Three-Dimensional – DaneCobain.com

Andrzej Sapkowski – Sword of Destiny | Review

Title: Sword of Destiny

Author: Andrzej Sapkowski

Type: Fiction

Page Count: 394

Rating: 4/5

It’s been six months or so now since I read the first Witcher book, and while I did enjoy it, there was also something about it that kind of held me back from fully committing. But it was one of those books that really stuck with me, and I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about it. By the time that the Netflix adaptation came out, I’d realised that I wanted to carry on with the series. Then I got an Amazon voucher for Christmas, and the rest is history.

This second book is also a collection of short stories, and indeed the first novel is the next one, book three in the series. I’m not sure how I’ll feel about that, and I guess I’ll see when I get there. I’ve read enough short stories now that I just sort of associate them with Sapkowski, and so it might be weird to go from short stories to a full-length novel. I guess we’ll see.

But the short stories are a great little introduction to the world of the witcher, not least because they tend to be set in different locations and with different creatures, so we can get more of a sense of a full world being built. We get to learn more about the Witcher, too. Better still, it’s never explicitly spelled out for us and we don’t have to suffer through extended flashbacks and other overused literary devices. We get to know the Witcher through the things he says and the actions he takes.

That combines with the fact that he’s a pretty unique sort of anti-hero, a flawed but fully three-dimensional character who it’s a pleasure to read about, even though he himself isn’t always the most pleasant of people. But what do you expect? He’s a witcher.

Overall then, I preferred this book to the first one even though I suspect that the two of them are pretty equal when it comes to quality. It’s just that I was in a much better place for this one. I was looking forward to it and then when I finally picked it up, I didn’t feel disappointed. Now I’m looking forward to getting to the next one. I’d definitely recommend the series.

Learn more about Sword of Destiny.

Agatha Christie – Death in the Clouds | Review

Title: Death in the Clouds

Author: Agatha Christie

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 336

Rating 3.75/5

I hadn’t heard of this book before I saw it and bought it, and so I’m guessing it’s one of the lesser-known Hercule Poirot books. Still, I’m slowly working my way through all of Agatha Christie’s back catalogue and so it was inevitable that I’d eventually get to this one at some point or another.

It turned out to be pretty good, although I will concede that it was from Christie at her best. I also think that if you’ve read a lot of Christie’s work in the past, you’re going to find this one pretty predictable. It’s kind of obvious which clues are red herrings and which are important, even if you can’t figure out how that all comes together to point to the solution.

But I wasn’t too bothered about that anyway because I don’t really read murder mysteries to try to guess at the solution. That’s especially true with Agatha Christie, because the journey itself is such a pleasure that she makes it easy to keep on reading. Some of her characters were fantastic and much more three-dimensional than usual, while others were a little lackluster, which made it a mixed bag.

I also think that it had too much of a focus on blowpipes as a murder weapon, and I can say that because it isn’t a spoiler. It’s been overdone, although possibly just because Christie herself has been imitated so many times throughout the years, but really it felt like she was trying to be Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

All in all though, I’d definitely recommend this if you’re a Christie fan, and while it might not be the best story to start with, it’s worth grabbing if you see it in a charity shop.