Short Takes

"Inheritance" or "The Vault of Souls", the final book in the Inheritance cycle by Christopher Paolini has received rather mixed reviews. Undoubtedly Christopher Paolini has a knack for forcefully dragging a plot to its fullest extent but their also is a charm in his writing which keeps readers interested despite their will. A few questions  plagued me post reading and it seemed that the author had not given enough effort in satisfying the reader. It was very odd and intriguing the way Galbatorix and Shurikan were defeated without apparent effort or  how an  army consisting of urgals, kulls, dwarves, elves, were-cats and humans struggled to defeat an army of purely humans. These 850 pages would have been better portrayed in half this size as none of us wished to hear how Eragon spent a night healing a child with a cleft lip, an event to which an entire chapter was donated to, or how well-kept the king's jailer's nails were. Despite all my rants, the book was an enjoyable read, though  immensely slow paced.


The Devil You Know (Felix Castor 1) reviewed by Fantasist.
I found this book very disappointing. I have read a number of dresden file books and simply adore them. So it was a shock to find this(also urban fantasy)so drab.
For one the protagonist doesn't have anything to work with. He's supposed to be combating demons and all other sorts of nasties with a tin whistle- yeah that's right- how ummmmm lame.
If that weren't enough the book just kept dragging trying to build a mystery that in the end just doesn't make it worth you while to have kept reading.
The author has a very entertaining writing style that's what makes it even more sad, because the book could have been so much more had the author focused on a little more action and a little less conversation especially of the boring nature.