Fury of the Seventh Son

I have been woefully neglecting my reading, mostly because I have been sewing my fingers off. "Sewing your fingers off?" I hear you say. Why yes, random reader, sewing my fingers off. For those of you who do not know, I have another blog where I detail my sewing exploits. CHECK IT OUT! I'm trying to turn that passion into a career so I have been extraordinarily busy as of late.

Terrible excuse though.

I was shopping at Half Priced Books the other day when I stumbled across this book and promptly freaked out. Like literally fan girl-ed in the middle of the store. Embarrassing. I bought it and then went home and read it straight away.

I have such a complicated response to this book. On one hand it was amazing, and thrilling, and every bit as engaging as the first in the series. However, I wanted to slice and dice me some Joseph Delaney for murdering my heart with this final book. See complaints below.

1. The death of the Spook- We have been prepared for this moment for SO long that I really felt cheated when the moment happened. It was so fast, and we don't get to see it happen. Perhaps this is because of the intended audience of the series is quite young. But I wanted to FEEL that moment, not rush over it.

2. Alice- WHAT WHAT WHAT were you thinking when you wrote this Mr. Delaney?! The whole Alice bit just felt so random. She fought the dark for so long, and we struggled with her for 12 books only to have her cave in now and to have Tom give up. WHAT.

Also- the story isn't done. The series is done. But the story isn't. There is now another series that will continue the story with Tom taking on his own apprentice. I need it. Now.

This amazing book deserves 5 stars for being so awesome- even with the two complaints I had.

Steelheart

I was rather disappointed with this book. I still loved it, and I will read the next one, but for a Sanderson book, I did not feel it lived up to my high, high expectations.

What bothered me the most was the obviousness with which Sanderson laid out his “big reveals”. One of the things I REALLY admire about his writing is his ability to leave little hints as you go along. Usually they are so tiny you don’t even really notice them until you re-read the book. There were two “big reveals” in Steelheart that I guessed early in the book. I shoved aside my assumptions because Sanderson doesn’t do obvious hints. But he did. And in my opinion that rather ruins the fun of the reveal.

I had been warned prior to reading the novel that it wasn’t as amazing as some of his other stuff, largely because of his target audience. But still. I had higher expectations.

That being said, it still is an awesome book. I still enjoyed it a great deal. And as I said before, I will absolutely be reading the next book.

Steelheart gets 4 stars.