Godless

Godless by Pete Hautman
6/10

This is a book for kids in middle school.

The World According to Garp

John Irving's The World According to Garp

Great writer, amazing story, okay subject matter, 8.5

Lord of Emperors

Lord of Emperors by Guy Gavriel Kay

7.5/10

Sailing to Sarantium

Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay

8/10

final steps

It is pretty foolish of me to think that I could start over fresh without first having a step for cleaning out my closet, for seeking absolution. So, I am going to write down some of my greatest mistakes and regrets. I will then attempt to summon the humility to ask forgiveness for these.

nick sperry / rachel baker / wills pumphrey / brent pickett / kady fairfield (superior) / john johnson / matt lund (temper/unnecessarily hurtful) / molly geaman / matt shelton / alyssa kritzman / nate siftar / dragana vidovic / micah hammer / derek nordquist / ashwin longani / taylor smith / ben bedford / daniel bedford /superior/judgmental/inpatient/selfish indecent exposure / stealing

* explanations coming soon (9/26)

the Fellowship of the Ring

J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings is probably the most well known fantasy novel of all time. I can only imagine how many copies it has sold well past his death. I have heard that the Lord of the Rings was meant as one book, but because of publishing or some other shenanigans had to be released in three volumes. It was probably considered too long then. That was back in 1954! The first book I have finished, which of course is the Fellowship of the Ring. It's the first third of Tolkein's great masterpiece.

Judging this book is very difficult because it really is only the first third of a whole book. I am reading the Two Towers now, and the book starts on page 403. So to call the Fellowship of the Ring a stand alone book might not be completely accurate. In that sense, I have tried to judge it fairly.

Mostly, I feel like this book is just too slow. There's an epic adventure and things happen, but it's marred by too much talk of I don't know what. It's not like we get to know the characters. I couldn't tell you hardly anything about any of the characters except maybe Gimli. There is hardly any character development, and I guess people defend that by saying it's more of a focus on the culture. That might be true, he has laid a foundation for hundreds of fantasy works. But it doesn't seem like he's writing anything. Wwho are these people? What is the history? Almost anytime anyone ever tries to ask about this, the question is dismissed and nothing is told. I think it's very strange for how much talk of the lore there is, how little of it is actually present. I can't say I'd reccommend this to anyone. With a lot of things, I think the present has just gotten better, and we should only look at these from a historical perspective.

6.5/10

The Hobbit

J.R.R. Tolkein is probably the most well known fantasy writer of all time. And it is because of this book, The Hobbit, and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. This book is something of a prequel to that series, but it is also an amazing stand alone. The tale of Bilbo Baggins, a modest hobbit enjoying his quiet peaceful life, who becomes caught up in a whirlwind quest as a "burglar," is one of the best told stories of epic fantasy that I have ever read. It is extremely accessible, the few characters are enjoyable, and the plot is straight-forward without being too simple. The book is not anything spectacular, but it is solid and very good the whole time. Tolkein does a marvelous job of writing a tale that all other fantasy must compare itself too. And this novel stands the test of time. 8.5/10