Here’s a round up of some of the books I read over the past few months. Due to some time constraints and other things happening in life, I wasn’t able to write full reviews for these books, but they deserve acknowledgement.
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas – Short Review
Considering that I didn’t much enjoy Throne of Glass, I was quite surprised by Crown of Midnight. When I’d finished Throne of Glass, I was sure I wouldn’t continue with the series, but there’s just something about Sarah J. Maas’ writing that I tend to crave. And as someone who writes fiction, I find Mrs. Maas to be a big inspiration. I like how she presents her world-building elements with simplified, flowery prose, and A Court of Mist and Fury is still one of the most memorable books I’ve ever read.
Crown of Midnight didn’t disappoint at all. Celaena Sardothien finally started to live up to the background painted for her previously. She was more bold in this book, as opposed to being soft and sentimental in the first book, to the point that it contradicted her past as a cold, deadly assassin. Crown of Midnight follows her trials as the King’s personal assassin. But Celaena has secretly been keeping those she’s supposed to kill…alive, defying the King’s wishes. Calaena has her own agenda, and by the end of the book we’re presented with a huge twist that sets up the remainder of this series in an interesting way.
I’ve heard from many that the story starts to become epic in book 3, Heir of Fire and I will be reading it before 2019 is over.
Home: Binti 2 by Nnedi Okorafor – Short Review
Home: Binti 2 picks up after Binti has spent a year at Oomza University in space. She is now returning home to her people in the Himba tribe so that she can take part in the pilgrimage that women in her culture take across the desert.
When returning home, Binti is conscious of the changes that have taken place within herself. After her Meduse transformation, her body has changed and she has to come to terms with this. On top of this, her family and her tribe are cold towards her because they’re still unhappy about her leaving the tribe to attend the Oomza University.
Home: Binti 2 takes a deeper look inside Binti as a character, and it educates readers about tribal practices. Like the previous book, this one is a quick read that seems to end abruptly. Hopefully the third book expands on Binti’s unique character traits and allows her to accomplish something unthinkable.
I love how Nnedi Okorafor is able to blend scifi elements with tribal practices. It’s an original mix of themes that educates readers on the nature of African tribes.
Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made by Jason Schreier – Short Review
As someone who has given over 10 years to the video games media industry, I can do nothing but respect the level of journalism presented by Kotaku’s Jason Schreier. He’s one of the only remaining “journalists” in the video game industry that does true investigative work.
Blood, Sweat and Pixels takes a look at the development behind several high-profile mainstream video games. It highlights the highs and lows of the development cycle behind games like Dragon Age: Inquisition, Destiny, Uncharted 4, Stardew Valley, The Witcher 3 and the cancelled Star Wars 1313.
These are some of the best video games to emerge over the past half-a-decade, so I thoroughly enjoyed reading about what it took to put these games together. And as a result, I now appreciate the games I play that much more. If you have any level of appreciation for the video games industry, this is a book you should definitely read.
