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savviecake's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
whatiswithin's review against another edition
5.0
First book I've ever had that made me full bawl and cry.
Spoiler
I learned to love all these characters, and I never thought that they would die, and they did. And it didn't feel cheap, or cheesy. And it made me cry. It had never happened before and I was so perplexed while I cried and while I read this bookcara0007's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
brando_sando13's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
tiffany_bush's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was a wild adventure. This book could be hard for some to read due to frequent change in characters and scenes. It was an enjoyable read.
ljimenez89's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
inotherworlds's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
snuf's review against another edition
5.0
I really loved this one. I'm glad it has finally been collected in single volume.
topdragon's review against another edition
4.0
Stephen Leeds is another fascinating character from the fertile imagination of Brandon Sanderson. Instead of providing us with a massively complex and intriguing fantasy or science fiction setting that most of us are familiar with when reading a Sanderson story or series, this time he turns inward for his world building.
This is a trilogy of three novellas, two of which have been published previously. I’m glad I waited until now so that I could read the complete set, one after the other because each one builds on the previous. The first story serves mostly to introduce the concept of Stephen Leeds and his “illusions”. Leeds is a genius and is capable of learning new subjects in a very short amount of time…but in order to make sense of so much knowledge and compartmentalize it, his mind creates illusions; basically characters that only he can see and interact with. He knows they are not real (and thus reassures himself that he isn’t insane). For example, when Leeds needs to learn Hebrew he conjures up an illusionary character that can act as a “translator” for him. Or if he needs the expertise of a Navy SEAL, then the wonderful illusionary character of JC is right there for him. The cool thing though is that these illusions are just like real characters for us readers and their interaction, banter, bickering, etc. makes them as real to us as they are for him…even though we know they’re not.
All three novellas have their own plots in the form of cases to solve, but the second one starts to plant the seeds of a mental breakdown for Leeds while the third really pumps up the emotional impact of what might happen if that came to pass. In fact near the end, I was preparing myself to be seriously pissed off at Sanderson but the very end gave me the emotional payoff and fulfillment that I always count on with this author. Sanderson has written about how this third novella is more autobiographical than anything he has shared before and we can really see what it must be like to be a fiction author who is so heavily invested in his characters.
This is a trilogy of three novellas, two of which have been published previously. I’m glad I waited until now so that I could read the complete set, one after the other because each one builds on the previous. The first story serves mostly to introduce the concept of Stephen Leeds and his “illusions”. Leeds is a genius and is capable of learning new subjects in a very short amount of time…but in order to make sense of so much knowledge and compartmentalize it, his mind creates illusions; basically characters that only he can see and interact with. He knows they are not real (and thus reassures himself that he isn’t insane). For example, when Leeds needs to learn Hebrew he conjures up an illusionary character that can act as a “translator” for him. Or if he needs the expertise of a Navy SEAL, then the wonderful illusionary character of JC is right there for him. The cool thing though is that these illusions are just like real characters for us readers and their interaction, banter, bickering, etc. makes them as real to us as they are for him…even though we know they’re not.
All three novellas have their own plots in the form of cases to solve, but the second one starts to plant the seeds of a mental breakdown for Leeds while the third really pumps up the emotional impact of what might happen if that came to pass. In fact near the end, I was preparing myself to be seriously pissed off at Sanderson but the very end gave me the emotional payoff and fulfillment that I always count on with this author. Sanderson has written about how this third novella is more autobiographical than anything he has shared before and we can really see what it must be like to be a fiction author who is so heavily invested in his characters.