Bridge of Birds

Author: Barry Hughart
This story is a watercolor painted on a silk screen, beautiful and simple. Don't know what I mean? Maybe you should read the book.

It is a story of "ancient China that never was," a fairy tell or sorts, but wrapped around a heist, or perhaps a mystery. It's funny, charming, and engaging. You will likely figure out the ending before it's delivered, but seeing the story unfold is no less pleasurable for it.

Mistborn: The Final Empire

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Synopsis: In a fantasy world where ash rains from the sky and the majority of people are oppressed by nobles ruling under an immortal god-king, a young girl discovers vast powers within herself and joins a plot to bring justice to the downtrodden.

Brandon Sanderson was recently tapped to complete the Wheel of Time series after the unfortunate death of Robert Jordan. This piqued my interest. When a friend recommended the Mistborn trilogy, I decided to take him up on it.

And I’m glad I did. Epic trilogies are the bread and butter of fantasy, and Sanderson is starting his off with a bang. In the first several pages, I was concerned about the prose – it was a little literal, not highly imaginative. I took this to be a sign of the story to come, and I couldn’t have been more wrong. The story is superb. The characters are rich, but fathomable. That’s an apt word, here, because one actually feels that there are depths to fathom – not de riguer in fantasy circles.

The magic system is sensible, complete, and compelling. One consumes metals to power a handful of effects, including the capacity to Push or Pull on metal objects, but only on the line between the mage and the object. I was most impressed with the physical astuteness Sanderson brought to the magic system. If you Push or Pull on an object much lighter than you, it moves. If it’s much heavier (or attached to something heavier, or Push or Pulled against it), you move instead. This makes for some fantastically imaginative and stirring action scenes.

The final books in the trilogy are already out. I will be picking them up soon, and reporting my thoughts here.

Retroactive Ratings: Bill Bryson

I usually rate books as I read them, but, what the heck, let's go ahead and throw in all the Bill Bryson books I've read:

A Walk in the Woods

Like I said, funniest book ever. I particularly like the bits about bears.

In a Sunburned Country

Also excellent, also funny. Here he tours Australia, giving the reader the lowdown on all the poisonous animals and quirky tourist attractions.

Notes from a Small Island

Bill Bryson lived in the U.K. for a number of years (roughly 20, I think) and this book recreates both his first experiences of the country as well as his adventures touring around it.