Jay Targaryen's Blog

A Crown of Swords (Book 7) is a much better book than I expected it to be. It definitely shouldn’t belong in what the fandom call “The Slog”. I put it more on tier with Books 4, 5, & 6. This book felt like Lord of Chaos: Part 2 because it’s more of a continuation from the unresolved plot threads from the previous book such as Rand’s impending war with Sammael in Illian and the search for the Bowl of the Winds in Ebou Dar. It has a much more smaller-scaled and personal ending compared to the grandeur of a big battle like Dumai’s Wells because it’s a more character-oriented book rather than a plot-oriented one but I enjoyed this change of tone and there were still plenty of memorable scenes throughout the book. This will be a non-spoiler review, although I do mention some events that happen very early on in the book. The review will be covered in 5 sections: Characters, Plot, Setting/World-Building, Pacing, & my final thoughts along with an...

The Call of Cthulhu is an amazing short story with intriguing mysteries, fascinating lore, great philosophical themes, and a haunting ending that I can’t stop thinking about. It’s a great introductory story to the bigger world of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos . For those of you who haven’t read this story and also for those who already have, I highly recommend you read the illustrated edition by Francois Baranger. His gorgeous artwork superbly brings this story to life on an epic scale and it enhances your reading experience. I’ll provide some of his artwork throughout this review so you can get a little preview of how amazing his work is. This is a really short story so the format and length of this review will be much different. This review will include spoilers and it will cover the 3 chapters/sections of this brief story. Image: Cthulhu rising from the seas. [Chapter 1 - The Horror In Clay]: The narrator of the story is Francis Wayland Thur...

Norse Mythology is a solid retelling of the Norse myths and it’s a very quick, digestible read. It starts off funny and light-hearted but it takes a dark and gruesome turn later on in the book, and it all culminates into an epic battle and a poetic finale. I did have my issues with some plot holes and the pacing of the earlier portion of the book, but it’s a great introduction to anyone interested in learning about the Norse gods. This will be a non-spoiler review and it will be covered in 5 sections. Characters, Plot, Setting/World-Building, Pacing, and my final thoughts along with a rating. Image: Thor (the God of Thunder). [Characters]: The main characters of this story are Odin, Thor, and Loki. The secondary characters with key roles are Tyr, Freya, Frey, Kvasir, Balder, Frigg, and Heimdall. The only prior knowledge/context I had of these characters were from the Thor movies and the brief amount of Thor comics I read when I was younger. Odin, ...

Lord of Chaos (Book 6) is a great continuation in The Wheel of Time series. It had its low moments and I had some issues with the structure of the book but there was some good character development with Rand and Egwene, awesome reunions between many characters, shocking moments, and yet another phenomenal finale. This will be a non-spoiler review and it will be covered in 5 sections. Characters, Plot, Setting/World-Building, Pacing, and my final thoughts along with a rating. Image: Sammael (1 of the 13 Forsaken). [Characters]: The 2 main focal points of this book are Rand and Egwene, with Nynaeve, Mat, and Perrin also getting a handful of chapters. This is the darkest story arc for Rand in the series so far. Not only does he have enemies on all sides and is trying to juggle several problems at once, but he’s also struggling with his grip on sanity with Lews Therin Telamon constantly saying things in his mind, he’s unwillingly bonded to an Aes Se...

The Fires of Heaven (Book 5) is an excellent follow-up to the 4th book (which I consider the best of the series). The Shadow Rising is a hard book to top, but this book came really close. The plot continues to ramp up, with more of the Forsaken appearing and Tel’aran’rhiod (aka the World of Dreams) having much more of a major role in the story. There’s tons of action, great character moments, an insane finale, and a phenomenal scene near the end of this book that broke me emotionally. There’s also good payoffs as some of the lingering plot threads and seeds that were planted in Books 3 and 4 come to fruition in The Fires of Heaven . This will be a spoiler-free review and it will be covered in 5 sections. Characters, Plot, Setting/World-building, Pacing, and my final thoughts along with a rating. Image: Moiraine Damodred. [Characters]: Rand and Nynaeve get the most page time in this book. Identity is a reoccurring theme for both characters in this story. Nynaeve is ques...

George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire Series is the best book series I’ve read in my life. It has layered and complex characters, phenomenal world-building, beautiful prose, and an epic and very intricate story. There are so many great hidden details, easter eggs, sophisticated plot threads, and deep history that it's very clear how much effort and planning has been put into this series and it’s no wonder that it’s taken so long for George R.R. Martin to write these books. I can’t wait to re-read this series a couple more times and I know for sure I’ll pick up a ton of new details that I’ve missed on my first read. Obviously, the series isn’t finished yet but it doesn’t look like the series is going to be finished anytime soon so until The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring gets published (which might never happen), this is going to substitute as my series review. This review will cover Books 1-5 in the series, it contains heavy spoilers, and it will be c...