tsunni's reviews
302 reviews

I'm pretty torn. The magic system, and the slow progression and building of power are things I like about An Instruction in Shadow and its prequel. I also had the impression (maybe mistaken) from the first book of the mc being a less typical male protagonist of books of this type, self described as less physically present, and a bit wiser emotionally and clever in approach. Unfortunately where the magic and worldbuilding are pulling me in, the character work is pushing me away. There were a small handful of more toxic masculinity moments in this one, especially one near the end which was a full blown literal look me in the eyes at all the rage I have in me that I’m holding back moment that was laughable and absurd and dampened a lot of the fun I was having with the book up til then. The book also cuts off pretty abruptly and isn't exactly built in any way standalone, similar to book 1; judging by the author's other series, this is going to be a very long, mostly flatly paced climb across many books, and I'm not sure I'm in for the long haul when the characters are starting to lose me. I had already been somewhat undecided about continuing with book two, so this may be where I stop reading the series.

I’m not the target audience. I’ve read Fourth Wing and enjoyed it and I think the difference there is it actually stepped up to try to fulfill the fantasy part of romantasy; this is pretty much purely romance forward with a sprinkling of generic rpg style fantasy terms in a really bizarre thrown together and inconsistent mix. If you’re into rippling muscles in tight pants and sharply defined facial features and like your quirky manic pixie dream girl self insert main this could be your thing (no shame or judgement intended). Seems fine, just not my cup of tea.

I’m growing to despise second person pov and this looks like a significant portion of it is in that viewpoint. I really liked all the other Leckie books I’ve read, so maybe I’ll attempt it again some other time.

I read an omnibus version of this that paired it with The Witness for the Dead before it, which really felt like the way these two books were meant to be. 

The Grief of Stones drops you right into the continuing daily life of Thara Celehar as Witness of the Dead, and much like the last book he spends his time in this one unraveling several mysteries over the course of the story. The writing, characters, and world are still superb in all their facets, and Addison maintains that balance of calm, placid, complex writing that pulls me along with it's meditative flow while exploring a very harsh and intricately complex setting. 

I'm not a super analytical or complex reader; I can pick up on themes and the like okay if I put my mind to it, but with the previous books in this series I was content to just sink in and go along with the ride. In The Grief of Stones though, I'm finally consciously examining some of the continuing themes from Goblin Emperor all the way to Grief of Stones as Addison addresses them in ways that even I couldn't miss: the class and caste differences, the elves versus the goblins, many other things (the worldbuilding is so good!), but especially the core themes of grief and loss and acceptance and change, and we're swept along with the personal journey that Celehar goes through with those. I found it wonderfully done, and satisfying and meaningful in a way that makes me want to go back and appreciate everything Addison has built up over the course of several books with a new eye for thematic meaning. For that reason I rated Grief of Stones higher than The Witness for the Dead, but really I think they and Goblin Emperor are all equally excellent and I recommend them all highly and together. I'm really looking forward to The Tomb of Dragons.

I don’t do well with very literary type books but tried to give this one a fair shake due to the ratings. The shifting perspectives and multiple layers of stories were actually fine, and I had hope this would actually pull me more into reading literary novels; but a sudden scene of extreme fantasy torture and body horror made me not want to continue. I’m particularly sensitive to the latter though. From what I read in discussions about the whole book, this is hardly the end of that sort of content and a good reason for me to cut my losses.

Not quite a true sequel to Goblin Emperor but carrying on the same tone, worldbuilding, and character work as before. I loved both that book and Witness of the Dead for similar reasons; the plots and focus are very different (here it’s mysteries and investigative work and rituals around the dead), but the writing and sense of reserved, safe kindness and respect are the same. It’s hard for me to articulate exactly what I like about Addison’s writing when it’s almost all vibes based, but it’s somewhere in the realm of a Becky Chambers or a cozy novel like Legends and Lattes, with the complexity of the worldbuilding and language dialed way up and the story structure flattened way down (still enough to satisfy); not really any big arcs or emotional moments here, there’s barely any chapter structure even, just a very complex, harsh world with gentle characters to sink into. 

I think if you liked Goblin Emperor you’d probably enjoy this the same way, as long as not being about the same character is alright with you.

Also, the way I approached both Goblin Emperor and Witness for the Dead is to just dive right in and learn all the language and terms by context; it’s totally possible to enjoy the story with just a surface level of gleaned understanding of titles and roles.

Underwhelming and disappointing supermarket white bread of a book. A great initial concept with so much potential but the book is a hallmark movie of maudlin, frustratingly safe drama that never really pushes the concept and sticks to societal issue 101 fare. This almost could’ve been a good allegory for a modern societal problem, or a direct exploration of one if the box had revealed something else other than lifespan or changed the person in some way (race? lgbtq+? wealth? class/caste? So many possibilities). The emotions and issues faced in the story certainly are generic enough that you can swap out “short string” with something else in the story and get a similar result, which speaks to how unambitious it is and how much the idea is squandered. Hard to recommend.

I really loved this. Academia and dragon fantasy have been overdone quite a lot, but To Shape a Dragon's Breath managed to make it engaging and compelling while actually spending its time focused on meaningful topics. The core of the story is about indigenous/minority struggle against colonialism, with a lot of queer and neurodivergent representation that's not just rote but shows actual struggle and strife in an intolerant society. The world and setting are heavily based on an alternative version of our own, with a mix of Norse and British Empire at the forefront next to the indigenous representation. The magic and science of the world are also veiled parallels to our own chemistry and sciences. The similarity those things added an extra layer of engagement on my part; I had a lot of fun picking out Norse terminology and concepts mentioned in the story and trying to figure out the equivalents in our world (carbon, sodium/maybe potassium(?), geometry, etc).

Anequs, the heroine, is the main vehicle for examining all the complex topics in the story. She's an admirable character who's decently three dimensional; though unrealistic and Mary Sue-ish in a lot of ways, I still liked her a lot. Her and the story and the writing are all very similar: blunt and unapologetic. Anequs, the book, the prose, all know who they are and what they've set out to do and don't bother putting on pretenses or airs. As a character she can come across as a little distant emotionally as a result, as things happen the way they need to happen and she's always clever or smart enough, but I think this is completely fine given the topics the book is trying to address; and this kind of character is a staple of the genre anyway. The author treads the line well I think, making all the core characters (almost all different minorities) meaningful parallels of real world struggles while giving them enough room to be engaging, fleshed out though not unflawed characters; I'm more than impressed she managed that while showing so many differing viewpoints in conflict under oppression, while serving up a well crafted and satisfying fantasy altogether.

I'm really blown away, to be honest. I found a lot to emotionally connect to (especially with real world events; I'm not indigenous, but I'm in a minority group actively being politically targeted right now and I emphasized with and rooted for Anequs a LOT) and I'm upset I don't have the rest of the series to burn through right away. This is probably a hard copy buy for me at some point. 

T. Kingfisher's books (all the ones I've read anyway at any rate) all tend to involve a young to nearing middle aged nervous wreck of a woman finding her own with a gaggle of varied and humorously appealing cohorts, and this is no different and no less charming than the rest and just as expertly written. Also as usual there's some degree of dark and macabre, though nothing that goes as far as horror; but enough that this isn't exactly lighthearted, Kingfisher threading the line as usual so it's a pleasant middle ground. I enjoyed it a lot and loved all the characters in it, finding it a pretty engaging but easy read that I burned through quickly.

I think if you connected with her other work like Nettle and Bone, or Swordheart, this will float your fancy the same way. Cordelia, the heroine of this novel, is a bit younger and suffers a bit more explicitly at the hands of her evil mother, so content warning if things of that nature (especially captivity related) are things you want to avoid.