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I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Hall of Smoke, so I came into Temple of No God with high hopes. Where Hall of Smoke suffered from a slow start before roaring to the finish, Temple of No God was paced evenly throughout, making for a great sequel. Hessa‘s character development across the two books has been a delight to take in, going from being an outcast priestess of a false god to a revered high priestess and leader of her people. Hessa is much more powerful than in the first book, but is still vulnerable and relatable in many ways. In Temple of No God, Hessa still finds herself in difficult situations, but is better equipped to work her way out of them.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was everything Hall of Smoke was and much more, making for a worthy sequel and ending of the duology.

Children of Memory takes the series to new heights, with a mix of returning characters and newcomers for this installment. The first 100 or so pages had me wondering if Tchaikovsky had strayed too far from the first two books, but things quickly clicked into place. While still science fiction at its core, fantasy and fairytale elements are woven in, making for a thrilling combination that was eventually hard to put down.

There isn’t much I can say about this one without getting into spoilers. All three of these books are great, but this was a masterpiece.

I'm trying to not only read more in 2023 but read books from genres I wouldn't normally venture into. When the Story Darlings podcast announced their readalong of this series to coincide with #FaRoFeb, I decided I'd follow along.

Much to my surprise, I'm really enjoying this one so far. The characters are interesting, the setting is captivating, and while I had my concerns about the romance part of this fantasy romance tale, it hasn't been heavy-handed at all. More than I'm used to for sure, but nothing that has taken away from the story or made me want to put the book down.

Throne of Glass has been a pleasant surprise thus far, and I'm looking forward to the second half.

Viking-inspired fantasy is right up my alley, so I was excited to jump into this one. It started a bit slow, but once it got going it really got going, and became harder to put down the closer I got to finishing it.

Through the first half of the book, I found myself actively disliking the main character, Hessa, and often found myself frustrated at the situations she found herself in. That changed quickly in the second half of the book, however, as she grew by leaps and bounds. She didn’t just become more powerful in battle, but she also grew as a woman, making incredibly hard decisions and pivoting in a completely different direction.

I’d highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys vikings, fantasy, strong female protagonists, and awesome dogs.

What a great book. In my last update, I mentioned not being surprised about where the story was at that point, but almost immediately after writing that the story took a wild turn that I didn't see coming at all. The last half of the book took so many twists and turns, making for some very exciting reading. The past couple of days I had a hard time using my free time for anything other than reading this book, it was that captivating.

Children of Ruin builds off its predecessor, Children of Time, and takes the saga to new heights. I can't wait to dive into the final book of the series, Children of Memory, and see how it all wraps up.