The Eye of The World, by Robert Jordan

Before I start this review, let me give you a piece of advice: don't read the blurb on the back of this book. It didn't completely ruin my reading experience, but it does give a spoiler that does not actually occur until the very last page of the book. So! Here’s a blurb that does not include that spoiler....

“The Eye of The World” is the first book in the “Wheel of Time” series, which is an epic high fantasy series of 14 books – yes, fourteen books. We start in a small village in Two Rivers where Moraine meets 3 young men who are being hunted by evil agents of the Shadow. She must guide them through lands of myth and legend to Tar Valon, where they will be safe.

And that is all you really need to know - the rest is best left untold until you discover it in your reading.

Overall, I really enjoyed this. If you haven’t read fantasy before, this would not be a good one to start with. The world is very complex, and Jordan does not take the time to explain it. When the story starts, it's like you’re expected to know all the terminology and the history of this world already. Thankfully there’s a glossary at the back, which I used extensively to understand what’s being referred to. But it does get easier as the book goes on.

Something worth noting about the glossary: it doesn't tell you anything that the characters do not already know or will be explained to them. For instance, “The Eye of The World” is not in the glossary; whilst one of the characters knows what it is, the rest do not. The glossary doesn’t spoil anything: when it’s revealed, you find out with the rest of the characters.

I did find that about midway through I started to struggle. The entire book is told in the third person, mainly from Rand's perspective. Around the middle, however, there is a narrative change, and after seeing so much from Rand's perspective, I really found it difficult to adapt to that change. Eventually I did appreciate it and found it actually gave me a more rounded out experience of what was happening.

One of my biggest "complaints" about this book is its similarities to “The Lord of the Rings” series. There is a journey, there is a magical person guiding a group of seemingly hapless people, there are even species similar to Orcs and Nazgul. However - Tolkien was the father of epic fantasy series and it's inevitable that high fantasy books written after “The Lord of The Rings” will have been influenced by them.

So, the big question is: Will I continue with this series? The answer is yes. I found this to be a real page turner, and the writing very accessible. I loved the cast of characters and I want to know what will happen to them. Despite similarities with “The Lord of Rings”, this series still has enough original storyline to keep me excited and invested.

- Jenny (@budgetbooklover)

Paperback, £9.99. Find it in the Sci-fi & Fantasy section!

Stranger in the Shogun's City, by Amy Stanley

Stranger In The Shogun's City focuses on the daughter of a Buddhist priest, Tsuneno. Born in 1804 in Japan's snow country, she defied convention by running away from her family to Edo, which we now call Tokyo, following her third divorce. Through the letters she sent home, we see her forge her own path in life.

Woven around Tsuneno's story is the history of Edo and Japan at the time. The world was changing and soon Japan would also be changing. The people featured are also gone, which is a sobering thought, but I love that part of them now lives on through the pages of this book.

Overall this was a really interesting and compelling book. Whilst this is essentially a history book, the narrative following Tsuneno and her family added an additional human element. You become invested in her life and want to know how she fares. Considering all that is left of her are the few letters she sent home, and some of the replies, Stanley manages to build up a rounded picture of her personality and impulsive temperament. 

That being said sometimes I felt that Stanley overplayed the "she might have" narrative. The fact is that we don't know a lot of what Tsuneno was thinking, and whilst it is interesting to speculate, there were a few chapters where I felt we were given too many options of what she might have thought, and I found it grating.

But that is a minor grumble really. Overall, this was incredibly well researched, as demonstrated by the extensive notes and bibliography, and is a love letter to Edo, a place which no longer exists. 

I would like to read more from Stanley and would especially like to learn more about her research into Tsuneno and Edo.

- Jenny, @budgetbooklover on Instagram 

Paperback, £9.99. Find it in the History section!

The Story of a Nobody, by Anton Chekhov

This novella is part of the 101 Page Classics series. It follows a young man, a "nobody" who has infiltrated the household of a government official's son on behalf of a secret terrorist group. His purpose is to spy on the father and, ultimately, assassinate him. But our "nobody" narrator gradually becomes disillusioned with his purpose and chooses a new path, which leads him to a tragedy.

This was my first Chekhov, but not my first piece of classic Russian literature, and I think it is the perfect introduction to the genre! It's a great way to discover some new authors or discover a forgotten classic. Who doesn't a love character-driven psychological story? And Chekhov's writing is stunning!

At only 101 pages, it's definitely worth trying something new. And despite its short length, by the end you fully know the characters and will have formed your opinions of them. 

- Jenny, @budgetbooklover 

Paperback, £5.99. Find this in the Classics section!