4. Before they Are Hanged (First Law Trilogy Book 2)

By Joe Abercrombie (514 pp)

Between this and the last book I reread a couple of other books for a class I took and I didn't list them. Why? I don't know. I have some internal rules about what books I post or don't post but I don't know what those rules are.

I discovered this author not too long ago and I am thrilled to have to many books to look forward to. This series is fantasy set in a sort-of early Europe type world -- it's really brutal. There is war everywhere and the story is divided into different points of view, each with an impossible task to do, while the evil forces are hammering on them. Lots of death and gore. But also, funny? There is a lot of humor here. I love these characters. I plan to pass the trilogy off to my cousin and I am seeing him in a week so I'm diving right into book #3.

3. Night of the Living Rez

By Morgan Talty (278 pp)

I don't know what to tell you about this book. First of all, for me, the title hints of zombies but there are none. The book is connected short stories. I love representation and seeing contemporary Indigenous stories and the writing is good. But these characters were so dysfunctional and unlikeable -- I had a hard time with it.

2. Iron Flame (Empyrean, #2)

By Rebecca Yarros (884 ebook)

As much as I loved the first book: fun setups and payoffs, dragons! romance, is how much I was disappointed in this book. It was not fun. It dragged and dragged. If I had a friend describe a relationship like the one the main character has, I would ask them to reconsider whether it was healthy. Violet is always either enraged or blaming herself for everything. I think the book was too long and rushed. I had trouble following the plot. I had trouble distinguishing the characters. I am unlikely to continue the series.

1. On A Sunbeam

By Tillie Walden (533 pp)

This is an amazing graphic novel with creative world-building. It's set in space but not like we usually see space stories. The main character Mia joins a crew that repairs old buildings and this story is woven together with flashbacks of how Mia ended up here. Really good and I should probably read again. If I have any critique it's that I had a little bit of trouble keeping some of the characters straight and where I was at in the timeline.