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10:13 I'm still laughing at me saying "her work has... quality diversity" as a nicer way to say I hated some of her books

🦩 Wow! Such good energy! You make all of these great books seem so exciting! 🤯

I picked up When Among Crows because of your recommendation and really liked it! I should try reading Raven Boys, everyone seems to love it so much, but the main girl’s name just sounds so silly 😂

I wanna be a Frizzle-fool

God, I hate enemies to lovers these days because of how authors don't give actual reasons for animosity.

I'd love to see your take on the Boox Palma.

Couldn’t disagree with you more but that’s the beauty of fantasy novels lol

I just finished the audiobooks within a month. The vocal performances were excellent, and the tension was too intense for me to get bored. The main reason I’m commenting is because somehow I missed that Magpie is Evie! I want to blame it on being distracted while finishing it, but I don’t think I ever would have realized. I’m wondering now if cyanide smiled at her because he recognized her. When was listening, I thought he just liked the idea others continuing the prodigy survival/independence the anarchists fought for. Sounds kind of silly now. :P I’m really glad I know this now, because Evie’s “death” really hurt me. I have a few children, including a baby, and having image was almost enough for me to put it down. I’m glad I continued on, because I love this series.

I also didn’t get the Jade City hype. I thought all of the characters had an interesting base personality. But like you said they don’t have much of a character arc and I have no reason to care about their clan over their rival clan besides the fact that it’s written from their perspective. The world has potential, I actively enjoyed the feeling of this rapidly modernizing society and how the traditional clan structure still held sway and wish it had been explored more.

This was definitely the weakest trilogy. Was super disappointed with it honestly. I could understand Fitz not bonding again but I thought he'd end up more like Burrich being in tune with every animal but not tied to them. The total lack of any development of his Skill & particularly Wit abilities was infuriating. Now I'm just waiting to see how closely GRRM pays homeage to the Graveborn chapter regarding Jon Snows resurrection if The Winds of Winter is ever completed/released. Jon Snow & Rickon Stark are so similar to Fitz in my opinion. I'm sure George has taken some inspiration from Robin Hobb there.

I love your take! Thank you for sharing!

🧟‍♀️ reading Winter Lost now. I took enjoyed binge reading the series. It is Halloween season again!🎃

My love of LOTR started with the movies. I saw the first movie and fell in love with it. It was most of my personality in high school. I read the books in high school too but I didn't really appreciate them. I have been rereading the series because of the new audiobooks narrated by Andy Serkis and his work has definitely made the whole reading experience better. That being said, the books are still kinda boring. But that is my thought about everything that was published more than 60 years ago because ,as most people, you bring your own modern sensibilities to classics and sometimes that negatively effects your reading. (m)

I agree with you about Marcone. I think it was a mistake giving him powers.

thank you for the review!

I think judging Lord of the Rings based on Fellowship alone is like Reading the Farseer Trilogy and then trying to judge the Realm of the Elderlings as a whole. Like, you have quite a lot to go off of, but also.... Liveship Traders. Tawny Man. The best is yet to come!! Ya know?

Hating Lord of the Rings? Heresy. Lunacy. Incomprehensible. Hating the Tom Bombadil chapters? Now THAT is heresy I can get on board with.

I really enjoyed the Scholomance books as well. I dig their sinister whimsy.

I think your issues stem from having a very mathematical mind trying to read a book that is so right-brained its not even funny. So it's okay for you to find it a bit of a slog. I love LOTR because I am Catholic and I love the Catholic themes in the book. I also love the fact that the Hobbits are weak. Tolkien wants to remind us that the smallest and weakest are also heroic, in there own way. He tosses out all of the expected notions of what a hero is.

I think it might have been published in three books because paper was still rationed. Tolkien intended it to published as one with the Silmarinan as well.

I feel like this about the Silmarinan (not sure if I've spelt that right). I tried to read it a few times but find that I can't get into it.

I understand not loving these books, but it hurts me a little bit that you don't like the movies 😅 There are definitely things in the book that I struggle with, like the songs and Tom Bombidil. I usually skip those 🙈 Tolkien is great at writing horror and creeping doom. He really likes exploring characters who choose hope in hopeless situations. I feel like Lord of the Rings is a plot and themes story, not really a character story. I definitely like character driven books more now, but I have nostalgia for LOTR

The fellowship of the ring, as you said, is not 1 book; but its the first part of the book "Lord of the rings". So you cant criticize lord of the rings as a whole without reading.... Lord of the rings. In general, yeah it has its flaws and its weak chapters, but as a whole its pretty well paced and Tolkiens prose is unlike anything you find in modern fantasy (his nature descriptions are amazing). Also, there were some huge dramtic sequences done really well (the scary moments you mentioned, along eith lazad dhum and the flight to the ford); along with internal struggles from Frodo and Sams show of devotion at rhe end. There also is that moral greyness from Boromir, and the reconciliation between the elves and dwarfes, through Gimli and galadriel. We also have the introduction of a previously good character, Saruman, who we learn switched to bad side and teams up with Sauron, and then in turn betrayes Sauron. We also have the amazingly written chapter The Council of Elrond, which is just a masterclass in exposition and how to make it fun. It would be cool if tou could put one those literature professor more often, and if you did, maybe you wouldn't miss obviously well this book is written. It would be interesting to hear why its a bad book though, because a lot of the things you mentioned are either just subjective opinion on what you want and what you think is boring; also the fact that these things you want to happen, actually happen later on in the book (Lord of the rings).

Alright, so I've heard your opinions at the many points all throughout the video (which I found really fun and interesting). You're not qualified yet to "still be a hater". It may not be your thing, and that's totally fine, but you cannot hate what you haven't understood. You cannot be a 'hater' of Lord of the Rings trilogy anymore than you can be a 'hater' of the Copenhagen Interpretation of the wave-particle superposition of general quantum mechanics applications. You're getting closer, but as is true for all great literature, it either calls to you viscerally (very rare) or it's actually a bit of a pain to finish chapter after chapter. I'll let you off the hook with grace if instead of to finish Two Towers and Return of the King you instead commit to finish either Uncle Tom's Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stowe to1852) or Grapes Of Wrath (Steinbeck 1939). [both these books are very good and very well worth reading. They aren't exactly very thrilling, but 🤷 All good fiction books seem to be very often way more boring than they really are. If you loved Harry Potter years ago you'd also find it pretty dull today too. So it goes.

So I'm a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings and the broader Tolkien Legendarium, though I have my own nitpicks with it (such as his unending hatred of and dismission of industry of any sort), and I found this video by happenstance. I wholeheartedly agree with your takes so far. The first book or so covers the Hobbits' flight from the Shire until Rivendell and maybe farther, I can't remember exactly where it ends. All of the lore means *so much* once you've invested enough to understand it thoroughly, but if it's your first time reading I'd recommend you to just trudge and make it through. Don't skip, but don't work too hard either. By the time they're headed "across" the Misty Mountains the action will pick up again and you'll follow along easily. I'd highly recommend you to look at maps while reading, specifically the ones on glyphweb_com, aka "the encyclopedia of Arda" (they look a lot like Google Maps). The particular potential paths and destinations are important to understand at least generally, and I find Tolkien's own maps to be...not very good. Without a framework for the world or the time periods, it's hard to find a foothold. You should also figure out the time period, this you can look up but you should know: 1. What month is it currently? 2. What year is it? 3. What era are we in? Tolkien's world is separated into ___ Ages, and at a pivotal moment where the world drastically changes, the era moves from ~3400 λA to 1 (λ+1)A. For reference, the One Ring was forged in approximately 1600 SA. Figure out what that means and how the current time (in the book) generally relates to this description.

Yoooo, Magic Tree House was AMAZING. I loved those stories #memoryunlocked

As someone who also doesn't like Lord of the Rings, this was very satisfying to watch :) helps me justify not trying again even though it's probably been 15+ years since I originally read the series.

Why do I love the Lord of the Rings? I read this as a kid multiple times and it has ignited my love affair for books and especially fantasy books decades later. I love everything about it....... I do skip all the songs though.

I think it’s a mistake to read any book for the first time with the attitude that you’re either going to love it or hate it. There are few books that I hate and few that I love; and I don’t normally love any book on first reading. I’ve reread _The Lord of the Rings_ repeatedly over the years, but I don’t love it; I like it, on the whole, although it has its faults and there are some parts that drag. It was written a long time ago in a style that was old-fashioned even then, aiming to emulate old legends. I think because it was aiming to emulate old legends, there are few women in it. I agree that the songs and poems are superfluous, but I can easily skim over them; this is more difficult if you’re listening to an audiobook, I suppose. _The Fellowship of the Ring_ is really only the beginning of the story, and it’s a very slow-starting story, as you observed. The hobbits in particular go through much more character development in the next two volumes. However, if you dislike the first volume enough that you don’t want to continue, you’re probably not going to love the whole story. You might like volumes two and three better than volume one, but who knows? I like the books better than the films. The films make a fun visual supplement to the books, but they change the story in many ways, mostly for the worse. Sometimes I set out to rewatch the films, but after a while I give up and go back to the books. I don’t mind Tom Bombadil, but he’s not essential to the story, and I can tolerate that he was cut from the film. It’s much worse that they cut the Scouring of the Shire from the third film-a chapter that Tolkien regarded as essential. Without it, the third film reaches a climax and then tails off weakly. I first read the books in 1968, at the age of 14. I read _The Hobbit_ earlier, at the age of 9, and I think I liked it then. I don’t like it so much now; I rarely reread it. It was written for children, and Tolkien had a slight tendency to talk down to children, which I don’t like.

Fellowship is a hard book to love. The pace remains slow in the next books, but there are also more at stakes and the new characters really help... With that said, I don't think I'll reread the series anytime soon. I read through it in 2018 and didn't enjoy it at all (although maybe an audiobook would have helped? I know the story pretty well thanks to the movies so I would not be afraid of loosing my place in the story). The extended movies I'll rewatch endlessly, to the point where I have to hide my boxset or it's the only thing I watch over and over again for months. How could your friends not recommend the extended version? I hope you continue, Two Towers is my favourite (book and movie) of the trilogy and I would love to see you try more Rohan recipes :-p

Oh, I absolutely have seen this coming from a mile away. Even though I do like the books and movies, I still don't think it's the best that fantasy has to offer, even with its extensive world-building, lore and depth. What makes so many people love the story is the breadth of the world, the richness of the language and how iconic everything it did is. Much of what we see today in fantasy began there, that it's hard to appreciate the foundational aspect of it. From what it set out to do, it achieves it masterfully, even if it doesn't really conforms with modern trends in the genre.

I tried reading LotR quite a few years ago, and I could only barely finish the first novel. Since then I thought I might need to give them another try, but seeing you suffer through it was enough. I'll appreciate what they've done for the genre from afar :D

🦩You mentioned that you like the vibes of the book more than anything else. The vibes in this video are also one of the funnest things: You have different settings for different portions of the video, including: a spooky corner, a sunny mansion, an inviting adventurous trailhead, and a kitchen making Hobbit food. 🍄🥔🫖

I'm in the exact same book where I've had false starts about 10x in my life, but I finally powered through the whole trilogy this last year. Where we disagree is the Lord of the rings movies which I think are insanely good! That said, the first book was by far the most boring and I think book 2 was the best. I really enjoyed the Andy serkis narration and there was a graphic audio type narration I used for the third book I found on internet archive.

I love how diligently you tried to like the book, and the rants were fun too! 😂 I am glad you gave it one last try ❤❤❤ You are right about everything, it is slow, the songs are too much, and yet I love the books and movies with all of my heart.

I read When Among Crows based on your glowing review, and I also really liked it. I agree the synopsis is very spoilery, I am glad you pointed that out!

### 日本語訳： トラスク家 最初に登場するのは、問題を抱えたトラスク家です。父親のサイラスは軍隊を愛し、非常にひどい父親です。彼には2人の息子がいます。 最初の息子はアダム。彼の主な性格は、人生で何をすべきかわからないということです。次に、チャールズ。彼の主な性格は、父親との問題と怒りの問題を抱えていることです。 アダムは父親のお気に入りであり、チャールズはその嫉妬からアダムを殺そうとしますが、幸運にも失敗します。 サイラスはアダムを軍に送り込み、アダムは軍隊を嫌っています。彼は10年間軍で過ごし、その後数年間を放浪者として過ごします。 一方、チャールズは事故で頭に醜い傷を負い、怒りを抑え、農業に専念するようになります。父親が亡くなり、兄弟は不審なほど多額の遺産を受け取ります。 キャシー・トラスク 次に重要なキャラクターはキャシーです。キャシーには2つの特技があります。1つ目は完全なサイコパスであること、2つ目は人を自分に恋させることです。 彼女は両親を家に閉じ込めて火を放ち、死んだふりをします。その後、彼女は不幸な冒険を続け、最終的にトラスク家の玄関先で瀕死の状態になります。 キャシーはアダムを魅了し、彼と結婚してカリフォルニアに移住します。 サミュエル・ハミルトン 彼らの隣人であるサミュエル・ハミルトンは、愛されるアイルランド人で、大きな家族を持っています。 キャシーとアダムは落ち着き、キャシーは双子の男の子を産みますが、すぐに家を出ようとし、アダムを撃って彼を長い間うつ状態に追い込みます。幸いにも、中国系アメリカ人の召使いであるリーが双子を育てます。 サミュエルはアダムを励まし、双子に「ケイレブ」と「アーロン」と名付けます。リーは「カインとアベル」の物語に魅了され、2年間かけてヘブライ語を研究し、原文の「TIMSHEL（ティムシェル）」という言葉が「汝、支配すべし」ではなく「汝、支配できる」という意味だと結論づけます。この言葉は、小説全体を通じて重要なテーマになります。 キャシーはサリナス市に移り、名前をケイトに変え、フェイの売春宿で働きます。フェイを毒殺して売春宿を手に入れ、さらに陰謀を進めていきます。 アダムは家族をサリナスに移し、冷凍技術に情熱を注ぎますが、失敗してほとんどの財産を失います。カル（ケイレブ）は、ケイトが自分の母親であることを知り、悪の血を引いているのではないかと悩みますが、リーの助けで「TIMSHEL」に基づき、自分の選択次第で善悪を決められると気づきます。 一方、アーロンは大学をやめ、ケイトの真実を知った後、軍に入隊しますが、戦死します。 その知らせを受け、アダムは脳卒中で倒れ、死の床に伏します。カルは自分を責めますが、リーがアダムに「祝福を与えてください」と説得し、アダムは最後に「TIMSHEL」と言い、カルがまだ罪を克服する可能性があることを示します。 --- ### 要約： トラスク家の複雑な家族関係が描かれ、特にアダム、チャールズ、キャシーの物語に焦点が当てられています。物語の中心には「善と悪の選択」があり、リーが提唱する「TIMSHEL（汝、支配できる）」がテーマとして強調されています。キャシーはサイコパスで、家族を破壊する一方、アダムは冷凍技術に挑戦し、息子たちもそれぞれの道を歩むが、最終的に善悪の選択に向き合います。

Brandon is actually going to release a collection of the non-Cosmere short stories somewhere in the nearish future and is currently writing a new one to be the "selling point" of that. Was that what inspired you to do this video? And yeah, I'd say Dark One Forgotten (as well as The Original) is meant to be consumed as an audiobook, given that there is no text version available :D

Your rant on "The Phone Company" is funny. When I was younger, for most of the US there was only the one (a managed monopoly) and everybody just called it "The Phone Company". So it's not impossible; rather it's a throwback or callback. If you would like more background on how that ended (in 1982), there's a Wikipedia article on "Breakup of the Bell System" that goes into a decent level of detail.

Lol yep I never heard of any of these! Very helpful reviews, thank you 😊

I actually agree with your ranking. I read Snapshot on release and my mind was blown away haha. Love that novella. Legion is also sooo good. The only Sanderson books I've never read and dont intend to is the Alcatraz series.

Super fun! Nice whirlwind 🌪️ reviews and fun interactions with your co-Star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Man I read a lot of these a few years back and had pretty similar thoughts. They made me take a bit of a break on the non-cosmere Sanderson stuff. Dark Ones was particularly disappointing given how spectacular a premise it was, but the humor, dialogue, characters, and direction the actors were given just failed entirely for me. Not to mention you’d have someone say “hey have you seen this person” and the immediate response from everyone was a crazy hostility like they were going to beat the main characters to death with their fists. Originals I liked but was boring like you said and ironically not that original I don’t think. Also Sandersons first f-bomb, but I have to imagine that was the coauthor who I’m not as familiar with. Perfect State I thought was a little boring Snapshot had an awesome premise and world and I actually enjoyed it mostly, but the twist at the end was soooooo stupid and non-sensical it mostly killed the story for me. I’ve decided just to stay within the cosmere for the near future, though I did like Skyward as well.

That Stuart Turton book was shite. I was especially annoyed at the postscript where he basically admitted he was too lazy to do any research.

Try Robert Gainey's Department of Intangible Assets series. Lesbian FBI agent fighting magic monsters. Elliott James Charming series. Reluctant werewolf and ex-knight trying to escape his past. Great alternate take on werewolf and vampire tropes.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 🦩You have reached My list of "Favorite TH-camr Status" 🥳

💖🤖

I love how you have this whole formula worked out. I just go on vibes, though I like to read more than one book by an author before I'll declare them a favorite

Just finished reading Jill Bearup’s book: Just Stab Me Now. She’s another TH-camr and actor combatant that analyzes Hollywood swordfights and such. Wondering if you’ve heard of that one?

I haven’t had a chance to read The Masquerades of Spring yet, but it’s been clear to me for some time that (a) the protagonist is Aaronovitch’s take on Bertie Wooster, (b) Nightingale may be present but won’t be all over it, and (c) while it may be somewhat entertaining, it probably won’t be a high point of the series. So I think my expectations before reading are relatively realistic. I don’t know whether you’re familiar with Wodehouse’s Bertie Wooster, but if you don’t know him or don’t like him then it’s no surprise that you don’t like the Aaronovitch version. Wooster isn’t one of my favourite characters, but I’ve quite enjoyed some of the stories about him, and I imagine I can tolerate the Aaronovitch version without pain. I’ll find out after the novella is released for Kindle on the 5th of September. I rate authors mostly on their books that I like best. I usually ignore their dud books, because either I don’t read the duds, in which case they don’t matter to me, or I read them only once, in which case they don’t matter much to me. Whereas I may read the books that I really like 20 times or more, so they matter that much more.