I’m almost done with all my grading. All that I need to do now is to input 200+ FINAL GRADES into our online grading system (and not make any mistakes!). Meanwhile, what I really want to do is to read escapist fiction. While I was proctoring my classes as they were taking their FINAL EXAMS, I read James Enge’s This Crooked Way. Yes, it has the obligatory dragon on the cover (and there are dragons in the book), but Enge’s story of Morlock, a sorcerer who is a Maker (kind of a magic engineer), and his adventures carried me through the day on wings of fantasy. This Crooked Way is the second book of a series. The first book, Blood of Ambrose isn’t very good and the third book, The Wolf Age suffers from bloat. But This Crooked Way, with its episodic format, is just right if you’re in the mood for magic and wonder. GRADE: B+
I am reading a romantic fantasy sort of book–don’t know why I picked it up, but it’s turning out to be a welcomed escape at 600 pages.
Most fantasy novels are quick reads despite their length, Patti. Escaping into a world of magic and dragons is the perfect antidote to dealing with stacks of paperwork I’ve found.
I’m sorry to read the 1st and 3rd volumes of the trilogy are not so hot, it keeps me from reading the middle volume as I hate that I came in at the middle of the movie feeling. The wait, who’s that?, how did they get here? that doesn’t make sense feeling. I do like the cover.
These James Enge volumes are pretty much stand-alone books, Rick. The feudal set-up in the first book is abandoned in the second and third books so you won’t miss anything. The third volume is all about werewolves so, again, there’s nothing affecting the plot of the second book. And, there’s not much carry-over from the second book to the third book.