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derek

Hey friends! I'm Derek, a soon-to-be debut novelist. Looking forward to connecting! Check out my own work at drobbooks.com

104 points

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Level 2
Reading...Blacktop Wasteland
My Taste
Project Hail Mary
A Gentleman in Moscow
The Gone World
Recursion
Dark Matter

derek finished reading and wrote a review...

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  • The Pale Horseman (The Saxon Stories, #2)
    derek
    Mar 30, 2025
    4.5
    Enjoyment: 4.5Quality: 4.5Characters: 4.5Plot: 4.0
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    ✝️

    The Pale Horseman is an excellent follow-up to The Last Kingdom. Being a big fan of the Netflix series, I have a prior bias toward this series by Bernard Cornwell. There are times when the plot moves a bit slowly in this book, but Cornwell's illustration of 9th century Wessex and the journey of Uhtred (an awesome character) is thoroughly enjoyable. He has that Game of Thrones style "nobody is safe" narrative in his stories, many of which are grounded in real history. I appreciate the afterwords in these novels that explain which elements are historically accurate and which were created as fictional devices. Bernard Cornwell is a master with his battle scenes. They are gory and graphic, but they recreate the battlefield experience and reel you in. Show-related note: Books #1 and #2 in The Saxon Stories only map to Season 1 of The Last Kingdom show. From what I hear, Books #3 and #4 map to Season 2. After that, there is some variance, but many key events are still lined up, roughly 2 books per 1 season. I'll certainly be continuing with these novels! Verdict: 83% Derek Dragonfruits 🐉🍈!

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    derek set their yearly reading goal to 12

    1w

    derek's 2025 Reading Challenge

    3 of 12 read
    The Lincoln Highway
    In Plain Sight
    The Pale Horseman (The Saxon Stories, #2)
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    derek wants to read...

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    Between the World and Me

    Between the World and Me

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    derek wants to read...

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    The Will of the Many (Hierarchy, #1)

    The Will of the Many (Hierarchy, #1)

    James Islington

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    derek wants to read...

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    All Better Now

    All Better Now

    Neal Shusterman

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  • Project Hail Mary
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