Ronan Reviews: Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

OH MY GOSH GUYS THIS BOOK IS FANTASTIC!!!!! 

So basically Brandon Sanderson is my new favorite author and my new goal is to read all his books of ever. Which is to say, I'll be occupied probably until he dies, which is kind of morbid but whatever it's true. 

I guess we'll just jump right into everything then, trying to keep this as spoiler-free as possible!

The story has basically three main characters and each has their own POV chapters. First, we have Raoden, crown prince of Arelon. Then, there's Sarene, princess of Teod. And finally, Hrathen, gyorn (aka way high up priest) of Shu-Dereth (that's a religion). 

Then there's Elantris, the fabled city of practically gods. People randomly get chosen by some unseen force to become Elantrians and it can happen to anyone, which is pretty cool honestly. But guess what? It gets messed up! So instead of becoming gods, Elantrians are basically cursed and practically dead but still living. It's a pitiful existence really. And they're locked in Elantris, as if it wasn't bad enough already. And guess who gets chosen by the Shaod to become an Elantrian?

Raoden, that's who! (No it's not a spoiler, it says it in the synopsis don't get mad) 

So when Sarene arrives in Arelon to marry Raoden, he's "dead" and she's his widow. Which sucks basically. But she's super crafty and dives right into the country's politics and she's super awesome. 

Meanwhile Raoden is off being the eternal optimist in Elantris with the ever-hilarious Galladon. Side note on Galladon - he's a Dula, which is a people stereotyped as flamboyant and happy and just the complete opposite of pessimistic Galladon, and there's your humor!

Also --- I totally ship Raoden and Sarene!!! #Raorene just go with it

Now, Hrathen is trying to convert the entire country of Arelon to Shu-Dereth before his country, Fjordell, invades and kills everyone who isn't Derethi. But no one likes him so it's kind of hard. Honestly I hated him until the end, but I really had to respect his cunning and logical problem-solving. And Dilaf was a sneaky little rat and I hated him. Constantly. He was the worst not gonna lie. 

As you could probably tell from that not so simple background, this book is really complex. The plot is soooo political, with lots of religious conflict and power struggles and stuff like that. I loved it all completely!! 

And let's just take a moment to appreciate the languages! So there's Aonic first of all, which is how the Elantrians use magic (or used to use magic if we're being accurate). It's these glyph-like characters that are actually really pretty and complicated if you look in the glossary at the end of the book. And they're all pronounced with crazy double-long-vowel combinations that messed with my brain but I eventually got the hang of...kinda...not really who am I kidding? But I didn't even care because it was just so amazing! 

I could not for the life of me believe that this was Brandon Sanderson's debut!! This much awesomeness is incredibly impressive for a first novel, but I guess it is Brandon Sanderson soooo...

I highly recommend this to fantasy lovers! As great as it was, however, I don't think this should be your first (either fantasy or Brandon Sanderson). I just don't think it's a very good bridge book if that makes sense. 

What are your thoughts on Elantris? Do you like fantasy too? Any recommendations? Let me know down below!

Most Anticipated Releases of 2016

All the things in 2016!
Books and TV and possibly movies because I'm excited for them all guys! Let's get right into it, since we only have a little while left until it's 2016!

Books

Flamecaster by Cinda Williams Chima

For those of you who don't know, Cinda Williams Chima is one of my favorite authors of all time and her Seven Realms series is one of my favorite series of all time. When I heard she was writing a spin off series with the next generation, I was ecstatic!!! I cannot wait to see what happens next!! Even though the synopsis sounds similar to the original series but with a boy royal and a girl commoner, I'm okay with that because it's Cinda Williams Chima so of course it's going to be awesome!

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

This book was supposed to coe out fall 2015. Obviously it didn't. Then it was supposed to come out February 2016. Now it's moved back to April. So it better be the best book ever written because I am tired of waiting and I just want it's gorgeousness in my hands already!!! Even though I don't want the series to be over...

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

I loved A Court of Thorns and Roses and the sequel promises to be even better! There are so many interesting threads and directions that the plot can take and I'm super excited to see where they go! Plus, according to Sarah's Instagram, this one is supposedly 622 pages or something like that!!! Something that long has to be incredibly awesome!

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Now I wasn't wowed by Susan's other book, but that could just be because I don't really like zombies. I do, however, like witches. And this concept sounds super unique and I've heard nothing but good things, and anyone who's friends with the amazingness that is Sarah J. Maas has to be at least as good. So therefore, I am ready to give this a try!

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

I loved The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken! I really need to finish that series, but in the meantime, I figured I could read this too because who doesn't want to read about pirates and time travel and quests? The whole premise just sounds fantastic and if Alex Bracken is behind it, then I want in!

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Only Cassandra Clare could leave a cliffhanger for one series at the end of another. City of Heavenly Fire basically set up the premise for The Dark Artifices and it hooked me. This series promises to focus more on the Fae in the Shadowhunter world which should be cool! And I think I heard somewhere that there will be another love triangle, but with two girls and a guy this time so that sounds interesting and different. Cassandra Clare always does love triangles pretty well in my experience, so I don't mind them really from her. 

The Crown by Kiera Cass

This is the last book in the Selection series! I can't believe it's going to be over! I've waited for all the books to come out from 2 til now. I desperately need that cliffhanger at the end of The Heir resolved!!! That was sooo not okay! I NEED TO KNOW.

The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

This is the first book in a new series called The Trials of Apollo. It's about Apollo after he gets exiled from Olympus by Zeus and becomes a human. And I read a short sample, and there's a PERCY CAMEO!!!!!! That alone sold me, but of course it's also a different concept for Rick so I'm super excited to see how he executes it! 

Walk the Edge by Katie McGarry

I read Nowhere But Here this year, and I really enjoyed it. This is the second book, so we get a familiar character (Razor I believe) and his romantic story. He seemed really interesting so I'm excited to find out more about him. This series is about a biker gang guys and it's super fun!

TV Shows

Downton Abbey on PBS

Season 6 premieres in only a few days!!!! I'm sad that it's the final season, but at the same time, I think the show has run it's course. I absolutely adore this series!! It's a period drama in England in the early 20th century and it follows a wealthy English family and their servants. I love British television and this is one of my favorite shows ever!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC

This returns in 2016 for the second half of Season 3 (I think). I'm a pretty big Marvel fan, but this is one of my favorite things that they do. I love the characters so much and even though the plot is kind of predictable at times, it can also throw you for a loop so it's always super fun to watch! I can't wait to see what trouble the team gets into this time.

Supernatural on CW

Again, this returns in 2016 for the second half of Season 11. The first half was super awesome! It had a really interesting continual plot, as well as a lot of fun experimental sorts of episodes. I have to say, Sparkles was probably my favorite part (if you saw, I'm sure you'll agree with me lol). I really want to see what happens next because there was such a terrible cliffhanger and my poor babies need to be okay!!!!

The Magicians on Syfy

This is a new series debuting January 25th. It's based on the series of the same name by Lev Grossman, which I've recently had my eye on, so this gives me an excuse to read it. I've seen previews and it looks really interesting and different! 

Shadowhunters on Freeform (previously ABC Family)

This is also new, and based on The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. After the movie flopped, the books were given a second chance on TV, and from what I've seen, it looks really promising! The cast seems a lot more fitted to the characters and I'm really excited to see what happens with it! This premieres on January 12th. 

The Shannara Chronicles on MTV

Another new series, based on the Shannara books by Terry Brooks. This is another book series that I've been wanting to read, so I'll have to get to those. This debuts on January 5th. 

Movies

Sherlock: The Abominable Bride

This is Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman playing Sherlock and Watson back in 1895. I just recently started watching Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes show, so I'm interested to see how Cumberbatch carries it out in the same time period. He's such a great actor so I'm sure it will be fantastic as usual.

The 5th Wave

Based on the book of the same name by Rick Yancey. I'm in the middle of reading this, and it's pretty good. Plus I really like Chloe Grace Moretz so I think it'll be another good film for her.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

I read the book by Ransom Riggs, and it was interesting. I'm really interested to see how it transfers to screen, especially with how central the old photographs are to the novel. Will they recreate the pictures, sort of using them as the basis for visuals? It will definitely be cool to see how Tim Burton does it.

The Jungle Book

Disney is making a live-action The Jungle Book!! How cool is that?! Bill Murray is Baloo, so you know he's gonna be fantastic! I must say I'm really liking this push by Disney to remake their animated classics as live-action films. I think they're going pretty well. 

Captain America: Civil War

Captain America is my all-time favorite superhero! And Chris Evans is adorable and it's such a great combination!! And this one is all about Steve and Bucky (Sebastian Stan who I also love) and I just cannot wait! The previews almost made me cry with that part with Steve and Bucky and Tony and Tony saying about how he thought he was Steve's friend too or whatever and oh my gosh I can't even deal I just need it now!!!!!

Alice Through the Looking Glass

I really enjoyed the first one, so I want to see this one too!! Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway were super awesome in it! I really want to see more futterwacken...

Now You See Me 2

If you didn't know, Now You See Me is about these stage magicians and heists and it's mind-blowingly awesome! I loved every second of it! And the ending was so wide open so I really want to see what happens next! Especially with that plot twist like whoa.

Finding Dory

Need I say more?

Doctor Strange

Benedict Cumberbatch takes on the Marvel Universe? Yes please! Plus there's magic. It just sounds totally awesome.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

It's Harry Potter related so yeah I want to see it. Plus the actors are wonderful. I mean, it's J.K. Rowling, how can you go wrong?

Moana

Newest edition to the Disney Princesses. It's just one of those movies you have to see.

Well that was way longer than I thought it would be...oh well I had a ton of fun writing it so it's all good! 

What are your most anticipated releases of 2016? Any recommendations for me to watch out for? Let me know in the comments.

Top 15 Books of 2015

Guys it's almost 2016!!!! Wow this year went by so fast. I had so many books I wanted to read and I just didn't get to all of them *sadness* But there's always next year haha so we're going for it!

This year I read 61 books! (Hopefully 62 there's still time) Before I get into my favorites, I'll give you some stats thanks to Goodreads of course!

Total Pages: 27, 026. CRAZY RIGHT?! It's so weird to think of books in terms of pages and not books but boom I just did.





Shortest Book: Legacy Lost by Anna Banks. This was 32 pages apparently. It's a novella in the Syrena Legacy series. I only read the first one and part of the second one this year, but I have the whole trilogy so I need to get on that next year.






Longest Book: A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin. This one was a whopping 1,177 pages!!! I also think it might be my favorite Game of Thrones book but I still need to finish A Dance with Dragons so that's up in the air at the moment. If I remember correctly, this one took me possibly two months to read *gasp* it's just that long.

My average rating was 4.4 stars!! That's great guys compared to last year! Even though I didn't read as many books, I apparently made up for it with quality. Quality over quantity as they say...

Now for my Top 15, in no particular order:

1. The Game of Thrones Series by George R. R. Martin
I started this series this year, and even though I'm still on Book 5, I'm loving it immensely and it's definitely one of my favorites. I think what really makes me love it is the depth of the world building. There's obviously so much thought and planning going into it, that you can't help but appreciate it (even though your favorite characters keep mysteriously dying). I especially love all the politics; political intrigue is one of my favorite elements of epic fantasy.



2. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
No, this wasn't written by Valentine's sister or something for those of you out there that have read the Mortal Instruments. This was written by a literary genius. This book is definitely one of my all time favorites! It has that indescribable quality that I'm constantly looking for in books and just can't seem to find. Maybe it's atmosphere, maybe it's the writing, maybe it's just everything but whatever it is, this book has it in abundance! I desperately need Erin Morgenstern to write another book!!!

3. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Sarah J. Maas was already one of my favorite authors, but I probably would have read this anyways. Either way, I absolutely loved it! The Fae elements were fascinating as always, and the plot was very original while still sticking to the main tenants of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale (not the Disney one folks). While I did have a few issues, it was overall a fantastic read and I cannot wait for the next book, A Court of Mist and Fury, to come out next year!!



4. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
I loved going into this with no expectations. It totally wowed me! It took "light-hearted summer read" and flipped it on its head. I'm pretty sure I cried. It was that emotionally tear-jerking. I think that's enough said. If you read it, you'll understand. If you haven't, I don't want to spoil you.



5. Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman
This book, apart from being my first ever ARC *squeals*, is phenomenal! I loved the concept and reading it was just so much fun! I would describe it as historical-fantasy-romance. It created its own genre (you should read it just for that). It's set in the time of Alexander the Great (before he became Great with a capital G though) and there's magic, a very unique magic, and there's lots of romance. It's what I like to call a love polygon which sounds torturous but is actually hilariously fun! I need to get myself an actual copy of the book, because the actual cover is just gorgeous!

6. Ignite Me by Taherah Mafi
I was so late to this bandwagon it's a little embarrassing. However...I'm finally on it. I read the whole trilogy this year, but this one was my favorite by far! Warner is my new love and he is literally the only reason I kept reading. If Taherah Mafi kept writing this series with just adventures in the lives of Juliette and Warner but mostly Warner and romance then I would be a happy little cello for the rest of happily ever after. Just sayin'...


7. The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson
Brandon Sanderson is my new favorite author guys. He's so so so so soooo awesome! I love his world building and his characters and his plots and his romance and the feels and just everything everything everything! My goal is to read all the books he has ever written. It's a thing.




8. Crash Into You by Katie McGarry
This is my favorite Katie McGarry book to date! I loved Isaiah and Rachel and just them together and it was everything I wanted in a romance novel! It's just so fun yet high stakes and I kinda want to call it a guilty pleasure read but I'm not even sure because I totally admit my love for it so there!


9. Fall of Giants by Ken Follett
This series is so ambitious and the first installment did not disappoint. It follows these families in Europe and America through the 20th century and the first book centered around World War I. But it was so much more than that! There was women's rights and the labor union rise and Russian revolutions and politics and social life and class struggles. It was really well researched and was a wonderful mix of facts and plot. I loved the characters and I can't wait to see where they go in the next book!



10. Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas
I love this series sooooo much! While this wasn't my favorite (that goes to Heir of Fire) it was definitely still fantastic and I loved every second of it! I can't even give coherent thoughts without spoiling everything so just know that I love it!!



11. Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

While this wasn't a perfect book by any means, I think it had a really important message, which is why it's on here. It's about becoming your own person and developing your own beliefs and I just think that's really important for everyone to do. It finishes the coming-of-age story that is To Kill a Mockingbird, and I think it's something that you should read if you've read To Kill a Mockingbird, if only just to find out what happens to everyone.



12. Night Film by Marisha Pessl
This book was fantastically creepy! Don't read it in the dark alone because I can tell you from experience that you will be afraid to move for fear of a horror movie director jumping out and killing you or something. The plot was phenomenal and I never knew what was going to happen next. It's definitely a horror thriller mystery thing so be prepared for that. I loved the newspaper clippings and photographs; I thought they really added a layer of believability to the story which was awesome.






13. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Wow was that an awesome book! This is definitely all about the romance for me, not gonna lie. Jamie is adorable and I love him so much and Claire was super awesome too and I just loved it all so much! I need the next book now!




14. Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Sci-fi guys is starting to have appeal because Pierce Brown. Not only is he himself attractive, but so are his books. The writing is fantastic, the plot is fantastic, it's overall just awesome! It's just so inventive and I loved it completely! I need more!


15. The Heir by Kiera Cass
Again, not my favorite in the series, but it was fun to see where the next generation was and to see the whole Selection process flip-flopped. I'm excited to see how it gets wrapped up in the final book. Especially with that cliff-hanger!!!!!! That was not ok and it killed my feels just so you know.





So those were my Top 15 Books of 2015! Hope you enjoyed!

What were some of your favorite books of 2015? Do you agree with any of my picks? Let me know in the comments!

Welcome!

Hello! My name's Ronan (not really, just go with it) and I'm a cello (again not really, see previous).
This is a blog for basically all things nerd: books, movies, tv shows, writing, music. If it has a fandom, you can bet it'll be on here. Well, if I'm in the fandom then it'll be on here. Obviously I'm not blogging about stuff I don't like.

I'm going to try to post at least once a week definitely for shows (right now its fall so that means Supernatural, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Once Upon a Time). Book reviews and stuff will come as I read them, and I'll try to add in some fun stuff too because it's fun!

Ronan