East Of The Sun

October - Bestsellers

I know I am a full month late on this one, but with National Novel Writing Month I got distracted and am just now managing to finish this one. I want to be up front and claim all the fault for this. This novel was great, I enjoyed it for reasons I will expand on in just a moment, but there were parts in the narrative that sort of slowed down just a bit. With those parts lining up with me having to put the book down for whatever reason, I was slow to pick it back up for a few days. This meant this book took far longer than it should have when it was actually a good read. All my fault.

Let me tell you what the story is about: Viva was young when she left India after her parents and sister had died, but now she has reason to return thanks to a letter from an old friend of her mother's saying that she had found a trunk of Viva's parent's and would she kindly do something with it. So to help pay her way, Viva takes on the job of chaperone for other young people making the trip to India: Guy, a young man rejoining his parents after being away at school for so long. Rose, a young woman headed to India to get married to a soldier who had proposed after a very short acquaintanceship. And Tor, Rose's best friend and bridesmaid who is looking to find an escape from her mother. All three women find themselves in a very different world with their lives turned upside down. While maintaining their friendship in this new land, they also grow individually into very different people.

So, why did I like it? Because it was complex. Gregson took three main women and put them in a foreign land and left them to their own devices. Things got chaotic. Specially when the women were so different from each other which led to very different paths begin taken and a very wide range of events to tell of. Which is why this book was a bit longer than what I have been reading lately (with the very notable exception of Game of Thrones). There was far more story for Gregson to tell. And she did it wonderfully!

Not only did the story wind along various paths, but the characters she gives us changed greatly over the course of the novel. Even the characters that we would consider minor, unimportant to the main story, seemed to develop thanks to the things the leading ladies did. I greatly enjoyed the final result of this.

So I encourage everyone to take a chance on this. Pick it up and enjoy the wonderful characters and story that Gregson works with to make a tale that is truly fascinating and touching.

Game of Thrones

I will freely admit that a friend got me hooked on the show a few months back and when I ran out of episodes to watch I immediately jumped to the book series. Just like with Attack on Titan, I was looking to find out what happened next. I also wanted to know how the two compared. Wow, they are so incredibly similar that it really is like HBO brought the books to life.

I wont give away any spoilers by telling you where the book ends in comparison to the series, but I will say that more than just season one is in this first book. Sh, that's all you're getting.

So, in case you have absolutely no idea what these books or the show are about (because you are cozy under your rock) I will try and give you the briefest overview:
Martin created a vast world where most of the land is united under a King with Lords that have sworn fealty to him. This first book starts with King Robert making the trip north to Winterfell to ask his old friend (and almost brother-in-law) Eddard Stark to be his right hand man, the Hand of the King to be exact. Meanwhile, across a sea are the last two members of the Targaryen family, the former rulers of the kingdom before they were overthrown by Robert. Viserys, the brother, is trying to amass an army to help take back his throne, only things are not going his way.

So much goes wrong, chaos fills this world as people betray others, families fight, and the common people kind of get stuck in the middle of it all. And all the while Winter, a years long frozen season, is coming, bringing bad things from the North.

Martin weaves an incredibly complex tale aptly titled that resembled a very intense game of chess. There are a few good guys, plenty of bad guys, and even more people with intentions that are so muddled I am not sure how Martin himself kept them all straight.

I do have to warn you, there is plenty of inappropriate moments throughout the book as well. Scenes of gore that made me a little sick and other...intimate moments that made it a little awkward since I was listening to the book on my phone. It is also a long read. Something like 50 hours on audio that took me a full month to listen to.

All that being said, I think this is an incredible read! If high fantasy, intrigue, plot twists, are your thing, this book will fill your heart with glee. Right before someone you like dies, but that is a risk you won't mind taking because there will be someone new to love!

Pick this one up! Let me know what you think! Or if you have seen the show, let me know too, I love fangirling over it with people!