The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan

Title: The Great Hunt
Author: Robert Jordan
Genre: High Fantasy

I purchased this ebook and chose to do an honest and unbiased review.  Tom Doherty Associates neither requested nor are associated with this review.

Goodreads Description:            

The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

For centuries, gleemen have told the tales of The Great Hunt of the Horn. So many tales about each of the Hunters, and so many Hunters to tell of...Now the Horn itself is found: the Horn of Valere long thought only legend, the Horn which will raise the dead heroes of the ages. And it is stolen.

Here's What I Thought:
I just finished The Great Hunt last night. The second installment in this epic fantasy has already blown The Eye of the World out of the water.  It was fantastic and filled with twists and turns!

As I don't like to write in books, I am actually really glad that I am reading it as an ebook.  I am easily able to add highlights and notes without actually wrecking a book.  By this point I am very highlighter happy--making notes by little details that seem trivial, but hint at importance.  The prologue was no different, depicting a summons of unnamed Darkfriends to receive orders.  This sets a Pattern for Jordan to begin his books with a glimpse of the bigger picture, but still leaves you with many questions. By the end of the book, I found that I had not only referred back to this prologue, but even to my notes from the first book. Foreshadowing and prophecy are a huge tool Jordan utilizes.

Speaking of prophecy, we are introduced to a suspected prophecy fairly early on in the book and had actual prophecy scattered throughout. You can't have an epic fantasy without it, right?   As I read the prophecies, like always though, I got frustrated and irritated.  Because they are always in poetry format.  Just once I'd like a prophecy written in prose. But hey, then you can't be super cryptic and ominous, right?

Back to the story.  In this book, the original party is split up.  Rand, Perrin, and Mat go on a quest to find the Horn of Valere and Nynaeve and Egwene head to Tar Valon to begin their training. The point of view shifts between a multitude of characters, but is still heavily focused on Rand.  As there were times I was more invested in other aspects of the story than his, there were parts that drug on, particularly when he was separated from the rest of the men on the hunt.

We were also introduced to many new characters (not surprising as there is a grand total of 2,782 named characters in the series).  Some, I have no doubt I will come to love and others I would like to see thrown into Shadar Logoth and let the shadows deal with them. And even that might be too nice.  If nothing else, this series can definitely spark your passions for characters. In the first book, Nynaeve irritated me with her crassness, but now I am in complete adoration of her. Through her eyes, you find out that achieving full sisterhood at the White Tower does not come easy. Rand was... Well, irritating most of the time.  It took me a long time to figure out how old everyone was.  Rand is 20 years old right now. At some points, I was seriously questioning if he wasn't 15 and new to hormones, if you catch my meaning.  Don't worry! Everything is PG. Just the inner monologue was eye-rolling at points. The rest of the characters had their moments as well, especially Egwene, but that is for you to read and find out.  With the mention of Egwene, I feel I should mention a trigger warning for abuse.  She goes through a lot and I am excited to see how she grows from her experience.

Throughout The Great Hunt, an epic adventure unfolds, friendships and loyalties are tested, hearts are broken, and betrayal is in their midst.  It really does have it all.  My final rating for this book is 4 stars.  Unlike the first book (remember, I gave it a boost due to it being the book to successfully pull me out of a slump?), this book truly deserves everyone of those stars.  If I would have had a little less Rand and a little more of everyone else, I'd be looking at a 5 star book!

Quote:

"In the Borderlands, sheepherder, if a man has the raising of a child, that child is his, and none can say different."

                                                             -al'Lan Mandragoran to Rand al'Thor

              

About The Author:

Robert Jordan was the pen name of James Oliver Rigney, Jr., under which he was best known as the author of the bestselling The Wheel of Time fantasy series. He also wrote under the names Reagan O'Neal and Jackson O'Reilly.

Jordan was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He served two tours in Vietnam (from 1968 to 1970) with the United States Army as a helicopter gunner. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with bronze oak leaf cluster, the Bronze Star with "V" and bronze oak leaf cluster, and two Vietnamese Gallantry Crosses with palm. After returning from Vietnam he attended The Citadel where he received an undergraduate degree in physics. After graduating he was employed by the United States Navy as a nuclear engineer. He began writing in 1977. He was a history buff and enjoyed hunting, fishing, sailing, poker, chess, pool, and pipe collecting.

He described himself as a "High Church" Episcopalian and received communion more than once a week. He lived with his wife Harriet McDougal, who works as a book editor (currently with Tor Books; she was also Jordan's editor) in a house built in 1797.

Responding to queries on the similarity of some of the concepts in his Wheel of Time books with Freemasonry concepts, Jordan admitted that he was a Freemason. However, "like his father and grandfather," he preferred not to advertise, possibly because of the negative propaganda against Freemasonry. In his own words, "no man in this country should feel in danger because of his beliefs."

On March 23, 2006, Jordan disclosed in a statement that he had been diagnosed with cardiac amyloidosis, and that with treatment, his median life expectancy was four years, though he said he intended to beat the statistics. He later posted on his Dragonmount blog to encourage his fans not to worry about him and that he intended to have a long and fully creative life.

He began chemotherapy treatment at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in early April 2006. Jordan was enrolled in a study using the drug Revlimid just approved for multiple myeloma but not yet tested on primary amyloidosis.

Jordan died at approximately 2:45 p.m. EDT on September 16, 2007, and a funeral service was held for him on Wednesday, September 19, 2007. Jordan was cremated and his ashes buried in the churchyard of St. James Church in Goose Creek, outside Charleston.

Dragons of Winter Night by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Title: Dragons of Winter Night
Authors: Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Narrator: Paul Boehmer
Genre: High Fantasy

I purchased this audiobook and chose to do an honest and unbiased review.  The authors and Audible Studios neither requested nor are associated with this review.

Goodreads Description:

They won their first real battle in the war for Krynn, but the war has only just begun for the Companions! Friendships born in conflict will be torn apart. Hope will rest on the shoulders of a disgraced Knight and his two inexperienced companions. Worlds long divided by hatred and prejudice will either band together in a last struggle against darkness - or perish for all time.


Here's What I Thought:
I, again, listened to this book on Audible and found it was more enjoyable than the first. As much as it pained me to see the companions separated, I think it allowed so much more depth to be added to the story.

I am not going to go much into characters as this is the second book, but I do think that a few things are worth mentioning:

I was right about my assumptions about Laurana. She had so much character growth in this book.  In the first book, her bother Gilthanas was heroic, while she was a spoiled princess.  I almost feel as if the roles were reversed. In fact, although Gilthanas is somewhat set up to be a key character in the first book, he starts to seem more like a forgettable side character now (I actually had to look up his name because I forgot it.) By the end of Dragons of Winter Night, Laurana was, by far, my favorite character.  I still love Tas and Flint, but more in a comic relief way.  Laurana is a total bad ass and everything I want in a heroine. 

Tanis gained a few props in my book as with with this installment.  Events lead him to make some decisions that would, otherwise, be out of character for him. He is less of the "perfect" leader in this book, which is what makes me like him so much more.  I like to see flaws in characters.

Raistlin has me almost starting to like him, but I'm still not sure.  Tas and Flint are just Tas and Flint. Sturm is just as chivalrous as ever. Goldmoon and Riverwind are also starting to take a backseat to other characters. For the most part, they could almost be taken completely out and nothing would have changed. Oh, and Theros Ironfield randomly reappears, although this strikes me as more of a convenience for plot development than an actual addition to the story.

And now onto the plot:

As it is divided into sub-books, there is enough intense action to hold interest throughout as each book had it's primary conflict and resolution, which I loved.  My biggest complaint about the plot is that it became hard to follow at times.  The scene in Silvanesti was complicated and I think I had to listen to it five times before I could completely follow it.  Maybe if I had physically read it, it would not have been so confusing, but I did not feel that it translated to audio format well.

The individual political situations of the refugee elves and the Nights of Solamnia, as well as their intermingling political situations, also comes into play.  At times, I felt there was not enough context.  The Kagonesti Elves were very overlooked. I also thought that the separate orders within the knighthood should have been better explained in order to fully understand the depth of the situation.

Love. Let's talk about love for a second.  I am not into romance, but never complain about a well developed relationship forming.  Goldmoon and Riverwind were introduced as already proclaimed betrothed. That relationship is formed.  The Tanis/Kitiara/ Laurana  goes back to pre-first book as well, although it does get explored more in book two.  Both these relationships are fine.  But I do have issues with instalove.  I hate it.  Period.  Over the past two books I have watch Caramon and Tika's relationship slowly form, and I absolutely adore watching it blossom. That is not what I am referring to when I say instalove. 

I mentioned that Gilthanas almost fades into the background by the end of this book, which is true. I think the only thing he added to the book was his instalove relationship. I won't get to much into it, because, you know... Spoilers! But, seriously?!?! I kid you not. The entire thing went like: Hey! I just met you. This is crazy, but we should get married! Any Carly Rae Jepsen fans? Not my taste in music, but the most fitting reference I could find. It was instant.  They were both infatuated. And I pretty much wanted to vomit. Thankfully, it was only a small part of the book, so there were plenty of other things to redeem it.

The book ended with an altercation that was both fitting and sad.  Without spoilers, I will say that as much as I hate endings such as these, they are necessary.  This type of ending is what separates forgettable books from the memorable and keeps me willing to continue on with the series.

My overall rating is 3 stars.  I still feel like the overall story is cookie cutter in the second installment, but there has been a lot of growth.  What kept me from giving this book 4 stars, or even 3.5, is the parts that were so hard to follow and the instalove (I hated it that much).  Someday, when I'm a stay at home dog mom (I can dream, right?), I'll actually physically read the books and that, combined with hindsight, may be enough to increase it. It was close, but for now, I stand by the solid 3 star rating.

Any Thoughts?

I would love to hear what you think! If you have any additional thoughts or want to talk more about the book, be sure to leave a comment or send me an email!

About The Authors:

Fantasy novelist who, along with Tracy Hickman, was one of the original creators of the Dragonlance game world. I've written numerous novels and short stories set in the world of Krynn, as well as series in other, original worlds. These include: Darksword, Rose of the Prophet, Star of the Guardians, DeathGate, Dragonvarld, Sovereign Stone, Dragonships, and the Dragon Brigade. I also wrote two paranormal romance novels, Fallen Angel and Warrior Angel, with my daughter, Elizabeth Baldwin. I graduated from the University of Missouri–Columbia and now live in Wisconsin with dogs, Max, Dixie, Joey the Thug and Clancy the Hooligan.

I am currently working on the third book in the Dragon Brigade series, the Seventh Sigil. The first book is Shadow Raiders. The second book is Storm Riders, coming out from Tor in July 2013.

My hobby is flyball racing with my dogs, Dixie, a border collie, and two crackhead Shelties, Joey the Thug and Clancy the Hooligan.

I am the owner of the company, Margaret Weis Productions, publisher of RPGs. Our newest project is creating the RPG for the wonderful TV series, Firefly. Shiny!


NYT Best-selling fantasy authors Tracy Hickman, with his wife Laura, began their journey across the 'Sea of Possibilities' as the creators of 'Dragonlance' and their voyage continues into new areas with the 'Drakis' trilogy, 'Wayne of Gotham', a Batman novel for DC Comics and his 'Dragon's Bard' collector's series . Tracy has over fifty books currently in print in most languages around the world. A record of both Tracy and Laura's DNA currently orbits on the international space station and he is the writer and editor of the first science-fiction movie actually filmed in space. 

Links: 

http://www.margaretweis.com/
http://www.trhickman.com/
@trhickman

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

Title: The Eye of the World
Author: Robert Jordan
Genre: High Fantasy

I purchased this ebook and chose to do an honest and unbiased review.  Tom Doherty Associates neither requested nor are associated with this review.

Goodreads Description:            

The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow. 

Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.

Since its debut in 1990, The Wheel of Time® by Robert Jordan has captivated millions of readers around the globe with its scope, originality, and compelling characters.

The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

When The Two Rivers is attacked by Trollocs-a savage tribe of half-men, half-beasts- five villagers flee that night into a world they barely imagined, with new dangers waiting in the shadows and in the light.

Here's What I Thought:
By my lack of posting, You could probably guess that I have been in a massive reading slump.  Any book that I picked up, I would put down after a few chapters.  It's not that any of those books weren't good... It's just that I wasn't feeling it, so to speak. I had been hearing about the Wheel of Time series from pretty much everyone that reads fantasy, but was seriously intimidated by the prospect of tackling this monster sized series.  With 14 books, 1 prequel and a grand total word count of 3,505,736, it is a daunting task to take on under the best circumstances, let alone in the midst of a reading slump spanning not days or weeks, but years. But this may be just the series to do that.

The book starts off with the events that ended the Age of Legends and then goes forward 3,000 year to Rand.  I liked this, but I also didn't like this.  I liked it because it had action that grabbed you from the start.  I didn't like it because the prologue was super confusing and hard to follow because it jumped into the middle of the world and magic system that Jordan builds over many books. Some of my questions were answered throughout The Eye of the World, but many were not.  Even the questions that were answered left me with more questions and eager to start the next book. The plot itself had a good balance of exposition and action.  Jordan loves details and some descriptions do drag, much like Tolkien, but he makes sure to insert action enough so the reader does not get bored.  In this first book, he has already begun to weave a complex Pattern of world building and magic systems. (The word "Pattern" is capitalized for a reason. 😉)

A little about the characters: Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, Nynaeve, Thom, Lan, and Morraine. This book follows them leaving The Two Rivers and Emonds Field and heading to Tar Valon. What I loved most about the characters is that they are relatable.   Rand, Mat, and Perrin dreamed of leaving The Two Rivers to go on adventure, but when the chance came, they realized how much they really liked their lives in their little village.  Egwene is just amazing because she decides from the beginning that she wants to be a hero and have adventure rather than just have it thrust upon her like the boys. Nynaeve was a challenge to learn to like.  She can be abrasive, but she also has her reasons for being like she is and, by the end of book one, I was already starting to like her so much more.  Thom is interesting.  He is the classic bard character, but I am convinced that there is significantly more to him than meets the eye.  Lan is like granite.  It's hard to talk much about him as he is a man of few words and he always seems impassive.  Morraine is complicated.  On one hand you can tell she genuinely cares for the Emonds Fielders, but you can also tell there is a lot more to her motives than she lets on. 

Overall, my biggest gripe about this book was final fight of the book.  I'm reading it, at the edge of my seat, following everyone's part to play, when suddenly.... What? What just happened? It turns into this confusing mess that I'm not sure if it's even reality at that point, but when I keep reading, I find out is reality? I guess... Sure. Even if I was willing to spoil what happens, I wouldn't even know how to describe what happens. It's just that confusing.  I discussed this with others that have read it and found that I am not alone in this sentiment. Fortunately, I am told that the subsequent books are significantly better (which is pretty hard to imagine to begin with) and more than make up for the weird battle scene at the end.  

Although the part I hated most--the only part of the book that I hated actually--was kind of a big deal, the rest of the book set up for an epic fantasy that has me excited for more.  As I write this, I have already started The Great Hunt.  It's good to finally be out of a slump and I will get to spend a lot of time with my favorite characters to keep my momentum going. My final rating is 4 stars. I may have elevated it a tish just because it brought back my excitement for reading.

Quote:

“Relax, lad. Take life as it comes. Run when you have to, fight when you must, rest when you can.”

-Elyas Machera                         

About The Author:

Robert Jordan was the pen name of James Oliver Rigney, Jr., under which he was best known as the author of the bestselling The Wheel of Time fantasy series. He also wrote under the names Reagan O'Neal and Jackson O'Reilly.

Jordan was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He served two tours in Vietnam (from 1968 to 1970) with the United States Army as a helicopter gunner. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with bronze oak leaf cluster, the Bronze Star with "V" and bronze oak leaf cluster, and two Vietnamese Gallantry Crosses with palm. After returning from Vietnam he attended The Citadel where he received an undergraduate degree in physics. After graduating he was employed by the United States Navy as a nuclear engineer. He began writing in 1977. He was a history buff and enjoyed hunting, fishing, sailing, poker, chess, pool, and pipe collecting.

He described himself as a "High Church" Episcopalian and received communion more than once a week. He lived with his wife Harriet McDougal, who works as a book editor (currently with Tor Books; she was also Jordan's editor) in a house built in 1797.

Responding to queries on the similarity of some of the concepts in his Wheel of Time books with Freemasonry concepts, Jordan admitted that he was a Freemason. However, "like his father and grandfather," he preferred not to advertise, possibly because of the negative propaganda against Freemasonry. In his own words, "no man in this country should feel in danger because of his beliefs."

On March 23, 2006, Jordan disclosed in a statement that he had been diagnosed with cardiac amyloidosis, and that with treatment, his median life expectancy was four years, though he said he intended to beat the statistics. He later posted on his Dragonmount blog to encourage his fans not to worry about him and that he intended to have a long and fully creative life.

He began chemotherapy treatment at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in early April 2006. Jordan was enrolled in a study using the drug Revlimid just approved for multiple myeloma but not yet tested on primary amyloidosis.

Jordan died at approximately 2:45 p.m. EDT on September 16, 2007, and a funeral service was held for him on Wednesday, September 19, 2007. Jordan was cremated and his ashes buried in the churchyard of St. James Church in Goose Creek, outside Charleston.

Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

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Title: Dragons of Autumn Twilight
Authors: Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Narrator: Paul Boehmer
Genre: High Fantasy

I purchased this audiobook and chose to do an honest and unbiased review.  The authors and Audible Studios neither requested nor are associated with this review.

Goodreads Description:

Life-long friends, they went their separate ways. Now they are together again, though each holds secrets from the others in his heart. They speak of a world shadowed with rumors of war. They speak of tales with strange monsters, creatures of myth, creatures of legend. They do not speak of their secrets. Not then. Not until a chanced encounter with a beautiful, sorrowful woman who bears a magical crystal staff draws the companions deeper into the shadow forever changing their lives and shaping the fate of the world.
No one expected them to be heroes.
Least of all themselves.

Here's What I Thought:

First off, I will say that I listened to this book on Audible so I did not read this book in the traditional sense.  One of my long-time friends has been after me to read this series for years and now I finally took the plunge.  Looking at the reviews on Audible, I went into the book with fairly low expectations.  Paul Boehmer did not exactly receive standing ovations for his performance in narrating the Dragonlance Chronicles.  I struggle with audiobooks on the best of days so this was far from reassuring.  

I was, however, pleasantly surprised.  I am in the minority that actually enjoys his narration. His voice is soothing in my opinion. One complaint was that he was monotone with little vocal range.  I disagree with the monotone, wholeheartedly. Although I do agree he does not have a lot of vocal range, as someone who does not routinely listen to audiobooks, this is not beyond my expectation.  I was expecting one person to read the book, not have a menagerie of voices you would expect with a full cast, and that is what I received.  He does do character voices, but I guess people expect a greater differentiation between them.  The one complaint that I do agree with, although I don't consider it to be life altering by any means, is Boehmer does make awkward extended pauses fairly frequently.  It's almost as if he inserted random commas.  Sometimes, they were long enough to make me check my app to ensure it was still playing.  Annoying? Yes. Deal breaker? Not for me, at least.

Now onto the book itself. Overall, I thought the book was good. It was interesting enough for me to be excited to move on to the next book and be invested in the characters.  However, I will say that the plot is not highly original and follows the roadmap paved by most epic fantasies before and will be followed by many more fantasies in the future. A group of friends start off on an adventure and find there is a great evil lurking in the realm.  In trying to just simply live their lives, they somehow find themselves in the thick of it all and end up on a quest to determine the fate of the world.

The heroes seem to follow the classic archetypes commonly found in fantasies. Tanis is the Ruler, Raistlin is the Magician (who'd have thought?), Caramon is the Caretaker, Sturm is the Warrior, Tasslehoff is the Joker, and Flint, I would say he is bordering on Mentor--he defers to Tanis as the leader, but his experience is often drawn upon and he frequently talks about how he is not able to fight the way he used to--although it may be a stretch for him.  Honestly, I'm not sure which archetype he would fit in entirely, but I'm sure it's one of them.  

Despite the characters being very stereotypical, they had enough personality to become attached to them.  By far, Tasslehoff is my favorite character and I love watching his and Flint's dynamic.  Tass is like a 4 year old child with ADHD pumped up on sugar and Flint is like the crochety, old man trying to keep him in line.  Tanis is alright, but I did find him to be pretty cliché for the genre.  Raistlin... Well, Raistlin I really don't know what to make of yet. He is very questionable more often than not it seems.  I like Caramon, although he is nothing spectacular. Finally, Sturm kind of irritates me with all his talk about honor and the Code.  He really is the knight in shining armor from days of old.  He was kind of a yawn.  

Another character that I was left with high hopes for actually came in later in the book.  Laurana is Tanis's childhood flame, so to speak.  Initially, she comes across as a spoiled princess (which she kind of is, I guess...), but by the end she has already begun to show growth.  This leaves me excited to see where she goes in the subsequent books.  

There are also a few characters that I expect to find there is more to them than meets the eye as time goes on.  The first is Fizban.  Rule one of fantasy is that the senile, old wizard should always be taken seriously. The other is the man with a green jewel in his chest.  I have no idea the part he plays, but I'm curious to find out. 

So, overall, not entirely original but still a fun read.  I actually liked that it was familiar so to speak in the world building since I listened to it as an audiobook.  I'm also currently reading the Wheel of Time series and with that massive and extensive world building, I don't think I would be able to wrap my head around it all listening to it as an audiobook. It's an easy read/listen and despite what people say, Paul Boehmer is really not that bad if you just give him a chance.  Final rating: 3 stars.

Any Thoughts?

I would love to hear what you think! If you have any additional thoughts or want to talk more about the book, be sure to leave a comment or send me an email!

About The Authors:

Fantasy novelist who, along with Tracy Hickman, was one of the original creators of the Dragonlance game world. I've written numerous novels and short stories set in the world of Krynn, as well as series in other, original worlds. These include: Darksword, Rose of the Prophet, Star of the Guardians, DeathGate, Dragonvarld, Sovereign Stone, Dragonships, and the Dragon Brigade. I also wrote two paranormal romance novels, Fallen Angel and Warrior Angel, with my daughter, Elizabeth Baldwin. I graduated from the University of Missouri–Columbia and now live in Wisconsin with dogs, Max, Dixie, Joey the Thug and Clancy the Hooligan.

I am currently working on the third book in the Dragon Brigade series, the Seventh Sigil. The first book is Shadow Raiders. The second book is Storm Riders, coming out from Tor in July 2013.

My hobby is flyball racing with my dogs, Dixie, a border collie, and two crackhead Shelties, Joey the Thug and Clancy the Hooligan.

I am the owner of the company, Margaret Weis Productions, publisher of RPGs. Our newest project is creating the RPG for the wonderful TV series, Firefly. Shiny! 

NYT Best-selling fantasy authors Tracy Hickman, with his wife Laura, began their journey across the 'Sea of Possibilities' as the creators of 'Dragonlance' and their voyage continues into new areas with the 'Drakis' trilogy, 'Wayne of Gotham', a Batman novel for DC Comics and his 'Dragon's Bard' collector's series . Tracy has over fifty books currently in print in most languages around the world. A record of both Tracy and Laura's DNA currently orbits on the international space station and he is the writer and editor of the first science-fiction movie actually filmed in space. 

Links: 

http://www.margaretweis.com/
http://www.trhickman.com/
@trhickman

Blog Remodel!

 Hey everyone!

I am probably the least consistent blogger on the face of the planet, right? Well, once again, I am trying to pull myself out of a reading slump... And I think I finally found the series to do it! I just discovered the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan and now I feel like I must have been living under a rock all this time.  I am just starting The Great Hunt (book 2) and am super excited!

With my new found excitement, I decided to revive my blog, but with a few changes.  First and foremost, I am doing a name change.  Stars and Shadows Book Ranch will be known as Jax's Book Nook from here on out.  I decided to do a name change for a couple reasons.  First is that I feel that Stars and Shadow Book Ranch did not convey the level of maturity that I would my blog to have.  I do enjoy YA books, but would like to expand into more adult books and I think the name was a little restrictive.  Second is I just feel this name fits with who I am at this point in my life.  When I first started this blog, I was young and had just gotten my horse and was obsessed. EVERYTHING had to be associated with horses.  Since then, the novelty has worn off and I realize that, sometimes, hobbies are best to remain separate.

So that explains the name change.  What else is changing? Well, for the time being I am going to hold off on taking requests for reviewing books.  I want to be sure that I am going to stay slump free before I make any commitments. I will leave up my review policy for future reference, but I will decline any requests I receive.  I am hoping to start taking requests again in 2021.

Over the next few days, I am going to be working on reviews for Dragons of Autumn Twilight and Dragons of Winter Night, both by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman which I listened to on Audible. I will also be doing a review for Eye of the World by Robert Jordan which I read as an e-book.  I have several books on my TBR which I will be reading concurrently with both of these series as well.  The one that I am most excited for is To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini.  It will be his sci-fi debut and I am excited to see how he has grown as an author.  So far I have heard great things.  I am also planning on starting the Mistborn trilogy.  Believe it or not, I have never read anything by Brandon Sanderson either.  I know! I'm a bad fantasy reader! Hopefully, I can fix that over the next few months.  

Well, that is just a little of what to expect with Jax's Book Nook in the upcoming months! Right now, I am ten books behind on my Goodreads 2020 Challenge but I am working furiously to catch up! So stay tuned for my upcoming reviews!