24) White Coat: Becoming a Doctor at Harvard Medical School by Ellen Rothman

Rothman provides a stark, plantive and humble account of her journey through medical school. It helped steady my thoughts about entering medical school and more fully understand the challenges to come. I would consider the book a relatively swift read, for her writing style is straight forward and consise. Personally, I also consider her writing style a tad restrictive at times - for it felt repetitive, especially during her introductory descriptions of people. Beyond that, I felt it was an overall solid book and an inviting read.

25) Wizard and Glass by Stephen King

I know people have their reservations regarding this book, due to its flashback into Roland's past, but I certainly found it delightful! Talk about a western smashed with a post-apocalyptic world - and something strange and wonderful comes out. The further I travel down the pat to the Dark Tower, the more I liken my life to this journey. The parallels are becoming uncanny.... :D King's writing is always addictively amazing and I can only look forward to the next three volumes with dry-mouthed anticipation.

26) Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

Well, I thought I was going to start The Wolves of Calla by King, but somehow this novel interjected and got finished in between. :D It was a trip to a very different world than the dusty plains of Mid-World. I have already gushed my praise over Sanderson's Elantris, the book in which he broke into the fantasy scene, and this book proves itself just as extraordinary as his first. Sanderson's gift to the fantasy world is his ability to craft new magic systems. Let me tell you, having read shelves full of fantasy books, I've seen my fill of vague magicks doing vague and cliche things. This author thrusts you into a novel system and there's no stopping the fascination from there. In this standalone novel, colors serve as the basis for the magic. A person possessing Breath, which I likened to a soul, can gain more Breaths and thus attain different levels of awareness. Certain numbers of Breath can heighten one's senses, achieve perfect pitch, see the harmonics of color, and more fantastic things. There are so many implications to this color system, such as a script based on colors - readable only by those who have a certain amount of Breath.

This is only a scratch at the surface for the complexity Sanderson has fabricated into this fantastic world.

Politics, plot, characters - this book has it all. Action, love, religion - there is enough of everything to satisfy your palate.

As always, I give Sanderson's novel my highest recommendation.

-Lila

16) Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson



Beyond wanting to chuck my computer out the window (due to problems pretty much stemming from my abuse ;p), everything that Sanderson has done, has said, is enough to cool my mind and make me breathe.


This is one spectacular piece. I urge you to read this, not as a fantasy book, but as a true work of literary art.

My god, my opinion of Mr. Sanderson simply hits the roof sometimes, just because I can't contain my enthusiasm having found an author I appreciate.

Ok.

Well, yes, I do have a list of authors I hold in high esteem - such as Gene Wolfe and Barbara Hambly. But, what really kills me is that Hambly is an author that help inspire him. (from his Blogger blog  Aug 25, 2007 - mistborn.blogspot.com/2007_08_01_archive.html ) I love seeing that connection, and it makes me respect Mr. Sanderson even more.

But, enough effusive shouts of praise, because this is what I have to say, if I were to bother the author again with a fan-born email.
 

Dear Mr. Sanderson,

I just can imagine that you would feel ever so slightly miffed to have fans effusing themselves and slavering away at your feet in pure devotion (surely they must do this); but I fear that in the next few sentences, I'm just about to do the same.

In all honesty, I thought Elantris was magnificent.

But, let me say, Mistborn totally blew past my love for Elantris by a couple windstorms. :D

I cannot quite articulate the magnitude of what I feel, but at least I can say, I am at the full lull of your characters and their stories. I feel very attuned to your writing, because I have strived hard to make sure for whatever little writings I do, my full effort is spent fleshing out characters who are believable and real, with their own set of motivations and flaws.

They are tangible. And they speak to the reader as a person could to another.

There's nothing more that I appreciate than being sucked into the author's world, and enjoying the immersive experience.

I fear (here, I may adopt the tone of a physician), there has been a dreadful consequence after I finished Mistborn. I am having an extraordinarily hard time coping with the fact that I am unable to find books suitable for my raised expectations.

I mean, what book can match the sheer amount of surprise I encountered within, let's say, the final chunk of pages. The subtle twists, revelations - pushed the capacity of my heart. The amount of thrill, anticipation, action, and dialogue ennervated me like no book ever has.

Reviewing such symptoms, like withdrawal, despondancy (in the face of books that aren't really up to par), and heart palpitations (just read it, and you'll see feel), I see there is one solution, and one solution only. 

Certainly, the proper course of action is to take in a healthy dose of the next book, in which I will definitely (and most gladly do so).

Wrapping up the mad ramblings of a faithful reader, I at least give you:

My highest regards,

Lila

Can I offer any higher recommendation?

I didn't think so.

Read it.


You will not be disappointed.

:D

-Lila

(Hot damn. I just want to know how this entry will read tomorrow, when I'm actually somewhat awake. Woo. I'll see!)
 

 

12) Elantris by Brandon Sanderson



I sought a book that was different. I was tired of traditional fantasy, of traditional characters, of traditional roles and faces. I wanted something fresh, and by Domi, I found it in here. :D

    ELANTRIS was beautiful, once. It was called the city of the gods: a place of power, radiance, and magic. Visitors say that the very stones glowed with an inner light, and that the city contained wondrous arcane marvels. At night, Elantris shone like  a great silvery fire, visible from a great distance.

    Yet, as magnificent as Elantris had been, its inhabitants had been more so. Their hair a brilliant white, their skin an almost metallic silver, the Elantrians seemed to shine like the city itself. legend claimed that they were immortal, or at least nearly so. Their bodies healed quickly, and they were blessed with great strength, insight, and speed. They could perform magics with a bare wave of the hand; men visited Elantris from all across Opelon to receive Elantrian healings, food, or wisdom.
They were divinities.
 
    And anyone could become one.

    The Shaod, it was called. The Transformation. It struck randomly - usually at night, during the mysterious hours wen life slowed to rest. The Shaod could take beggar, craftsman, nobleman, or warrior. When it came, the fortunate person's life ended and began anew; he would discard his old, mundane existence and move to Elantris. Elantris, where he could live in bliss, rule in wisdom, and be worshiped for eternity.

    Eternity ended ten years ago.

I was first drawn by the cover, hopeful that this book will present me something different than normal fantasy fare. (Yes, I know I should never judge books by their covers... but the tantalizing prospect of a futuristic looking city masked in a book demarked fantasy gave a delightful lurch in my heart. I thought, maybe this will be some meld of science fiction and fantasy - just as I like it!) Opening the cover, Sanderson's dedication to his mother, in short claiming that his mother wished a doctor and ended up with a writer placed the final clinch in me. I thought of my own position, en route to medical school, yet I still feverishly devote time to my dear Abaeran and his worlds both in drawings and in words. Yes, I would read this book.

My few resisting thoughts that had persisted in my mind disappeared as I began reading. I wanted a book with characters who have motivations and reasons. I truly believe that everyone is human, no matter what side of the battlefield he comes from (and my philosophy extends to both fictional characters and real people). There is some root to reason (or unreason) - and this is precisely what the author did. He eventually explains (or at least hint) all character motivations.

The magic is vaguely familiar, like a sort of alchemy with glowing symbols, yet rich and different enough that I would call the magical system fresh. In addition, I liked the involvement and characterization of the city Elantris as a character herself, adding a dynamic that I have sought in books, but have never found. Again, this struck a chord with my own writings and personal imaginings of Abaeran's world, since I consider my cities as alive or at least like a greater organism built from the dynamic human beings living within (like cells in a body).

The characters themselves are thoroughly enjoyable. They are fully fleshed and real; their personalities lasting past the final pages of this book. (I only wish the character Hrathen had more time in the timeline of the novel...) I fell into the pace of the book satisfyingly. The pages disappeared, and I was part of a world that is rich and real. The variety of cultures are fantastic, and I definitely enjoyed learning of the distinctions of each.

I tend to gravitate towards authors like, but not limited to, Barbara Hambly and Gene Wolfe who add obscure words (enormously obscure words in Wolfe's case :D) to intensify their writings. Sanderson did not quite do this, but I found it (to my surprise) completely fine. His words flow easily and clearly - and cleanly. (I say quite because he did have plenty of words from native speakers of different lands' languages spread within the conversations. I had fun picking up and interpreting words, like kayana - all the more fun when I translated correctly! :P)

Plot wise - the complexity was utterly thrilling and satisfying! There were a number of threads to follow and in the end they tied together fantastically. It is not only a story of a kingdom, and a princess and a prince - generic faces of a familiar throne. No, instead factors like political unrest, religious tension and so many others fed upon each other, weaving here, there every where. Simply awesome. :D (Besides, the pacing in the end was brilliantly swift and I strive to provide that sort of speed for what I have in store of the conclusion of my writings.) I do hope for another book continuing in the wonderfully rich world of Opelon (and I sensed perhaps there could be? There were small frays of story threads that I feel can continue... *a hopeful grin*).

The glossary at the end sent shivers through my spine, because I had studied each symbol at the head of each chapter in search of meaning. There, at the end, the meanings and the ties with character and place names were clear.

My thoughts spin in a thousand different directions regarding this book. I did not expect much, and therefore was astounded to find myself thoroughly satisfied by this book. I give my full recommendation for all seeking a fantasy novel that stands well above the crowd of mundane stereotypical fodder (that have so thoroughly upset my literary stomach *grimaces*).

(I still have a foot stuck in the novel's world - so I beg pardon for any jumpiness here. Please understand my helter-skelter attempt to convey my excitement for having found such a rare gem, Kolo?)  :D

-Lila