User Profile

Wild Woila

wildwoila@wyrms.de

Joined 1 year, 10 months ago

I have #mecfs so I have a lot of time for reading, mostly #fantasy and #SciFi but I'm happy to dip into nearly anything.

Ratings: 1 star: I didn't like it 2 stars: it was okay 3 stars: I liked it 4 stars: I really liked it 5 stars: it was brilliant

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Wild Woila's books

Naomi Novik: Spinning Silver (Paperback, 2018, Del Rey) 4 stars

"A fresh and imaginative retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin fairytale from the bestselling author of Uprooted, …

Hard hearts, ice & fire

3 stars

In medieval Russia, three young women, a Jew, a peasant & a noble, harden their hearts and rely on their wits to save themselves & the ones they love. Made much more difficult by the fairy king of winter and a firey demon.

Daniel Chandler: Free and Equal (2022, Penguin Books, Limited) 4 stars

A valuable foundation for considered & effective progressive politics

4 stars

Presents Rawls' philosphical framework for a better & more robust liberal democracy, and real-world policies for bringing it to life. A valuable foundation for considered & effective progressive politics. Convincing & hopeful.

Georgette Heyer: Frederica (Paperback, 2004, ARROW (RAND)) 3 stars

Rich and handsome, darling of the ton, the hope of ambitious mothers and despair of …

An aromantic period romance

3 stars

An aromantic period romance. Not a lot of plot, but a lot of sometimes impenetrable banter. Disappointingly, the strong capable female protaganist gradually becomes more & more dependent on the rich & unflappable lord.

Yaa Gyasi: Transcendent Kingdom (2020, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group) 3 stars

Yaa Gyasi's stunning follow-up to her acclaimed national bestseller Homegoing is a powerful, raw, intimate, …

Struggled to hold my attention or interest

2 stars

Can science and God be reconciled? Why are some people prone to addiction? How not to deal with trauma. Struggled to hold my attention or interest.

reviewed The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell (The Warlord Chronicles, #1)

Bernard Cornwell: The Winter King (1996) 4 stars

The tale begins in Dark Age Britain, a land where Arthur has been banished and …

Life is squalid & brutal, with Arthur a shining hope

4 stars

A realist telling of the Arthurian legend. With the Romans gone, Britain is failing: its gods weak, its kingdoms squabbling, beset on both side by the conquering Irish and Saxons. Life is squalid & brutal, with Arthur a shining hope, but neither he, nor anyone else, is as perfect as he seems.

Reading time 4 days, 122 pages/day

Sabaa Tahir: An Ember in the Ashes (Paperback, 2018, Thorndike Press Large Print) 2 stars

Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, …

Lacking in originality

2 stars

(2 stars = it was okay)

Well done, but lacking in originality. All the YA fantasy tropes are there: training school, underground resistance, trials, dark magic, love triangle, disturbing violence. Sucked me in but left me with nothing.