The darkest hero you’ll ever read

The Prince of Thorns (The Broken Empire Trilogy) by Mark Lawrence – average rating 4 stars on Amazon and 3.86 on Goodreads

Are you ready for a grisly tale? – This is perhaps one of the darkest stories I’ve read since A Clockwork Orange. Set in what appears to be medieval times, a teenage prince is driven by powerful forces and fate to return to his father’s kingdom to reclaim his place as heir.

A final test of loyalty wraps up Roth’s first series

Divergent by Veronica Roth – average rating 3.3 stars on Amazon and 3.64 on Goodreads

What were they reading? – Roth’s finale gets crushed by some readers and I just don’t get it…wait, yes I do.  Don’t let the low score fool you, the central theme from those who didn’t like Allegiant is all about the ending.  I’ll not spoil it but I will say that it was perfectly fine by me in terms of how she handled her characters.  Look, this whole series was about loyalty, identify, relationships, and principles.  When you mix those ingredients and add the human condition you get a big mess – most of us go through a period of being a human train wreck, particularly when we’re young.  No different with Tris, Tobias and crew.  If you’re looking for a clean ending that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy you’ll be disappointed.  If you expect that, like real life, some people sometimes lose the big hand in the card game then you’ll be fine with how this one wraps up.  I will only say that Veronica Roth (and if you’ve read the other books in the series) isn’t afraid to schwack a character…she’s no George Martin by any stretch but she’ll kill one here or there to add some context. 

Brooks’ old magic is strong as ever

The Measure of Magic by Terry Brooks – average rating 4.1 stars on Amazon and 3.93 on Goodreads 

Items of note – Master fantasy author Terry Brooks adds another significant piece to the foundation and backdrop of his epicShannara tales, with what appears to be a two-book effort titled Legends of Shannara.  Typical Brooks style and detail permeate from the pages as his small band of underdogs takes on the Demon known as the Ragpicker.  Personally, I wasn’t happy about him throwing a demon in the mix because the previous series was all about wiping them out.  Oh, and the trolls – you’ll witness the first big clash in centuries with trolls trying to dominate humans and elves alike.  

Search for truth tests loyalties – including the reader’s

Insurgent by Veronica Roth – average rating 4.6 stars on Amazon and 4.22 on Goodreads 

Setting the Scene – Insurgent starts with a bit of quiet after the storm that had Tobias aka Four and Tris running for their lives in the wake of the Erudite initiated, Dauntless executed massacre in the Abnegation district.  Their hope for a little peace and quiet in with the Amity faction is short lived, forcing them to join forces with the FactionIess.  Not going to spoil any of the good stuff here but suffice it to say they begin a trek to figure out who they really are and where they all came from.  This book won’t really answer those questions but it does a fine job setting up the grand finale – which I’ll talk about in a subsequent review. 

Divergent paths all lead to promising future

Divergent by Veronica Roth – average rating 4.6 stars on Amazon and 4.36 on Goodreads

A Few Thoughts – If you read this book without trying to draw comparisons to other dystopian fiction you’ll really enjoy it, however, if you want more of the Hunger Games you’ll spend far too much time trying to pick it apart.  Both occupy space in the same genre, and both feature strong female lead characters…just stop there.  I really enjoyed Roth’s work with this opening act of her Divergent series because the action scenes were plentiful enough to move the plot along nicely.  She really worked on developing a few key characters and really established good depth for Tris, her main character.