My last 5 books: Fantasy, sci-fi and vampires

1. A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin. I've been meaning to read this for ages, basically since the first season of Game of Thrones aired, but I didn't get around to it until now. And it was amazing!! I am always sceptical towards a TV show or movie based on a book, because I know they've probably had to cut a lot out, but with Game of Thrones I was surprised at how closely the TV show had followed the book. Things like feeelings and backstory are always easier to portray in books, and there's a lot more of that in the book. Which I really enjoy, because it gives more depth to the characters. I don't have all that much more to say about it. It's amazing; there's more backstory than in the TV show; read it!


2. Fevre Dream, by George R.R. Martin. The second book that I got off of BuzzFeed's vampire book list. This was written before ASOIF, and one can tell just how much his writing has evolved from this to ASOIF. I really enjoyed this take on vampirism. It's a version that even 30+ years later isn't all that common, and it was a nice change. A world where vampires are a completely different race from humans. Humans can't become vampires and very few of the mytological tricks to keep vamps at bay actually work. The main character is Abner Marsh, and all he dreams of is to own the biggest, fastest steamship on the Mississippi, along comes Joshua York who offers him a chance to do exactly that. But Joshua is odd, and dark happenings seem to follow him around, Marsh grows suspicious and finds out the truth. Joshua is a vampire on a quest to cure the Red Thirst. This revelation sets both of them on a course of adventure that lasts decades. I enjoyed reading this book, but at the same time there was a lack of the feeling I get when a book is amazing. It didn't take over my mind or make my heart beat harder. But it was most definitely a good book.

3. Ascension, by Drew Karpyshyn. The second book in the Mass Effect book series. This one takes place after Saren's attack on the Citadel at the end of the first Mass Effect game. It introduces the Grissom Academy, which features briefly in the third game (and is mentioned in the second). Once again we follow Kahlee Sanders, who (alongside Anderson) was the main character in the first book too. She is now a teacher at the Grissom Academy. Grissom Academy is being inflitrated by Cerberus operatives, and when she finds out she embarks on a mission to keep Cerberus' objective from them, which includes escaping from them and go into hiding on the quarian Migrant Fleet. I really enjoyed reading this book, partly because of the unique insight into the workings of the Migrant Fleet.

4. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson. This is a classic. I had no idea that the book the movie was based on was that old until I picked it up. The book, however, is nothing like the movie. Absolutely nothing. Not even in the slighetst. How is the movie allowed to carry the same name as the book? Neville wasn't a very likeable person throughout the book, but I guess that's understandable, and I did get sick of reading about his repetitive life (probably as much as he got living it), until Ruth showed up at the end. I really liked Ruth and I really liked finding out that the vampires were figuring out how to embrace their new physiology and making life work. I did notice some similarities between the plot of this book and modern day zombie stories, and I can't help but think that if this story had been written today it wouldn't be vampires that Nevilee was fighting, but zombies. But despite the slow beginnings and the confusing way that Matheson chose to show what had happened to make the world this way, I really enjoyed reading this book and I basically had to force myself to put it down and not finish it all in one sitting. But I don't agree with the horror label.

5. Cinder, by Marissa Meyer. Futuristic spin on classic fairytale. What's not to love? I loved this book, the world, the characters, the plot... All of it sucked me in and refused to let me go. Cinder was a badass girl that I could identify with, and I loved the twist that one of her stepsisters actually was her friend. I enjoyed puzzling together how this world came about (which isn't explained in-depth, because it simply isn't relevant to the story). Because it's a spin on a classic fairytale there are obviously places in the story where you know what's going to happen, but that didn't bother me as much as I thought it would, and the story's twist was enough for it to be unrecognisable as Cinderella in several places. I couldn't put this book down (although I tried to make it last longer), and as soon as I was done I continued the story by reading Scarlet and placing the rest of the Lunar Chronicles on order so I could read the whole series.