'The Way of Kings' by Brandon Sanderson

The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson (4.0)

Reading this book is a serious commitment. Not only is it 1000+ pages, but there are 3 more written and 6 more planned after that! We are always looking for the successor to JRR Tolkien in the world building story telling realm and Mr. Sanderson has made a strong start with Book 1 in this series. The story follows three main characters, filling in the world around them through their eyes. I found the characters interesting and the magical elements unique. Unlike many in this genre, most of the beings are human, with a major exception being the various spren, creatures that are mostly small and invisible and are attracted to the energy of their type (firespren, painspren, etc.) and can be sensed near that energy. Not sure yet where they belong in this epic, though they seem important. My biggest complaint is that I think the book leans too heavily on the world building and lacks some key dramatic plotlines. While there is plenty of action (battles, assassinations, killings, etc.), the overall evil (think Voldamort and Sauron) is too ambiguous and out of reach to menace until the very end. The last 100 pages were more satisfying in that respect, though the book obviously does not end here, so the majority of one’s questions are left unanswered. As I said – reading this was a serious commitment to read more!

'The Professor and the Madman' by Simon WInchester

The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Writing of the Oxford English Dictionary, Simon Winchester (4.0)

Anyone appreciative of meaningful vocabulary will enjoy this book. Not only does it describe the making of the best-known English dictionary, the Oxford English Dictionary, the words used in so doing are delightfully apt and numerous. While not exactly crowd sourced ala Wikipedia, I was surprised to find how the OED staff went about getting volunteers to help find all the quotations for each word. One problem was interesting: many readers submitted quotations for very obscure words with few definitions, but few submitted ones for everyday words with many definitions (i.e. ‘art’). Lucky for us, none were ineffable. The book outlines the bio of the two men involved and how their lives intertwined, but also generously gives examples of engaging definitions throughout the chapters. It’s hard not to like a book that takes a staid subject such as dictionary writing and spices it up with murder and a lunatic asylum!