2023-01-26

schneefink: River walking among trees, from "Safe" (Default)
2023-01-26 10:41 pm
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A Chorus of Dragons

When I posted my review of "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell" I noticed that I hadn't posted about books at all in 2022. At first I was surprised but on second thought it makes sense: I read very little last year compared to other years, mostly because I've been playing computer games a lot more. And none of the books I did read I especially loved.

There was only one series I had many feelings about: A Chorus of Dragons by Jenn Lyons. I read the first three books, and I just found two half-finished posts about the first two in my drafts. I read these books in March and April so I don't remember all the details anymore, but I'll post what I wrote anyway because while I found several things frustrating (some worldbuilding things, some very hypocritical characters, a lot of plot that seemed to hinge on people not fucking talking to each other about their plans) there were a lot of things I did enjoy a lot (other worldbuilding things, cool magic and mythology, some good plot twists, other very interesting characters and relationships, some very nice angst and h/c.) The first book has one of my favorite examples of framing devices I have ever seen; sadly the second one tries something similar and fails badly.
Notes include many spoilers.

#1 The Ruin of Kings )

#2 The Name of All Things )

#3 The Memory of Souls )

I probably would have read the fourth book if DD hadn't told me that she strongly disliked it, similarly to book 2, and that was so discouraging that I stopped. In the meantime book five has come out and seems to have been well received, at least according to Goodreads ratings, so maybe I'll continue and finish the series eventually.