Book Review: IRON GOLD (Red Rising # 4) by Pierce Brown

Iron Gold by Pierce Brown

My rating: 5 of 5 stars (but I'd give it a 10 out of 5 if I could!!!!!)


"Giants can be felled with words. Words are our salvation... What age do you want to live in? One where the sword leads and we follow? Or an age where our voice can sing louder than an engine can roar?"

Slag it, but IRON GOLD was a gory prime read!!!

(You know you're starting to get obsessed with a series when you start using jargon from the books in actual life!)

I would give this particular book 10 stars if I could! Heck, I'd get me a Red Rising tattoo if my job didn't forbid it!!! Rarely has a book made me stay up waaaaay past midnight, and this one just wouldn't. Let. Me. Sleep.

Pierce Brown just keeps getting better at bringing the philosophical and political debates of the ancient Greeks and Romans to the stars.

You know how in epic movies, there will be one character who says the best lines, whether in a speech before a hostile crowd to sway them to side with him afterwards, or a pre-battle call to arms to stir the blood of soldiers to a frenzy before the fray?

Well in IRON GOLD, there's so many of them! Men and women who utter the best words -- doesn't matter if they're witty one-liners or monologues--- and do the most outlandish things out of an iron sense of duty and honor that comes from myth and legend... and they become so real, you honestly feel the hole in your heart when tragedy inevitably befalls some characters.

Bow before Pierce Brown for writing genius... for the incredible plot twists and turns, the vile betrayal, the sheer skill in making an interplanetary war feel so darn personal, the violent action scenes written in terse sentences that make you hold in your breath while reading as quickly as you can, the intermingling of ethics and politics, and for showing that ending a war is an altogether easier task than keeping the peace.

And oh my goodness, this fourth book raises so many questions!! Can democracy work? Has the hero become the villain? Is social hierarchy necessary for peace?

And yes, sci-fi is a great vehicle for showing how divisions in race, class, and religion play out in terms of far-reaching consequences. No wonder so many are going crazy for this series! (What with graphic novels and a television show in the works) There is so much to learn about our real world from Pierce Brown's incredible one. And while his stories show the pitch black depths that human nature can reach, he also shows us the best that we can aspire to be.

What age do I want to live in? One with literature that truly deserves the adjective "epic," the age of Pierce Brown!!!



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Book Review: A STUDY IN SCARLET (Lady Sherlock # 1) by Sherry Thomas

A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The hype is real! Ahaha.

I've been a fan of Sherry Thomas ever since I picked up one of her romance novels.

For someone who studied English as a second language only as a teenager, her mastery of it is exquisite, her sentences crafted with the skill of an artisan. You read Sherry Thomas not only for the plot and dialogue, but also for the pleasure of her turns of phrase.

What if Sherlock Holmes was a lady who loves eating far too much and constantly uses her genius for legitimate feminine concerns such as working out (to the pound!) the exact weight that will give her a one point four (decimals included!!!) double chin? Apart from solving crimes, of course.

Extremely grateful to those who recommended the series, and all the more that Books 2 and 3 in the series are available, with Book 4 coming soon! Oh, it's a fine time to be alive.



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Book Review: IMAGO (Xenogenesis/ Lilith's Brood Book # 3) by Octavia E. Butler

Imago by Octavia E. Butler

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


"You'll have a life. Be careful who you give it to."

It's been several months since I read the previous book in Octavia E. Butler's trilogy, and while Book 3 had several familiar characters from the previous books (the Oankali alien race with three sexes: male, female, and Ooloi, the only sex that can manipulate genetic material), I think it was the most complicated in the series in terms of plot. It also had the most interesting title.

A quick Google search tells us that imago is the last adult stage of an insect that undergoes metamorphosis. Insects are so unlike us humans, they seem almost alien. And it's a fitting title for a book whose protagonist, Jodahs, is the first of its kind: a product of both Lilith, its human mother, and Ooloi.

Book 3 is Jodah's story, and I shall use the pronoun "it" to describe Jodah because it changes gender throughout. It is certainly a very novel experience (to put it mildly!!) to place one's self in the mind of what is essentially a bisexual alien creature, albeit temporarily! It was also a disturbing read in some parts, because after all, Jodahs is struggling to survive, to find meaning and love, in a world where it is perceived as alien even by its fellow aliens. This is one book that is definitely for mature readers only.

Am giving it three stars because I can't honestly claim that I liked it, it was far too disturbing a read for that. But I do recognize its worth, because after all, that is what great literature is supposed to do: provoke questions that stimulate reflection about imperialism, human nature, and the universal desire for touch and love.

Above all, it is a book about identity.

"Before I met you, Jodahs, I knew myself much better." This line was uttered by one of Jodahs' many partners towards the end. But in the beginning, it was Jodahs who kept changing itself to please its current partner.

"What would happen to me when I had ... more mates? Would I be like the sky, constantly changing, clouded, clear, clouded, clear? Would I have to be hateful to one partner in order to please the other?"

Ultimately the book makes us ask questions of our individual identity as well as the identity of our species.

P.S. Hello there bookish friends! I'm more than happy to lend this book, but the edition I have is anthology where you get all three novels in one book. Also, you should know that the cover is too risqué to post on social media, haha, which is why I will borrow Goodreads' and Amazon's images! So maybe you'll have to get a book cover if you want to read this one in the MRT station. *wink*

Click on the links for Book 1 and Book 2 for my reviews.

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Book Review: THE HOD KING (The Books of Babel # 3) by Josiah Bancroft

The Hod King by Josiah Bancroft
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Polite society! I've learned the true nature of civility. Civility is critiquing how another man pronounces a word or knots his necktie, and then saying nothing about how a ringdom hangs its poor. Civility is having ardent opinions about plays and actors and made-up stories, and no opinion whatsoever about the real tragedies of the black trail. Civility is a crowded execution."

So what started initially as a love story has now become much, much bigger. It's now "trying to save the whole of civilization and mankind" big. And this third book, the longest at a little under 600 pages, focuses on the other supporting characters and not so much on Senlin anymore, which is fine because most of the book features Edith, the female pirate, and one of the most complex and lovable characters ever penned.

And of course, there's also the fact that Josiah Bancroft writes so. darn. well. His fantasy story is so realistic, as it so clearly mirrors our own world and what's wrong with it. He shows how a corrupt society takes even the best of people and chews them out, making them heartless and cruel. But he also shows how these ruined souls can change after being shown a bit of kindness, and of course, how love redeems all (whether reciprocated or one-sided... it does not matter).

I have only one thing on my mind...WHEN WILL BOOK 4 BE OUT??!!!!

Please click on these links for my reviews of Book 1 and Book 2.

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Book Review: I OWE YOU ONE by Sophie Kinsella

I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


"As I survey the faces that I love so dearly, I feel a kind of contentment. So we're not flash. So we're not moneyed. So we don't have all the answers or know exactly where we're going. We'll still be all right, our family. We'll be all right."

This has GOT to be Sophie Kinsella's best novel yet. The last paragraph actually made me tear up, and I'm typing this through a haze as tears can get in the way of visual acuity. Haha.

Yes, it's formulaic. Yes, her heroines seem to come from a cookie cutter mold.

But come on. Admit it. When the world seems a tad bit darker than normal, you don't crave for a cheese platter. You reach for a glass of milk and chocolate chip cookies because they bring comfort and light.

And Sophie Kinsella, to extend the metaphor, makes THE. BEST. COOKIES. Plus, she keeps getting better and better!

The signature Sophie Kinsella humor is there (you know, where you laugh out loud in public). I love that she has her pulse on trends, the characters and stereotypes in the novel seem so contemporary!

But also, she focuses her novels on the things that matter. Family. Loyalty. Integrity. And this book seemed even better written than the previous ones, so those scenes stood out and shone even more brightly.

And to anyone who turns their noses up on Kinsella because she's "chick lit" and "fluff," well, I dare you to read this book and NOT enjoy yourself. It's impossible.

Will always be a fan of hers and any author who brings joy to their readers.



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Book Review: ARM OF THE SPHINX (The Books of Babel # 2) by Josiah Bancroft

Arm of the Sphinx by Josiah Bancroft

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


"Do not allow small people to make large impressions. Do not fritter your beauty upon mirrors. Do not make wishes, for wishes only curse the life you have. Never forget, you stand at the end of a long line of short lives."

Book 2 of THE BOOKS OF BABEL SERIES was a pretty good sequel, although it must be said Book 1 was in another league of awesome. The 2nd book ended on such a cliffhanger, and now I simply MUST look for Book 3!

Why do I like this series so much?

Because it's a simple story, beautifully told, that can be read at its most basic level as the adventures of a teacher in his quest to recover his lost wife... But also, it can be viewed as one big metaphor for humanity's struggle with progress. And I'm just so emotionally invested, after the agony of witnessing an honorable man driven to do less than honorable deeds... for love.

See my review for Book 1 of the series here.

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Book Review: ME AND SHAKESPEARE by Herman Gollob

Me and Shakespeare: Adventures with the Bard by Herman Gollob

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


"Why shouldn't I, why couldn't I, enlarge my field of vision before the screen went blank? ... I stood in the middle of the yard, an old man made mad by a love of Shakespeare...I could feel bursting inside me, still there with a vengeance... that heightened sensitivity to the promise of life."

Having endured a particularly rough past couple of weeks, I reached out for this book to fill my near-desperate need for civilization. And man, I certainly got it in spades!

Part graduate-thesis-substitute, part memoir, part lesson plan, and mostly a passionate fan's undertaking to list down any and all experiences relating to The Bard... this book was an unexpected joy to read. It is not an easy read, nor at times not even pleasant --with the author's tendency to name drop famous actors, directors, and intellectuals, and then insert a condescending line about them should their opinion differ from his -- but it shines with fervor and zeal for the pure joy of learning, of seeking civilized environments and the company of civilized men who seek to expand themselves through the study of literature, no matter what age they may be.

I read parts of it in public and couldn't help chuckle out loud at some parts! While far from being the humble narrator readers more easily warm to, the erudite Herman Gollob certainly CAN write! After all, he DID retire a Senior VP of Doubleday, having edited the likes of James Clavell and Leon Uris, among others. Despite the lack of formal academic credentials (he had yet to "get that goddamned M.A.!"), his literariness shone through with restatements of famous poems, assuming that his reader would be familiar enough with Gerard Manley Hopkins and others to pick up on the references.

The book is divided into four major parts: his background before embracing Shakespeare studies (informally) upon retiring, becoming a teacher at the age of 67 and jotting down outlines of his lectures, his adventures in Oxford during a Shakespeare summer course, and his quest to interview and watch Shakespeare experts direct professional actors.

Gollob saw the Divine Hand in everything, seeing the truth that there is indeed a divinity that shapes our ends. He also saw most clearly how self-enrichment had to have purpose beyond study for its own sake.

Gollob calls Shakespeare "The Cosmic Poet." His theses? That Shakespeare retold Holy Scripture, enacted in his multiple plays, all of them metaphors for how interwoven mankind is with God and the cosmos.

This is a treasure trove for teachers, actors, directors, and lovers of literature. And for anyone who grows old. In short, it's a must-read for all.



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