The Tawny Man Trilogy by Robin Hobb

So, I've decided to do trilogies all together instead of doing each individual book. Unless of course the first book is really terrible and I don't plan on reading the rest. Or, I suppose, if not all of the books are out yet. In any case, let the review begin!
This trilogy follows the Farseer trilogy, continuing the story of Fitz. After I had already started reading it, I discovered that this is actually the third trilogy following the story line. The second one, I believe, follows the Fool for some, or perhaps all though I doubt it, of the fifteen year gap between the end of the Farseer trilogy and the beginning of this one. Because the second trilogy doesn't follow Fitz, it isn't necessary to read it, though it would probably give more information about some of the events in this trilogy. I'll be reading it next so I'll have more information then.
I was impressed at how seamlessly Fitz's story continued despite the fifteen year gap. Unlike many lengthy series, the continuation of Fitz's story did not seemed forced at all. It was continued simply because not all of the loose ends had been tied up. Really all I can say is that I enjoyed the whole trilogy and that I hope the Fool's story during the fifteen year gap is just as good.

The Farseer Trilogy: Books Two and Three by Robin Hobb

Again, as I have found myself doing a lot lately, I will forgo a lengthy description of the book. All that you really need to know is that it continues the story of Fitz and gets a LOT more exciting (not that the first book wasn't exciting--it just gets more exciting).
I liked both of the books very much and am pleased to say that the quality of the first book continues through the second and third. I only have a few complaints about the book. At the beginning of each chapter there is an italicized section that provides mostly information about the future (for example some of it is Fitz's writing--not prophetic, just excerpts of what he will write in the future--about what has/will happen in a certain season/year with the raiders). I eventually got irritated because it narrows down the field of things that could happen during his adventures. Along the same lines, I also disliked the epilogues for books one and two because it did the same thing. The last epilogue was the only one that was okay because it's the end of the story (ignoring the fact that there's a follow-up series. But I think that takes place 15 years later and after the epilogues take place so it really doesn't matter anyways). I also had a problem with some of the characters--the female ones actually: Kettricken, Molly, and Starling (a later character). They drove me absolutely INSANE. I felt that Molly became way too important to the story (Fitz, rather) and her character was just bland! And Kettricken: so MOODY! Starling... She was just way too OBNOXIOUS. In any case, those are pretty minor irritants and the story is still plenty good (though I do wish that there was more information about the strange city in the third book...). I was relieved to have finally finished the trilogy (only because the books are each so LONG) but I might just have to read the next series. It's too tempting to resist. Oh! And my favorite part of the entire trilogy was probably the last paragraph of chapter 40 of the third book. I was so pleased. :)

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

I won't bother with much of a summary (as most of the book is about the boy Fitz growing up and learning new things) other than to say that Fitz is the illegitimate son of the crown prince and as he's growing up in the book, he faces a lot of challenges.
When I look back on the book, I'm surprised at how not-boring Hobb makes Fitz's aging process. Usually authors either skip the main character's early life, speed though it and don't do it justice, or make it extremely long and boring. The most exciting point in this book comes towards the very end but I didn't feel at all frustrated at the time it took to get there, probably because of how much care was taken to give Fitz a background and establish the other characters in depth. I believe that the main function of this book was to create a solid foundation for the rest of the story to build off of, and it was accomplished marvelously without sacrificing entertainment. I've already started the next book and it looks to be even better than the first! All I can say is that passing this trilogy up would be a terrible mistake!
Note: I might combine the next two books into one review.

Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

Janelle's life is fairly normal: she has a crush on a boy, an ex-friend for an enemy, a best friend, and an average job as a lifeguard. It is normal, in fact, until she gets hit by a car and dies; and gets brought back to life by--a stoner at her school? Add to that a bunch of mysterious deaths and a countdown to who-knows-what and you end up with a life that is certainly not normal. But why, and how, was she brought back to life and what is this mysterious countdown to?
I thought Unraveling was a good read. It has an engaging plot and interesting characters and relationships. At first I was worried that it was going to be another lame teen romance with little involvement in the plot but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was not. It's also nice to have a previously-unknown character become a big part of the plot. I was disappointed, however, at the lack of information given about Janelle's best friend Alex. He is present during the entire story yet we never really learn anything about him other than his intimidating mother and his role in Janelle's life. The information given about him is equivalent to that of a much less important character. I was really hoping there would be some insight into his character but it never happened. I believe that Elizabeth Norris plans to make the book into a trilogy but I'm worried that they are going to be written just to make more money and to drag out the story for as long as possible because there really didn't seem to be much more to write about at the end of the book. Hopefully Norris will surprise me and pull off some really excellent sequels. In summary I'd say that Unravelling is enjoyable and worth a read if you like that kind of story.

A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont

Emma is a scholarship student stuck at a school full of snobbish rich kids. Her miserable school life is only made worse by the fact that her roommate--the other scholarship student who is Emma's only possible ally--dislikes her. That combined with the wrath of the queen-bee Elise leaves her with just a leather-bound copy of Jane Eyre to keep her company. Little does she know what those old pages hold...
Though the book had great potential with the interesting idea of going into a book, Mont unfortunately did not do a very good job in the execution. In addition to way too much cheesy spiritual junk (not that I have anything against spiritual stuff--it's just that it was unskillfully thrown in in an attempt to explain certain events in the book), the story seemed somewhat pointless. I think Mont was so intent on using her interesting idea that she totally ignored the rest of the story. It was like two stories that did not fit were slapped together to create one. Add to that a melodramatic, cliché love story and you end up with a big mess. I'm not saying that it's totally unenjoyable, just that it is very flawed. I would absolutely love to see Mont's idea executed well (I suppose a similar idea is used in Inkheart... I'll have to re-read that one) but the story just didn't quite cut it for me, which is such a shame. Mont is planning to write two more books to follow this one, but based on the summary, the next looks like it will be a repeat of the first, just with another book. I might have been inclined to read the sequel if there had been a hint dropped about why this happened to Emma, but as it is I don't plan on reading any of the others.

The Mistborn Series: Books Two and Three by Brandon Sanderson

Out of the sheer exhaustion of my mind due to the reading of these two books I have decided to clump them together and to omit summaries of what they are about (they are continuations of the series anyways). If you want to figure out all of the secrets from the first book (not to mention the undermining of everything you thought you knew), then reading these books is a must. I have never read a book/series that has thrown so many surprises around before (I know I said that about The Emperor's Edge series, but the surprises in these two books easily top those). Anyways, the books are incredible. The characters continue to develop throughout the books quite believably and several new characters are introduced. I personally felt overwhelmed by the huge number of surprising events but I thought the books were enjoyable nonetheless. There is a fourth book, but the first three pretty wrap up the story very nicely (except for a bit of a hint dropped at the end about a discovery that still hasn't been made). I'd say that if you've read the first book and liked it well enough, you'd be missing out not to read these as well if only to have everything you thought you knew turned upside down and become something totally different.

Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

In an oppressive society under the immortal, tyrannical Lord Ruler, nobles and skaa coexist. The nobles need fear little as long as they do not defy the Lord Ruler. The skaa, however, are essentially slaves, condemned to miserable lives due to the actions of their ancestors. Vin, a girl in a thieving band of skaa, has a special ability which she calls Luck. Without it she would have died long ago. Kelsier is something of a hero. He is called the survivor and known to all of the skaa. His goal? To cause as much trouble as he can, and for his latest plan he needs a team. Little does Vin know that she's going to become involved.

I took a bit of a gamble on this book. I usually don't read fantasy books that are quite this obscure (and by obscure I mean with extremely different, elaborate societies and totally different worlds). But this turned out quite well. I was pleasantly surprised that I could follow along with all of the invented terms and such because they were explained adequately. The story is told from mostly Vin's point of view, but also Kelsier's and others' as needed. It is done quite proficiently, as each change of view reveals information that you wouldn't have gotten otherwise. The book does start off in that mysterious way that leaves you completely confused, but everything is explained quickly enough for it to add to rather than detract from the story telling. What I loved the most about the book was the creativity of the skills that Vin has and the clear descriptions of their use (no, I will not expand on that. I don't want to spoil the story). Vin's and Kelsier's personalities are developed very nicely and the change is noticeable (though that is probably made more obvious by Vin's commentary now that I think about it...). But in any case, I enjoyed the story and will probably read the next one. Stay tuned!