further in the Stormlight Archives. It really just felt like an extra-long epilogue. Obviously, only read this if you have read Words of Radiance and before Oathbringer. It definitely isn't required to read it if you just want to roll through all of Stormlight, but it's some nice context that I assume will be helpful going forward.

I have eyed this book for months; I can't remember if I just happened by it in a bookstore or if I saw it online, but it had caught my eye. It follows a mid-twenties girl whose heart gets broken, and she finds refuge moving above the family bookstore and spending time with her uncle. As we walk through her healing, we also get to see the healing of her uncle from his own past. It is a quaint little story full of heartache, growth, healing and the importance of family and friends that I didn't fully expect.

I will admit, the only other Japanese writing I have really read is Murakami, so going into this story, I think I expected the writing to feel similar. I don't think that was a fair expectation to have. While it didn't ruin the experience at all, I definitely spent the first few chapters feeling a little disappointed that it didn't feel the same as Murakami. That said, I did think it was well written and enjoyable to read. It felt very simple, which for this story I enjoyed. I thought Yagisawa's writing was relatable, almost like hearing the story being told to me over dinner with a friend.

My favorite part of this story is how Yagisawa built the relationships between the characters. Seeing them grow together, sharing a simple life together, and the encouragement and challenge they posed to each other felt approachable and relatable. I know what it feels like to push someone to stand up for themselves or find myself listening or sharing a struggle with a friend. It felt like I was reading similar moments I have had in my own life. I also loved the bond some of the characters found over reading. Nothing makes me happier than bonding with someone over a book we both enjoyed. Or telling someone what one of my favorite books is.

If you are looking for a quick read with a pretty feel-good ending, I would recommend. Although it didn't launch itself into some of my favorites of the year, I enjoyed the story. It felt simple in a way that I quite enjoyed. I can only hope to own my own used bookstore someday.

House Atreides is a prelude story written by Frank Herbert's son, who wrote a ton of Dune novels and short stories based off his father's world he built. From what I understand, Brian used his father's notes to write many of these prequel novels, so they are mostly accurate to what Frank had thought up originally. These comics are an adaptation of that story. I really enjoyed them. I don't plan to read any Dune books outside the original trilogy, but having a quick and easy way to get some of the backstory of different characters within the Dune universe was really cool. The comics show Leto becoming Duke, Jessica being born, Duncan Idaho escaping the Harkonnen's and making it to Caladan, and a younger Thufir Hawat. For a lover of Dune as myself, it was very enjoyable. If you enjoy comics and enjoy Dune, these are a great option and a fun read.