Reading this book was like eating an artichoke for me. Just as I really like artichokes, I liked the story and the characters, but, getting to the heart of the story took forever. Just like the elusive heart of an artichoke, the story was buried under layers and layers of prose.

Janny Wurts is a master craftsman at arranging words on a page, but to me the words often got in the way of the story’s progression. I like to think I possess a pretty good vocabulary yet I found myself seeking out a dictionary on several occasions. I also found myself re-reading sentence after sentence and paragraph after paragraph trying to figure out what she was on about. This made reading this book somewhat of a chore at times. I can usually manage to complete an 800-1000 page book in well under a month, The Curse of the Mistwraith took me nearly two of extremely dense reading.

I don’t eat artichokes every meal, but I do enjoy one every now and then. I will read more of Janny’s books, but I’m actually relieved my advance copy of Brandon Sanderson’s The Way of Kings has arrived so I can read something by my comfortable old friend for a while and rest my brain.

How refreshing to find a book where the heroine isn’t any of stereotypes. She’s not an orphan, she’s not petite, but what she is is wonderful! And the hero takes so many twists and turns from the stereotypical path to becoming the hero that you’re not entirely sure if he’ll make it or not. It is hard to believe this was Sanderson’s first book because it is so perfect in so many ways. The system of magic is elusive throughout most of the book, to the point where, f it weren’t for the history told therein, you’re not sure if anyone will ever be able to perform it. The villains are menacing, yet one villain’s journey makes him endearing in the end. I have to be careful what I say, because I don’t want to spoil this for anyone. I have to say that this is my most favorite of all Sanderson’s books. Mostly because I identified with Sarene so much, I felt as though Sanderson knew me when he wrote this book and fashioned her after me. So now you’ll know how I see myself, just read Elantris. I am Sarene.

What I will say is I was a skeptical reader when I read the first book of the series (The Crown Conspiracy), but it made me interested enough to read the second book (Avempartha) which really hooked me on the story, then came Nyphron Rising and I was sunk hook, line and sinker! Each book gets better and better and I’m quite certain I won’t want it to end! C’mon Michael! Can’t you stretch this out to 12 books like the Wheel of Time? Pretty please?

All in all, I think The Wheel of Nuldoid was a very nice foray into the YA market and look forward to where Russ Woody goes from here with it.

So why don’t you blighters do us all a favor and quit wasting your time and mine?

So now the agony starts as I join the others who, like me, cannot wait for the next three parts of this series to become available. I knew I should have waited till they were all out to read!!

If you are a big fan of continuity you will find yourself in a great deal of discomfort with An Echo in the Bone. Gabaldon jumps all over the place! One minute you are in 1777 Fort Ticonderoga with Jamie and Claire, the next chapter you could be in 1980 Scotland with Briana and Roger followed by a chapter in 1777 with William. Then just when you get used to that, the book just stops! No ending, no resolution to half a dozen story threads she had going, no hint of what’s to continue on in the next book it just stops like hitting a brick wall. For these reasons I have rated it the lowest of all seven Outlander books. I will still continue to read this series because I have so much already invested in these characters, but I really hope the quality of writing in future books goes back up to Gabaldon’s previous standards.