April Readings
Yeah, I was very lazy this month in terms of reading, and put more energy into purging my backlog, with the project reaching it's halfway point.
Dune: Book II & III- Frank Herbert
What can I say, you all read it, it's goated. Although I loved book I, book II was a bit less to my liking, but book III is my favorite. The ending of the book isn't satisfying though, and I find myself wanting to go through Dune messiah right away. I am planning a presentation, which might take a bit of time to prepare, but it requires everyone to have read Dune Messiah (or be fine with me spoiling the ending).
One Piece
Skypiea Arc
I wasn't completely done reading through the arc last time around, but reading it completely just comforts me in my opinions. Oda-san should have introduce the characters before all the shit went down, because to me there was no stakes as I did not know who anyone was, or why I should care about their demise. Having the flash back (which is btw my least favorite form of exposition, especially if overused) right at the end was a real waste imo.
Long Ring Island Arc
It's fine. I liked that it was self contained, and introduced some characters for later arcs, while having them not being super relevant there.
Water 7
What a palate cleanser. After the drag that was Skypiea, it is refreshing to have something that is setup properly. Can you imagine if they had the big reveals and all the action first, and then introduced people and why they matter? It would have been ass, and that's why I dislike Skypiea. No, here stuff is setup properly, but it doesn't mean that Oda-san reveals his whole deck right away. There are a couple of things he keeps hidden until the last minute for dramatic reveal. But the stakes are already there and the reveals are here to reinforce them. Franky is cool, but I hated the manufactured drama within the crew (looking at you Usopp).
I should be done with my mandatory One Piece reading next month, which means more room for books, which I am looking forward to. I have a backlog of books I already possess but haven't read as long as my arm, so I have enough to keep me busy.
Thank you for reading my logorrhea Eddie