Reading this novella felt like a nice cool down walk after an intense workout. It follows the events of the action-packed Mistborn series, but from a different, detached perspective let's say (lol) and it provides a lot of context to the story and rounds everything out. This was also my first introduction to the larger Cosmere - the expansive fictional world in which Sanderson's stories take place. The references largely went over my head and made the novella hard to follow at times, but I still found this enjoyable after finishing the series. I'm not sure where I'll go next in Sanderson's works, but I'm excited to get a better understanding of how they all fit together!

I am so blown away by Sanderon's worldbuilding. I have never read a series that's so well-drafted, so air-tight, so intricately layered. I said this in my review of "The Well of Ascension" but I can't get over it. This series truly reads as though Sanderson had every plotline fully developed beginning, middle, and end before he even sat down to write the first book. Finishing "The Hero of Ages", I, and I'm sure many other readers, are looking back at the first and second books thinking "How did I not see this coming in the slightest?!" Truly, what an incredible book with one of the best endings I've ever read. Fan of Sanderson's writing or not, the first two books are worth reading if only to have the proper context to then read this epic finale!

I loved how Sazed and TenSoon's story arcs developed throughout this book and its predecessor. I find their stories incredibly compelling. Sazed being absolutely shaken by the events of the previous novel, losing his faith and ideals, and struggling to find a path forward - it was so moving. TenSoon has a similar journey, abandoning his society and ideals when he realizes they're not right. I found these characters to be so inspiring and value-driven. I feel strangely emotionally attached to them and am sad to say goodbye with the conclusion of this novel!

Stoked to re-read this series in a few years and see all the things I missed along the way. I'm not 100% if I want to read the sequel series to this book, but I'll think about it!

There's a Publishers Weekly review for The Well of Ascension that sums up my feelings about this book perfectly: "This entertaining read will especially please those who always wanted to know what happened after the good guys won."

So many series conclude where the Mistborn trilogy's first book ends, with the good guys finally triumphing over the bad guys and the screen fading to black. The Well of Ascension, the massive 590 page sequel to Mistborn, explores what happens to our team of revolutionaries and the liberation of the city they fought for after the Lord Ruler is toppled. The reader quickly realizes that overthrowing the Lord Ruler was, in a way, the easy part. It's much more black and white, good vs. evil, and the path forward is paved with action. Building a new government from scratch after he's been ousted? Much more complicated, morally gray, and accomplished not through action but speeches, debates, and lots and lots of arguing.

I think a lot of people struggled with how slow paced the majority of this novel is - politicking is entirely less thrilling than Sanderon's amazing action sequences - but I loved it. In particular, I loved Elend's journey this book. He's such an idealist and it was so compelling to see his ideals be challenged and pushed to their limits. How do you find a balance between wanting a fair and equitable government while also needing to get things done? This tension is really at play in The Well of Ascension and it has a lot of parallels to real life.

Sanderson also used The Well of Ascension to further develop the Allomancy magic system and I'm eating it up! It's incredible how much the addition of one new metal (and the absence of one) completely changes how Vin and the other Mistborns are able to fight. Vin is still a favorite of mine, but I found her central identity struggle in this book to be less compelling than other character's stories (Elend, Sazed, OreSeur). Fundamentally, Vin is trying to merge her identities as a Mistborn assassin and woman who attended high society balls with Elend together and struggling. I think there's a lot of ways this could've been really meaningful (moral upheaval about murder / indulging in excess while so many have so little) but as many have pointed out, it fell short and came across more as being needlessly insecure, rather shallow, and a bit childish. This sort of angst is, however, very typical of female protagonists in YA series so perhaps it's more of a coming-of-age trope than anything. Either way, it didn't land for me.

The last ~100 pages of this book are incredible. I don't want to say too much about the ending at risk of spoiling it, but I am so blown away by how intricately Sanderson has layered this series. Looking back at the first two novels, it feels as though he had the entire thing written before the first one was published! I'm so curious about his writing process and would love to read more about how these novels were drafted.

After finishing LOTR for the first time last year, I decided I wanted to dig deeper into the fantasy genre and try one of Brandon Sanderson's longer series. Many of my friends are obsessed with his books and told me the Mistborn series was a good entry point for the uninitiated.

Mistborn follows the classic YA-fantasy formula. Young, unsuspecting girl unlocks new exciting powers (and turns out to be something of a prodigy with them!), joins forces with a lovable crew of characters, takes on the bad guy that is oppressing her realm, and develops a crush on a cute guy along the way. Despite having such a well-used formula, Sanderson's "Mistborn" is so fun to read and honestly refreshing. Reading this book felt like having the best version of a dessert you've loved for years - I didn't know it could get this good and I was already such a fan!

Where Mistborn really excels over its peers for me is in its "hard" magic system. "Hard" magic is a term that Sanderson himself coined to describe magic systems that follow specific rules that are detailed to the reader in the narrative. "Soft" magic lacks these clearly defined rules - Tolkien's Gandalf is an example of this. His powers are never really explained to the reader and that's part of his wonder! This was my first experience with a hard magic system and I really enjoyed it and 100% agree with "Sanderson's Laws of Magic" particularly Law #2 "Weaknesses, limits, and costs are more interesting than powers." The limits of Allomancy are very clearly described early on and it makes it that much more exciting when characters come up with an exciting work-around or overcome an obstacle because the reader understands exactly what constraints they're working with.

Beyond the incredible magic system, Mistborn also has a truly lovable cast of characters that are well-developed over the course of the story. Vin and Sazed are definitely favorites of mine. I'm so excited to read the rest of the story and see what happens next. Typically the classic YA-fantasy formula ends with the toppling of the oppressive ruler, but the series has two entire book left! I'm very excited to explore what happens next and how the characters re-build their world after their oppressor is gone. I have an inkling that getting rid of the tyrant is the easy part and creating more just society in his stead will be much more challenging than expected. Can't wait to read Sanderson's take on this!

I think the second book in a trilogy always tends to have trouble standing up to the first and last book in the series and "The Infinite Sea" is no exception for me. Reading this book made me realize that my favorite part of "The 5th Wave" was its quiet eeriness. The feeling of something being slightly off and the characters' internal struggles trying to determine exactly what. Secrets come out towards the end of the first book and with it comes an action-packed conclusion that feels well-earned and sets up the sequel.

"The Infinite Sea" is absolutely action packed. New characters, betrayals, sacrifices, deaths, even more secrets revealed - it has it all. I think Yancey wrote a solid book in "The Infinite Sea"; it's interesting enough to keep you reading, the plot is moved forward at a fast pace, the world-building continues to twist and turn, but I just fundamentally prefer a more character driven story.

With the rapid POV changes and more action-focused chapters, I feel like there was less of a focus on characterization and as such, some characters tend to come off very one-note (I'm looking at you Cassie, with the not-like-other-girls-schtick). I'm still enjoying the dystopian YA-ness of it all, so I plan to finish the series and am hoping things slow down a little bit in the next book so we can spend more time with the cast of characters.

I stumbled into Eiseley's writings in a round-about sort of way. He's an archaeologist famous for his natural science writing specifically his 1957 "The Immense Journey" which is a collection of essays about the history of humanity (I hope to read this soon!). It was extremely popular and Eiseley became well known for his ability to write about science with words that sounded like poetry. I, however, saved this book to my "Want to Read List" years ago while browsing a list of popular memoirs.

"The Night Country" is part archaeology, part memoir, part Eisley's profound and contemplative musings. Very different than his earlier works in terms of subject matter, but the beauty of his writing still takes center stage. It's incredible, how strikingly he can put his thoughts and observations about the world into words. Here's one of my favorite passages from the book, one of Eisley's musings on life and death as his gazes upon a fossil on his desk:

"In the past there has been armor, there have been bellowings out of throats like iron furnaces, there have been phantom lights in the dark forest and toothed reptiles winging through the air. It has all been carbon and its compounds, the black stain running perpetually across the stone."

"But though the elements are known, nothing in all those shapes is now returnable. No living chemist can shape a dinosaur; no living hand can start the dreaming tentacular extensions that characterize the life of the simplest ameboid cell. Finally, as the greatest mystery of all, I who write these words on paper, cannot establish my own reality. I am, by any reasonable and considered logic, dead. This may be a matter of concern, or even a secret, but if it is any consolation, I can assure you that all men are as dead as I. For on my office desk, to prove my words, is the fossil out of the stone, and there is the carbon of life stained black on the ancient rock."

"There is no life in the fossil. There is no life in the carbon in my body. As the idea strikes me, and it comes as a profound shock, I run down the list of elements. There is no life in the iron, there is no life in the phosphorus, the nitrogen does not contain me, the water that soaks my tissues is not I. What am I then? I pinch my body in a kind of sudden desperation. My heart knocks, my fingers close around the pen. There is, it seems, a semblance of life here."

"But the minute I start breaking this strange body down into its constituents, it is dead. It does not know me. Carbon does not speak, calcium does not remember, iron does not weep. Even if I hastily reconstitute their combinations in my mind, rebuild my arteries, and let oxygen in the grip of hemoglobin go hurrying through a thousand conduits, I have a kind of machine, but where in all this array of pipes and hurried flotsam is the dweller?"

"From whence, out of what steaming pools or boiling cloudbursts, did he first arise? What forces can we find which brought him up the shore, scaled his body into an antique, reptilian shape and then cracked it like an egg to let a soft-furred animal with a warmer heart emerge? And we? Would it not be a good thing if man were tapped gentle like a fertile egg to see what might creep out? I sometimes think of this as I handle the thick-walled skulls of the animal men who preceded us or ponder over those remote splay-footed creatures whose bones line deep in the world's wastelands at the very bottom of time."

"With the glooms and night terrors of those vast cemeteries I have been long familiar. A precisely similar gloom enwraps the individual life of each of us. There are moments, in my bed at midnight, or watching the play of moonlight on the ceiling, when this ghostliness of myself comes home to me with appalling force, when I lie tense, listening as if removed, far off, to the footfalls of my own heart, ore seeing my own head on the pillows turning restlessly with the round staring eyes of a gigantic owl. I whisper "Who?" to no one but myself in the silent, sleeping house - the living house gone back to sleep with the sleeping stones, the eternally sleeping chair, the picture that sleeps forever on the bureau, the dead, also sleeping, though they walk in my drams. In the midst of all this dark, this void, this emptiness, I, more ghostly than a ghost, cry "Who?" "Who? to no answer, aware only of other smaller ghosts like the bats sweeping by the window or the dog who, in repeating a bit of his own lost history, turns restlessly among nonexistent grasses before he subsides again upon the floor."

I really relate to Eiseley's viewpoint as a scientist who also sees magic in the natural world. I think his writing his best spoken aloud. I had a magical experience reading this book while camping during a gentle rainstorm. My partner read one of his less contemplative, more adventuresome chapters, "Obituary of a Bone Hunter" to me as we sheltered in the tent under the pitter patter of the rain. He spoke of almosts, the times Eisley almost struck it bit on a dig site, almost found an incredible specimen in a cave, but didn't and all the other things (caves with ceilings covered in spiders, birds' nests with eggs from near-extinct species, eyes reflecting the light of his flashlight back at him) he found a lot the way.

A great read, but only if you're in the mood for it. A sort of contemplative, not-quite-tethered to the real world type of mood is best for this book. I can't wait to read some of his other works.

Obviously a little late to "The 5th Wave" hype train, but I saw this in my local little library while on a walk and picked it up. I sat down in the park on a beautiful day and finished it in a couple of hours! Though I am no long a teen in the 2010s, I still have an appetite for dystopian YA novels with a touch of romance and "The 5th Wave" certainly scratches that itch.

In Yancey's "The 5th Wave", Earth is being devastated by a series of attacks or "waves" led by invading aliens. The first wave consists of an electromagnetic pulse that takes down power, communication, and most vehicles. The second wave triggers massive earthquakes, causing huge tsunamis that devastate the coasts. The third wave is a global pandemic caused by a bird-borne virus. Most of humanity is gone after the third wave, but there are still survivors like our teenaged protagonist Cassie Sullivan.

With the fourth wave, Cassie's situation becomes even more grim. This wave centers around aliens coming to Earth, but appearing as humans and infiltrating survivor groups to kill whomever remains. Given this, Cassie isolates herself for much of the beginning of the novel. I actually really enjoyed this part of the novel. Cassie's struggle to survive all alone in the woods, genuinely believing herself to be one of humanity's only survivors, was so striking. I enjoyed that first part of the novel so much, and was less interested in Ben Parish's storyline but understand how it was necessary to advance the plot.

This book reminds me remarkably of Stephenie Meyer's 2008 "The Host" which centers around the survivors of an invasion of parasitic aliens that infiltrate humans' minds to take control over their bodies. The Host is probably my favorite dystopian novel of all time, so I didn't mind the parallels. I think something the 5th Wave does really well as a dystopian thriller is highlight humanity's struggle to organize and present a unified front against their invaders - something the aliens in "The 5th Wave" clearly expected and capitalized on. This is difficult to confront (from what I remember "The Host" doesn't deal with this at all), but I think is really cool to explore for a YA novel.

Overall, I enjoyed this and plan to finish out the series!

I have a bit of an aversion to the elderly. I know that's an insane lead-in for a review of Backman's beloved, heart-warming novel "A Man Called Ove" and a potentially problematic take but stick with me here. I used to wait tables as a teenager at a popular diner and without a doubt, the worst customers to serve were always the older folks. They were just like Ove - opinionated, very vocal about said opinions, and expected absolute perfection. Living in a conservative, rural area they also had a bad habit of saying the most inappropriate, problematic things to me completely unprompted. Conversing with the elderly, always felt like stepping into a minefield. It was something I did with great apprehension and the understanding that things could take a turn for the worst at any moment. Needless to say, it's something I've spent most of my life avoiding and dreading.

I picked up a "A Man Called Ove" since it's a close friend's favorite and I was surprised by not only how much I enjoyed it but how much it impacted me. Backman's novel truly helped me cultivate more compassion for older folks - not something I expected to find going into reading this book. Backman's characterization is incredible. I love how he emphasizes the humanity of Ove. He is ill-tempered and impatient; but he is also loyal, helpful, and so deserving of love and happiness. Ove, like many elderly folks, seems to mask his loneliness, grief, and difficulty navigating an ever-changing world with anger and bitterness.

Reading this book, I realized that part of the reason why it can be so difficult for me to connect with the elderly is because it necessitates sitting with the parts of life that are more challenging to accept: my own death, loss of loved ones, and the fact that life sometimes changes irreversibility in ways you wish it wouldn't. The best parts of one's life are fleeting and sometimes they come to an end before we do. That's where the reader finds themselves starting the novel from Ove's perspective and we get to learn how to cope with that through Ove's story. I think "A Man Called Ove" is amazing because it is an exploration of grief and loss told through a comedic and light-hearted lens. From the hilarious neighborhood hijinks to Backman's simple and storybook-esque writing style, "A Man Called Ove" invites the reader to sit with the hardest parts of life while also being constantly reminded of the best parts of it. As many have said, this is a novel that will make you cry, laugh, smile, and contemplate your own life.

As a funny aside, somehow I completely missed the setting of this book was in Sweden until the very last chapter. The description of the neighborhood reminded me so much of the English row houses that I just sort of assumed the book took place in the U.K. despite the huge pile of evidence to the contrary. I'm laughing now looking back at all the obvious clues.

Carreyrou's "Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup" falls firmly in my new favorite genre, something I've coined as "White Collar True Crime." Like Patrick Radden Keefe's "Empire of Pain" following the Sackler family's misdeeds or Chris Hamby's "Soul Full of Coal Dust" following the fight for coal miner's black lung benefits, Carreyrou's book is thoroughly researched investigative journalism with a narrative so compelling it reads like a thriller. Like many readers, once I started this book, it was hard to put down. I listened to the audiobook version, like I do with most nonfiction, and was constantly trying to carve out more time to listen to this book. I went on hour long walks for the sole purpose of listening to another chapter of this book!

Unlike traditional True Crime which deals with the gruesome and grisly, murders and kidnappings and so many unquestionably terrible things; "Bad Blood" focuses on corporate wrongdoings. Defrauding investors, intimidating employees, and ignoring regulatory guidelines designed to protect patients. These acts are arguably less engrossing than traditional True Crime, but not in the hands of Carreyrou. His pacing is incredible. The first part of the book is primarily expository, focusing on Holmes' backstory and explaining the technology Theranos was building. Tension gradually builds as the pressure to succeed mounts on Holmes and her behavior takes a turn for the vindictive and nefarious.

I work in Biotech so the story of Theranos hits close to home. I'm familiar with the innovative idealism of startups as well as the regulatory scrutiny the field falls under, rightfully so, that starkly differentiates it from other tech sectors. As Holmes discovered, the tech startup ethos of "Move fast and break things" doesn't work when your technology centers around providing critical medical information to patients. Biotech and Tech are simply not the same. The necessary capital, both financial and intellectual, for wet lab research and development is enormous. It's not something one researcher can start on their own without serious support from an already established academic lab or private company - no matter how determined and hard-working they are. You simply won't be able to get access to the necessary equipment or the training to use that equipment otherwise.

It's not shocking to me that Theranos didn't have their technology fully figured out when they went to court investors and partners; "building the plane as you fly it" is typical for startups. It's expensive to do wet lab R&D and you need investors to buy in before your product is finished just so you have the cash to do the development in the first place. What's shocking to me is so many of Holmes' staunch supporters, with deep pockets and powerful connections, did not seek out or actively ignored expert scientific counsel. I've never seen a biotech company whose board entirely lacks subject matter experts - scientists, doctors, and engineers with expertise in medical devices and blood testing.

Typically, when a company comes out with a disruptive technology like Theranos claimed, they publish a summary of work in an open source pre-print or in a peer-reviewed journal. At the very least they will share this data in a talk or poster at an industry conference. Theranos failed to do this and attracted a lot of skepticism from those in the industry, especially those who were working on the same problems (miniaturizing blood testing instruments, reducing the volume of blood required, and running multiple tests simultaneously). Somehow, though, the prominent members of her board like George Schultz, whose signature of endorsement seems to be all many other investors needed to buy into Theranos, never questioned the confusing lack of high-quality data. I think this speaks to the power of Holmes' charisma and conviction in her own idea and that fact that everyone, investors and the public alike, wanted Theranos to succeed. Having a young female founder was compelling and the technology, as Holmes presented it, truly had the power to disrupt the industry and improve patient's outcomes.

If Holmes had simply thrown in the towel when Theranos' technology clearly was failing and shut down the company, she would've been able to exit gracefully with her reputation and scientific integrity intact. She could've even continued to work on her technology and spun out another company further down the line. Truly, the greatest sin one can commit as a scientist is fabricating data. Once you stoop that low, there is no going back - no one will ever buy into your work again. How Holmes was able to continue to lie about Theranos' technology, even as their technology rolled out to the public in Walgreen's stores, is truly beyond my comprehensive. Exaggerating your successes to court investors is one thing, but to roll out tests you know beyond doubt are inaccurate and don't work as described is despicable.

The part that's hard to stomach is that endangering patients isn't even the worst of Holmes' crimes. The way she and Balwani threatened and intimidated the employees that dared to speak up and call out the scientific and moral wrongs they saw at Theranos was horrible. The bullying that led to the suicide of Ian Gibbens is the hardest part of this story for me to stomach. I've worked with so many scientists who are just like Gibbens. They have immense expertise due to their many years of experience, they're passionate about the work they do, and they truly want to do work that makes a difference. It broke my heart to hear his story and how Theranos abused him for trying to do the very thing they hired him to do: spearhead the development of a ground-breaking technology that could improve patients' lives. Truly, his only crime was having integrity. The fact that Gibbens isn't even the only employee they did this with is so disgusting. Even Eric Schultz, Theranos' first and most prominent whistleblower, only was able to withstand their aggressive litigation due to his wealthy family and personal connections.

Carryrou does an excellent job of weaving all the different threads of this story into a cohesive narrative. I would highly recommend this for anyone interested in science, true crime, or legal dramas.

P.S. Make sure you look up videos of Holmes speaking on YouTube if you're unfamiliar. Carreyrou spends a lot of time describing her deep baritone voice and it is just as jarring as he describes - definitely worth a listen!