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Tag: death

SNQ: Joe Abercrombie’s “Last Argument of Kings”

Summary: Joe Abercrombie’s Last Argument of Kings is the third and final book in The First Law Trilogy. As the Union’s war in the north continues to rage, Logen Ninefingers is reunited with the Dogman and his other companions, who have joined forces with Collem West. Meanwhile, intrigue in Adua heats up as a new king is crowned and [...]

SNQ: Joe Abercrombie’s “Before They Are Hanged”

Summary: Joe Abercrombie’s Before They Are Hanged is the middle book in The First Law Trilogy. As Collem West enters a bitter war in the north for the Union’s holdings in Angland, Sand dan Glokta is sent to the southern port of Dagoska to root out a conspiracy and coordinate the city’s defense against the Gurkish Emperor’s [...]

SNQ: David Brooks’s “How to Know a Person”

Summary: The purpose of David Brooks’s How to Know a Person is to help readers learn to become “Illuminators,” which he defines as folks who “have a persistent curiosity about other people” and are experts in “the craft of understanding others” (13). In service of this goal, Brooks explores his personal history, the life stories of other [...]

SNQ: Joe Abercrombie’s “The Blade Itself”

Summary: The Blade Itself is the seductive and brutal opening act of Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law Trilogy. Set in a vast fantasy world of kingdoms vying for power in an ever-shifting geopolitical landscape, Abercrombie introduces a host of characters from different regions who appear to have nothing in common. He then proceeds to slowly draw them together, [...]

SNQ: Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”

Summary: Well over a century since its original publication, Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a classic that stands the test of time. This captivating epistolary novel tells the tale of a small group of people who encounter a mysterious and daunting horror. Throughout their harrowing adventure, these heroes leverage their capacities for friendship, love, cooperation, courage, and loyalty [...]

SNQ: Ted Chiang’s “Stories of Your Life and Others”

Summary: Stories of Your Life and Others is the first collection of short stories by Ted Chiang, a man who will surely be remembered as one of this era’s finest writers. Ranging from reimagined biblical fables to ethical examinations of near-future technology, Stories contains a batch of bizarre narratives brimming with emotional poignancy and intellectual depth. With [...]

SNQ: Dorothy Baker’s “Cassandra at the Wedding”

Summary: Dorothy Baker’s Cassandra at the Wedding is a captivating work of 20th century fiction. The narrators are identical twins––Cassandra and Judith––who return home to their family’s ranch in California to celebrate Judith’s wedding. Most of the story is told from Cassandra’s point of view, revealing her fraught internal conflicts over what her sister’s imminent marriage means [...]

SNQ: Naomi Novik’s “The Golden Enclaves”

Summary: Naomi Novik’s The Golden Enclaves is the third and final book in her Scholomance trilogy. Still reeling from the chaos of graduation day, Galadriel and her companions are tossed into a complex tangle of international conflicts threatening to disrupt the lives of magic users everywhere. Through providing aid to compromised enclaves across several continents, they learn [...]

SNQ: Naomi Novik’s “The Last Graduate”

Summary: Naomi Novik’s The Last Graduate is the second book in her Scholomance trilogy. Now in their senior year at the Scholomance, Galadriel and her classmates are generating every bit of mana they can muster and practicing to take on the horde of maleficaria that awaits them on graduation day. As the end of their final term approaches, [...]

SNQ: Naomi Novik’s “A Deadly Education”

Summary: Naomi Novik’s A Deadly Education is the first book in her Scholomance trilogy. The book drops readers into a grim fantasy world in which magicians are constantly threatened by “maleficaria,” a ravenous horde of magical monsters eager to devour the mana that each magician carries inside them. Adolescent magicians have a particularly high mortality rate, so [...]