Got some good stuff at this year's BEA.  My summer is fully booked. 

 

Feuer und Blut - Erstes Buch: Aufstieg u...

 

A world divided.
A queendom without an heir.
An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction—but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

#1 A Game of Thrones - ★★★★★

This book will shake and break your heart! This book will make you realise that life is anything but gentle. But this book will also bring you the greatest adventure you have yet to see.

I have bought my whole book collection back in 2014. I have been procrastinating with this series for four years. And today, while writing this review, I thank the old gods and the new, for convincing me to read the first book.

I am probably one of the last people that have reviewed this book, and I assume you all already know a lot about the Game of Thrones series.

It is a book about one Iron Throne, and all the wars, fights, betrayals are about who will be sitting on that throne, and who will be in charge of all kingdoms.



Now, starting off, I am still not sure why people would send armies and armies of soldiers in order to win the throne, when it seems that no matter who becomes a king, that person gets instantly killed. And no kingdom respects each other, and kings and lords keep fighting off and wasting resources for a lost purpose, so there’s that as well.

We have many houses, Stark, Lannister, Baratheon, Tully, Arryn, Targaryen, Tyrell, Greyjoy, Martell, etc - and they all feature with something unique to their house. Most importantly, they all either want the throne, want revenge or want them both.

But just to clarify - I loved the book!

George R.R. Martin is a genius! He has created this amazing world, and characters that are so alive that make you either hate them or love them, but with all your heart. He has created relationships so tangled and stories so well written, that he puts other authors to shame.

The book is written from a third person perspective, and each chapter features a character. And with each chapter, George moves the time gradually, so we are not stuck in a loop of time pause. I enjoyed this method quite a lot! It kept the story line going very smoothly.

‘’Most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it.’’

There were so many characters I admired. But my connection with these characters in this book is unlike any other connection I have made. I usually either love or hate a character. But here, I judged actions, and relationships, and things people said and did!

I liked Eddard Stark’s bravery, and his manliness, but I didn’t like the fact that he was too honest for his own good.

‘’Can a man still be brave if he’s afraid?
‘’That’s the only time a man an be brave’’.

I loved Arya’s fierceness, but I didn’t like her stubbornness.

‘’For the second time today Arya reflected that life was not fair.’’

I liked Sansa’s politeness, and girlishness. She had all the perfect manners, but she also would betray family for love.

I loved Jon Snow’s story, and how he overcame his past, and learned to live with it.


‘’Let me give you some counsel, bastard.‘’ Lannister said. ‘’Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.’’


I loved many other characters for things they did, and hated many others, but I cherished the difference in each and every character, and that was the beauty in it - that even though an author can create so many characters, he can make them so different from each other.

In this book, you will encounter everything: mostly mean people, ready to kill everyone and anyone standing in the way of their plans. You will read about a story of a family that falls apart, a kingdom that vanishes, a fight between kings, how a little girl will learn life in one day, how a mother will watch her children disappear, one by one...

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

In the time that's elapsed since the first book was released Shakespeare managed:

Henry VI, Part 2 (1590–1591)

Henry VI, Part 3 (1590–1591)

Henry VI, Part 1 (1591–1592)

Richard III (1592–1593)

The Comedy of Errors (1592–1593)

Titus Andronicus (1593–1594)

The Taming of the Shrew (1593–1594)

The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594–1595)

Love's Labour's Lost (1594–1595)

Romeo and Juliet (1594–1595)

Richard II (1595–1596)

A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595–1596)

King John (1596–1597)

The Merchant of Venice (1596–1597)

Henry IV, Part 1 (1597–1598)

Henry IV, Part 2 (1597–1598)

Much Ado About Nothing (1598–1599)

Henry V (1598–1599)

Julius Caesar (1599–1600)

As You Like It (1599–1600)

Twelfth Night (1599–1600)

Hamlet (1600–1601)

The Merry Wives of Windsor (1600–1601)

Troilus and Cressida (1601–1602)

All's Well That Ends Well (1602–1603)

Measure for Measure (1604–1605)

Othello (1604–1605)

King Lear (1605–1606)

Macbeth (1605–1606)

Antony and Cleopatra (1606–1607)

Coriolanus (1607–1608)

Timon of Athens (1607–1608)

Pericles, Prince of Tyre (1608–1609)

Cymbeline (1609–1610)

The Winter's Tale (1610–1611)

PS. There was no Netflix in those days. Or even an EU which people worked out their inadequacies with, by pretending to hate while not understanding it.

 

If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.