That was incredible
Nov. 14th, 2019 11:50 pmReally and truly amazingly wonderful. I have loved all of ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hrj's books, and have eagerly awaited the release of each of them, but Floodtide was an even more perfect match to my reading tastes. The other Alpennia books are marketed as "romance", but have enough other elements in them (SSF, magic, dedicated scholars, sword-fighting, politics, intrigue, and more) that, even though I don't care for "romance" as a genre, I have enjoyed every minute of them, and recommend them every time I hear anyone asking for suggestions of good books to read.
Floodtide, on the other hand, is marketed as a Young-Adult book. That is a genre I have always enjoyed reading, starting with getting a copy of Anne of Green Gables when I was 11, a book that I have gone back and re-read again, and again, and again. It was the first book I sat down to read in Swedish when I started learning Swedish, and the first book I read in Norwegian when I decided I wanted to learn that, too. Anne has long been a favourite character, for her imagination, her ability to get herself into scrapes (and get out of them again), and her penchant for talking too much and using big words, and I have always identified with her.
However, as of today, I have a new favourite character that I can identify with. Roz is clueless and well-meaning and apt to put her foot in it, and is slow to learn from her mistakes (but she does). I have so been there. She also is very lucky, or she wouldn't have had any of the chances she's been given, and somehow managed to land in the middle of one of those adventures where people work together to build something bigger and stronger than themselves by calling on the connections they have built with others.
This story really is perfect, the way it weaves in so many threads, and has such believable interactions between the characters. The story gives just enough information about what has happened in the other books for the plot to make sense with naught more than what is between these pages, yet also giving satisfying glimpses of characters I already know and love.
I read the whole book straight through in one sitting (I can't recall the last time I did that with a book), too focused on reading every word to notice time elapsing (other than being annoyed that I had to get up to pee a number of times), and I look forward to picking it back up in a couple of months and reading it again.
And you know what else is way, way cool? It was dedicated tokaterit. I don't recall ever knowing someone who got a book dedicated to them before.
Now it is after midnight, so I should do my yoga and go to bed, but having just finished the book I couldn't go to sleep till I took the time to tell everyone how much I enjoyed it.
hrj's books, and have eagerly awaited the release of each of them, but Floodtide was an even more perfect match to my reading tastes. The other Alpennia books are marketed as "romance", but have enough other elements in them (SSF, magic, dedicated scholars, sword-fighting, politics, intrigue, and more) that, even though I don't care for "romance" as a genre, I have enjoyed every minute of them, and recommend them every time I hear anyone asking for suggestions of good books to read. Floodtide, on the other hand, is marketed as a Young-Adult book. That is a genre I have always enjoyed reading, starting with getting a copy of Anne of Green Gables when I was 11, a book that I have gone back and re-read again, and again, and again. It was the first book I sat down to read in Swedish when I started learning Swedish, and the first book I read in Norwegian when I decided I wanted to learn that, too. Anne has long been a favourite character, for her imagination, her ability to get herself into scrapes (and get out of them again), and her penchant for talking too much and using big words, and I have always identified with her.
However, as of today, I have a new favourite character that I can identify with. Roz is clueless and well-meaning and apt to put her foot in it, and is slow to learn from her mistakes (but she does). I have so been there. She also is very lucky, or she wouldn't have had any of the chances she's been given, and somehow managed to land in the middle of one of those adventures where people work together to build something bigger and stronger than themselves by calling on the connections they have built with others.
This story really is perfect, the way it weaves in so many threads, and has such believable interactions between the characters. The story gives just enough information about what has happened in the other books for the plot to make sense with naught more than what is between these pages, yet also giving satisfying glimpses of characters I already know and love.
I read the whole book straight through in one sitting (I can't recall the last time I did that with a book), too focused on reading every word to notice time elapsing (other than being annoyed that I had to get up to pee a number of times), and I look forward to picking it back up in a couple of months and reading it again.
And you know what else is way, way cool? It was dedicated to
katerit. I don't recall ever knowing someone who got a book dedicated to them before. Now it is after midnight, so I should do my yoga and go to bed, but having just finished the book I couldn't go to sleep till I took the time to tell everyone how much I enjoyed it.